06 Dec
Blog

Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Review: A Showstopping Display

Asus ZenBook 14X OLED sits on a tabletop.

Asus ZenBook 14X OLED

RRP $ 1,400.00

"The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED is a fantastic laptop with a spectacular display."

advantages

  • Spectacular OLED display

  • Solid build quality

  • Excellent keyboard

  • ScreenPad 2 adds some features

  • Competent productivity performance

disadvantage

  • Battery life is mediocre

  • A bit expensive

Asus relies on all-in for OLED laptops. The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED, which we named the best laptop under $ 1,000, unveiled the cheapest laptop with an OLED display that you could buy. There are two OLED displays in the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED. And it even introduced the first detachable Windows tablet with an OLED display in the Vivobook 13 Slate OLED.

The company is even including OLED in the name of a laptop, underscoring what it thinks is essential. Such is the case with the ZenBook 14X OLED, a laptop that will launch in early 2022 with – you guessed it – a high-resolution OLED panel.

I tested the high-end version of the ZenBook 14X OLED for $ 1,400 with a Core i7-1165G7, 14-inch 16:10 OLED display, and Nvidia MX450 graphics. It's a superior addition to the ever-growing stall of premium 14-inch laptops, and its OLED display is undoubtedly a nice one. The smaller ZenBook 13 OLED still offers better value, but the higher resolution and improved performance of the 14-inch model make it a standout option beyond the screen too.

draft

Asus ZenBook 14X OLED sits on a tabletop.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ZenBook 14X OLED has aesthetics that aren't as minimalistic as some other laptops I recently reviewed. First there is the usual Asus concentric circular vortex on the lid, which revolves around the silver Asus symbol that is typical of the ZenBook line.

Second, the angles on the ZenBook 14X OLED are more aggressive, especially along the bottom edge of the lid and the side and back edges of the case. Various other edges are chamfered for additional flair. The laptop comes in two colors, Lilac Mist (lavender) and Pine Gray (anthracite), and mine was the latter.

It's a sleek laptop that's more attractive than the Samsung Galaxy Book and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro, for example, which both have the minimalist aesthetic I just mentioned. The ZenBook 14X OLED leans more towards the exotic design of the HP Specter x360 14 than the simpler sophistication of the Dell XPS 13, and it works well.

Asus is known for making solid laptops, and the ZenBook 14X OLED is no different. It is made of machined aluminum and shows no bends or bends in the lid, keyboard deck, or case base. It's built so solidly that the military certification tests Asus conducted seem redundant – the ZenBook 14X OLED is easily as rugged as the best out there, including the XPS 13 and Specter x360 14.

The ZenBook 14X OLED has small bezels around the display to create a portable laptop.

It's far stiffer than the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro, which showed some flexion in the lid and a flexion in the keyboard deck. The hinge of the ZenBook 14X OLED allows the lid to be opened with one hand and still holds the display in place with a tiny shake while working. It also supports the lower chassis at an angle, which allows for more comfortable typing and increased airflow. The ZenBook 14X OLED is a solid laptop that feels good in the hand.

Speaking of which, the ZenBook 14X OLED uses small bezels around its 16:10 14-inch display to create a comfortably sized laptop. It's almost exactly the same width and height as the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro and the same thickness of 0.67 inches. The ZenBook is only slightly heavier than the IdeaPad at 3.09 pounds versus 3.04 pounds.

Given the Lenovo's equally small bezels, this seems like about the size you're going to get if you build a laptop with a 16:10 14-inch display. You can get thinner laptops, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9, which is 0.59 inches thick, but the ZenBook 14X OLED is thin and light enough to make it a 14-inch laptop that is easy to carry around leaves.

A single USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port on the left next to a row of air vents and then a full size HDMI 2.0 port, two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports (one of which is used for power), a 3.5 mm audio jack and a microSD card reader on the right.

A single USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port on the left next to a row of air vents and then a full size HDMI 2.0 port, two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports (one of which is used for power), a 3.5 mm audio jack and a microSD card reader on the right.

Connectivity is solid. You get a single USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port on the left next to a row of air vents and then a full size HDMI 2.0 port, two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports (one of which is for power), one 3.5 mm audio jack and a microSD card reader on the right. It's a good mix of legacy and future-proof connections. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 perform wireless tasks.

power

My test device is equipped with the 11th generation quad-core Intel Core i7-1165G7, a productive workhorse CPU popular with thin and light laptops. There was also 16 GB of RAM, a fast PCIe 1 TB solid-state drive (SSD) and Nvidia's GeForce MX450. As with all such laptops today, the ZenBook 14X OLED was a quick performer while I was testing the laptop and writing that review.

Our benchmark suite confirmed my subjective impressions. The ZenBook 14X OLED was the third fastest in Geekbench 5 with an excellent score for the processor, behind only the slightly faster Core i7-11370H in the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro and the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U in the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in 1. Also In our Handbrake test, which encodes a 420 MB video as H.265, the ZenBook does well, beats the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro and loses the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 against the fast Ryzen CPU.

It's not that you can't edit videos or large pictures on the ZenBook, but you may have to wait for demanding tasks to complete.

Put the ZenBook 14X OLED in its "Performance" mode and you can get a little more speed and finish the test in 156 seconds. The same was true for Cinebench R23, where the ZenBook 14X OLED took second place behind the Dell, while it received a small boost with a score of 6,252 in performance mode. The ZenBook only lost to the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 in PCMark 10 Complete in standard mode, but it was faster in performance mode. However, the values ​​for essentials, productivity and content creation were average.

Overall, the ZenBook 14X OLED is a fast laptop for demanding productivity workflows, but it doesn't quite reach the workstation level of a creator. It's not that you can't edit videos or large pictures on the ZenBook, it's just that you have to wait a while for demanding tasks to be completed. But for everyone else, the ZenBook 14X OLED will be a satisfactory experience.

Geekbench (single / multiple) Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED (Core i7-1165G7) 1536/5780 173 1479/5717 5366 1756
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro (Core i7-11370H) 1578/5957 202 1514/5544 5149 1888
Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (Ryzen7 5700U) 1184/6281 120 1287/8013 5411 1247
Samsung Galaxy Book (Core i5-1135G7) 1401/5221 180 1361/5391 4735 1584
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 (Core i7-1165G7) 1327/5201 N / A 1469/4945 5147 1776

Although my test device is equipped with the discrete GeForce MX450 GPU, it was no faster than the Intel Iris Xe in our comparison group. His 3DMark Time Spy Score was in the same range and only managed 18 frames per second (fps) in Fortnite at 1200p and epic graphics. That's not far from what faster Iris Xe laptops can achieve.

I was surprised with these results, but ran them several times to make sure there were no glitches that I could identify. I also tried the performance mode and that made no difference in the laptop's graphics performance. The discrete GPU didn't turn this thin and light device into a gaming laptop, so buyers should lower their expectations when they see they have a discrete GPU.

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Image of the display of the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ZenBook 14X OLED has a 14-inch OLED display and is available in a number of configurations, all of which are in the productivity-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio. You can choose between a 4K + (3840 x 2400) panel, a WQXGA + (2880 x 1800) touchscreen display and a non-touch WQXGA + screen. My test device featured the latter, and it was spectacular from the moment I turned it on. Blacks were ink colors and colors were dynamic without being oversaturated. While working on the review, I liked the use of the display, especially the sharp black text that jumped off the page.

This display will please everyone from productivity users to creatives to media consumers.

According to my colorimeter, this is an objectively as good a display as it is subjectively. It was bright at 389 nits, above our 300 nit threshold for displays that can handle anything but bright sunlight. It had wide colors at 97% of AdobeRGB and 100% of sRGB, and those colors were accurate with a DeltaE of 1.2 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent). As always, the contrast was unearthly and was 27,010: 1. Compare that to the Dell XPS 13's 4K IPS display, which achieved 420 cd / m², 79% AdobeRGB and 100% sRGB with a color accuracy of 1.21 and a contrast of 1,360: 1. Few IPS panels can work as well as the display on the ZenBook 14X OLED, and you won't find one that delivers the same true black tones.

This display will please everyone from productivity users to creatives to media consumers. With DisplayHDR 500 support, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video high dynamic range (HDR) content looked great on the display. OLED displays continue to impress, and while other technologies are catching up, such as the mini-LED displays on Apple's MacBooks, you can't go wrong with your choice of technology.

For those concerned about OLED burn-in, Asus offers a few utilities and technologies to instill confidence. First, it comes with a 7,000 hour warranty at 200 nits, and the display detects aging pixels and improves the current flowing through them for better performance.

Second, two utilities are provided to avoid burn-in. There is a screen saver that can be set to start automatically after 30 minutes of inactivity, and a pixel shift function that shifts a static image just enough on the screen to avoid a constant glow of individual pixels. These can be turned on as well as off, although leaving them on is probably a good idea.

