The convertible laptop is an interesting beast. At its core, it’s designed for creativity. It’s there to be drawn on, to take on graphics-heavy tasks to take advantage of the beautiful screen, and their versatility means that they can grow with your hobbies.
But a convertible PC with low graphics power needs to be low-cost, making it a hobby machine for basic work and then watching movies on, or doing light drawing. Without a discrete graphics card and with a $2,800 price tag, it is a curious beast indeed, and one that makes me wonder who it’s for.
That said, we have all at times fallen for someone or something that is beautiful on the surface, but lacks power at its core. And for people with deep pockets, and a desire for a gorgeous and convertible screen, with no use for graphics power (or with a dock with an external card), or who want to focus on generative AI workflows with no need to do their own visual creativity, this will be a good choice. I reviewed the 16GB model of the Asus Vivobook 14 Flip (TP3407), but there is also a 32GB model for $2,999 (more commonly found in Australia) that will likely perform better.
Table of contents
First impressions
My first impression upon setting it up was just how stunning the screen is. This is a screen beginning to be looked at and touched. The OLED Lumina NanoEdge touchscreen looks as premium as the $2,800 price tag. It would have been nicer in 4K rather than full HD, but it’s still very good.
I like the number of ports. It’s still minimal, this is an ultra-portable PC after all, but there’s enough that you have options.
The setup process was easy, the trackpad glides smoothly, and the keyboard has a satisfying click. All up, at first glance, this is an excellent, premium ultra-portable PC.
Specifications and price
| Operating system | Windows 11 Home |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 258V |
| Memory | 16GB RAM |
| Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics |
| Display | WUXGA (1920 x 1200) OLED 16:10 aspect ratio
DCI-P3: 100% 14.0-inch 400nits Touchscreen 0.2ms response time 60Hz refresh rate |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD |
| Ports | 1x Thunderbolt 4 with support for display / power delivery (data speed up to 40Gbps)
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack 1x HDMI 2.1 Micro SD card reader 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with support for display / power delivery (data speed up to 20Gbps) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (data speed up to 5Gbps) |
| Camera | FHD camera with IR function to support Windows Hello
With privacy shutter 1080p FHD camera |
| Network and Communication | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Military grade | US MIL-STD 810H military-grade standard |
| Battery | 70WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 31.26 x 22.09 x 1.69
Weight: 1.57 kg |
| Warranty | 12 months |
| Price (RRP) | $2,799 |
These specs are fine enough as long as you ignore the price. It’s a solid PC that will stand up to ordinary work stuff, and just about anything that doesn’t require high graphical performance. The 28 hour battery life is excellent, and WiFi 7 is a must in 2025, though the promise of “US military-grade durability” is a bit meaningless.
Personally, if I could swing it, I’d opt for the model with 32GB of RAM, given it’s “only” a $200 jump for double the RAM. But I also probably would want a laptop with more graphical power at this price point.
Design
The design of the ASUS Vivobook 14 Flip is very nice. Sleek lines, thin body, relatively light – not the lightest, but by no means heavy. It was clearly designed to go everywhere with the user.
There are lots of ventilation ports on the side and bottom, to help it suck in as much cool air as possible to keep it running at optimal levels. Though, I did find that it still got a bit hot, which affected performance when gaming.
The hinge design is excellent. It feels very sturdy, as though you’ll be able to move the screen nearly 360 degrees multiple times a day for years without incident. Often these hinges feel a bit flimsy to make them lighter, this one has a bit of resistance and feels like it was built to last.
Aluminium laptop bodies are common, but that doesn’t make them feel any less nice and premium when encountering one as smooth as this one.
The one thing I don’t like about it is that there’s nowhere for the stylus to be stored. The whole point of these 2-in-1 laptops is that the screen can be used with a stylus. If there’s nowhere to recess that stylus, then it’s going to get lost. There’s also the issue of whether a stylus comes included with the Vivobook. The online listing for the higher-spec model is ambiguously worded, suggesting the stylus is an optional add-on. If it’s sold separately, many people who buy this laptop won’t have the opportunity to explore exactly what the PC was designed for. Which is very disappointing.
Screen
This is a laptop designed for portability and all-day work. But it’s also got just one hell of a pretty screen. I love this screen. It’s so bright, the colours are so vibrant. Using it is an absolute pleasure.
More than that, it’s a very reactive touch screen. Often, I find that when I use touchscreen PCs, I get frustrated by slow responsiveness, but I didn’t have any of those problems with the Asus Vivobook 14 Flip.
The problem I did have is that the screen is a fingerprint magnet. Just a complete sponge for flesh oils. I found I needed to keep a glasses cloth nearby to keep the screen looking its best. A minor quibble, and a price I’m willing to pay for a screen this bright and beautiful, but something to keep in mind if it’s the kind of thing that bothers you.
Benchmarks
In terms of benchmarking, it’s not exactly a gaming powerhouse, but it’s no slouch, either, when it comes to everything else.
| Laptop | Geekbench 6 CPU multi-core | Geekbench 6 CPU single-core | Geekbench 6 GPU | 3DMark (Steel Nomad Light) |
| ASUS Vivobook 14 Flip (TP3407) | 10,814 | 2,637 | 26,370 | 2,656, 19.68FPS |
| Acer Swift 16 AI | 10,961 | 2,708 | 29,111 | 3,230 |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura Edition | 11,109 | 2,658 | 26,933 | 3,281 |
| MacBook Air M4 | 14,847 | 3,722 | 35,656 | 3,801, 28.2FPS (using iOS version of app) |
I’ve used it to play Wingspan and Fortnite and it was… bad. After about 15 minutes in Zero Build Battle Royale, the frame rate would dip quite low, to the point where it wasn’t enjoyable. That’s surprising for an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor with Intel Arc graphics. It could speak to me having a dodgy unit, or the Vivobook Flip range having some difficulties with cooling.
It’s fine for everything else that isn’t graphically intensive, though. Those raw numbers are pretty damn good if doing AI or processor-intensive tasks. I wouldn’t want to edit photos or videos on it very often, but it’s usable enough.
That said, I would just expect more for $2,800, especially given what a $1,999 MacBook Air can do in comparison.
Who is ASUS Vivobook 14 Flip (TP3407) for?
I’m not entirely sure. If you ignore the graphical power limitations, it’s a beautiful PC with an impressive battery life. But for $2,800 I’m struggling to think of who can justify that price when most of that price is going to the screen. I can understand paying extra for a beautiful screen if doing a lot of graphics-heavy tasks or playing games, but I don’t get it in a laptop that isn’t designed for those tasks.
This would suit someone who wants a laptop with a long battery life and beautiful screen, and is willing to buy the stylus separately, but doesn’t want to do any tasks that require too much graphics power. That’s a pretty specific person. But if that person is you, then you’re in for a treat.
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