First Look

ASUS VivoBook S14 Unboxing and First Impressions

Just the right size and power?

Published

December 5, 2020

MJ Jucutan

ASUS decks out stylish yet powerful laptops. For instance, the new VivoBook lineup comes with the latest 11th-gen Intel chipset, along with various colors befitting any personality and lifestyle.

Designed with a youthful vibe for a younger audience, the ASUS VivoBook S14 shows-off what it’s made of.

Out of the box, the VivoBook S14 greets you with its sleek, matte-like finish.

Underneath the laptop, you’ll see the usual guide and warranty booklet.

Of course, it comes with a charging cable and adapter, and a set of stickers.

A laptop that’s beautiful in black

Taking the laptop out of the box, the ASUS VivoBook S14 presents itself in a sleek, beautiful Indie Black. This color used to grace laptops from a decade ago but was abandoned in favor of parading colorful variants.

ASUS brings back the color in a classy manner — applying a matte-finish to make it look expensive. In varying angles, the Indie Black can also subtly look like Navy Blue or Dark Gray.

The curves and edges are designed flawlessly, without removing essential ports. I personally find this thoughtful, seeing how most devices we use haven’t transitioned to USB-C. The ASUS VivoBook S14 offers a balanced experience for everyday users — making the laptop a perfect companion for the daily grind.

The laptop opens easily, thanks to its bar-like hinge. Its silver body is unlike any laptops in its bracket, evoking a premium, classy appeal. Touching it feels like your fingertips were gracing a brand new SUV; it’s exciting and invigorating.

Surface you’d love to grace your finger on

The trackpad provides a touch experience decent enough so you won’t need a mouse. Additionally, ASUS reinvents the trackpad by applying a feature evident in its premium lineup — a NumberPad. Tapping the touchpad icon will turn the trackpad into a LED-illuminated numeric pad. Calculator, whomst?

The keyboard is perfect for everyday use. It’s not too big or small — just the right size. Aside from designing the keys smartly, the keyboard has secret functions that can boost the laptop’s performance.

With ASUS’s Intelligent Performance Technology, you can switch between different modes that perfectly suit your usage.

Simply toggle the Fn and F hotkey combination, and you can switch between Whisper Mode for a cool and power-saving operation; Balanced Mode for optimized performance, thermal, and power parameters; and Performance Mode which boosts the laptop’s performance up to 40 percent for heavy workloads.

A vivid, dream-like experience

Unlike the previous VivoBook S14 I’ve tried, this one comes with beefier specifications. It’s equipped with Intel’s 11th-gen Core i7 chipset, assisted by NVIDIA MX50 graphics (Intel Iris XE for other units).

This makes it easier for the laptop to balance battery life and performance, compared to previous models. It’s powered by up to 16GB of RAM with a large capacity PCIe SSD for superfast storage and experience. You can access anything swiftly.

Moreover, the VivoBook S14 sports a 14-inch NanoEdge display that can handle a 60FPS frame rate. Its thin bezels and Full HD display offer vivid visuals; an exceptional color reproduction augmented by wide viewing angles. It’s truly a treat for content creators and everyday users.

First Impressions

There’s a lot to explore in this new ASUS VivoBook S14, but it remains true to its promise: a stylish, powerful laptop for anyone. It’s lightweight and offers just the right size — in its form, keys, and screen.

It fits in my bag and blends with my personal stuff. It’s truly a match for anyone’s personality and lifestyle. And it has the right power apt for content creation or everyday usage. In essence, it’s the perfect balance most people are looking for.

The ASUS VivoBook S14 comes in a variety of colors. The 11th Gen Intel Core i5 variant comes in Indie Black, Resolute Red, Gaia Green, and Dreamy White. Meanwhile, the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 comes in Indie Black and Dreamy White.

Pricing and availability

The ASUS VivoBook S14 S433 i5 and i7 are now available in ASUS Concept Stores, IT Multi-brand Stores, ASUS E-Store, ASUS Shopee, and ASUS Lazada official stores. They retail for PhP 49,995 and PhP 59,995, respectively.

This feature was produced in collaboration between GadgetMatch and ASUS Philippines.

First Look

OnePlus 11 Concept First Look

The future of smartphone cooling?

Published

February 27, 2023

GadgetMatch

Back at CES 2020, the OnePlus Concept One introduced us the possibility of having disappearing cameras when not in use.

More than three years apart, they have unveiled the OnePlus 11 Concept at MWC 2023 in Barcelona, Spain.

This took the internet (mostly tech nerds) by craze.

Some tell it might just be another Nothing Phone (1) by OnePlus’ ex-CEO Carl Pei — but nope, that’s where you’re wrong.

It serves more function over its cool form (literally and figuratively).

Here are six things you need to know about the OnePlus 11 Concept!

First Look

God of War Ragnarok Early Impressions

Familiar and new at the same time

Published

October 21, 2022

Rodneil Quiteles

Sony PlayStation has graciously provided GadgetMatch with a review code of God of War Ragnarok. This article, however, isn’t a review yet. This is only our early impressions after spending roughly around 10 hours with the game.

So, no, there will be no spoilers whatsoever here. In fact, there’s a lot we’re not allowed to discuss – for good reason. But here’s what we can tell you:

Playing the first game is encouraged…

Playing the initial installment (God of War 2018) is encouraged but not required. There’s a brief story recap option on the menu and it covers the more important plot points. There’s also several recap videos on YouTube that serve this purpose.

But PlayStation has made the 2018 game available in so many different ways that, if you can get your hands on it, we suggest you do so first before diving into Ragnarok. You still have three (3) weekends to do so as of writing.

It’s not overwhelming

That said, if you’d rather jump into this game right off the bat, that should be fine too. The game does a good job of easing you into all the weapons, skills, and whatnots that you’ll encounter.

The first game ended with Kratos having more than one weapon. Ragnarok throws you into action but staggers the weapons available in a way that makes sense for the story.

New traversal and puzzle-solving

A lot of the early platform puzzles feel the same but there are a few additional moves that help keep things interesting. Specifically, these involve the Blades of Chaos.

Some of it has been shown in the trailers. Kratos can use the Blades to Hook and Grapple himself towards higher areas. The Blades can also be used to yank off certain obstacles.

Combat is fun and challenging

Easily one of the best things about the new God of War is its combat. Ragnarok retains everything you know and love about combat. But it keeps things interesting by mixing in a new blocking mechanic as well as introducing new enemy types early on.

You will feel the weight of every axe swing, every blade cut, and every weapon clash. Fighting as Kratos feels as good as ever and is easily one of the most satisfying battle experiences in any video game ever made.

The story is engaging

Perhaps even more so than the first game, Ragnarok, even in its early hours, will have you hooked on the narrative. The story picks-up three years after the events of the first game, with Atreus looking to find out more about himself. Atreus’ curiosity and how Kratos reacts to it is at the heart of everything that will transpire.

The presentation is stunning

God of War Ragnarok is still a one-shot like the first game. That means no loading screens whatsoever. And it looks as visually stunning as it ever did. If you can, do yourself a favor and play this on a 4K TV with support for at least 60fps.

The visual presentation is jaw-dropping. Everything from the environments, the animations, the character models, and how they interact and show emotion during key moments.

The dialogue is also top-notch. It gets cheeky and on the nose at times, humorously referencing events from the first game.

Lastly, the music and overall sound is divine. Nothing ever feels out of place. And each scene is enhanced and elevated by the absolute masterpiece that is the score in this game.

Should you pre-order?

We’re only 10 hours in and we’re absolutely elated with how things are going so far. As early as now, we can say with absolute certainty that this is easily one of the best games you will play in your lifetime. Stop dilly-dallying and pre-order it now.