Asus Vivobook 14 X1404MA review: I pushed Intel's new Wildcat Lake processor, and here's what happened

Intel's new Wildcat Lake processor makes a strong debut, delivering smooth everyday performance in a lightweight and practical laptop.

A lightweight laptop built to handle your everyday workload. (Amit Rahi - HT)

By Amit Rahi

For the past seven years, I have tracked consumer tech through constant shifts in hardware, platforms, and the way people actually use devices. Covering everything from budget gear to flagship hardware, I focus on what readers need to know, not on buzzwords or launch cycle hype. My expertise spans gaming laptops and chairs, high-performance PCs, gaming monitors, printers, smartwatches, earphones, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, tablets, and more, with a particular emphasis on how these products hold up in daily use. Reviews, explainers, buying guides, and news pieces all share the same goal: giving readers enough detail to make confident decisions without wading through fluff. Away from deadlines, I spend a lot of time gaming and watching films and anime, which naturally filters back into the work. Performance, comfort, display quality, and sound are judged the way players and viewers experience them, not just by lab numbers, which keeps my coverage grounded in real scenarios rather than just benchmarks.

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Intel recently introduced its new Wildcat Lake processors for budget laptops, and the Asus Vivobook 14 is among the first machines to launch with one. Looking at the specifications, I honestly wasn't expecting much. A Core 3 processor with only 5 cores, 5 threads and 8GB RAM doesn't exactly scream performance. But then I thought, how many people buying a laptop like this actually care about benchmark scores?

So, instead of opening Geekbench and Cinebench, I decided to use it the way I normally use my work laptop. I ended up being more impressed than I anticipated after spending some time with it.

Asus Vivobook 14 specifications

Specification	Details
Processor	Intel Core 3 304 (Wildcat Lake)
Graphics	Intel Integrated Graphics
RAM	8GB DDR5
Storage	512GB NVMe SSD
Display	14-inch Full HD IPS LCD, 16:9, Matte finish
Battery	42Wh
Weight	1.4kg
Charger	45W Barrel Charger
Operating System	Windows 11 Home
Price	₹73,990

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Asus Vivobook 14: Design and build

The Asus Vivobook 14 is a budget laptop, and you can easily tell that by taking one good look at it. The entire body is made of polycarbonate which you mostly get at this price and its not bad at all. It keeps the laptop lightweight and compact, which is something I really appreciated while carrying it around in my backpack. I never felt like I was carrying extra weight just because I had my laptop with me.

The port selection is surprisingly good as well. You get a dedicated charging port, three USB Type A ports, one USB Type C, HDMI and a headphone and microphone combo jack. Honestly, I don't think most people will ever complain about not having enough ports here.

Asus Vivobook 14 X1404MA review (Amit Rahi - HT)

The moment I opened the lid, I was somehow reminded of my old 2015 MacBook Air. I don't know why, but the keyboard layout and the overall deck design gave me the same vibe. Of course, that's where the similarities end, but it was the first thing that came to my mind.

Asus Vivobook 14 X1404MA review (Amit Rahi - HT)

The display has fairly thin bezels, which helps keep the laptop compact, and the matte finish does a good job cutting down reflections while working near windows or outdoors.

Asus Vivobook 14: Keybaord and trackpad

The keyboard is decent and simply gets the job done. Personally, I prefer keyboards with slightly shorter key travel, so this one took me a little while to get used to. Once I did, typing long articles wasn't really an issue.

The trackpad, however, was a bit disappointing. Asus says it's a glass trackpad, but the finish almost made me feel like there was a protective film on top. I actually tried removing it before realising that's simply how it's made. It tracks well enough, but it never felt as smooth as I expected.

Asus Vivobook 14 X1404MA review (Amit Rahi - HT)

And putting the fingerprint sensor inside the trackpad is so 2016. Almost every laptop has moved it to the power button now, which is simply more convenient.

One thing I also didn't like was the charger. Asus includes a 45W barrel connector charger that charges the laptop fairly quickly, but I honestly think it's time to move on. USB Type C charging has become common even on budget laptops, and carrying one charger for everything just makes life easier.

Now, I know I sound a little harsh in this section, but that's mainly because this laptop starts at ₹73,990. At this price, buyers naturally start looking at alternatives that offer a more premium build like a MacBook Neo, so these small things become more noticeable.