The sound is delivered to the front by two downward-facing speakers on the underside of the case. I found that it delivers clear mids and highs and a surprising amount of bass. The only problem: the speakers are not very loud, even if they are turned up all the way. There's no distortion, which is fine, but you'll need a pair of headphones to really enjoy movies and music.

Keyboard and touchpad

Keyboard and trackpad of the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Asus has been channeling HP lately when it comes to keyboards, using a layout and keycaps eerily similar to HP's Specter range. The right side of the keyboard has the same key spacing and row of movement keys. That's not bad because the Specter keyboards are excellent. At the same time, the Asus switches have a lot of spring travel and comfortable floor movement, but they are not as snappy and do not feel quite as precise. They're a step behind the best, which include Dell's XPS keyboards, but the ZenBook 14X OLED's keyboard does a very good job nonetheless.

The touchpad is a wide format that does not use the available space on the palm rest. Some laptops, like the Dell XPS 13 and the HP Specter x360 14, make very good use of the extra space offered by today's higher displays, but that's not the case with the ZenBook 14X OLED. It's not a small touchpad, but it could be bigger. Fortunately, it has a comfortable surface that allows for precise swipes, and it's a Microsoft Precision touchpad, so multitouch gestures work well. The buttons are clicky and respond without being loud.

Of course, you can't judge the touchpad by just how easily it allows you to manipulate your cursor. It also includes Asus' ScreenPad 2, which features an LED display embedded in the touchpad that enables a host of additional functions.

ScreenXpert 2 is a multiscreen organizer that manages the interaction between the ScreenPad and the primary and any additional displays. Users can launch applications from the ScreenPad and use the touchpad as a secondary display. You can turn off the ScreenPad at will and the touchpad will function normally. Overall, I found the ScreenPad to be a useful addition, but not one that I couldn't do without.

Keyboard and display of the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Touch displays are available for the ZenBook 14X OLED, but unfortunately mine wasn't included. I missed it, as always.

Passwordless login under Windows 10 Hello is provided by a fingerprint reader integrated into a power button on the keyboard. It worked well, I was able to turn on and log in quickly and reliably in one fell swoop.

Battery life

Asus ZenBook 14X OLED sits on a tabletop.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ZenBook 14X OLED offers 63 watt-hours of battery life, a reasonable amount for a 14-inch laptop. However, the OLED display is high resolution and power hungry, and the CPU isn't a low-power version, so I expected average battery life at best.

What I got was a little less. In our web browsing test, which ran through a number of popular websites, the ZenBook 14X OLED lasted 7.5 hours, less than average and well below the 10 hours we like to see on thin and light laptops. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro lasted 10 minutes longer with its more powerful CPU and high-resolution display, while the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 was significantly stronger in this test with almost 13 hours.

In our video test replaying a local 1080p movie trailer, the ZenBook 14X OLED achieved 10.75 hours, again less than average and a little less than we'd like to see. The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro lasted two more hours, while the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 lasted a significantly longer 16 hours.

I ran the PCMark 10 Applications battery test, which is the best indicator of productivity longevity, and the ZenBook 14X OLED got eight hours, which is again a little below average. Many thin and light laptops can last up to 10 hours. The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro lasted nine hours and the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 wouldn't finish the test. In the PCMark 10 gaming battery test, which shows how hard a laptop works without a plug, the ZenBook 14X OLED only lasted 81 minutes, the lowest rate we've ever seen, but close to the 90 minutes the IdeaPad achieved.

Overall, the ZenBook 14X OLED is unlikely to make it through a full eight-hour work day without a little charge. You should have the 100 watt USB-C charger close at hand.

Our opinion

Reduced to the essentials, the ZenBook 14X OLED is a well-built 14-inch laptop with robust performance and a spectacular OLED display. It's easy to recommend on that alone, but it has some nice touches like the ScreenPad 2 touchpad that comes in handy when you want to take some time learning its various uses.

It's not perfect. The battery life is mediocre, may not exceed our all-day threshold, and is a bit expensive. But overall, it's a solid addition to the growing herd of 14-inch laptops, and well worth a place on your list.

Are there alternatives?

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is probably the best 14-inch clamshell alternative simply because it's also very well built, performs well, and has better battery life. You don't get an OLED display, but that's not so common with 14-inch devices and you spend a little more money depending on the configuration.

If a convertible 2-in-1 is of interest, consider the HP Specter x360 14. It also has an excellent OLED display, a great and well-made case and of course the flexibility of a 360-degree convertible. It's roughly the same price, but you don't get built-in graphics.

Finally, you can always consider the Dell XPS 13 if you're ready to go for a slightly smaller OLED display. The XPS 13 is more expensive, but it's worth it as it's the best laptop you can buy.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook 14X OLED is solid as a rock and feels like it has lasted for eons. The components are up-to-date and should run Windows 11 with no problem should you decide to upgrade (and you probably will, sooner or later). As always, the industry standard one-year warranty is disappointing, but Asus does offer one-year accident protection.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. The ZenBook 14X OLED is a great 14-inch laptop that can hold its own against its competition.

Editor's recommendations



30 Jul
Blog

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 Review: Dual Screens, If You Need It

Illustration of the ZenBook Pro Duo with a second display.

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED review: Two screens when you need them

RRP $ 3,000.00

"The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED is a fantastic laptop for the creative when you can use its second screen."

advantages

  • Useful dual screen design

  • Excellent workmanship

  • Nice OLED displays

  • Strong performance in creative apps

  • Keyboard action is comfortable

  • Active pen is precise and responsive

disadvantage

  • Clumsy keyboard and touchpad

  • Battery life is awful

  • Expensive

Asus doesn't do without dual screens. The company has some laptops with second screens embedded in the touchpad, but last year it released the more extravagant ZenBook Pro Duo UX581, which positioned a second large display under the primary panel. For such a futuristic idea, the laptop was remarkably well made.

But Asus hasn't rested on its laurels and recently launched the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 and made several significant changes to this experimental design.

I have a well-stocked configuration of the ZenBook Pro Duo with an Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU of the 10 x 2160) OLED panel and a second OLED screen at 3840 x 1100.

However, this is an expensive $ 3,000 machine. Is the dual display functionality enough to compete with the best laptops for video and photo editing?

design

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo sits on the table.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Close the lid of the ZenBook Pro Duo and it looks like a chunky 15-inch laptop with a light industrial design in a Celestial Blue color scheme and the usual Asus concentric swirl on the lid. The edges are angled for aesthetic and functional reasons, especially the rear edge that houses the new ErgoLift AAS (Active Aerodynamic System) hinge that supports the lower chassis for better airflow and more comfortable typing upwards.

It bears a vague resemblance to gaming laptops due to the aggressive ventilation on each side, but overall the design is more function than form. A look at the ZenBook Pro Duo gives a clear impression that it is a working device. Compare that to the Dell XPS 15, which is far slimmer and adds a touch of elegance, making it a more attractive laptop. Another laptop with a different design, which also presents a pure work aesthetic, is the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel with its foldable display design – not surprising that this device is also aimed at creative people.

There is nothing slim and light in the ZenBook Pro Duo.

Open the lid of the ZenBook Pro Duo and the second display rises at an angle – the previous version remained flat and less comfortable to use. Since both displays are OLED, there are tons of bright colors and deep blacks to stare at, and at least it looks cool. This angle is not only helpful for use in the east; it also provides additional airflow over the lower chassis for theoretically improved thermal performance.

The main display hinge is pretty tight and it takes some pressure to lift the second display. Despite the heavy weight of the underside, you need two hands to open the laptop, but everything feels sturdy and gives you the certainty that after a lot of opening and closing you won't have any problems with the second display in the long run.

Asus constructed the ZenBook Pro Duo from a mix of aluminum and magnesium-aluminum alloys, so the feeling of durability is carried over to the rest of the laptop. I would rate it with the best laptops for its rigidity without bending, bending, or twisting on the machine. It corresponds to the Dell XPS and Latitude and Lenovo ThinkPad lines, which are some of the toughest laptops built today. This quality is a common characteristic of Asus laptops – we rarely come across one that is not rock solid.

While the ZenBook Pro Duo isn't thin and light, it's not as big as you'd expect given the second screen. It's 0.83 inches thick and weighs 5.16 pounds, compared to the XPS 15 at 0.71 inches and 4.5 pounds. The ZenBook's bezels are larger at the top and bottom, making the case larger overall – not to mention the impact of the second display, but it's by no means a huge laptop. The Acer Concept D 7 Ezel is thicker and heavier at 1.13 inches at its thickest point and 5.6 pounds, and this device feels bigger than the ZenBook Pro Duo.

