If you’ve long pined for a laptop with a truly giant screen but worried about the price, Asus may be answering your prayers. The Asus Vivobook 18 has landed. It delivers a giant 18-inch display without requiring flagship-level spending.
Big Display, Reasonably Robust Performance, Affordable Price
Landing first in Germany and about to roll out to additional markets, the Vivobook 18 starts at an enticing €899. What do you get for that much money? Let's open the hood and take a look. This beast is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 260 processor. This chip features eight Zen 4 cores that can boost up to 5.1 GHz, and integrated AMD Radeon 780M graphics. The 35-watt TDP means it isn't intended to set any performance records. It does aim for a balance of power and efficiency.
The memory and storage options are equally well thought out. A base model comes with 16GB RAM and a fast 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD. If you need more space for files and games, you can also get the 1TB SSD model, for a bit of a jump in price.
The Trade-off for Portability: Size
Now, I’m going to be real with you – no 18-inch laptop is going to end up on awards for portability. The Vivobook 18 has a height of about 0.8 inches and weighs in at a beefy 5.7 pounds. This is not your ultra-light travel buddy, but it’s the price you pay for that delightfully cavernous 18.4-inch screen. Speaking of that screen, it has a more (my favorite) 16:10 aspect ratio. This means more vertical screen real estate for better productivity and more immersive movie, video and game watching. It’s a 1920 x 1200 resolution, 300-nits bright, standard 60Hz refresh-rate IPS display.
Connectivity and Features
As far as connecting your peripherals and accessories, the Vivobook 18’s selection of ports is decent — if not overwhelming:
- Two USB-C 3.2 ports with DisplayPort Alt Mode and Power Delivery support
- Two USB-A 3.2 ports
- HDMI port
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
This also means the USB-C ports are a little limited to 5 Gbit/s bandwidth. However, their support for DisplayPort and Power Delivery allows for dock station setups. Asus has also built a large trackpad that supports gestures, along with a privacy shutter-equipped webcam and an infrared camera for Windows Hello facial recognition.
Who is This Laptop For?
The Asus Vivobook 18 appears to be aimed at the big-screen experience at home or in the office if people do not need ultra portability. Home users or students, or anyone looking for a laptop with a generous display surface for work, casual gaming, and entertainment, should probably find the laptop good value, especially as this is its starting price.
You can view the official Asus product page for more detailed specs and information.
