I compared two brand new Lunar Lake laptops — here’s what I’d buy

Intel recently introduced its new Core Ultra Series 2 chipsets, otherwise known as Lunar Lake, that are a part of Microsoft’s AI initiative caled Copilot+ PC. Its goal: to make longer-lasting Windows laptops that better compete with Apple’s very efficient MacBook lineup. But Intel isn’t alone, with Qualcomm also introducing new chipsets that also ramp up the efficiency of Windows laptops.

Two laptops are among the first to sport Lunar Lake, and both are from Asus. The Zenbook S 14 is a very good initial entrant, while the ExpertBook P5 is less expensive, but that’s about all. Read on to learn why the Zenbook is the better Lunar Lake representative and more likely to end up on our list of the best laptops.

Specs and configurations

The ExpertBook P5 costs has an attractive starting price of $1,100, which includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V chipset, 16 GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch QHD+ IPS display (the only option). I reviewed the higher-end version, which is $1,300 for a Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

The Zenbook S 14 is more expensive, starting at $$1,500 for a similar configuration with a Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display.

As we’ll see, while the ExpertBook P5 is less expensive, it’s not necessarily the better value.

Design

The Zenbook S 14 follows Asus’ usual design for its premium consumer lineup. It uses an aluminum lid that’s been treated to act like a “high-tech ceramic,” which it calls “Ceraluminum.” That makes it very light and yet it remains very rigid. The lid has a texture that’s comfortable in hand. Its hinge is smooth and allows opening the lid with one hand. It looks great, with an attractive geometric design on the lid and a choice of either gray or white. It’s a sharp laptop.

The ExpertBook P5 is a lot less impressive. Its all-aluminum chassis is light enough, but it’s not as thin and the screen is surprisingly flexible. For a business-class machine, the ExpertBook just doesn’t give off the same quality feel. Its design is minimalistic and just fine, but it doesn’t have the sort of modern appeal of the Zenbook S 14. And its lid is too stiff when opening the laptop up. Simply put, it’s not nearly as nicely designed.

The Zenbook and ExpertBook have similar keyboards, although the Zenbook’s switches are snappier, while the ExpertBook gives more of an impression of bottoming out. They both have large keycaps and plenty of key spacing. Both also have mechanical touchpads, and neither is all that great. Haptic touchpads are preferable and increasingly common.

Connectivity is similar, although the ExpertBook P5 offers more legacy ports and the Zenbook an additional Thunderbolt 4 port. Both support the latest wireless connectivity, while the ExpertBook also offers the previous generation, likely to meet the needs of businesses.

Finally, both laptops have 1080p webcams with infrared cameras for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition. Both have equally fast Neural Processing Units (NPUs) for faster AI performance on-device.

Performance

Both laptops use Intel’s latest Core Ultra Series 2 chipsets, specifically the Core Ultra 7 258V. This is an 8-core (four Performance and four Low Power Efficient), 8-thread chipset running at up to 4.8GHz. It’s a 17-watt chipset that can boost to 37 watts, putting it somewhere in between Intel’s Meteor Lake 15-watt U-series and 28-watt H-series chipsets. In addition, the chipset introduces Intel’s latest integrated Intel Arc 140V GPU, which falls somewhere in between the older Intel Arc and entry-level discrete GPUs.

According to our benchmarks, the two laptops perform similarly. The Zenbook S 14’s GPU performance is better, as is its single-core performance in Cinebench R24. But the differences wouldn’t be noticeable in practice. And while these results are slower than those from new chipsets from Qualcomm and AMD, they’re fast enough for even demanding productivity users. Neither laptop is better for gamers or creators.

Display

The Zenbook S 14 uses a 14.0-inch 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED display running at up to 120Hz, while the ExpertBook P5 uses a 14.0-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS display running at up to 144Hz. That makes the Zenbook’s display a bit sharper and, of course, it has OLED’s usual dynamic colors and inky blacks. The ExpertBook’s display has a faster refresh rate, but that’s not much of an advantage given the relatively slow GPUs on these laptops.

Simply put, the Zenbook’s display has wider colors and much deeper contrast. Oddly, its color accuracy was very poor, but that’s unusual for OLED and is either a physical flaw or could be a software bug. The ExpertBook P5’s display has very good measurements for an IPS panel, but it won’t be nearly as competent for creative work or streaming high dynamic range (HDR) content. It’s much brighter, though, which is good for anyone who needs to work in bright ambient lighting.

Portability

The Zenbook S 14 is considerably thinner than the ExpertBook P5, but both are around the same width and depth and the same weight. As with many 14-inch laptops, these two offer a good balance between display size and portability.

More important is their battery life. Intel’s Lunar Lake chipsets are aimed at being more efficient and competitive with the likes of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X and Apple’s M3 (and soon, M4) chipsets. And it’s here that perhaps the most significant difference exists between the two. The Zenbook is a very long-lasting machine, competing strongly with, say, the MacBook Air M3 in all three of our tests — web browsing, video looping, and running the demanding Cinebench R24 multi-core test. The MacBook only beats the Zenbook in web browsing, by around two hours.

However, the ExpertBook isn’t nearly as long-lasting. It’s only about half as strong in web browsing and falls significantly short in the other two tests. It does have a smaller battery, but not enough to explain these results. And the same with its less power-hungry IPS display.

The Zenbook is a much better Lunar Lake representative

These two laptops are among the first to introduce Intel’s new and very important Lunar Lake chipsets. Windows needs a shot in the arm to compete with Apple’s hyper-efficient MacBooks and Qualcomm, which has stepped up. But Qualcomm runs on Windows on Arm, with at least the potential for spotty performance and incompatibility.

Simply put, the Zenbook S 14 is a much better representative of the new chipset’s potential. It’s not terribly fast, but neither is the ExpertBook P5. But it lasts a lot longer on a charge, and it’s a much more attractive laptop overall. The ExpertBook is cheaper, but not so much so that it’s an even match.