Right side view of the closed Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 with connectors.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ZenBook Pro Duo comes with a palm rest extension that slides up on the bottom of the case. That makes up for the fact that there is no palm rest built into the device and typing without the extension is uncomfortable (more on the keyboard later). Adding the extension pushes the laptop back onto your desk, which means it takes up quite a bit of space when fully configured. The extension has a pass-through for the LED on the bottom that shows the battery status, which is a nice touch.

There is no doubt, however, that you will be reconfiguring your desk to make everything fit, and the expansion is another thing to take with you if you want the convenience of using the ZenBook Pro Duo on the go. I would have recommended adding a magnetic link to keep the extension in place; As it is, it slides around while you work and that can be distracting.

Finally, Asus also offers an ErgoLift stand that further supports the back of the ZenBook Duo Pro. You can achieve a 12 degree angle by using the stand that attaches to the bottom of the chassis so you can always have it with you. I found it a bit clunky to use, but then I didn't attach the stand to the test device.

Certainly, it offers a more comfortable angle for both viewing the second screen and typing, with your palms resting more naturally on the desktop in the latter case. In theory, you could also use the palm rest extension, but it doesn't fit properly with the stand attached, and so it seems like one thing or the other. It's also another complication in setting up the laptop as you move from place to place.

ZenBook Pro Duo ErgoLift Stand.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Connectivity is decent for a laptop as thick as the ZenBook Pro Duo. On the left is a proprietary connector for the 240 watt power adapter, a full-size HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the right side there are two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support and one USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port. It is noticeable that there is no SD card slot, which would have made sense for the ZenBook Pro Duo in the creative market. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 offer wireless connectivity.

perfomance

My test device was 10th with an Intel Core i9-10980HK eight-core / 16-thread CPU. Asus paid a lot of attention to thermal performance, with lots of airflow, as mentioned above, two 97-blade fans and a whopping six heat pipes, including one for the power supply module. There's also a G-sensor that detects when the display is closed at an angle of less than 80 degrees. At this point the power will be reduced to limit consumption and extend battery life.

Illustration of the ZenBook Pro Duo with a second display.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Asus offers a performance optimization utility that switches between standard and performance modes. I found the utility inconsistent – it raised the Cinebench R23 multi-core score to 9968, making it one of the fastest laptops we tested, but it didn't affect our Handbrake test of a 420MB video in H. converted .265.

It also raised Geekbench 5's multi-core score to 7542, placing it higher in our peer group. In our gaming benchmarks, the utility either had a minimal positive impact or reduced performance; I will discuss this below. The utility had no influence on the PCMark 10 score, which was particularly strong in the area of ​​content creation and is one of the fastest devices.

Overall, the ZenBook Pro Duo was a fast laptop, but maybe not quite as fast as you'd expect given the Core i9 CPU. I can imagine that despite all the efforts Asus put into heat treatment, the CPU still struggled to maintain full speed. The fans would certainly spin up, especially in performance mode, and a lot of heat was blown out of the side ventilation slots. In general, it can do CPU-intensive tasks and has managed to keep up with or outperform the latest Ryzen 7 CPUs – something we haven't seen on a lot of Intel-based laptops.

Given the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, the ZenBook Pro Duo does well with apps that can use the GPU. It scored 647 in the PugetBench Adobe Premiere Pro benchmark, which is the fastest score we've seen on a laptop. The closest thing is the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop with a Ryzen 7 5800H and an RTX 3070 that managed 622. Anyone using Adobe's suite will be delighted with the performance of the ZenBook Pro.

Geekbench (single / multiple) Handbrake (seconds) Cinbench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED (Core i9-10980HK) 1266/6918 106 1236/8326 5769
Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel
(10875H)		 1301/7949 114 N / A N / A
HP Envy x360 15
(Ryzen7 5700U)		 1198/6790 116 1258/8131 5419
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED
(Ryzen 7 5800U		 1423/6758 124 1171/7824 6034
Dell XPS 15 (Core i7-10875H) 1314/7549 122 N / A N / A
HP Envy 15 (Core i7-10750H) 1274/5542 139 N / A N / A
MacBook Pro 13 (M1) 1707/7337 N / A 1487/7547 N / A

Gaming was a mixed bag, perhaps due to the Nvidia Studio drivers installed on the ZenBook Pro Duo. These are designed to ensure consistent and reliable performance in creative apps rather than hardcore gaming, which appears to have impacted gaming performance. Either that or the GPU had thermal issues at times, as I suspect that happened to the CPU.

Additionally, as I mentioned above, the Asus Performance Utility only increased frame rates by a few or decreased performance. Civilization VI, for example, saw significant frame rate drops in performance mode. 3DMark scores rose, with the ZenBook Pro Duo hitting 8,763 in Time Spy and 17864 in Fire Strike in performance mode, but that increase didn't result in gaming.

The ZenBook Duo Pro did well in Fortnite on Epic graphics at 1080p, Civilization VI on Ultra graphics, and Assassin's Creed Vahalla on Ultra High graphics, but fell behind in Battlefield V on Ultra. The performance decreased disproportionately at 4K, whereby the ZenBook Pro Duo lagged far behind the crowd at this resolution. I haven't been able to test at 1440p, but it's possible you can run games there if you dive into Nvidia settings and enable that resolution.

The bottom line is that while the ZenBook Pro Duo doesn't always live up to its components as a gaming laptop, it is still quite usable for modern 1080p and maybe 1440p titles. You may get better performance if you remove the Studio drivers and install the regular Nvidia drivers, but then you lose the benefit of better creative application performance and reliability. This is likely not something that the laptop target market will go for.

Laptop 3DMark time spy 3DMark fire strike Assassin's Creed Valhalla (1080p Ultra High) Battlefield V (1080p Ultra) Fortnite (1080p Epic) Civilization VI (1080p Ultra)
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED (RTX 3070) 7998 16932 74 fps 78 fps 102 fps 111 fps
Razer Blade 14 (RTX 3070) 8605 19673 60 fps 96 fps 96 fps 84 fps
Asus ROG Strix G15 (Radeon RX 6800M) 10504 26800 77 fps 109 fps 108 fps 91 fps
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (RTX 3070) 9175 21033 61 fps 73 fps 101 fps 101 fps
MSI GS66 Stealth (RTX 3080) 9097 19175 70 fps 97 fps 140 fps 140 fps

Primary display

Close-up of the image of the ZenBook Pro Duo display.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The primary display of the ZenBook Pro Duo is a 4K OLED panel with DisplayHDR 500 support that looks just brilliant. OLED excels in that it usually highlights colors without becoming oversaturated and creates blacks that look incredibly deep, and the panel Asus selected for the ZenBook Pro Duo does both.

My colorimeter agreed with my subjective impression. First, the display was quite bright at 369 cd / m², well above our 300 nit threshold. That's less than the OLED display on the HP Specter x360 15, which registered 426 nits, and the Dell XPS 14 4K IPS display, which reached 442 nits, but is still bright enough for most indoor environments. The contrast was typical for OLED displays at 368,610: 1, compared to the Specter x360 15 OLED at 426,180: 1 and the XPS 15 4K at 1480: 1 (good for an IPS display).

The colors were wide at 100% of sRGB and 99% of AdobeRGB, with the Specter x360 15 OLED hitting 100% and 98%, respectively, and the XPS 15 4K hitting 100% of both color gamuts. Accuracy was good with a DeltaE of 1.25 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent) and was close to the 1.21 of the Specter x360 15 OLED, but not as good as the spectacular 0.65 of the XPS 15 4K.

Simply put, the display on the ZenBook Pro Duo was a joy to use. Black text appeared on a white background, the colors were vibrant and beautiful, and Netflix was a dream thanks to the 4K resolution and HDR support. This is a display that everyone will love including the creative professionals who demand wide and accurate colors.

The sound is driven by two downward-facing speakers, which ensure a clear sound and hardly sufficient volume. I want things to get a little louder, but it's good enough for the occasional YouTube video. The mids and highs are fine, but there is no bass. You will need a pair of headphones for Netflix bingeing and music sessions.

Secondary display

Second display of the ZenBook Pro Duo, ScreenPad +.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The second display of the ZenBook Pro Duo, called ScreenPad +, is also OLED and runs at 3840 x 1100. Like the primary display, it is bright and colorful with deep black tones. I couldn't position my colorimeter properly to get a formal reading of its quality, but it seems to be on par with its bigger brother. Speaking of size, the second display is big enough to be useful, though the extreme widescreen format means any maximized apps can look a little funky on it.

This laptop is designed with the creative in mind, and it is these users who will get the most out of the second display.

Asus has packed a lot of functionality into the second display, all of which are accessible via a ScreenXpert Control Center menu that can be pinned or left floating on the left, right, or bottom of the display. The menu provides access to Brightness, an App Navigator utility that makes it easy to move windows from one screen to another, a button to lock or unlock the keyboard, a button to view the ScreenPad + desktop, a button to open the MyAsus App, a button to open the Launcher app that provides access to ScreenPad + apps and setup.

