Dual-screen laptops have been a hot commodity, and while there have been many attempts to make a practical and user-friendly model, there hasn’t been one that has worked as well as intended, in addition to looking somewhat ridiculous (like the HP Omen X 2S). Fortunately, Asus has delivered the first completely practical, beautiful, and stylish dual-screen laptop that is not only the best in its class, but also one of the best laptops of 2024.
I have absolutely loved my time with this powerhouse laptop, for many reasons. You can game on one screen while watching Netflix on the other, and the processor is fast enough to deliver all of this seamlessly on the dual screens. Surprisingly, it was light and easily portable to carry around, with a decent battery life, making it one of my favourite laptop experiences in recent years.
Design
The Asus Zenbook Duo has a unique architecture with sleek geometric lines that are customary to this brand. The aluminium brushed-style lid opens to reveal the dual screens, which rest on a solid double hinge that feels incredibly solid on any surface. There is a fold-out stand to get a customisable view of each screen, and the Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad pop out, so you can really get the full use out of both screens.
I tested this out in cafes, at home on my desk, couch and of course, the office. In each environment, both the hinge and stand stood firm, not showing any sign of difficulty and always letting me work it to any angle I needed.
The detachable keyboard and trackpad have their own battery life and lasted about 9 hours during my testing. Having that physical trackpad to scroll through and click as well as being able to use the touchscreen on the monitors, made it a really connected experience. As far as ports go, it offers two Thunderbolt 4, one USB-A, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an HDMI 2.1 port. The only thing that felt missing here was an SD or MicroSD card slot for easy transferring.
Display
The two screens offer 14-inch 4K OLED displays that look absolutely incredible. Watching movies and shows on the OLED in all lighting conditions provided some pretty spectacular results. Similarly, when gaming, the display boasts a 120hz refresh rate and can deliver 500 nits of peak brightness at the top end. This came in particularly handy when playing Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria with its dark caves, delivering some smooth gaming sessions.
Another thing I really appreciate about these displays is the multiple ways in which they can be used. You can rotate both of the displays to portrait mode, which is great for using sites like Kindle and makes script writing and editing much easier. You can also keep the keyboard connected to the second screen and use it like a traditional laptop, the snug fit of the Bluetooth keyboard, ensures that the screen is protected if you are using it in this mode.
Performance & Battery Life
Our version of the Zenbook Duo was packed with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185-H processor, 32 GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and an Intel Arc Graphics processor. This allows for it to stand out in the crowd and deliver some ultra-high performance in both the gaming and processing space if you ever need to do any video or audio editing. Render times were low for video editing and loading times on games were surprisingly minimal for this laptop too.
That being said, while editing is generally processor-dependent, the Intel Core Ultra 9 185-H processor makes this a double-edged sword in all the best ways, as you can cut through daily tasks and gaming alike on both a CPU and GPU end.
The unit does get toasty when using both screens on the go. While this doesn’t overly affect the performance too much, the noisy fans can be unsettling and put an extra drain on the battery. Asus advertises an 8-hour battery life, and I generally got this out of it when using it as my main device for the day.
You can change the settings to give a higher performance, and this definitely improves a gaming session (or a game on one screen and Netflix on the other, the dream combo for me!) The Zenbook Duo can easily handle this and I didn’t notice a huge dip in performance.
If you do like things on a higher-performance mode, the charging situation is perfect here. It cuts the battery down to 5 or 6 hours, depending on the intensity of the game you are playing. To keep the battery going, the 65W USB-C charging port, along with a Thunderbolt fast charging port will keep everything running smoothly here. Similar to the laptop, the detachable keyboard and trackpad lasted for 9 hours without needing to be re-connected to the device for recharging.
Verdict & Value
Overall, the Asus Zenbook Duo is one of the best laptops I have used in a while. It takes all the promise of a dual-screen machine and maximises it to its full potential. Not settling with just being a standard laptop, the processor offers a high-quality gaming experience, and the decent battery can last a full workday before needing a charge.
Overall, you pretty much need to weigh up if you can justify the super-premium price of almost A$4000 depending on the specs. Even so, this dual-screen laptop has some impressive specs that are worth every cent, particularly when it comes to maximising efficiency without compromising space and extra baggage.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights: Sleek design; Solid build quality; Nice keyboard; Super performance; Fantastic dual OLED displays
Lowlights: Lack of SD/micro SD card port.
Manufacturer: Asus
Price: A$3999 (Depending on model and specifications)
Available: Now
Review based on unit supplied by Asus and is currently available via Asus’s official website via select retailers.
