The VivoBook series of laptops from Asus have by now earned a name for offering good performance and suitably appealing aesthetics at low-cost price tags. The VivoBook S510, though priced on the higher side of the budget spectrum, at ₹59,990, continues to keep the brand’s legacy unimpaired.

First impression, they say, is the best impression. The VivoBook S510 wins your vote hands down here. The laptop looks stylish and feels robust. It is compact and the form factor is attractive. The

VivoBook S510 has a 15.6-inch display and weighs 1.7 kg. The full-HD display has a wide 178° viewing angle and a high 700:1 contrast ratio for deep blacks. In our experience, the viewing angles seem comfortably in proportion and the display delivers clear visual output.

The chassis is just 17.9mm thin and can match the looks and feel of an ultrabook, all thanks to the NanoEdge display from Asus that renders an 80 per cent screen-to-body ratio. In fact, the VivoBook S510 looks much like Asus’s ZenBook series. But the edges and the surface (it has an aluminium alloy lid) do not offer enough grip, so unless you’re a pro at handling slippery gadgets, this can cause you significant heartburn.

The VivoBook S510 is powered by the Intel Core i7 processor and the MX150 graphics engine. Like most other Asus laptops in this range, the VivoBook S510 also has a 1 TB HDD, which can be expandable up to 2 TB HDD. You can pair this with 128 GB SSD and expand it further up to 512 GB SSD if you want better booting speed. The machine doesn’t slow on during basic gaming and the graphics work just fine even when you play 4K videos and load super high-res photos.

The keyboard has tapering seams and has a ‘chiclet style’ design that sports suitable spaced out keys. The character markings are also backlit for convenient typing in low light or dark conditions. The touch pad is smooth, but users would need some schooling and loads of patience to master the vertical and horizontal movements.

The touchpad area also has a fingerprint scanner, placed in the top right location, which works with the Windows 10 Hello security login feature for easy login and unlock. The VivoBook S510 has two side speakers powered by Asus’s own SonicMaster audio technology. The audio output is impressively loud and clear thanks to the optimised amplifier and resonance chambers.

Asus claims it has used a special battery preservation technology known as “SuperBattery” to give the battery three times the lifespan of conventional laptop batteries. But in our experience, this department needs some more fine-tuning; the battery performance is just the same as in most of the laptops in the price range. The laptop has dedicated ports for USB 2, 3 and SD card.

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