Useful ScreenPad + apps include a Quick Key utility that provides quick access to features like copy and paste, a handwriting app that converts ink to text, a virtual numeric keypad, a Spotify control center, and a Corel Multicam utility. There are also buttons to open an AppDeals app and the MyASUS app, and a button to open the Asus Control Panel app (see below).

There are several ways to use the ScreenPad +. You can turn it into a massive touchpad, which is less useful than it seems as it is positioned above the keyboard and therefore not very comfortable to use. It can host app windows, so it can act as a typical external display. Asus has developed a new Control Panel app that supports Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, and has several commonly used functions for each app.

The app is fully customizable and is designed to optimize the use of the supported applications. One final way to use the secondary display is to move control windows out of the way in apps like Premiere and Photoshop to make more room to view and edit a video or photo. Note that the Control Panel app can start automatically and take away this functionality.

Close-up of the second display of the ZenBook Pro Duo, ScreenPad +.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Overall, I found the ScreenPad + to be a useful addition, but mainly for certain users who can use the app-specific functions. That's fine, because this laptop was designed for creative people, and it is these users who will get the most out of the second display. Personally, I probably wouldn't use it for much more than dragging down windows that don't clutter my main display or that I want to see separately, like the Netflix app or a YouTube window. That might make the ScreenPad + a niche component, but a useful one nonetheless.

Touchpad and keyboard

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 keyboard with stylus on top.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Close-up of the vertical touchpad on the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Close-up of the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 keyboard.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

On its own, the ZenBook Pro Duo’s 3-tier, backlit keyboard is a good one. It has a lot of travel and comfortable key spacing, and the switches provide precise action with a nice click. My only complaint is that the ground movement is a little abrupt and therefore has a harrowing effect that can be tiring during long tip sessions. I would rate it a step or two behind the great keyboards of the HP Specter x360 15 and Dell XPS 15. The biggest problem with the keyboard is that there is no palm rest.

When using the laptop alone, your wrists rest on the desktop and your fingers are at an awkward typing angle. As mentioned earlier, Asus offers a palm rest extension that solves this problem, but the ZenBook Pro Duo extends further back on a desktop and it's another piece to take with you. Also, as mentioned above, you can attach the ErgoLift stand and that helps too, but again, it's another piece to play around with.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is just terrible. I hate being this negative, but it's tiny, vertically oriented (which is weird to use), and placed to the right of the keyboard where it's annoying. It includes Asus' virtual LED numeric keypad which is great for those who would use something like this, but that doesn't make up for its size and placement. It's a Microsoft Precision touchpad, so it works well enough. It's just terribly uncomfortable.

Both displays are of course touch-enabled and support the supplied Asus active pen, which can be magnetically attached to the lid. The pen works well and ensures fluid and precise coloring and control on both displays.

Close-up of the webcam of the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Finally, the passwordless login of Windows 10 Hello is supported by an infrared camera and facial recognition. It's quick and accurate, and I had no problems signing in. The webcam is a disappointing 720p as some vendors start configuring 1080p webcams in response to the pandemic-inspired surge in video conferencing.

Battery life

Asus has increased the battery of the ZenBook Pro Duo compared to the previous generation by 29.5% to a capacity of up to 92 Wh. That's a lot of battery, but that's a lot of machine, so I didn't have extremely high expectations.

I was on the right track. The ZenBook Pro Duo doesn't do well in any of our battery benchmarks. In our web browser test, for example, it didn't quite make four hours, a meager score that even gaming laptops tend to outperform. The previous version lasted about 5.5 hours, but that was with the second screen turned off. I ran my tests with the second screen on, assuming that most users would want this feature in battery life as much as when plugged in. According to Asus, the second screen should reduce battery life by about 1.5 hours, which I've seen and which suggests that the updated version doesn't show better longevity, at least in this test, despite the larger battery.

In short, the ZenBook Pro Duo has terrible battery life.

Note that the Dell XPS 15 4K ran for seven hours and the HP Specter x360 15 ran a little over six hours. I realize I've picked a few comparison devices that aren't much better than the ZenBook Pro Duo. The latest laptops last around 10 hours in this test, but of course most of them don't have OLED displays and such powerful components.

In our video looping test, which repeats a Full HD Avengers trailer, the ZenBook Pro Duo reached six hours, compared to the XPS 15 with 20 minutes more and the Specter x360 15 with 6.5 hours. Again, other modern machines last much longer, usually over 13 hours or so. I also ran the PCMark 10 gaming test, where the Asus lasted less than two hours; This isn't all that bad, and the test itself is likely more of a measure of how aggressively a laptop is running on battery life than how long its battery lasts.

In the PCMark 10 application test, which is the best indicator of battery life, the ZenBook Pro Duo achieved 5.5 hours, which is about half of what most other laptops can do. We didn't test the XPS 15 with these benchmarks either, but the Specter x360 15 lasted three minutes less in the gaming test and two minutes less in the applications test.

In short, the ZenBook Pro Duo has terrible battery life. Of course, this is not unexpected in the design of the machine. This means that if you are on the road for a full day at work, you have to carry the powerful 240-watt power brick with you. Add that to the palm rest extension and ErgoLift stand, and your backpack will feel pretty full.

Our opinion

The ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 (www!) Is a great laptop for anyone who really benefits from adding a second display to the device, not to mention a powerful CPU and GPU that can handle demanding tasks. This includes creatives who use their laptops with apps like Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop, which makes sense because that's exactly what Asus is aiming for. In this regard, the company has succeeded in producing a laptop that meets special requirements.

For most other users, however, the ZenBook Pro Duo is too heavy, too complicated and suffers from a short battery life. It's also expensive at $ 3,000 when you can get equally powerful and much more portable laptops for the same or less money.

Are there alternatives?

The Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel is another differently designed laptop tailored for creative types. It's also very fast, very heavy, and has a very short battery life. It's even more expensive, too, but if you're a creator and need its flexibility, the Acer is a great alternative.

The Dell XPS 15 is a cheaper device for developers because it's fast (though not as fast as the ZenBook Pro Duo), has its own great display, and is far more portable. If you don't need the second display, it's a viable option.

Otherwise, the ZenBook Pro Duo is in a class of its own. You won't find any other device with the same type of second screen, and if that matters to you, the Asus is your only option.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook Pro Duo is extremely well built and feels tough enough to withstand years of use. Its components also keep up, so that your investment pays for itself. You will be disappointed with the one year warranty, which is industry standard but not long enough for such an expensive product.

Should you buy it?

Yes. When you need a second display, the ZenBook Pro Duo isn't just your only choice. It's a great choice, period. If you don't, your $ 3,000 will likely be better spent elsewhere.

Editor's recommendations



11 Apr
Blog

Asus ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325) Review: AMD Laptop Perfection?

asus zenbook 13 oled um32 review 1

Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325 Review: AMD Laptop Perfection?

"The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is an indispensable laptop as long as you don't need a headphone jack."

  • Awesome OLED screen

  • Excellent touchpad and keyboard

  • The battery life is spectacular

  • Very thin and light

I may have found the perfect laptop. Or at least something that comes very close.

It's not made by Apple, Microsoft, or even Dell. From the outside, it doesn't even look particularly remarkable. When I pulled the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED out of the box, I fully expected it to be another solid mid-range laptop.

Then I tested the 1080p OLED screen. And benchmarking the AMD Ryzen 7 5800U processor inside. And then he noticed how long it took on a single charge.

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED has it all. Nearly. Despite a few flaws, the ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325) is a laptop that all potential buyers should consider when it hits general availability in May.

design

The appearance of the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is the least noticeable feature. It's by no means a bad looking laptop – but if you've seen a ZenBook, you've seen this one. I'm not a big fan of the concentric circle on the lid or the plastered logo on the front, but it's one of the prettier laptops Asus made recently.

This is especially true when you open the lid and see what the laptop has to offer inside. Everything is beautifully laid out, including the oversized touchpad and new keyboard. The layout and keycaps are reminiscent of HP's Specter laptops – but that's not a bad thing. The extra column of buttons under the power button offers some extra functionality, and the font with the keycap feels modern and clean.

At 0.55 inches and 2.5 pounds thick, the ZenBook 13 OLED is both thinner and lighter than most of its competitors, including the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360 13, Surface Laptop 3 13, Razer Book 13, and MacBook Pro 13 in. This makes a very portable laptop that is great for on the go. Even if it just moves from room to room, the small footprint comes in handy.

Despite its size, the chassis is robust. You may feel some flexing when applying extra force, but it's not something you will notice in daily use. The hinge opens with one finger and is lifted off the table when it is opened, creating a slight ramp for comfortable typing. I usually don't like these kind of raised hinges, but Asus pulled them off in a way that isn't distracting or ugly.

