Ryzen AI Enters The Fray

This review covers the flagship processor in the lineup, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, which features a powerful 12-core, 24-thread configuration, 36MB of cache, and Radeon 890M graphics.

- AARON YIP

AMD's latest Ryzen AI 300 series mobile processors are finally here, and they're AMD's answer to the Al-boosted processing power seen in Qualcomm's Snapdragon X and Intel's Core Ultra 2 (Lunar Lake) processors. This review covers the flagship processor in the lineup, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, which features a powerful 12-core, 24-thread configuration, 36MB of cache, and Radeon 890M graphics.

Alongside the processor's impressive hardware, it boasts a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that meets Microsoft's Copilot+ standards for Al-driven tasks, which require a minimum of 40 TOPS (trillions of operations per second). In fact, AMD has upped the ante with a 50 TOPS NPU in both models of this series.

The Zenbook S 16's design is as elegant as it is robust, thanks to ASUS' use of "ceraluminium" in the build a ceramic and aluminum composite that gives the outer lid a unique textured finish. This material not only makes the laptop feel premium but also improves its durability and resistance to smudges. Measuring just 1.29 cm at its thickest, with a weight of 1.5 kg, the Zenbook S 16 is incredibly portable, especially for a laptop with a sizable 16-inch screen and a large 78Wh battery.

The display itself is a 3K OLED panel with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels, delivering vivid colors, sharp contrast, and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. This screen is particularly impressive for content consumption and productivity tasks, though OLED brightness levels could be higher compared to some LCD alternatives.

ASUS has also included a solid array of ports, including two USB4 Type-C ports, HDMI-out, an audio jack, and even an SD card reader - a handy feature for creatives on the go.