ASUS VivoBook E403NA Review: Best Suited for Basic Tasks!

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ASUS VivoBook E403NA: At First Glance

Laptops in the ASUS VivoBook series are most time compared to Chromebooks due to their portability and affordability. However, Chromebooks run on the Chrome operating system, whereas VivoBooks runs on the Windows operating system.

So, in this review article, we will be focusing on one of the laptops in the ASUS VivoBook series, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA. This laptop, as with most laptops in the series, is very portable and slim with lots of decent specs.

Furthermore, the laptop offers a long battery life and a good number of ports despite its portable form factor. However, there are some major areas where the ASUS VivoBook E403NA disappoints.

Hence, to know these areas and more about the laptop’s features, I recommend you check out the other sections of this review.

ASUS VivoBook E403NA: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Design-wise, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA is very sleek, featuring streamlined curves and a premium feel. Also, this laptop is made with a combination of plastic and brushed aluminum.

Specifically, most parts of the laptop, including the bezels, are made of plastic with a matte-black finish. The only exceptions are the lid and keyboard deck which are made of brushed aluminum with a matte-gray finish.

Focusing more on the lid, you will see a silver “ASUS” logo at the center that shimmers gracefully when rays of light shine on it. Besides, the lid is attached to the base of the laptop with a highly robust and sturdy plastic hinge.

Moreover, due to the extreme sturdiness of this hinge, it holds the lid in place with minimal wobbles when nudged. Having said that, let us now discuss what’s in store for us when the ASUS VivoBook E403NA’s lid is opened.

To start with, opening the lid reveals a 14-inch display with an HD (1366 x 768) resolution and a glossy surface. Thanks to the glossy surface of this display, it provides better color accuracy and brightness.

However, the major disadvantage of the glossy surface is that it has the tendency to cause reflection, resulting in annoying screen glares. Also, the glossy surface of the display can cause eyestrains when you stare at it for a long period of time.

Besides, annoying thick bezels border the display, which may cause a bit of distraction when watching movies on the laptop. However, the top bezel features a VGA webcam and microphone at the center.

This webcam is very ideal for video conference calls but not good for taking selfies as it produces blurry images. Meanwhile, the bottom bezel houses a shiny silver “ASUS” logo also at the center.

Moving on, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA comes with a full-size chiclet-style keyboard. This keyboard features spacious keys that are very responsive and clicky.

Moreover, the keyboard should offer a comfortable typing experience due to its key travel of 1.6 mm. In case you are curious, key travel is the distance between a key’s resting point to full depression.

However, this laptop’s keyboard isn’t backlit, meaning it might be difficult to type on the laptop in dark areas. On the good side, you will find a spacious touchpad with integrated click buttons beneath this keyboard.

Impressively, the surface of this touchpad has the precision of a smartphone’s touchscreen display. Hence, it is highly sensitive and very responsive with great precision and accuracy.

Also, the touchpad supports multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom.

That said, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA offers a decent amount of ports. To be more precise, the right side of the laptop houses one USB 2.0 port, a security slot, and an SD card reader.

However, the left side of the laptop has an HDMI port, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, and a DC power input. That’s not all; the left side also has a USB 3.2 Type-C port and an audio combo jack.

In terms of dimension and weight, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA measures 339 x 235 x 17.9 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1500 g. When compared with the HP Stream 14, this ASUS laptop is slightly bigger and heavier.

Specifically, the HP Stream 14 measures 337 x 226 x 17.9 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1440 g. However, compared to the Lenovo ThinkPad E495 14-inch, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA is compact and weighs less.

To be more specific, the Lenovo ThinkPad E495 14-inch weighs 1750 g and measures 329 x 242 x 19.9 mm (W x D x H).

After thorough consideration, I will rate the ASUS VivoBook E403NA an eight out of ten in this design review section.

ASUS VivoBook E403NA: Processor (CPU) Performance

The choice of processor ASUS chose for the VivoBook E403NA is the Intel Pentium N4200 processor. This Intel Pentium processor is a quad-core processor that has a cache memory of 2 MB.

In terms of speed, the processor offers a base frequency of 1.10 GHz and a maximum frequency of 2.50 GHz. However, in terms of performance, the processor isn’t ideal for handling demanding applications and heavy-duty tasks like video editing.

Nevertheless, with this CPU, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA can comfortably handle basic tasks like word editing and web browsing. In order to further verify this laptop’s performance with the Intel Pentium N4200 CPU, we will now discuss its Cinebench R15 test result.

For clarity, the Cinebench R15 is a cross-platform benchmark test that evaluates a computer’s processor performance by testing its cores. Therefore, this test involves two tests which are the single-core test and the multi-core test.

First and foremost, the single-core test measures the performance of the CPU when one of its cores is put to use. Meanwhile, the multi-core test measures the CPU’s performance when all its available cores are in use.

Moreover, a high score on both tests entails good processor performance. Thus, based on the Cinebench R15 test result, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA delivered a score of 51.7 points on the single-core test.

On the multi-core test, however, the laptop scored 157 points. In comparison, the Acer Aspire ES1, which also uses an Intel Pentium N4200 processor, performed slightly better than the ASUS VivoBook E403NA.

Specifically, the Acer Aspire ES1 scored 54 points and 165 points on the Cinebench R15 single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

In conclusion, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA features a less-powerful processor that can only handle basic tasks. Moreover, the laptop was surpassed by one of its closest competitors on a CPU benchmark test.

Therefore, I will rate the ASUS VivoBook E403NA a seven out of ten in this processor review section.