Asus Vivobook 14: Display

The Vivobook 14 comes with a 14-inch Full HD LCD display with a matte finish and 250 nits of brightness. Let's just say it does its job pretty well. The matte finish ended up becoming one of the many positive things about this display. It cuts reflections really well, and I never found myself struggling to work in cafes or other brightly lit places. The 250 nits of brightness won't blow you away, but paired with the anti glare coating, it is good enough for everyday use.

Asus Vivobook 14 X1404MA review (Amit Rahi - HT)

The thin bezels are another nice touch because they help fit a 14-inch display into a fairly compact body. The speakers, on the other hand, are just average. They're perfectly fine for YouTube videos, online meetings or casual Netflix sessions, but don't expect much depth. If you're planning to watch a movie or listen to music, you'll probably reach for your headphones instead.

Performance: Forget the benchmarks, I wanted to see when it would actually struggle

Since this is one of the first laptops powered by Intel's new Wildcat Lake processor, I could've easily filled this section with benchmark numbers. But I don't think that's how most people judge a laptop like this.

If you're buying a machine in this category, you're probably wondering how many Chrome tabs it can handle, how smoothly it switches between apps, or if it'll slow down halfway through your workday. So that's exactly what I tested.

Asus Vivobook 14 X1404MA review

I opened Chrome and simply started opening new tabs to see how long it will take to slow down this machine. YouTube, Google Maps, Google Earth, Gmail, Google Docs, news websites, AI Search Mode and multiple 1080p YouTube videos all running together. Every few tabs, I kept expecting the laptop to struggle.

The Vivobook 14 finally started showing signs of slowing down at around 35 Chrome tabs, which genuinely surprised me. I've tested laptops that begin struggling after 25 or 30 tabs, so this was a really good result. Even with RAM usage sitting close to its limit, switching between tabs remained smooth and all the YouTube videos continued playing without any issues.

The only thing I noticed was the battery draining a bit faster, but that's hardly surprising considering I was pushing the laptop much harder than most people ever will.

I also tried a quick download test by downloading a 5GB file over my 100Mbps Wi-Fi connection. The file finished downloading in under 10 minutes, which is pretty much what I expected. More importantly, the connection stayed stable throughout.

What impressed me just as much was how quiet the laptop remained. Even after all this, fan noise was almost non existent. Unless you're sitting in a completely silent room, you're probably not going to notice it.

For students, office work, browsing, online classes and a bit of multitasking, Intel's new Wildcat Lake processor with just 5 cores made a much better first impression than I was expecting.

Asus Vivobook 14: Battery

The Vivobook 14 packs a 42Wh battery, and honestly, I thought I'd have to keep the charger nearby. It comfortably lasted me through a full workday, which is all I really ask from a laptop like this. I also ran a quick battery test by playing a 1080p YouTube video on Chrome for 30 minutes, and the battery dropped by just 5%. That works out to roughly 10 hours of video playback, which is exactly where I'd expect a laptop like this to land.

The included charger is fairly quick as well, so topping it up doesn't take very long. I just wish Asus had gone with USB Type C instead of the older barrel connector.

Asus Vivobook 14: Pros and cons

Pros

• Real world performance is genuinely impressive
• Lightweight and easy to carry
• Plenty of ports
• Matte display reduces reflections well
• Quiet even under heavy workloads
• Good battery life

Cons

• Plastic build doesn't feel premium
• Trackpad finish could have been better
• Barrel charging instead of USB Type C
• Average speakers

Should you buy it?

The Asus Vivobook 14 isn't the kind of laptop that wins you over with premium materials or flashy features. Instead, it impressed me in a much simpler way. It successfully handled a real-world workload more demanding than anything a typical student is likely to require. The new Intel Wildcat Lake processor turned out to be far more capable than I expected, especially for the kind of work most people actually do every day.

At ₹73,990, there are laptops with better build quality and more premium finishes, so if that's high on your priority list, it's worth looking around. But if what you want is a lightweight Windows laptop with dependable everyday performance, good battery life and enough ports to avoid carrying dongles everywhere, the Vivobook 14 is an easy recommendation. Just know what you're buying, and more importantly, what you're not. That way, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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