Asus VivoBook E403SA-US21 14″ Thin & Light Laptop (Intel Pentium Quad Core, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC, Win 10)
The Asus VivoBook E403SA-US21 is a 14″ thin-and-light laptop, which delivers premium look and feel at an affordable price of around $400.
Besides slim design of its 0.7″ thin aluminum-topped chassis, the 3.3-pound VivoBook E403SA-US21 offers crispy Full HD display resolution as one of its best selling points. In addition, this Windows 10-based laptop features a massive 57 WHr battery, which is very large for this type of a laptop. Asus claims the E403SA-US21 has an “all-day” battery life of up to 14 hours.
The rest of the specifications sheet isn’t as impressive, since only lower-mid-range internal components are included. Also, some perks like touchscreen, IPS wide viewing angles technology, or keyboard backlight are missing.
The heart of the system is the Intel Pentium N3700 processor. It’s a power-saving quad-core chip which can’t beat the popular dual-core Intel Core U-series CPUs, despite having four cores instead of two. Nevertheless, the Pentium N3700 with its Intel HD integrated graphics is serviceable when it comes to the daily routine home and office PC chores, as well as some very basic gaming. 4GB of RAM is a decent size, but it doesn’t follow the 8GB trend in the mainstream laptop category and isn’t enough for heavier multitaskers. For storage the notebook uses a 128-Gigabyte eMMC instead of slower hard drive storage. eMMC, however, isn’t as fast as solid state drive-based storage and sits somewhere between HDDs and SSDs on the performance scale. Of course, any hard drive-equipped laptop offers multiple times greater data storage space, starting at 500GB.
When it comes to the latest technologies incorporated in this laptop, use of the new USB-C type port is the only noticeable feature. Besides a single USB-C, the machine includes a non-surprising set of features including a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 port, HDMI video and mic / headphone audio ports, a media card reader, 802.11AC wireless Internet connection, and Bluetooth interface.
Specifications of the Asus VivoBook E403SA-US21
Here are the specs of the Asus VivoBook E403SA-US21 with descriptions of its features. For comparison against other laptops, you can use the "Compare Specs" button.
| Brand | Asus |
|---|---|
| Screen Size | 14-inch The 14" laptop screens are a compromise between portability of 13.3" or smaller laptop displays and comfort of the popular 15.6-inchers. |
| Screen Resolution | 1920x1080 pixels Full HD Full HD is the most common laptop screen resolution today. It provides a good image sharpness and a decent amount of space on the display for the user interface and programs. However, it isn't as good as the top-tier 4K Ultra HD. |
| Touchscreen | No This laptop doesn't support touchscreen input. |
| Other Display Specs | TN type Displays based on the old TN technology lack wide viewing angles you can find on IPS screens. The colors may look washed out or inverted at certain viewing angles. |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium N3700 (can do usual tasks, but can be slow) |
| Graphics (GPU) | Intel HD integrated graphics of low-end CPUs (only for the lightest gaming) |
| System Memory (RAM) Size | 4GB RAM 4GB is a small RAM size for computing in 2023. For smooth operation of a laptop during everyday tasks, at least 8GB is recommended. |
| Data Storage | 128GB eMMC 128GB is a relatively small storage space. However, it is usable if you don't store a lot of large files like movies and don't install a lot of programs. |
| DVD Optical Drive | None |
| Keyboard & Input | Non-backlit keyboard without dedicated number pad The keyboard has no backlit keys and no separate numeric pad you can usually find on the right side of the keyboard on many laptop models. Touchpad with click buttons built into the surface The left and right click buttons are built into the surface of the touchpad, as opposed to separate physical buttons. |
| Speakers & Audio | Stereo speakers As usual, the device features a pair of built-in stereo speakers. |
| Camera | Front-facing web camera Laptops usually feature a frontal webcam located on the display bezel. This laptop is no exception. |
| Wi-Fi Wireless | 802.11AC The 802.11AC is the previous-generation wireless networking standard. It's also known as Wi-Fi 5. 802.11AC is succeeded by 802.11AX Wi-Fi 6 with data transfer speed and multi-device connectivity improvements. |
| Ethernet Network Port | No This laptop has no Ethernet LAN port for wired internet and networking connectivity. |
| Mobile broadband (4G LTE) | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes This laptop has a built-in Bluetooth module. It enables you to connect the computer to Bluetooth mice and other Bluetooth peripherals, smartphones, and other Bluetooth-equipped devices. |
| USB Ports | 1 x USB 3.0 + 1 x USB 2.0 A pair of standard full-size USB ports. 1 x USB-C A compact type of USB port, commonly found in modern laptops and phones. |
| Video Output Ports | 1 x HDMI HDMI is a widely used digital video output port. You can find HDMI-in ports on most computer monitors and TVs. |
| Media Card Reader | SD card reader The laptop has a slot for full-size SD memory cards, used in many digital cameras. You can also use microSD cards with a card adapter. |
| Battery | 57 WHr capacity "Up to 14 hours" of battery life |
| Weight | 3.3 pounds |
| Height | 0.7" |
| Width | 13.3" |
| Depth | 9.3" |
| Windows Version | Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Home is aimed at the regular home and office computer users. Only select business users need the Professional edition. Windows 10 Home users are eligible for a free upgrade to the latest Windows 11 Home. |
| Warranty | 1-year A typical laptop warranty. |
User Reviews and Q&A on the Asus VivoBook E403SA-US21
Below you can read and submit user reviews, questions, and answers about the laptop. Thank you for your contribution.
Please CLICK HERE to provide e-mail for receiving notifications when there are new replies
(The e-mail won't be used for any other purposes.)
Charmaine Cheng –
Hi there — thinking about buying this laptop for drafting on AutoCAD and Revit, do you think this laptop will be suitable? As well, will I be able to up the RAM if needed? Thanks!
Notify me of replies Unwatch this thread
Danijel Z –
The Pentium CPU in this laptop is typically used for routine home and office tasks, not engineering software and such. The Intel Core i-series processors are more suitable for AutoCAD and similar more demanding programs (quad-core Intel Core i7 are the best for the purpose). But they’re more expensive… If you have a limited budget, I advise you to take a look a this HP 14″ model: http://laptoping.com/specs/product/hp-14-an013nr-14-inch-notebook-amd-e2-4gb-ram-32-gb-hard-drive-emmc/
It has a much better screen, upgradeable RAM as opposed to soldered on the Asus E403SA, and faster processor (although not in the same class as the Intel Core CPUs). The limitation of the HP is small storage space, so if you plan to install both AutoCAD and Revit (and nothing else), you’ll be left with only a few Gigabytes or even without free storage space. And you’ll probably have to install the programs from a separate storage like USB or memory card.
On the other hand, the Asus will be able to run CAD and Revit since it meets their hardware requirements, but not so snappy and maybe with occasional slowdowns.