Asus pits AMD’s performance against Intel’s efficiency

Several new laptops chipsets have been introduced lately in response to Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC AI initiative. They sport faster neural processing units (NPUs) to speed up on-device AI processing and make it more efficient, but they’re not precisely the same. AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 chipsets are aimed at overall performance, while Intel’s Lunar Lake is aimed at efficiency.

The Asus ProArt PX13 is one of the first with AMD’s chipset, and it’s a highly portable 13-inch laptop. The Asus Zenbook S 14 is aimed at great battery life in a thin-and-light design using Lunar Lake. Both are some of the best laptops you can buy today, but which laptop is the better choice?

Specs and configurations

Some of Asus’ recent laptops have been introduced with a limited number of configurations. The Zenbook S 14 is one such example, which right now has just one available model. It’s $1,500 for an Intel Core Ultra 258V chipset, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display.

The ProArt PX13 has two configurations. The base model is $1,700 for an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chipset, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, and a 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED display. Its $2,000 configuration comes with a much faster RTX 4060 GPU.

That makes the ProArt PX13 a more expensive laptop, but one that promises faster performance particularly with discrete GPU options.

Design

Both of these laptops share the typical Asus design cues, and yet they’re different. The Zenbook S 14 uses what Asus calls “ceraluminum,” or aluminum that’s been treated to create a ceramic-like feel and lightness. And there’s a texture on the lid, which sports a geometric pattern, that feels and looks great. Interestingly, the Zenbook is considerably thinner and lighter than the ProArt PX13 thanks to those materials. For its part, the ProArt PX13 is a bit more conventional, with a simple black chassis and lines and venting that are more aggressive. It’s like Asus wanted to give a hint at the power inside, and in that sense, mission accomplished. They look and feel different, but each fits its design goals.

Both are very well-built laptops, with solid chassis and lids. The hinges are smooth and allow opening the lid with one hand. They’re premium laptops, and they feel like it.

Given that they’re contemporary Asus premium laptops, they share similar keyboards. In fact, they might be identical, with spacious layouts, large keycaps, and light, snappy switches. The Zenbook S 14’s touchpad is a lot larger, maybe too large resulting in too-small palm rests, but otherwise, it’s similar to the ProArt PX13′ mechanical touchpad. And both laptops have touch-enabled displays.

Connectivity is similar, with both laptops having a similar number of high-speed and legacy ports. Both also have up-to-date wireless connectivity. The one difference is the ProArt PX13’s microSD card reader, which is a nod to its creator market.

Both laptops also have 1080p webcams and infrared cameras for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition. Thanks to fast NPUs, they both support Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC requirements — although support for the AI features will come to the ProArt PX13 in a future update.

Performance

AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 chipsets are aimed primarily at very fast CPU performance coupled with a fast NPU that meets Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC initiative. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 isn’t aimed at efficiency, but rather throws 12 cores and 24 threads at churning through multi-core tasks. That’s compared to Intel’s Lunar Lake, or Core Ultra Series 2, chipsets that are specifically intended to produce longer battery life. Lunar Lake has a faster NPU, but its CPU performance isn’t as impressive especially in the Core Ultra 7 258V with just eight cores and eight threads.

That’s exactly what we see in our benchmarks. The ProArt PX13 is a lot faster in multi-core tasks while bring roughly as fast in single-core operations. Except for the simple workflows, the ProArt PX13 will be noticeably faster. The Asus also has a discrete GeForce RTX 4050 GPU that’s a lot faster than the Zenbook’s integrated Intel Arc 140V graphics. It will also be faster for gaming and creative applications. Note that you can also configure the laptop with a much faster RTX 4060 GPU to boost these applications further.

Display

Both laptops have 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED displays, but the ProArt PX13’s 13.3-inch panel will be significantly sharper than the Zenbook S 14’s 14.0-inch display. At the same time, the Zenbook benefits from a faster 120Hz refresh rate that will make for a smoother Windows 11 experience.

However, both have similar colors and brightness, and the same near-perfect blacks. Our Zenbook review unit had unusually poor color accuracy, but that’s likely an issue with that specific machine given OLED’s usual excellent results.

Portability

The ProArt PX13 is considerably smaller in width and depth than the Zenbook S 14, but it’s thicker and heavier. So the Zenbook manages to make a somewhat more portable machine even with a larger display.

As mentioned above, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 chipset isn’t aimed at efficiency, and that shows in our battery tests. The Zenbook with the Lunar Lake chipset is a lot more efficient — around twice as efficient, in fact. You’ll get much better battery life with the Zenbook.

Power or battery life, that’s the question

The Zenbook S 14 leverages Intel’s Lunar Lake chipset for some impressive battery life, offering a Windows laptop with a build quality and battery life to challenge Apple’s MacBook Air M3. But its performance isn’t very impressive, falling behind most recent chipsets.

The ProArt PX13 uses AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 chipset for very fast CPU performance and then discrete Nvidia GPUs for fast gaming and creative work. It’s also well-built, but it doesn’t have nearly the battery life. So, that’s your choice: more power or a longer-lasting laptop?