Review - ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo 15.6 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Before starting this review, we would like to say the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is no friend to your wallet. This isn’t the kind of laptop that you brag to your pals about its bang for your buck. You’ll soon find yourself frustrated with that kind of thinking. The best word to describe this laptop would be ‘ridiculous’ but in a good way.

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is one of the most fascinating laptops to come out in recent years. It’s essentially a gaming laptop with which the manufacturer wants to attract creative professionals and hobbyists. Why? Because it comes with two different screens, setting itself apart from all the other ASUS laptops.

The many pros of this laptop may not compel you to buy it over a big workstation, but you’ll definitely be surprised by its benefits.

Specs Sheet

Processor: Intel Core i7 9th Generation
RAM: 16 GB RAM
Storage: 512GB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) OLED touchscreen
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM)
Battery: 71Wh 8-cell battery pack
Weight: around 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg)
Operating System: Windows 10 Home
SKU: UX581GV-H2004T

Design

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo comes with a big widescreen display above its keyboard. This has been an evolving trend among gaming laptops for the past few years. Some laptops use the space above the keyboard to fit heavy graphics hardware and cooling. This Duo has done the same thing here, the difference is that it’s all hidden under a second screen.

This might be your first time seeing a laptop like this and it may come across as weird. Don’t worry. We had the same first reaction as well, but it soon started to look normal as we got used to it.

Since the laptop is almost £2500, its build quality is premium. Parts that are not covered in glass are made from aluminium. The pads at the bottom give a leather-like feel and help keep the laptop in place. The size and weight of this thing are also fairly manageable, considering the hardware inside. The laptop may give off the feeling that it’s built for designers and animators, but it’s a gaming beast at its core.

Display

Now let’s discuss about the meat and potatoes of this laptop, the two screens. The main screen is top-notch with 15.6-inch 4K resolution OLED panel. Almost no other laptop has an OLED screen. TVs and phones now have the right-sized panels but laptops still don’t have one yet.

You can control the screen’s look, but only to a certain extent. It has an app inside that lets you modify the colour temperature, however, you can’t change the saturation if you prefer a less sharp look.

The 14-inch screen above the keyboard has the same resolution as the main one, but its overall display is different. It has a matte finish LCD. This may make it look less stellar than its counterpart but that is a good design choice because it deflects cumbersome reflections and delivers a smooth surface for the stylus.

Keyboard

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo has an amazing keyboard. Its chiclet keys have a great feel and response. It doesn’t have a palm rest, but they do give a custom rest in the box. There are three levels to the backlight and a large number of resourceful shortcut function keys. You can even change the fan behavior with just one click.

Its touchpad is very solid and is made of textured glass, delivering one of the best surface feel out of all the touchpads in the market. There’s a surprise feature here: click on the calculator button to its top-right and you’ll see the touchpad turning into a number pad. Now we have three screens in just one laptop!

Connectivity

There aren’t as many connectors here as some other gaming laptops, but most of the important ones are available. It has a full-sized HDMI, two USB 3.1, a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sadly, there’s no memory card slot.

Performance

This Duo has an Intel Core i7 (9th Gen) processor. Paired with a 512 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, its performance is off the charts. You can play any kind of games with max settings and good frame rates on this beast. However, if your only worry is gaming then there are better options available in the same price range.  

Battery Life

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo can definitely be categorized as a work laptop, but not for long hours away from the charger. It consumes a lot of power and may last for around three hours of moderate work. At the end of the day, this laptop was made with performance in mind. Not for a full day of Excel or Word use.

Verdict

The verdict is simple. It has excellent screens, a great keyboard, and a good graphics card. It’s a laptop worthy of the moniker ‘crazy genius’. If you’re tired of the same age-old laptop design then give the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo a try.

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