ASUS ZENBOOK DUO
A novel concept for a laptop that unfortunately can’t quite pull off its grand ideas
From $1,999 asus.com.au
While the idea of dualscreened devices is still interesting, it’s a far cry from being original. Apple’s recent foray into slim Touch
Bars on MacBooks is fundamentally a very selectively implemented second screen; Microsoft’s promised Surface Neo is the final extent of the concept. With that in mind, we tried to repress our childlike wonder when Asus revealed the Zenbook Duo. Maybe we shouldn’t give bonus points for doing what Nintendo did in 2004, but when something looks this cool, it’s hard not to get swept up.
But while using the Zenbook Duo does prove it to be an exciting prospect, in practice the idea of a dual-screened laptop hasn’t fully formed yet. The Duo is a surprisingly chunky beast for a 14-inch laptop, weighing 1.5kg. Most of this is due to the secondary screen, a 12.9-inch touch-controlled rectangle that acts as an extension to the main display itself. A full touchscreen pressed on top of a processor and a discrete graphics card means there’s a lot of heat to be dispelled, so the Duo has to be thick enough for sufficient cooling.
Despite this, heat management inside the chassis is handled by two tiny fans and a single metal heat spreader, so the Duo can get pretty hot at times. If you’re using it for extended periods, heat buildup is
inevitable, particularly if you’re using demanding software. In our tests, the processor’s heat often spiked.
There’s plenty to like here, though. The exterior design of the laptop is beautiful, from the circular milled pattern on the back of the screen to the robust feel of the keys. The laptop opens on an ergonomic hinge that pushes the keyboard up towards the user at an angle for more comfortable typing. The lower screen (named the ScreenPad Plus) occupies half of the laptop’s lower segment, with the trackpad then pushed to the side next to a somewhat truncated keyboard.
The ScreenPad Plus is a proper high-res touch display, and the Duo comes with a nice Bluetooth stylus for precision touch controls. It’s not really ideal for digital artists, as the display is only about three inches tall, but it acts directly as a second screen, enabling you to shrink open tabs down and neatly fit them there.
It’s something of a shame that the upper screen - also an LED-backlit 1080p panel - doesn’t have touch functionality, as the slender nature of the ScreenPad Plus makes it feel rather cramped to use.
From top to bottom
There are other issues with dualscreen integration too. The lower display links directly to the top, meaning that your cursor can move seamlessly between the two. When using the device, this means that it’s easy to miss the taskbar at the bottom of the upper screen by ‘overshooting’ with your mouse or trackpad. It’s a minor frustration only amplified by the tiny size of the trackpad - which doesn’t contain a hidden numpad, like the larger Zenbook Pro Duo.
A few good design choices do shine through. There’s a function key dedicated to locking keyboard input, so you can rest your hand on the keyboard while using the touchscreen. The included software is also pretty good: use it to independently control the brightness of the lower screen, act as a digital numpad, or open a number of apps with quick taps.
The ScreenPad Plus desperately wants to make itself useful here, but we can’t help but feel that a lot of users will make frequent use of the function button that deactivates the bottom screen.
With regard to the internal hardware, it’s all fairly bog-standard stuff for a modern laptop. A 10thgeneration Intel Core i7 processor adds up to decent computing power capable of performing at the same level as anything else in its price bracket, while 16GB of RAM can handle most tasks. An M.2 SSD means that file transfer speeds are super fast; not quite up to spec with comparable laptops, but not by so much that most users will notice the difference.
The one strange inclusion here is a discrete GPU, specifically the GeForce MX250 from Nvidia. While the MX250 is a modern graphics chip, only a year old, it’s already fallen out of favour thanks to Iris Plus, the integrated graphics solution now available on certain 10th-generation processors from Intel. The CPU in this laptop is not one of those processors, leaving the question of why Asus didn’t simply go with Iris Plus.
The graphical power of the MX250 barely surpasses Iris Plus, and does so at the cost of more heat generation, space and power. It’s a dubious inclusion at best, especially considering that the CPU inside the Zenbook Duo is already equipped with Intel’s slightly older UHD 620 integrated graphics. In graphical tests, the Zenbook Duo wasn’t able to significantly outclass any ultra-light laptops using Iris Plus, such as the new line of Dell XPS 2-in-1 devices.
Other than graphics, the hardware performs to expectations. It’s perfectly competent at video editing and rendering work, although anything beyond casual gaming isn’t really an option on the Zenbook Duo, even if the dual-screen setup didn’t pose potential control issues. Turning down the graphics significantly will make most older games playable, but new triple-A titles are definitely out.
Hide and sleek
Background apps is definitely where the ScreenPad Plus excels. We’ve all had Spotify or YouTube open in another hidden tab when working on something particularly dull, and being able to drop those open windows down onto the lower screen is delightful. Reaching up from the keyboard and using a finger to swipe through songs is a particular small joy. A lot of what the ScreenPad Plus does are also features seen in Apple’s Touch Bar, which fulfils its purpose without obstructing the keyboard and trackpad.
Honestly, it’s hard to tell who the Zenbook Duo is designed for. Video editors could make good use of the touchscreen, but the lack of a 4K display and shrunken keyboard will discourage many professionals. And for mobile productivity, the usefulness
of the screen is tempered by the extra thickness and weight. The bottom screen also doesn’t seem capable of matching the brightness of the main display, either, which is disappointing.
Battery life takes a hit. The Duo can’t keep up with other laptops in that regard, and was unable to make it past six hours on full brightness with both screens active in our tests.
There are other features beyond the ScreenPad Plus, of course. The Zenbook Duo has a handful of nice security features built in, from a manual webcam power button to a quick lock function key, which is perfect for thwarting a nosy family member or colleague. An infrared camera setup means you can use Windows Hello to unlock your Duo with your face, even in dimly lit spaces. Fully integrated Alexa support in Windows 10 is also a pleasant addition to the omnipresent Cortana.
Physically speaking, the Zenbook Duo has all the connectivity most users could want. Two standard USB ports are joined by a high-speed USB-C port, MicroSD card reader, and audio jack. There’s even an HDMI port for linking a second (or third, in this case) display. There’s also 802.11ax high-speed Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, providing the fastest in wireless connections to make up for the lack of a standard Ethernet port.
While both screens do have their drawbacks, the upper display is still a decent LED panel; colours are vibrant and sharp, surrounded by a superslim bezel. The viewing angle is fantastic, with a 178-degree field-ofview that makes it great for multiple viewers to crowd around and watch. We wish it was a bit bigger, though Asus has released a supercharged, 15.6-inch model of the Duo: the Zenbook Pro Duo.
Unfortunately, it feels like the Zenbook Duo is doomed to remain in the shadow of that big brother. The Pro model is almost twice the price (depending on the model you opt for), but the larger form factor makes it better suited to the double-screen design. It also packs a 4K main display and ScreenPad Plus, along with a far superior GPU and the aforementioned integrated numpad.
Yes, this version is significantly cheaper; $2,000 isn’t a slender asking price, sure, but performance-wise the Zenbook Duo is worth the money. With a unique selling point as significant as the ScreenPad Plus, it feels like Asus could’ve priced this laptop higher without incurring too much wrath from consumers.
But that lower price comes at a cost, and in this case it took the ZenBook Duo a point where we just can’t quite heartily recommend the product. It has its merits for sure, and there will be plenty of people who could make great use of such a gigantic touch bar, so we can’t disparage it too much. If the twindisplay gimmick doesn’t sound like a gimmick to you, then you might be better off buying the Pro edition.