At the conclusion of last year's Tech Support Showdown, Asus fell into the middle of the pack at 5th place. This year, Asus is back with a new game plan, starting with improved chat functionality and a gamut of new FAQs complemented by better search. And if that's not enough, Asus also has a brand-new call center in case you want to speak to a human being the old-fashioned way.
Available via web, social media, live chat and phone, Asus seemed ready for the challenge. My VivoBook X540BA and I went undercover to investigate further.
Asus tech support
| Overall | Web score | Phone score | Avg. call time | Phone number | Web support |
| 65/100 | 45/60 | 20/40 | 15:15 | 1-888-678-3688 | Link |
Web and social media support
Asus gives consumers a number of methods to reach a representative online. For social media, there's Facebook (@asus.n.america) and Twitter (@AsusHelpUS). Asus is pretty expedient on the Facebook front. When I asked how to make the screen more vivid, a rep responded in 10 minutes asking for the laptop's serial number. Once I shared that information, the agent correctly mentioned the MyAsus hub and the Splendid and Tru2Life utilities housed within. The entire interaction took approximately 15 minutes.
It took a little longer getting the agent's attention on Twitter. Eleven minutes went by before I got any acknowledgment of my question, "How do I adjust audio presets?" There wasn't much back and forth as the rep sent over a link with an FAQ for IceWizard, the correct software for the job.
I gave the MyAsus app a try to see if the representative could assist me with Asus' Splendid software. I spoke to ShawnDee N on Monday at 2:44 p.m. about getting help with the display and by 3:07 p.m., I had my answer. Things took a little longer when I chatted with Ramon L. at 7:30 p.m. on a Tuesday. Once again, I asked about adjusting screen vividness. Even after walking me through fixing the resolution, sending me to advanced settings in the display control panel, hitting the color calibration option, then suggesting that I update my driver settings and restart the laptop, we never came to the correct answer. The chat took 24:26 from start to end.
Asus' support website continues to be a font of information with plenty of FAQs. I wasn't surprised by how easily I found how-to tips for the Asus-based software. But while there were some entries running down key features of Microsoft Edge, there was nothing on installing the browser. I got the same results on the MyAsus app.
Phone support
Asus has call centers located in the United States, Jamaica and the Philippines that are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. PST Monday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, the call centers are open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's not the 24/7 access that I imagine most consumers would want, but it's still a decent amount of time in case you need troubleshooting help.
I conducted my first call over the weekend and spoke to Arielle at 1:18 p.m. on Saturday to ask how to make the display more vivid. After explaining the problem, she put me on hold for 4 minutes to search for the answer. She walked me through a reset, which took longer than necessary. When I mentioned that I saw a notification that said Normal, she said that didn’t play a factor and proceeded to steer me toward updating the VGA and chipset drivers. The call ended with me asking if there was any preinstalled software that could take care of this. Arielle answered no and earned Asus its first strike. From start to end, the call took 20 minutes.
I made my second call on Sunday at 2:36 p.m. and was connected with Manuel. I asked how to change the audio profile. Like Arielle, Manuel placed me on hold to research an answer. When he came back, he correctly mentioned the IcePower AudioWizard. From there, I thought he was going to walk me through the process. Instead, he asked for my email so he could send me the steps. When I asked if he would walk me through the process, he said, "yeah, we're just told that we shouldn’t walk you through, OK?" The call concluded after 13:14. While it was a correct answer, I wished he had walked me through over the phone rather than send an email.
For my last call on Tuesday at 6:33 p.m., I spoke to Selena to inquire about how to get the new Microsoft Edge browser. Similar to the previous calls, I was put on hold while she looked for the answer. It took only 3 minutes and 14 seconds for her to come back with the correct answer — and then ask me for my email address to send the instructions with the link. The call concluded after 12:31.
Warranty
Most Asus laptops come with a one-year standard warranty. However, some laptops might have longer warranties depending on the line. Included in the coverage is accidental damage and free two-way shipping. And if you ever need to update the storage or RAM, you can do so without fear of voiding the warranty. Just don't damage the system in the process because that will void the warranty and you can expect to foot the bill for repairs.
As of October 2019, Asus has added extended warranties for its systems in the form of Asus Premium Care, which can be purchased up to 90 days after the initial purchase. A one-year extension will cost $40.99 for a VivoBook or ZenBook, while a four-year extended warranty will set you back $299.99. You can also purchase extended warranties via distributors and resellers.
Bottom line
Asus continues to improve its tech support. I was really impressed with how expedient and knowledgeable Asus' social media team is –– my longest interaction took only 15 minutes. Live Chat was a little longer, but the agent eventually got me where I needed to go.
And even though Asus has invested in a new call center company, the agents need to undergo another round of training. Although they're very polite and want to assist consumers, I would expect the reps to walk you through the process, especially if I was a consumer who wasn't tech-savvy. But on a high note, Asus customers will appreciate the company's new extended warranties.
Overall, Asus has great online tech support, but the phone support still has some work to do.