The aspect ratio of the screen is the main disadvantage of the ZenBook 13 OLED's design. It uses 16: 9, which went out of style in 2021 in favor of larger, more productive sizes like 16:10 or 3: 2. When you go back to 16: 9, the screen feels stocky. More importantly, the screen has a chubby chin bezel due to the size at the bottom. It's not a thorn in the side, it's just not quite as modern as the Dell XPS 13 or the Razer Book 13.

Asus decided that you don't need a headphone jack on your laptop.

My final complaint with the design of the ZenBook 13 OLED is ports. For some reason, Asus decided that you don't need a headphone jack on your laptop. If Asus were going for a more minimalist setup, that would probably make sense. However, the ZenBook 13 OLED has HDMI and USB-A. Yes, it's an odd choice that is likely to piss people off who didn't realize there wasn't a headphone jack until they needed it.

Fortunately, Asus includes an adapter in the box, but it lets you close either of your two available USB-C ports.

Display and speakers

The Asus ZenBook 13 isn't the first 13-inch notebook with an OLED screen – it was the HP Specter x360. However, this laptop is the first to implement a 13-inch 1080p OLED screen. That's a big deal as OLED panels keep getting cheaper – and hopefully reach more people.

It's not that the ZenBook 13 OLED is super cheap, but compared to the 4K models that OLED is exclusive to. What's the big deal with OLED? Well you will tell the difference when you see it in person. With OLED, pixels are rented out individually, which means that black levels and contrast ratio blow conventional LEDs out of the water. It's not even close, especially on a glossy screen like this one.

The OLED panel feels like the future of laptop displays.

397 nits are bright enough to prevent reflections, but it's the colors that really make this display pop. 100% sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces are unknown on a 1080p screen, and the color accuracy is among the best I've ever tested with a Delta E of 0.49. Photographers may complain about the lack of a 4K option, but they definitely won't complain about the colors.

The display is non-touchable, as is common with 1080p screens.

When it comes to panels and calibration, the ZenBook 13 OLED is the future of laptop displays.

The same is not true of the speakers. The chintzy audio comes from underneath the laptop and points directly at your table or lap. The sound is messed up, especially when compared to all MacBooks. With speakers in this location, this will always be a problem.

Keyboard and touchpad

I am very happy with the inputs on the ZenBook 13 OLED. I've already mentioned the keyboard's appearance, but it's also very precise and comfortable to type. The layout is comfortable and the 1.4mm key travel feels heavenly compared to many of the 1mm keyboards.

The keyboard does not contain a fingerprint reader. This is an odd feature that a premium device left out.

My only problem was the backlight. There are three levels of backlight brightness, but there are some noticeable uneven spots. It's quite light over the middle zone while others are darker. This is a pity.

The touchpad is similarly successful. It's extra wide, but great for rejecting palms when typing. Tracking is smooth, as are gestures. My only sucker? The click is a little louder than I like. This is especially noticeable if you're coming from a MacBook.

The laptop has a sloppy 720p webcam over the display. It's no surprise how bad it is, but this should be reserved for emergencies only. However, it does include a built-in IR camera for Windows Hello facial recognition.

performance

Thanks to the new Ryzen processors from AMD, the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED offers remarkable performance for a laptop of this size. My device came with the Ryzen 7 5800U, an eight-core processor with a base clock of 1.9 GHz. When you add 16 GB of RAM and one TB of SSD storage, you have a pretty powerful little computer.

This is the first laptop I tested with this chip and I was disappointed. This is a significant improvement over last year's Ryzen 4000 processors and a clear head start over what Intel offers. This is especially true of multi-core performance, of course, thanks to the additional cores and threads that AMD's 7nm chips offer.

Geekbench (single / multi) Cinbench R23 (single / multi) PCMark 10 3DMark Time Spy
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED 1423/6758 1171/7824 6034 1342
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1185G7) 1549/5431 1399/4585 n / A 1380
HP Specter x360 14 (Core i7-1165G7) 1214/4117 1389/3941 4728 1457
Razor Book 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1548/5374 1508/4519 4878 1776
MacBook Pro 13 (M1) 1707/7377 1487/7547 n / A n / A
Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (Core i7-1185G7) 1532/5415 1435/4409 4800 1648

What's the use of this for performance in the real world? All of the laptops listed above are great for everyday work activities such as multitasking, web browsing, office applications, and video conferencing. That is to be assumed.

The reason the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED beats its competitors in PCMark 10 is mainly because of its excellent content creation performance. If you want to run some creative applications like Photoshop or Lightroom on the side, the ZenBook 13 OLED will surprise you how fast it is with these heavier tasks.

The ZenBook 13 OLED remains an undeniable argument for AMD in 2021.

It's even a decent video production machine. It's 41% faster than the Razer Book 13 in H.265 video encoding in Handbrake, which shows the big difference those additional cores make. In Handbrake it is even 7% faster than in the Ryzen 7 4800U from last year when I tested it in the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7.

Now the ZenBook 13 OLED will obviously never again be compared to a 15-inch laptop with a discrete graphics card in real video editing. Even a modest 15-inch laptop like the HP Specter x360 15 (Core i7-10750H / GTX 1650 Ti) was 45% faster in PugetBench's Adobe Premiere Pro benchmark. This is also where the incredible performance of the MacBook Pro M1 exudes, which is just as fast as that of the Specter x360 15 in the same test.

That said, the ZenBook 13 OLED remains an undeniable argument for AMD in 2021, especially if you're not interested in a move to macOS.

Battery life

Battery life is the final trick in the case of the ZenBook 13 OLED. It took an amazing 15 hours and 46 minutes on our web browser test, which is as good as it gets for a laptop of this type. That was true for last year's AMD laptops, and it is true for this year as well. It beat the HP Specter x360 14 by nearly 9 hours and the XPS 13 by 7.5 hours. In fact, it only takes 19 minutes to keep up with the MacBook Pro!

The ZenBook 13 OLED's lower resolution explains some of this, but even when compared to other 1080p laptops, the ZenBook 13 OLED is way ahead of the competition.

Meanwhile, the ZenBook also lasted 15.5 hours while the video was looping. This is another test in which the MacBook Pro M1 dominates and it lasts over 21 hours. But here, too, the ZenBook 13 OLED is at least 3 or 4 hours ahead of many of the best Intel laptops.

Of course, your mileage can vary depending on how hard you push the system. With the ZenBook 13 OLED as my daily driver for almost a full week, I found it easy to get through a work day without a charge, and there was enough juice left to handle a couple of hours the next morning.

Our opinion

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is way ahead of the competition in almost every important category. The OLED screen is a standout feature, as is AMD performance and fantastic battery life. Do I wish it had a headphone jack and a 16:10 screen? Naturally. But the strengths more than make up for these mistakes.

The only caveat is pricing, which is still ongoing. Some international prices suggest the base configuration will be around $ 1,000 while our pimped up model is likely to cost a few hundred more.

Any alternatives?

The best choice is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip. It's cheaper, faster, and has a higher resolution screen. Of course, it has neither an OLED screen nor a USB-A and HDMI connection.

However, if you don't want to upgrade to a Mac, the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360 14, and Razer Book 13 offer a competitive package. The XPS 13 is still the prettiest of the range and would still be my pick of the four laptops.

How long it will take?

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED should last at least four or five years. The 16: 9 aspect ratio will continue to be a bit dated going forward, but the chassis and components are all sturdy and future-proof.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's one of the most exciting laptops of recent times, especially if you're looking for an AMD device in 2021.

Editor's recommendations




06 Oct
Blog

Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371 Review: Tiger Lake Doesn’t Roar

asus zenbook flip s ux371 review olympus digital camera

Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371

"The ZenBook Flip S UX371 is one of the first Tiger Lake laptops, but it does not make optimal use of Intel's new processor technology."

  • Very solid build quality

  • Spectacular display

  • Excellent keyboard and useful NumberPad touchpad

  • Very good port selection

  • Disappointing processor performance

  • The gaming falls short of expectations

Intel has released its latest architecture, Tiger Lake, which promises higher performance for both the CPU and the GPU. We've already looked at an Intel Tiger Lake prototype and were impressed with the performance of the platform. Now we had time with our first full Tiger Lake system, the Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371.

This 2-in-1 laptop is priced at $ 1,500 and comes with an 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe solid state drive (SSD), and a 4K OLED display. It looks strong on paper, but does it meet our high expectations?

performance

It is risky to be one of the first companies to bring out a laptop based on a brand new platform. Asus may have run counter to this risk with the ZenBook Flip S, as its benchmark results don't live up to Tiger Lake's promise. I blame the CPU's overly conservative vote. During all of my CPU tests, the fans barely spun even under the heaviest loads. I had to listen carefully to the bottom of the case to hear they were running at all. That tells me the laptop isn't working hard enough to keep the fans busy. I tried setting the Asus fan speed utility to performance mode but it made no difference.