ASUS VivoBook E403NA: Memory (RAM) Performance

The ASUS VivoBook E403NA comes with a single memory slot and a standard memory of 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM. Sadly, 4 GB RAM is also the maximum memory size that the laptop supports.

This implies that the laptop’s memory cannot be upgraded to more than 4 GB RAM. Nevertheless, this amount of memory is enough for the ASUS VivoBook E403NA to effectively carry out basic computing tasks.

Besides, with 4 GB memory, this laptop should be able to handle light multitasking. Speaking of which, this ASUS laptop will be able to simultaneously run 15 Chrome tabs without slowing down.

However, switching between the Chrome tabs or opening multiple apps alongside the browser might reduce the laptop’s performance. With that being said, let us now discuss the laptop’s result on the Octane V2 test to further prove its performance.

Briefly, the Octane V2 is a web-based benchmark test that measures a computer’s memory performance by evaluating how fast it can load web pages. Also, the higher the score on this test, the better the performance of the computer.

Hence, based on the test results, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA scored 11881 points. Although this score is decent, it falls short of the 12856 points scored by the Acer Aspire ES1.

Thus, I will rate the ASUS VivoBook E403NA a seven out of ten in this memory performance review section.

ASUS VivoBook E403NA: Storage Options and Performance

To start with, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA comes with an eMMC storage type that offers a storage capacity of 64 GB. eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card), as its name implies, is embedded into the motherboard of a computer.

What this means is that the storage capacity of the computer cannot be upgraded. Hence, with the ASUS VivoBook E403NA, you are stuck with an un-upgradable 64 GB eMMC.

Apparently, this amount of storage space won’t be enough for most users. As a matter of fact, there are numerous smartphones in the market that offer 128 GB or 256 GB of storage space.

Thankfully, this ASUS laptop comes with an SD card reader that allows for storage expansion. Thereby solving a bit of the laptop’s storage issues.

Besides, similar to Chromebooks, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA offers 5 GB of ASUS WebStorage. For clarity, ASUS WebStorage is just like Google Drive; it is a cloud service that allows you to save files on the internet storage.

Hence, as long as you have access to the internet, you can share, access, and save files on the ASUS WebStorage.

That said, to prove the storage performance of the ASUS VivoBook E403NA, we will now discuss its result on a file transfer test. On the file transfer test, the laptop was able to transfer (copy) 4.97 GB of multimedia files at a transfer rate of 33.3 MBps.

Although this transfer rate is decent for a laptop with eMMC, you can’t compare it with the transfer rates of laptops with SSD. However, when compared to the HP Stream 14, which also uses an eMMC, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA has a faster transfer rate.

Specifically, on the same file transfer test, the HP Stream 14 was only able to achieve a transfer rate of 24.7 MBps.

All things considered, I will rate the ASUS VivoBook E403NA an eight out of ten in this storage review section.

ASUS VivoBook E403NA: Graphics Card Performance

In terms of the graphics card, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA uses Intel HD Graphics 505. Moreover, the Intel HD Graphics 505 features a base frequency of 200 MHz and a boost frequency of 750 MHz.

However, this graphics card is an integrated GPU, meaning it is embedded into the laptop’s processor and lacks a dedicated VRAM. Hence, to perform graphics-related computing tasks, the graphics card shares the system memory with the processor.

As a result, with this graphics card, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA won’t be able to effectively run graphics-intensive apps and title AAA games. For example, when playing the 2018 Just Cause 4, even at the lowest graphics setting, the laptop achieved an unplayable frame rate of 4.8 fps.

Nevertheless, this ASUS laptop should be able to smoothly play most games on the Windows Store, such as Candy Crush or Asphalt 8.

Moving on, I will now be discussing the ASUS VivoBook E403NA’s result on the 3DMark 11 test to further verify its GPU performance. To clarify, the 3DMark 11 test is an app-based benchmark test that evaluates the 2D and 3D graphics rendering ability of a computer.

In addition to that, a high score on the test means a good performance. Thus, according to the test results, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA scored 632 points.

When compared with the Acer Aspire ES1, which uses the same GPU, this ASUS laptop performed slightly better. To be more precise, the Acer Aspire ES1 scored 624 points on the 3DMark 11 test.

Thus, I will rate the ASUS VivoBook E403NA an eight out of ten in this GPU review section.

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ASUS VivoBook E403NA: Battery Life and Performance

The ASUS VivoBook E403NA comes with a 3-cell 57 WHrs LiPo battery. According to Amazon, this battery is capable of lasting 9 hours.

In order to verify this claim, I will highlight the laptop’s performance on a battery rundown test result. Meanwhile, this battery rundown test involves continuous web surfing over a Wi-Fi connection when the laptop’s display brightness is at 50%.

So, at the end of the test, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA delivered a battery life of 8 hours and 4 minutes. Although not up to the 9 hours that Amazon claimed, this laptop’s battery life is quite impressive.

Besides, when compared to most laptops in its category, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA has longer battery life. For example, on the same battery rundown test, the HP Stream 14 delivered a battery life of 7 hours and 40 minutes.

All in all, I will rate the ASUS VivoBook E403NA a nine out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The ASUS VivoBook E403NA is a nice laptop with a sleek design and plenty of decent features. Specifically, this laptop comes with a good keyboard as well as long battery life.

Moreover, the laptop offers an ideal amount of ports, including an SD card reader for storage expansion. However, the ASUS VivoBook E403NA offers limited memory and is best suited for handling basic computing tasks.

Thus, if you are a student or need a laptop for basic tasks, you should consider the ASUS VivoBook E403NA.

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