The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406) is the newest model in Asus’ growing line of sleek, lightweight laptops. At a low price of $849.99 at stores like Walmart, this model has great performance, a bright OLED touchscreen, and a long battery life. It’s a great choice for students, professionals, and digital nomads who want value without sacrificing quality. This review looks at the UM3406’s specs, design, performance, and overall experience to see if it lives up to the hype.
Prices and Details
The AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor in the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406HA-WS74T) has eight cores and base and boost speeds of 3.3GHz and 5.1GHz, respectively. This CPU is part of AMD’s Ryzen 8000 series and has a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that makes AI work better. It can do 16 TOPS (tera operations per second), which is more than the 10 TOPS of the Ryzen 7 7840U. The UM3406 has 16GB of LPDDR5X-7500 RAM, a 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics. This makes it great for productivity and light creative work.
The 14-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200) OLED touchscreen is the star of the show. It has a 60Hz refresh rate, covers 100% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, and can get as bright as 400 nits (650 nits in HDR mode). The laptop has a 75Wh battery, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and a wide range of ports, including one USB-C 4.0, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, one USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. At only 2.82 pounds (1.2 kg) and 14.9mm thick, it’s the lightest and easiest to carry around.
Quality of Design and Build
The Zenbook 14 OLED UM3406 has a high-end aluminum body and an Asus “Kintsugi” monogram lid. This design is based on the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with gold. This look adds a touch of class, but the Jade Black finish shows fingerprints easily. With a MIL-STD-810H durability rating, this laptop can handle the wear and tear of daily travel. It’s one of the lightest and thinnest 14-inch laptops on the market, weighing only 1.2 kg and being 14.9 mm thick. This makes it perfect for people who are always on the go.
The screen can lay flat because of the 180-degree hinge. This is great for sharing content or presentations. There has been some disagreement about the layout of the ports, though. All of them are on the right side, which some people think is a bad idea for right-handed mouse users because the heat vent is also there. Asus says this design takes user feedback into account, but it’s a small quirk to keep in mind.
The 14-inch OLED touchscreen is a great feature because it has bright colors, deep blacks, and a million-to-one contrast ratio, which are all things that are hard to find at this price. It has 100% sRGB, 95% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3 coverage, making it a dream for people who edit photos or videos. The 1920 x 1200 resolution is lower than the 2880 x 1800 option that other Zenbook models have. Some people may notice that the text is a little grainy because of the PenTile subpixel matrix that is common in lower-resolution OLEDs. The display is sharp and immersive, though, for most tasks like browsing the web, streaming videos, or getting work done.
The 60Hz refresh rate is a small drawback compared to the 120Hz panels on more expensive models. This is because fast-moving content may not feel as smooth. The reflective surface can also be a problem in bright places. Still, Asus’ Lumina OLED technology has features that protect against burn-in and help your eyes, like automatically changing the brightness and color temperature. This makes it easier to use for a long time.
How well it works and how hot it gets
The AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS powers the UM3406, which gives it great performance for its class. It can easily do real-world tasks like email, web browsing, and office apps in benchmarks like PCMark 10. Its eight cores and 16 threads also make it great for making light to medium content, like editing photos and rendering videos. The UM3406 has slightly better multi-core performance and runs cooler under short to medium loads than its Intel-powered sibling, the Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405 (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H). However, during long stress tests, it may not be able to keep its full 3.3GHz base clock and will settle around 3.0GHz.
The built-in AMD Radeon 780M graphics are good enough for casual gaming and light creative work, but they aren’t good enough for demanding games or heavy 3D rendering. The UM3406 does about as well as other ultraportables with built-in graphics in 3DMark’s Night Raid and GFXBench 5 tests, but it can’t compete with laptops with separate GPUs. The fan can turn on when you’re doing light tasks, but it stays pretty quiet, and the cooling system keeps the temperature down for a thin and light device.
How long the battery lasts
The Zenbook 14 OLED UM3406 really shines when it comes to battery life. It has a 75Wh battery that lasts for an impressive 15 to 19 hours, depending on how much work you do. It lasted up to 19 hours on the non-touch 1200p display during video playback tests, and about 15 to 17 hours on real-world productivity tasks. This is why it’s a great choice for students or professionals who need a laptop that can last all day without needing to be charged. The UM3406 lasts up to four hours longer than the Intel-based UX3405, which is a big plus for people who travel a lot.
One small problem is that the laptop might not work well with third-party USB-C chargers and might switch to battery mode without warning. This problem goes away when you use the 65W USB-C charger that comes with it.
Touchpad and Keyboard
The ErgoSense keyboard is comfortable to type on for long periods of time because it has 1.4mm key travel and is quiet. The layout is roomy, but some keys, like backspace, are a little small. A white LED backlight with adjustable brightness makes it easy to use in low light. The touchpad is about 5 by 3 inches and supports Windows multitouch gestures, but it could use a little more depth for scrolling with two fingers. The built-in NumberPad 2.0 virtual numeric keypad is a useful tool for working with spreadsheets.
Camera, Sound, and Connection
The 1080p webcam with Windows Hello IR support has a mechanical shutter for privacy and good video quality for video calls. The AMD NPU adds studio effects like soft focus and eye contact tracking, which make the experience better. The Harman Kardon-tuned downward-firing speakers make clear, powerful sound with good bass, so they’re good for watching movies and listening to music, but they might sound a little boxy compared to more expensive laptops.
It has great connectivity options, like Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and a wide range of ports. The USB-C 4.0 port can transfer data at 40Gbps, provide power, and connect to a DisplayPort. The USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port adds more options. Not having Thunderbolt 4 (only available on Intel models) is a small downside, but having USB-A and HDMI 2.1 means that most peripherals will work without dongles. One thing that is missing is a memory card reader.
Software and AI Functions
The UM3406 runs Windows 11 Home and has a Microsoft Copilot key that lets you quickly get to AI-powered productivity tools. The AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS’s NPU makes local AI processing faster, which makes things like improving images or adding effects to video calls smoother. Asus doesn’t put a lot of extra software on their computers, and in some places, they give away a free copy of Office Home & Student 2018, which is great for people who need to get work done.
Should You Get It?
If you’re looking for a cheap ultraportable with high-end features, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406) is a great option. It has a long battery life, a bright OLED screen, and good performance. This makes it great for students, professionals, and digital nomads who care about portability and display quality. The 60Hz FHD+ resolution and lack of Thunderbolt 4 are small problems, but they are not deal-breakers at this price. The UM3406 is a better value than the Intel-powered UX3405 because it has a longer battery life and similar performance at a lower price.
If you need a display with more pixels or want to play games better, you might want to look into the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405 (with a 3K 120Hz panel) or laptops with separate GPUs. The UM3406 is hard to beat for its price, performance, and portability, though. It costs $799 to $850.
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406) is a great ultraportable that has high-end features at a low price. It’s a great choice for students and professionals who are always on the go. Very highly recommended.
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