ASUS Vivobook 14" X1404VA-I712512, Core i7-1355U, 12GB, 512GB SSD, Quiet Blue

The ASUS Vivobook X14 is a budget-friendly Windows laptop with a surprisingly powerful Intel Core i7-1355U processor that handles heavy multitasking with ease. The trade-off is a mediocre 250-nit display with narrow viewing angles and a plasticky build that feels cheap. If you can find it at the low end of its price range and don't mind the screen, it's a solid value for students and everyday productivity.

The Core i7-1355U is the star of the show, and it's a weirdly good chip to find in a laptop at this price point. You get 10 cores and 12 threads, which means this thing chews through everyday multitasking without breaking a sweat. We're talking 20 Chrome tabs, Spotify, a Zoom call, and a Word doc all running at once, and it barely flinches. The 12GB of DDR4 RAM is fine for this class of machine, though it's worth noting that 12GB puts it in the 23rd percentile for RAM among laptops in our database. It's enough for now, but it's not exactly future-proof. The 512GB SSD lands in the 36th percentile for storage, which is about average for budget laptops but might feel tight if you keep a lot of local files.

Integrated Intel graphics mean this is not a gaming laptop, and the gaming score of 12.5 out of 100 confirms it. You can run lightweight stuff like Stardew Valley or older indie titles, but anything 3D and modern is going to chug. The 42Wh battery is small, and while ASUS claims up to 8 hours, real-world reports suggest you'll be hunting for an outlet by mid-afternoon if you're doing anything more than light web browsing. Fast charging is a nice touch though, with a full recharge in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Air M4, the Vivobook X14 loses on display quality, build materials, battery life, and basically everything except price. The MacBook Air's screen is in a completely different league, and its battery will outlast the Vivobook by hours. But the MacBook Air also costs significantly more, so it's not really a fair fight. The Lenovo Slim 7 and HP OmniBook X Flip are closer competitors in spirit, and both offer better displays and more premium builds, though again at higher prices. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is another step up in polish and screen quality, but you'll pay for it.

The real question is whether you want to save money now and live with the compromises, or spend more for a laptop you won't be annoyed by every time you open it. The Vivobook's i7 processor is genuinely competitive with these pricier machines for everyday tasks, but the 250-nit, 60Hz display with narrow viewing angles is the kind of thing you notice every single day. If you work in bright rooms or care about color accuracy at all, the competitors earn their price premium.

Here's where things get interesting. In the US, prices range from USD 400 to USD 635 across two listings, which is a massive spread for the same laptop. If you can find it at the lower end of that range, this is an absolute steal for an i7 machine. At the higher end, you're getting into territory where better screens and build quality start to appear. In Europe, the spread is even wilder, with EUR prices ranging from EUR 792 to EUR 1,347 across three listings in Germany, France, and Italy. At EUR 792 it's a solid deal. At EUR 1,347, you're paying way too much for a laptop with a 250-nit display and no backlit keyboard. Shop around, because the price you pay dramatically changes whether this is a smart buy or a rip-off.

The ASUS Vivobook X14 sits in that budget-to-midrange Windows laptop space where you're hunting for an i7 without paying i7 money. It's a 14-inch machine built around an Intel Core i7-1355U, 12GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, and it's aimed squarely at students and anyone who needs a dependable daily driver for schoolwork, spreadsheets, and way too many browser tabs. The price swings around a lot depending on where you shop, which we'll get into later, but the short version is this thing punches above its weight on raw CPU power for the money.

People searching for a Vivobook X14 review usually want to know three things: is the screen any good, can it handle multitasking, and is the battery going to make it through a full day of classes. The honest answers are: the screen is the weakest part of this laptop, the multitasking is genuinely solid thanks to that 10-core i7, and the battery is a coin flip depending on how hard you push it. We've seen enough feedback from owners to know the display complaints aren't just picky reviewers, they're a real pattern.

And that's kind of the story here. This is a laptop with a genuinely strong processor and a genuinely mediocre screen, all wrapped in a plastic chassis that feels exactly as premium as the price suggests. If you can live with the display, there's a lot of value here. If you can't, you'll be shopping elsewhere within a week.

Skip this if you care about screen quality at all. The 250-nit, 60Hz display with narrow viewing angles is the kind of thing that will annoy you every single day, and no amount of processor speed makes up for a washed-out screen. Creative professionals, anyone who works outdoors, or people who watch a lot of video should look at the Lenovo Slim 7 or Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition instead. Gamers should obviously look elsewhere, and if you need all-day battery life without hunting for outlets, the Apple MacBook Air M4 is worth the extra money. This is a laptop for people who prioritize processing power per dollar over everything else, and if that's not you, you'll be happier spending a bit more elsewhere.

Should you buy the ASUS Vivobook X14? If you're a student on a budget who needs a fast laptop for writing papers, doing research, and running lots of apps at once, and you can find this at the lower end of its price range, then yes, absolutely. The i7-1355U is a genuinely capable processor, and the 12GB of RAM plus 512GB SSD is a workable combo for school or light office work. The fast charging is a real plus if you're bouncing between classes.

But if you care about screen quality, if you work outdoors or in bright rooms, if you type in the dark and need a backlit keyboard, or if you want something that feels premium in your hands, this isn't it. The display is the dealbreaker for a lot of people, and the plasticky build reinforces the budget feel. This is a laptop that makes sense when the price is right and the expectations are realistic. It's a tool, not a luxury item, and at the right price, it's a very good tool.