ASUS ZenBook 14X OLED (UX5400, Intel) review

An ultrabook shelf ticket with real dGPU receipts

The ZenBook 14X OLED (UX5400, Intel) from 2022 asks $840 and hides a genuine discrete card under an ultrabook shell: an MX450 2GB beside a Core i5-1135G7 and 16GB of RAM. The graphics score reads 49.14 against an ultrabook-class median of 3.84 — a placing more than twelve times the class norm — and unlike most placing anomalies, this one comes with measured receipts: GTA V at recommended level reads 140 fps and Far Cry 5 at recommended reads 45 fps in the flag sheet.

Graphics strength, in the thinnest class on the shelf

An MX450 is an entry-level card in absolute terms, but in the ultrabook class it is a rare visible advantage, and the flags confirm it works: Overwatch, GTA V and Far Cry 5 all clear recommended level, with the two measured figures attached. The photo design index reads 87 (top band), modeling 53 and CAD 53 (mid). Performance overall reads 51.78 — mid band, 24% above the class median — an honest ceiling for a 2022 U-series CPU.

Sixteen gigabytes, and no more

The class verdict names memory as the watch-out: 16GB against a class median of 32, minus 50%. For the light creative and esports workloads the flags describe, 16GB holds; for modern memory-heavy suites it is the binding constraint, and no axis on the sheet argues otherwise. No task axis falls into the low band — the weakness is capacity, not capability.

No depreciation anchor

No launch anchor is attached to the listing. The class rate reads 10% per year — one of the gentler curves in the catalog — so a four-year-old ultrabook at $840 drifts slowly. The purchase case is the measured gaming receipts at an ultrabook ticket, not residual value.

Where it sits against the shelf

$840 repeats across this stretch of the ultrabook shelf — the Swift 5 SF514-56 and two Swift 3 bodies share it in this batch. Against those iGPU-only machines, this ZenBook's MX450 and its measured fps figures are the differentiator; against them it concedes the battery-and-mobility arguments they win with weight. Buyers at this ticket are choosing between measured graphics and class-typical endurance.

Bottom line

At $840 this is the rare ultrabook ticket whose graphics claims carry measured numbers — GTA V at 140 fps and Far Cry 5 at 45 fps, both at recommended level. The 16GB memory ceiling is the named constraint, and the mid-band compute readings keep expectations calibrated. For a carry-first buyer who still wants light-game receipts, this sheet is among the best-evidenced in its class; for anything memory-heavy, the ceiling arrives early.