Conceptually, it’s very similar to what Lenovo did last year with the Yoga Book 9i, complete with shorthand gestures that help you open a virtual keyboard or trackpad, expand the screen to fill both screens, or “scroll” content on one screen. to the other. . It is quite easy to understand all this. For the most part, working with the Zenbook Duo is no different than working with two monitors on a standard PC.
Many previous dual-screen laptops suffered on the performance front, and while the Duo didn’t set any records, it’s perfectly capable across a wide spectrum of tests. Business applications load and run quickly and graphics capabilities are acceptable despite the lack of a discrete graphics processor. Even the AI-oriented performance was reasonably good (again, considering there’s no GPU to power it). If there is a drawback, it is the battery life. I got just 6 hours and 48 minutes of YouTube playback with one screen active, and that dropped to 5 hours and 13 minutes with both live. No score is that good.
The muscle behind this is an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU with 32GB of RAM and a 1 terabyte solid state drive. Port selection is fine, if a little limited, with two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-A port, and a full-size HDMI output connector.
The Zenbook Duo is quite compact given its design, at 25mm thick with or without the keyboard sandwiched in between. The entire package weighs 3.5 pounds, or 2.8 pounds without the keyboard. It’s a little heavy, as expected, but less than some traditional 14-inch laptops I’ve tested in recent years.
While the dual-screen concept continues to improve, it’s not without some lingering growing pains. I encountered occasional issues where screens would not automatically reorient from portrait to landscape. And the unit had the same problem with third-party chargers that I encountered with the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, exiting plugged-in mode and switching to battery power and back again, almost at random.
Photography: Asus
However, my biggest complaint is related to the design. Unlike the Yoga Book 9i, the Duo’s screens are not aligned with each other when the screen is opened fully. Instead, one is situated more than a centimeter behind the other, creating a stepped staircase effect. This displeases the OCD side of my brain, which insists that side-by-side screens be aligned in the same plane.
That said, having two screens is a game-changer when it comes to mobile productivity, even if they’re a little bitchy. I’m used to working on dual screens in my daily life when I’m at the desk, but when I’m traveling and have to switch to working directly from a single laptop screen, my productivity disappears.
The Duo is priced at $1,700, and that’s for the fully loaded configuration. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s much less expensive than most other dual-screen laptops and even competitive with many that have a single screen. Ultimately, I find it hard to find a reason not to recommend this device if you’re like me, since a single small screen closes you in and slows you down.