ASUS 15.6" Quiet Blue Review

The 8GB of RAM is a trap. This laptop is budget-bin basic, built to hit a price point, not to last. Spend a little more or buy refurbished.

Look, the ASUS Vivobook 15 is a basic laptop that does basic things. That's the one thing you need to know. It's a $400 machine for checking email, writing papers, and watching Netflix. The 12th Gen Intel i3 is fine for that, and it's got a ton of ports, which is a nice surprise at this price. But don't let the marketing copy fool you. This isn't a 'bold and improved' powerhouse. It's a budget box, and it feels like one.

Our data shows the CPU lands in the 19th percentile, which is exactly what you'd expect from an entry-level i3. It'll handle a dozen browser tabs and a Word doc without breaking a sweat, but ask it to do more and you'll hear the fans spin up. The integrated Intel UHD graphics are predictably weak, scoring in the 43rd percentile. You're not gaming on this thing, period. The 8GB of RAM is the real bottleneck, sitting in the 12th percentile. That's barely enough for Windows 11 these days, and it's soldered on, so you can't upgrade it. That's a deal-breaker for any kind of future-proofing.

At $400, it's priced exactly where it should be: at the bottom. You're not getting a steal, but you're not getting ripped off either. The value is purely in the low entry price. Just know you're making serious compromises to get there.

Forget the MacBook Pro and gaming laptops in the competitor list. That's nonsense. The real competition is other $400 laptops. The Acer Aspire 3 or Lenovo IdeaPad 1 often have similar specs but sometimes pop up with 12GB RAM or 512GB SSD for the same money. Shop around. Also, consider a refurbished business laptop like a Dell Latitude or Lenovo ThinkPad. For $400, you can often get an older model with a better build, a nicer screen, and 16GB of RAM. The Vivobook wins on having a new warranty and fresh battery, but loses on everything else.

If you need a laptop that will last more than a year without driving you crazy, skip this. Go find a refurbished business laptop or save up for a model with 16GB RAM. If you're a student with a heavy workload, this isn't it. The 8GB ceiling is a brick wall.

We can't recommend this specific configuration. The 8GB RAM and 256GB storage are anchors that will drag this laptop down long before the processor gives out. If you absolutely must buy new and your budget is locked at $400, it's an option. But spend an extra $50-$100 if you can. You'll get a machine that lasts twice as long before it feels obsolete. This is a textbook case of a laptop that's cheap up front but expensive in frustration.