Unboxing the Asus Zenbook Duo: A Game-Changer in Dual-Screen Laptop Technology

Some time ago I reviewed Lenovo’s very impressive Yoga Book 9i, a laptop that may not have given us an exciting new folding future, but it did give us an infinitely ambitious approach regarding the overall concept of a laptop.

You can not give the same credit to Asus here, because Lenovo has been behind the concept of a laptop frame with two screens instead of one screen and a keyboard (or “deck”, as it is also called) no great from the start. But sometimes the trick is to follow the flow of a beginner and turn their messages to your advantage. That’s exactly what Asus has done, and their Zenbook Duo is a refined version of Lenovo’s idea. And that’s why I would recommend it.

The concept is very simple, especially if you are already familiar with Yoga Book 9i. Instead of a single screen, both the top and bottom are 14″ OLED panels, and while you can create a touch-based keyboard on the bottom, it comes with a kind of lid with a keyboard and trackpad that can be placed on top to mimic the functionality and shape of a typical laptop type pseudo-trackpad, Asus gives you an entire deck that fills the entire bottom, effectively a ‘hide Zenbook Duo special functionality if you don’t want it.

In addition, there is no need for the origami cardboard that comes with the Yoga Book 9i, which must be assembled into a stand to hold the device if you want to use both screens as dual monitors. No, Asus has a built-in stand in the bottom of the case, so the whole thing can be folded into a normal laptop, and it can be much more if you want it to.

Here’s a hint:

The build itself is a bit thick, but it’s not much heavier or thicker than the average laptop, which in itself is pretty awesome. You can use it in three ways: as a normal laptop with the magnetic keyboard deck on top of the screen below, where POGO switches ensure stable connection and charging. Then you can use both displays using the stand, remove the keyboard and get a 28-inch space together in a portable form factor, or send the displays directly with the keyboard to completely disconnected from Bluetooth. All three are relatively smooth to get into.

And there is no real sacrifice elsewhere. There are two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-A 3.2 port, HDMI and audio jack, WIFI 6E, a fairly comfortable keyboard with a large trackpad and a very respectable battery life of around seven hours with a normal workload. Not bad at all, and far, far better than the Yoga Book 9i.

You get more Intel Core Ultra processors, as well as up to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD. As for the GPU, it seems that it is not possible to get a special card, so you have to make do with Arc, but for Photoshop, mild video editing, and perhaps more importantly, several open tabs in Chrome or other word processing tools, there’s really nothing the Zenbook Duo can’t do. Each screen is also a fairly saturated 1920×1200 OLED, and although it’s 60Hz, which is a shame in this 120Hz era, it’s really hard to find anything to complain about.
It must be said that we experienced the device getting a little warm during a moderate workload, which is expected when two OLED panels are working. But beyond that? Well, you have to be sure that you are going to use the Zenbook Duo without a fold, otherwise it doesn’t really make sense to throw extra money at this accessory. But if you can imagine being more efficient on the go, and therefore more versatile, the Zenbook Duo is in a class of its own, and well worth the £1,500 price tag.

Here’s a hint: