CES 2023: Asus goes all in on OLED for latest laptops

Asus has used its turn at the CES trade show to unveil a new range of Zenbook, ExpertBook, Vivobook, Studiobook, Chromebook and TUF gaming laptops for 2023.

The highlight is the Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED, which packs Intel’s brand-new 13th-generation Core i9-13905H processor, 32GB of LPDDR5X DRAM and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series graphics. There’s no Pro 14X version this year, but there is a Pro 15 OLED if you want something a little smaller.

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Away from the top tier, there are three Asus Zenbook S laptops in 14in, 15in and 16in configurations – the latter with a convertible design that has a keyboard that flips all the way around. Then there are the Zenbook Classic and “Go” lines, which range between 14in and 17in in size and all but one of them – the Go 14 – comes with an OLED screen.

Indeed, OLED screen technology is a big focus for the company this year, with even the entry-level Zenbook Go having an OLED option for those looking for unbeatable contrast. But it’s more interesting at the very top end with the Studiobook Pro 16 and Vivobook Pro 16, which both benefit from the world’s first glasses-free OLED 3D technology.
Glasses-free 3D isn’t new in itself but it is a first for OLED and here the panel’s technology could be really advantageous with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 0.2ms response time and 120Hz refresh rate. It “works with everything”, Asus says, with support for SteamVR, WebXR, Unity, the Unreal engine and more.

The history of 3D panels isn’t exactly golden, with the feature more often seen as a novelty gimmick than a game changer. Whether it fills a niche here remains to be seen but Asus has been in the game long enough to have multiple laptops in other appealing subcategories.

For business users, there’s the ExpertBook B9 OLED. Powered by a 13th-generation Intel processor, the laptop is upgraded to a 2.8K display for 2023, too. And, as a business laptop, it’s built with an eye firmly on privacy and security with NFC login, a physical webcam shield and a fingerprint sensor amongst the features Asus is keen to champion.

Staying on work-based solutions, Asus has too many new Chromebooks and convertibles to namecheck each one individually with a slide showing 22 devices spread across CX5, CX3, CX1 and educational segments, with sizes ranging from 10.1in to 17in.

READ NEXT: Our guide to the best laptops to buy right nowBut it may be worth paying special attention to the Chromebook Vibe CX34 flip, which is pitched as a cloud-gaming device, thanks to its 144Hz display, 9ms response time and WiFi 6E integration. It even comes with a three month subscription to GeForce Now and a bundled gaming mouse but should be good for regular work as well, given it can be configured with up to an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.

Finally, Asus has three budget TUF gaming laptops to choose between. The TUF Gaming F15/17 and A15/17 both go with Nvidia RTX 40-series graphics, with a choice of either Intel (the former) or AMD (the latter) providing the CPU. The TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition, meanwhile, is an “all-AMD powerhouse” with a Ryzen 9 Zen 4 CPU going hand-in-hand with up to a Radeon RDNA3 GPU.

Perhaps unsurprisingly with so many laptops, each with customisable configurations, we don’t have much in terms of pricing and availability at the time of writing. But keep an eye on Expert Reviews, as we’ll hopefully get review samples in to put through their paces as and when they become available.