In Geekbench 5, the ZenBook Flip S was faster than laptops with the 10th generation Core i7-1065G7, but not by much, mostly in single-core mode. It scored 1,535 single-core and 4,913 in multi-core mode. Compare this to the Microsoft Surface Book 3 13, which runs the Core i7-1065G7 at 1,316 and 4,825 points. The Samsung Galaxy Flex with the same 10th generation CPU scored 1,264 and 4,583 points. We didn't expect that from Tiger Lake.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

In our handbrake test, which converts a 420MB video to H.265, the ZenBook Flip S lasted one second less than four minutes, identical to the Surface Book 3 13. In the older version of the same test, the ZenBook Flip S lasted two seconds under four minutes and hit the Galaxy Flex by just 16 seconds. Again, this is not the expected performance.

I ran Cinebench 20 and the results were even worse. The ZenBook Flip S achieved 482 points in single-core mode and 1,254 points in multi-core mode. The surface book 3 13 managed scores of 429 and 1,433.

The benchmark results don't live up to Tiger Lake's promise.

Note that the Intel Tiger Lake reference laptop we tested with a Core i7-1185G7 performed much better on all of these benchmarks – even better than the clock speed increase would indicate. Geekbench 5 scored 1,563 and 5,995 points, respectively, and the handbrake test was completed in less than three minutes. The Cinebench 20 scores were 463 and 2092. These scores (with the exception of the single-core Cinebench score) represent bigger differences than I would have expected between the two Tiger Lake CPUs.

I contacted Asus and I am confident that they will run their own tests and set the thermal profile to allow the laptop to reach its full potential. If I get better results with a firmware update, I will revise this review accordingly.

Play

It's hard to tell if the ZenBook Flip S is realizing its gaming potential as we don't have any other laptops with the exact same CPU and GPU combo. The closest is the Intel reference notebook. So here I am primarily comparing it, although we have to consider the CPU differential.

The ZenBook Flip S scored 3,947 points in Fire Strike, while the Intel reference laptop scored 5,181 points. The Asus performed much better than the older Acer Swift 5 with Intel Iris Plus graphics, resulting in a score of 2,120. However, I can't help but think that, given the reference laptop's score, there should be a bigger difference.

Next, I ran Civilization VI, where the ZenBook Flip S reached 31 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and medium graphics. That is much less than the 45 fps of the Intel reference laptop. The Asus switched to ultra graphics and managed 17 fps, while the Intel reference laptop ran at 26 fps. The Asus also seems to underperform here. Note that the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 with the integrated Radeon graphics from Ryzen 4000 achieves 45 fps in 1080p at medium details.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Next, I tested Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The ZenBook Flip S has a 4K display, but I've limited my testing to 1080p for reasons that will become immediately apparent. The ZenBook Flip S managed 11 fps in 1080p with the high graphics preset. While this title is well beyond the capabilities of the GPU, it's disappointing that the HP Specter x360 13 with Intel Iris Plus graphics, which averaged 12 fps, essentially tied the ZenBook powered by Tiger Lake

In Fortnite, the ZenBook Flip S only managed 13 fps in 1080p and high graphics. The Intel reference laptop achieved 34 fps and the Specter x360 13 with Intel Iris Plus ran at 12 fps. Again, this is not what I expected.

That's all of the gaming benchmarks I've run given the disappointing results. As with the CPU test, if I get a firmware upgrade that affects these results, I'll get back to me.

Battery life

The ZenBook Flip S has a battery capacity of 67 watt hours in its thin and light frame, which is impressive for a laptop of this size. At the same time there is the power-hungry 4K OLED display and a new generation of Core i7, which I have not yet passed through our official battery tests. I wasn't sure what to expect.

Unfortunately, the ZenBook Flip S decided to throw us a curveball again. Our most demanding Basemark web benchmark test, which is supposed to show how long the laptop lasted when you hit the CPU and GPU, wouldn't end its test loop. I've tried several times and been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, this means that I cannot report on the longevity under load.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ZenBook Flip S lasted almost seven hours in our web browsing test, which gives a good idea of ​​life in moderate everyday life. Given the 4K OLED display, this isn't a terrible score, although it is pretty weak compared to the Full HD-equipped Dell XPS 13 that lasted for around 12 hours. Note that the ZenBook Flip S lasted more than an hour longer than the HP Specter x360 13, another popular notebook with an OLED display. Even so, you will likely struggle to work a full day without joining.

In our video test of a Full HD Avengers trailer, the ZenBook Flip S lasted 12.25 hours, which is almost three hours longer than the Specter x360 13. I would have expected this test to be most affected by the display. but the ZenBook Flip S did pretty well. The XPS 13 lasted two hours longer, but that's less of a difference than I expected.

Overall, the ZenBook Flip S offers good battery life for a laptop with a 4K OLED screen. If you plan to be out of the office for eight hours or more, consider taking your charger with you, but the battery will last long enough that you don't need to bring a charger for everyone but the longest of meetings.

design

The ZenBook Flip S is a good-looking laptop with a black aluminum case that is complemented by diamond-cut edges made of red copper (Asus). The usual Asus concentric vortices decorate the lid. It all adds up to an elegant design that works in both a coffee house and a conference room.

The laptop is built robustly. The lid, the keyboard deck or the bottom of the case are not bent, bent or twisted. The 2-in-1 hinge is a little too stiff to open with one hand, but it does an excellent job of holding the display in place in clamshell, tent, media, and tablet modes. It's at least as big as laptops like the HP Specter x360 13 and Dell XPS 13, which makes sense given the premium price.

The ZenBook Flip S doesn't have the thinnest bezels, which is a departure from other newer ZenBook models. The side bezels are thin and the top bezel is adequate, but the lower chin is quite large, adding to the overall footprint that is required. The Specter x360 13 is about the same size, but significantly less deep. However, the ZenBook Flip S is thin at 0.54 inches and light at 2.65 pounds. This is comparable to the Specter x360 13, which weighs 0.67 inches and 2.88 pounds. With thinner bezels, the Asus is more convenient to transport.

Connectivity is strong for a laptop this thin and light with two exceptions. On the left is a full-size HDMI 2.0 port and two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 ports. There is a USB-A 3.1 port on the right. Unfortunately there is no SD card reader, which is a disappointment, and Asus made the strange decision to ditch the 3.5mm audio jack and instead switch to an included USB-C to 3.5mm dongle to leave.

Apparently, Asus customers preferred the HDMI port, so the company decided to remove the 3.5mm jack instead – which is an unfortunate choice as you now have to forego a USB-C port to get some Connect headphones. Wireless connectivity is through the latest features available, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, and I saw excellent performance during my review tests.

display

The ZenBook Flip S is one of a growing number of laptops that come with OLED displays, which I find very good. The other OLED laptops we tested consistently deliver great viewing experiences, and I was excited to see if Asus picked a panel as good as other manufacturers.

As I found out when I tested the display with my colorimeter, Asus opted for a spectacular display that has practically no weaknesses.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

First, it's incredibly bright at 492 nits, more than most of the OLED panels we tested. For example, the version of the HP Specter x360 13 has 405 nits, which is still very bright but is not in the same stadium. As usual with OLED, the contrast of the ZenBook Flip S display is extraordinarily high at 491,630: 1 (the Specter x360 13 at 405,210: 1). Compare that to the Dell XPS 15's excellent 1480: 1 IPS display, which is tall for an IPS display but nowhere near as jet black as the Asus'. These numbers exaggerate the difference in the real world, but OLED's contrast offers an obvious advantage in movies, games, and high-resolution photos.

The color gamut with 100% sRGB and 99% AdobeRGB is another strength of the ZenBook Flip S display. The XPS 15 barely beats either of them at 100%, but few displays we've tested recently come this close to maximizing both color spaces. And the ZenBook Flip S is also color-accurate with 0.88 – anything below 1.0 cannot be seen by the human eye and is considered excellent. The Specter x360 13 was less accurate at 1.29. The gamma of the ZenBook Flip S display was also spot on with the ideal gamma curve of 2.2.

Asus opted for a spectacular display that has practically no weaknesses.

Put simply, this is a bright, high-contrast display. I love it as a writer because black stands out against white backgrounds and incredibly wide and precise colors. This is a display that would make any creative professional happy. Whether you're looking at it objectively through a colorimeter or subjectively for any task you want – including bingeing video, which is a real treat – this is a superior display.

