Asus has launched one of its lightest 14-inch laptops. Available in the UK with a global launch to follow, the new version benefits from Intel’s Panther Lake architecture with an even larger battery than last year’s model. However, the new ZenBook S14 computer may provide worse graphics performance than its predecessor.
Asus has started selling the Panther Lake edition of the ZenBook S14 in the UK. As a reminder, the company announced the Lunar Lake variants in September 2024 and are currently available for $1,399 on Amazon before introducing the Panther Lake successors at CES 2026 in January 2026.
Initially, Asus indicated that Core UltraX variants of the 3 Series would arrive in Europe to fit US SKUs. However, it looks like the UK will match Canadian SKUs by marking lower non-X variants instead. Specifically, both Asus and Cores have included the new ZenBook S14 with a Core Ultra 9 386h processor instead of the more powerful Core Ultra X7 368h or Core Ultra x9 388h.
Currently, they both price the new 14-inch laptop at £1,599, which is approximately $1,799 excluding the 20 percent value-added tax imposed in the United Kingdom. The SKU also features 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage but is limited to a gray color only. The OLED display returns with a 2.8K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, although its peak is now 500 nits in SDR mode and 1,100 nits in small areas when HDR mode is activated.
Battery capacity grew by 6.9 percent from 72 watt-hours to 77 watt-hours between generations as well. As a result, battery life should remain a strength of the ZenBook S14. However, adopting the Core Ultra 9 386h processor instead of the X variants may result in weaker graphics performance compared to its Arc 140V-based predecessors.
