Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E
The future of laptops?
The Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E, announced at CES 2021, is the latest dual-screen laptop from the company, which seems determined to make a case for a second screen on a laptop.
Previous ZenBook Duos, plus the gaming-oriented Asus Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550, have hinted at the possibilities of the use of a second screen, but while we appreciated Asus trying something different with the laptop form factor, the second screen on those devices have never felt essential. With the ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E, Asus is hoping to change that.
Design
The most remarkable aspect of the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E’s design is the second screen, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
On first taking the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E out of the box, you wouldn’t think that it packed a second screen. It looks like a premium thin and light Ultrabook, which will please anyone worried that the second screen would lead to a bulky device.
With dimensions of 32.40 x 22.20 x 1.69cm and a weight of 1.62kg, this is a 14-inch laptop that you should find pretty easy to carry around. It sports the brushed metal finish we’ve seen on other ZenBooks – and, once again, it results in a laptop that feels both premium and sturdy.
In terms of connectivity, the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E offers a decent selection of ports for a machine that is productivity focussed. On the left sit two USB-C ports, which can be used to charge the laptop, and a full-size HDMI port. On the right is a USB-A port, audio jack and microSD card slot. That last one is a welcome inclusion, and will prove a particularly handy addition for digital creatives.
A dual-fan design to keeps the components cool, along with a body that opens up to allow for better cooling.
Of course, open up the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E, and its unique design will be revealed.
The second screen, known as the ScreenPad Plus, sits directly below the main screen. It’s a 12.65-inch touchscreen with a 1,920 x 515 resolution and stylus support. Sadly, a stylus isn’t included.
The IPS panel is bright and vibrant, and means that the second screen doesn’t feel like a second thought. The ScreenPad on earlier ZenBook Duos didn’t appear as bright or vibrant as the main screen. Thankfully, there aren’t any such visual discrepancies here.
Since the ScreenPadPlus sits just below the main screen, it means that once again the keyboard is brought forward to the bottom of the lower half of the laptop. This will take some getting used to, and more immediately means that there’s no place on the laptop to rest your wrists while typing. On traditional laptops, you can use the body of the laptop below the keyboard.
If you’re working at a desk then you could use a separate wrist rest, but it makes working on your lap more uncomfortable. If you’re looking for a laptop to type on while seated on your sofa, this isn’t it.
The keyboard features two extra buttons above the touchpad that relate to the ScreenPad Plus. The first one quickly swaps content between the main screen and the second one. This is handy if you want to bring an open window from the main screen to the ScreenPad Plus. A quick tap of this button does that, and resizes the windows to display on the smaller display.
The second button disables the ScreenPad Plus, which is useful if you want to preserve battery; or, if you’re not using the second screen and don’t want to be distracted by it (or accidentally tap on it).
Performance
The Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E is Intel Evo certified, which means it has to offer specific features. As with Project Athena and Ultrabooks before it, Intel Evo highlights laptops that come with premium components and features; the idea being that if you buy an Intel Evo laptop, you’re guaranteed to get a certain level of performance.
So, the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E comes with an 11th-generation Intel Core processor (a choice of either an Intel Core i7-1165G or Intel Core i5-1135G7), Intel Iris X graphics and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.
Intel Evo laptops must also have thin bezels around the screen, Wi-Fi 6, offer over nine hours of battery life, and wake up in less than a second.
Intel is serious about the Evo label being a mark of quality for laptops, and Asus definitely appears to respect that. As we covered in the design section of the review, the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E looks and feels like a premium laptop, and the good news is that it delivers performance to match. Windows 10 boots up fast, and it runs smoothly as well.
In our time with the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E, we loaded several apps at once, did a lot of web browsing and a spot of media streaming – throughout the laptop performed brilliantly.
The fans were noticeably loud, though. A dual-fan design to keeps the components cool, along with a body that opens up to allow for better cooling, mean this laptop can get noisy. However, the cooling tech allows the laptop to work at speed for long periods of time without throttling performance.
So in order to get sustained performance with the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E, you’ll have to make do with fan noise.
As for the second screen, Asus has done a lot of work to ensure it’s a useful addition. Better integration with apps such as Photoshop and Lightroom make it a genuinely decent tool if you regularly use those applications.
The Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482E is the company’s latest dual-screen laptop. To Asus’ credit, it’s worked hard to ensure that the second screen is more than a mere curio, and it’s now more useful and customisable than ever. New 11th Gen Intel processors, plenty of RAM and a sleek design make this a brilliant premium laptop, but it won’t be for everyone.