The sound from the two downward facing speakers was clear with little distortion at the highest volume. The speakers could get pretty loud with nice highs and mids even though the bass was missing (not surprising). You want to use headphones for music and serious seizures, but the sound is more than good enough for the occasional YouTube and Netflix.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ZenBook Flip S inherits the same keyboard as Asus in the ZenBook 14 UX425 and is a good choice. There is a lot of spring travel, a lot of key spacing and size, and a lighting mechanism with a floor effect that is clear and precise. My favorite keyboards remain the Magic keyboard on the MacBook and the ones that HP uses in the Specter lineup (and the latest Envy 15), but the ZenBook Flip S comes close.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touchpad is large and wide and contains Asus' NumberPad 2.0, which transforms the touchpad into an LED-illuminated numeric keypad. You turn it on with a long press of a button in the right corner and change the brightness with a button in the left corner. It works fine, and turning on the NumberPad doesn't interfere with using the touchpad as a touchpad. If you enter a lot of numbers, you will appreciate the function.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touch display is responsive and an active pen that supports 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity is in the box when the laptop ships. However, one didn't come in my box so I couldn't test the pen.

Finally, Windows 10 Hello support is provided by an infrared camera and facial recognition. It was quick and accurate during my tests, and while I prefer a fingerprint reader, it offers an easy sign-in option.

Our opinion

At $ 1,500, the ZenBook Flip S is firmly in the premium segment. And part of what might justify that price tag – on top of the exquisite OLED display – is that it's one of the first laptops to come with Intel's Tiger Lake platform. Unfortunately, Asus has some work to do in order to take advantage of the new platform. The ZenBook Flip S behaves more like a last-generation laptop. This directly reflects how Asus has optimized the laptop's performance.

Otherwise, the ZenBook Flip S is a well-built and attractive 2-in-1 device that can hold its own against other laptops with similar prices and features. It's just such a disappointment that we didn't see Tiger Lake at its best.

Is there a better alternative?

The main competitor of the ZenBook Flip S is probably the HP Specter X360 13, which still runs 10th generation CPUs. It has an equally beautiful OLED display, is a bit smaller, and works just as well. You also spend a few hundred dollars less to configure a similar computer.

If you don't need a 2-in-1, the Dell XPS 13 is a very compelling option. It was recently announced that it is joining the Tiger Lake Club. Once it does, I'm sure it will perform well. It's the best 13-inch clamshell notebook out there, making it a viable competitor to almost every other 13-inch machine.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook Flip S is a rugged laptop that will last forever. It's well built and configured with the latest technology so you can be productive for years. As always, we'd love to see more than a year warranty, but Asus offers one year accident protection.

Should you buy it?

No not yet. When Asus fixes the performance issues, the ZenBook Flip S suddenly becomes a very compelling 2-in-1 device. Until then, I would hold back.

Editor's recommendations




06 Sep
Blog

Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 Review: A Fantastic Value

asus zenbook 14 ux425 review 2020 05

"The Asus ZenBook 14 is an extremely portable laptop at a greatly reduced price."

  • Solid build quality

  • Elegant design

  • Useful keyboard and touchpad

  • Great battery life

  • Incredible value

  • No headphone jack

  • A touchscreen option is missing

Asus has an incredible number of ZenBook models, and not all of them stand out.

The last Asus ZenBook 14 we tested, the UX433 model, was one of them. It lacked some features that left it behind – like no Thunderbolt 3 ports that are unforgivable in a premium laptop – and it was average in several areas where the competition excels. This year Asus quietly launched the ZenBook 14 UX425 model, which adds some missing features and makes some noticeable improvements across the board – all while lowering the price.

I have a model with a 10th Generation Intel Ice Lake Core i5-1035G1 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 512 GB solid-state drive (SSD) and a 14-inch Full HD IPS display (1,920 x 1,080) tested with low power consumption only consumes one watt of power, half the usual two watts. What's pretty noticeable is that this configuration is only $ 800 – add $ 100 and you get a Core i7-1065G7 with Iris Plus Graphics. Has Asus made enough improvements to make the ZenBook 14 better than its competitors, especially considering how low it is?

design

Asus has been working hard for a number of years to make laptops that use small frames to fit into smaller cases. In this sense, the ZenBook 14 UX425 is smaller in almost all dimensions than its predecessor, the UX434, thanks to the 90% screen-to-body ratio. It's the same width but a little less deep and now only 0.54 inches thick compared to 0.67 inches. It also comes in at 2.58 pounds compared to 2.98 pounds.

The focus of the UX425 model is clearly on being thin and light, rather than incorporating some of the more powerful features of the UX434 like a discrete low-end GPU. Miniaturization puts the ZenBook 14 in good company; For example, it's not far from the LG Gram 14's 2.2 pounds – and this is a laptop that was explicitly designed to be as light as possible. The ZenBook 14 competition will likely include more popular 13-inch laptops like the Dell XPS 13. It's thinner than the XPS 13 (0.57 inches) and lighter (2.65 pounds). That's impressive for a 14-inch laptop.

Asus did not save on the processing quality either. The ZenBook 14 has an aluminum case that feels quite sturdy and has passed a number of military certification tests. I could pick a few nits, of course. The lid is a bit flexible and the keyboard has a touch of flex. Overall, the laptop feels solid despite its lightness.

The hinge is also perfect, easy to open with one hand and still hold the display in place. Kudos to Asus for developing a laptop that feels it deserves a premium price despite being close to the budget range.

Aesthetically, the ZenBook 14 looks very similar to a ZenBook. This is done on purpose – Asus is just as important to give their ZenBooks a uniform look as Lenovo is to the ThinkPad line. On the lid is Asus' iconic concentric swirl with the Asus logo on the right in the middle of the circles.

Otherwise, the laptop is simple but cleverly designed and looks quite elegant to me. Asus shows its design here too and the ZenBook 14 can hold its own in the looks department. My test device was pine gray, but a purple nebula is also available.

Connectivity would be great if it weren't for a blatant omission. On the left side of the laptop is a full-size HDMI 2.0 port with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support. That's huge – previous ZenBooks skipped Thunderbolt 3 and it was a blatant faux pas compared to other premium laptops. At $ 800, it's even more impressive. On the right side you will find a USB-A 3.2 port and a microSD card reader (a shame that it is not a full version). Wireless connectivity is cutting edge with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

What is the omission? Asus had to free up some space given the laptop's thin bezel, and the company had the choice of removing the HDMI port or the 3.5mm audio jack. Apparently, the customers they interviewed preferred the HDMI port and the audio jack was omitted.

It comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle, but that was a big mistake in my opinion. If you have two Thunderbolt 3 connections, adding an external monitor – or using a dock for multiple monitors – is trivial. But do you use one of the ports to connect headphones or speakers? Sorry Asus, this doesn't make sense to me.

performance

The Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 uses Ice Lake Intel 10th generation CPUs, and my test device was equipped with the Core i5-1035G1. This is a mid-range 15 watt processor that should offer solid productivity performance, but shouldn't be considered for demanding creative endeavors.

In my tests it performed relatively better on synthetic benchmarks than on real tests. In Geekbench 5, for example, the ZenBook 14 achieved 1,209 points in the single-core test and 4,321 points in the multi-core test. That's quick for the CPU, as it outperforms laptops like the Acer Spin 3 with 1,215 and 3,615 and the Acer Aspire 5 with 1,129 and 2,899.

The ZenBook 14 lags behind in certain content creation tasks.

However, in our handbrake test that converts a 420MB video to H.265, the ZenBook 14 took almost five and a half minutes to complete the test. The Acer Spin 3 was done in just over four minutes and the Acer Aspire 5 15 seconds faster. I was surprised that things went so bad on this test – the trailing edge and air vents provide little support when the lid is opened, which should improve airflow and allow for more sustained performance. Even so, the ZenBook 14 lags behind in certain content creation tasks.

That doesn't mean it isn't a good performer for its targeted productivity tasks. If you're not doing demanding creative tasks, the ZenBook 14 is fast enough.

However, don't expect real games. The laptop comes with entry-level Intel UHD graphics, which should be limited to older titles and esports titles with lower resolutions and graphical details. You should try the Core i7 model with its Iris Plus graphics to play light games.

display

So far, the design and performance have been top notch for a $ 800 laptop. Next up is the display, a component that companies sometimes forego in order to squeeze in under a certain price.

Asus didn't do anything like that with the ZenBook 14. This would be a very good display for a premium laptop and an excellent display for the mid-range price. This is the average (for premium laptops) in just one area: the color gamut is 94% of sRGB and 72% of AdobeRGB. These colors are wide enough for productivity and multimedia applications and only creative professionals would disappoint.

From there, however, the display is above the premium average. The brightness is relatively high at 352 nits and is well above our preferred threshold of 300 nits. The contrast is 1,060: 1, which is above our preferred 1,000: 1 ratio and well above the 800: 1 average you'll find on most premium productivity machines. Color accuracy is very good at 1.42 (1.0 or less is considered excellent), and Gamma is just about right at 2.2.

