If you’re in the market for a nicely built, and well designed laptop, the 14 inch VivoBook X412ua from ASUS is one you should consider. All the specifications of this particular model are listed down below. So go through them thoroughly, and weigh what your needs would be with a laptop before picking this one up. Don’t just pick up a laptop because of how it looks. I know this one looks really good. Especially the tiny bezels.

I am typing everything you see here from the actual laptop. I’ve had it for just over 24hrs and I feel like this has been ample time to gather my thoughts on different aspects of the machine. Through the day, I’ve listed on my Google Keep things I like about the machine, and things I dislike. My thoughts should guide you in your purchase process. But remember my daily-driver in terms of laptop is an awesome thin and light machine, so I write this with a couple of biases.

ASUS seems to be the only serious laptop company in Kenya in terms of their devices being easy to access, and buy. With my laptop, I had to go through hurdles, get conned first, for it to get to my hands. With ASUS laptops, you can pick them up easily. No need for shady online retailers. The good thing is you’re getting both a good un-tampered machine, plus warranty. I can’t boast of warranty with my imported model.

So here are the things I have really liked about the ASUS VivoBook 14:

1. Tiny Bezels
2. Looks
3. Speakers
4. Ports – you get all necessary ports, plus one USB type-C
5. Battery

Display:

I like that it looks really modern. Check the impressions video down below where I compare it with my current laptop and see just how big a difference reducing bezels creates. My laptop is 13 inches, this one is 14 inches. But with the tiny bezels, it looks much smaller.

I like the panel’s brightness, it gets quite bright. You can use it outdoors comfortably because it has an anti-glare coating, and the viewing angles are great. You will still see content very well because reflections are greatly reduced with the coating.

What I don’t like though is the resolution. I wish it was 1080p at least. I know most laptop displays are not 1080p at certain price points, but a 1080p panel on this design would have been so amazing.

Color accuracy is also an issue I’ve encountered. Blacks aren’t that deep, and there’s a sort of green hue that I can’t explain. The great thing though is I noticed is that YouTube videos auto-play in 1440p.

Performance:

With a Core i3 and 4GB of RAM, you know what to expect. This is neither the machine for gaming nor is it one for heavy apps and intensive processes like serious video editing.

What it is though is a great companion for class work, and other productivity stuff including browsing, planning, office work, and very simple photo and light video editing (albeit with many hurdles). You will enjoy using it when you’re just browsing, typing stuff, watching movies etc. Just don’t open many Chrome tabs because I noticed that makes it very slow.

With the 1TB storage, be ready to have enough space for all your media requirements.

Battery:

There’s a 37Wh Lithium Polymer cell which is charged by the included 45W power adapter. The fast charging is great. A few minutes of plugging it in can give you a good amount of use.

Since it is quite a heavy machine, I expected it to pack a bigger battery that would last longer. I feel like I can’t really explain the weight with the not so big battery.

Today, on just Chrome, typing, and a bit of YouTube, I’ve estimated you can do between 4hrs to 5hrs of use on a single charge. With things like video playback for video already on the machine, you should do over 7hrs.

Keyboard:

There’s something ASUS calls ergo-lift where when you open the machine, they keyboard is slightly raised. It is not very prominent, but it raises the machine slightly, and reduces typing stress. Works well whether you’re typing on a desk or from your laps.

I love the keyboard travel. But I don’t like the key sizes. I feel like they’re small, but maybe it’s just that I’ve used it for a day, and I am yet to adapt. I feel I’ve typed quite fast anyway – as fast as I would on my daily laptop.

There’s three levels for the keyboard back-light. Which is something I really love – especially since my laptop only toggles between on and off. With this one, you can reduce the back-light to very dim when in a really dark area, and quite bright when in just a slightly dark room like a cafeteria, or while traveling etc.

I dislike the placement of the power button. It is so easy to accidentally press it. It is very close to the DELETE key and you have to be very careful. (This is the third time I’ve hit OFF instead of DELETE while typing this). I also dislike that the SHIFT button on the left is very small. The SPACE bar feels quite small too.

Touch Pad:

This is a normal touch pad. Nothing fancy like a number pad, or a second display. But there’s Windows Gesture Support and everything works so good. Pinch, single swipe, double fingers, scroll, and much more. Everything is precise, and accurate and perfect. I love this touch pad waaaaaay more than the one that’s on my laptop.

Speakers:

There’s ASUS Sonic Master tech for the audio. There’s also two speakers on either side. They’re way better than my current laptop’s speakers: in loudness, clarity and bass. They’re also quite immersive, and do not sound bad in full volume.

USB Type-C

I’ve tried charging using my 45W USB type-C laptop charger, and it won’t charge. I wish one could charge directly from this port, because that’s something I really like about type-C: one charger for everything. Data transfer, and using it to charge other devices works pretty well.

Weight:

ASUS markets this as a light easy to carry device. I would like to understand that because I feel it is on the heavier side. The good thing though with the weight, for me, is that one, it doesn’t flex very much, and two, you won’t forget you’re carrying a laptop like I always do with mine.

Finally….

Share your thoughts down below. Do you like the design? Would you pick it up? What are your concerns before buying a laptop? What do you go through before buying?

Unboxing Video:

ASUS VivoBook 14 Full Specifications and Price in Kenya:

These are the specs for the model I have. Other models have different, better specs. Be sure to confirm which model, and which specs you’re buying before paying.