Not a professional review, my photography skills are not very good, please ignore
At first glance, my first impression of this computer can be summed up in two words: stunning. When I first learned about the disadvantages of OLED as a laptop screen online, my impression of OLED laptop screens was only that they were prone to burn-in and eye strain. But when I saw this screen, I was willing to accept all of the above disadvantages: 2.8K high resolution combined with a top-notch OLED screen and factory calibration, truly making me feel the overwhelming superiority of the Samsung E4 OLED screen compared to a regular LCD screen. The reality also proves that this screen is indeed the biggest selling point of the entire computer.
Although for ultrabooks, appearance is indeed the most impressive and easiest part to do well, I am not willing to accept a computer that only has good looks. But my dad understands computers, how could he possibly buy me such an overpriced and underpowered "flower vase"? The reality proves that I was right in my thinking. The second selling point of this computer is the latest 12th generation Intel Core i5 processor: the i5 12500H.
Benchmark score for entertainment, still a trashy shot, please don't scold me
In the 12th generation Core i5, Intel finally made a big change and adopted a more efficient big.LITTLE architecture. This also makes the i5 12500H the most cost-effective laptop processor this year: looking up, the higher-end i7 12700H only has a slight improvement of a few percentage points; looking down, its performance surpasses previous generations of i7 and even i9, surpassing any previous Core processor. In daily use, I have also felt the huge improvement brought by this CPU: whether it's opening multiple web pages, compiling source code, or video editing, the experience is much better than with my previous Celeron 2950M (although it's also possible that I haven't used a new machine for too long, so this comparison is obviously unfair, but I have truly felt how powerful this CPU is).
Because of the above features, the thing I do the most with this CPU is what most ultrabook users would do: watching movies, video editing, photo editing, and writing articles. It is also thanks to this top-notch OLED screen and the Harman Kardon custom speakers that I have experienced an unprecedented watching experience, especially for colorful hand-drawn animations (such as works by Hayao Miyazaki). Watching on this screen is like watching a completely different movie compared to watching on an LCD screen. The "screen-to-price ratio" of this computer is indeed well-deserved, which has led to the longest activity I have done with this machine being watching anime and movies.
After talking about the advantages, let's move on to the eagerly awaited moment - the shortcomings of this machine. And in my opinion, the advantages I mentioned above cannot outweigh these shortcomings, which is why I replaced this machine with another gaming laptop a few days ago. If I have time, I will talk about my experience with the new computer later, but for now, let's talk about the shortcomings:
Firstly, it lacks strong performance. If gaming laptops are characterized by low-power CPUs and high-performance graphics cards, then I would rather call this machine with a high-power CPU and low-performance graphics card a "study machine" - as the name suggests, it can't do anything other than studying. But I am obviously not the kind of "good kid" in my parents' eyes, how could I not play games? Although Intel has also made a big change in the integrated graphics of the 12th generation Core i5, resulting in a significant improvement, no matter how much it improves, it is still not enough for me. Although the integrated graphics performance of this machine is already far superior to my previous GT940M graphics card, it can only run some online games (like War Thunder) at low graphics settings at 2.8K resolution, and for some newer single-player games, I have to lower the resolution to 1080P or even 720P at the lowest graphics settings to barely play. So the question is: what's the point of having this 2.8K high-resolution screen? If I have to choose between high resolution and low graphics quality or low resolution and high graphics quality, I would definitely choose the former without hesitation.
Next is the decreased battery life of the 12th generation Core i5. When I first got this machine, I still wanted to take it to the library to study seriously, hoping to overcome internet addiction without plugging in the power. But when I tried to do that, I realized that I was too idealistic: this machine doesn't give me the opportunity to study at all. Even if I enable power-saving mode to write code, I will still run out of the estimated 8 hours of battery life within 3 hours. Although lowering the screen brightness can extend the battery life, it will also affect my vision due to PWM, which is not worth it in the end. When I encountered this situation, my first reaction was: is the EVO certification just a marketing gimmick? If I have to plug in the power even for daily office work, then what's the difference between using a gaming laptop? If I care about battery life, why don't I buy a MacBook (although I wouldn't buy one either)?
Lastly, and most importantly, is the heat and noise caused by the single fan. It may not be very persuasive to say how noisy it is here, but you can watch the video I posted before to experience the noise. I really can't figure out how Asus engineers designed this mold: for a CPU with a TDP of 45W, they actually only used a single fan for cooling, just like how MacBook uses a single heat pipe to cool an i9. The disastrous consequence of using a single fan to cool the i5 12500H is that whenever I open several web pages in the library, I can feel the intense gaze of the people around me. Although this machine has a silent mode, only those who use it know how hot the C surface gets in silent mode (high emotional intelligence: learn from international giants like HP).
In the end, because this machine froze five times in a row during one of my 3D modeling projects, almost causing a delay in the project deadline, I sold it in a fit of anger and it met its final fate.
Finally, let me summarize the Asus ZenBook 15.6 from my subjective perspective:
If you are a video editor, graphic designer, advertising designer, or work in related industries, and you are a heavy multimedia user, and you don't have high battery life requirements and have a tight budget, then the top-notch Samsung OLED screen and powerful CPU of this machine will definitely not disappoint you, and you can confidently buy it.
If you are a gamer, 3D modeler, or a frequent traveler with high battery life requirements, then don't buy it, the graphics card and battery life of this machine will definitely give you a big "surprise".
That's all for the Asus ZenBook 15.6. If I have time, I will also introduce my experience with the gaming laptop I recently switched to (although it's an old model and the reviews are probably already everywhere). This article is completely based on my personal perspective, and some parts may not be objective, so I ask readers to understand.