I enjoyed using the display while writing this review – text popped, colors were bright and not over-saturated, and there was plenty of brightness no matter where I worked (except in direct sunlight, of course). I would be happy with this display in a laptop that costs twice as much as the ZenBook 14.

This display is much better than the LG Gram 14 2-in-1, and while it can't compete with the Full HD display on the Dell XPS 13, it's not far away – and the ZenBook 14 is hundreds of dollars less expensive .

Keyboard and touchpad

One of my favorite keyboards adorns the Specter line from HP and some newer Envy models. It has large buttons with plenty of spacing, plenty of travel, and a light mechanism that still provides a click, precise feel. Why do I mention the HP keyboard? Because the one Asus built into the ZenBook 14 looks and feels remarkably similar. It even has the same row of Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End buttons on the right edge.

I'm not saying Asus copied HP on purpose, but whatever – it's an excellent keyboard that comes close to the HP version. I'd say I like it almost as much, although the Asus iteration is a little too light with its touch.

The touchpad is another standout feature of the ZenBook 14. It's considerably wider this time around and therefore quite large for the size of the case on a Windows 10 computer. More importantly, it has a smooth and comfortable glass surface for accurate tracking and clicking. Of course, it includes Windows Precision drivers that make multi-touch gestures and general swipes a dream.

Asus remains adamant when it comes to adding touch displays to its clamshell laptops.

Most notable, however, is the NumberPad 2.0 feature, which embeds an LED number pad on the touchpad that is useful for anyone who needs to enter numbers. You can turn the NumberPad on and off easily enough by touching and briefly pressing an icon in the top right corner of the touchpad. Change the brightness by touching and holding an icon in the upper left corner. Turning on the NumberPad doesn't interfere with using the touchpad as a touchpad, which is a good thing.

However, Asus remains adamant when it comes to adding touch displays to its clamshell laptops. There's no option with the ZenBook 14, and that's a favorite of mine. I hate using a laptop without a touch display. I'm also used to using my thumb to scroll through web pages and tapping buttons that appear without having to activate the touchpad. I could be in the minority here, however, so Asus may have simply decided that it isn't worth the extra weight and thickness for a (theoretically) small number of users who want the feature.

Windows Hello support without a password is provided by an infrared camera and facial recognition. It works quickly and accurately, and while I prefer a fingerprint reader – which the ZenBook 14 doesn't have – it's a useful feature.

Battery life

Asus increased the battery capacity of the ZenBook 14 UX425 in this generation from 50 to 67 watt hours. It's huge. As already mentioned, the display is also a 1-watt version with low power consumption, which, in our experience, usually leads to an excellent battery life. I was hoping that the ZenBook 14 would follow suit.

As it turns out, the ZenBook 14 did very well in our test suite, even if it doesn't quite match some of the other laptops with low-power displays. It took more than four hours in our most demanding Basemark web benchmark test, which is a solid result, and which is most affected by the CPU and GPU, and the least by the display. Compared to another powerful 14-inch performer, the LG Gram 14 2-in-1 with 72 watt hours of battery life, it only lost a minute. The Dell XPS 13 lasted about 20 minutes longer.

In terms of battery life, the ZenBook 14 is an all-day performer and a lot more.

However, the ZenBook 14 caught our eye in our next two tests. First, our web browsing test made it to 11 hours, a strong score that lagged the LG Gram 14 by 18 minutes and the XPS 13 by about 30 minutes. In our video test, in which a local Full HD Avengers trailer is looped, the ZenBook 14 managed just under 15 hours, compared to the LG Gram 14 with about 16.5 hours and the XPS 13 with about 12.5 hours.

It's hard to be disappointed with results like this, although I expected a better result given the low-power display. The Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1 with its low-power panel lasted a remarkable 21.8 hours in our video test. This is where the savings on the display make the biggest difference. Still, the ZenBook 14 is an all-day high performer and so much more. You can expect to have a full day of work with enough battery life to binge Netflix that evening.

Our opinion

At $ 1,200, the Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 would be a superior, thin, and light laptop that comes highly recommended. At $ 800, I'm more inclined to call it a bargain.

Regardless of the price, the Asus ZenBook 14 is a great laptop with a solid all-metal construction, a refined, thin and light design, a great keyboard and useful touchpad, and fantastic battery life. Throw in a $ 800 prize and we're talking about exceptional value.

Is there a better alternative?

The LG Gram 14 is an option if you want a 14-inch display that approaches the lightness of the ZenBook 14. You'll pay more, but get similar specs, and the Gram 14 won't be nearly as thin. Another 14-inch option to consider is the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7, an AMD Ryzen 4000-based laptop for $ 100 more that is faster and has even better battery life.

If you don't mind shrinking the screen size, the Dell XPS 13 is a more expensive alternative. The performance will be a little better, the display will be a little higher quality and the battery life will be a little better. But it will also cost more.

If you're looking to save some cash, consider the Lenovo Flex 5 14, a 14-inch 2-in-1 with AMD's Ryzen 4000 CPU. It's faster and almost as well built as the ZenBook 14, but it won't even come close to reaching its battery life. It's also only worth $ 600 and offers quite a bit of intrinsic value.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook 14 UX425 is well built and configured with the latest technology. You will be productive for years. The one-year warranty is disappointing, as usual, but Asus offers one-year accident protection.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you're looking for a thin and light laptop for productivity and media consumption, you can't go wrong with the ZenBook 14. And you won't be spending much either.

Editor's recommendations




15 May
Blog

Asus ZenBook Duo Review: A Dual-Screen Laptop You Can Afford

Asus Zenbook Duo review 01

"The second screen of the Asus ZenBook Duo is a great addition."

  • Solid productivity performance

  • Good battery life

  • Secondary screen is useful

  • Attractive design

  • Tight keyboard and touchpad

  • The chassis is a bit chunky

Microsoft is on its way to a future with two screens. Asus started experimenting with its own dual-screen laptops in 2019. Regardless of whether the touchpad is replaced by a second screen or a second 4K screen is installed directly on the keyboard deck, Asus is a leader in the innovation of dual screens that you can buy today.

The ZenBook Duo is the latest attempt to make this technology accessible to the masses. It is a more portable and affordable version of the ZenBook Pro Duo with a 14-inch 1080p screen and a quad-core processor. However, a premium is required at $ 1,500.

Is the second screen a must? Let's take a look.

ScreenPad 2.0

The standout feature of the ZenBook Duo is clearly its second screen, a 12.6-inch IPS panel that is as wide as the primary display and about a third as high. That is what makes the ZenBook Duo so special.

The so-called ScreenPad 2.0 can be touched and touched. You can drag apps and app windows – such as the control panel for a photo editing app – onto the ScreenPad and treat them like any "external" display.

It's handy if you watch Netflix at work (as I've done more than once) or open a second browser instance for multitasking. I opened a Firefox tab with the specifications of this laptop on the ScreenPad 2.0 and made checking facts and figures child's play.

Asus has numerous proprietary utilities and features that make the ScreenPad more useful. You can launch a numeric keypad to make data entry easier, and you can use the launcher to access various apps on the ScreenPad. You can also expand your main display to the ScreenPad, giving you (strangely angled) access to more information in a productivity app.

The ScreenPad is far more useful than the touch bar on the MacBook.

The ScreenPad supports the active Asus pen and offers the same responsiveness and accuracy as the main display. It's a blessing to be able to tap and ink on both displays and switch seamlessly from one to the other depending on how it fits your creative workflow. There's even a working handwriting app that reads my sketches pretty closely. A second display for writing was an advantage.

Overall, I was impressed with the ScreenPad. It's an unusual feature outside of the ZenBook Pro Duo and far more useful than Apple's Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, for example. The additional screen size makes the ScreenPad a really useful addition to the ZenBook Duo and is of particular interest to anyone who can benefit from access to controls or additional apps while working. If you are a creative professional or do multiple tasks regularly, the ScreenPad is probably a real asset. It is much more than just a party trick.

design

The aesthetics of the laptop is obviously Asus, for better and for worse. It's a refinement of ZenBook design that's both recognizable and striking in the line. You'll enjoy the ZenBook's usual concentric swirls on the lid, which is perhaps the most iconic Asus design feature. Here the eddies are not centered, but asymmetrical, a noticeable change. There is also a new Celestial Blue color that offers a touch of elegance.

Overall, the ZenBook Duo is an attractive laptop that manages to cross the line between fancy and conservative, but I wouldn't say it stands out.

Connectivity is acceptable, with one USB-C 3.1 port, two USB-A 3.1 ports (one Gen 1 and one Gen 2), a full-size HDMI port, and a microSD card reader. Unfortunately Asus skipped Thunderbolt 3 support again, just like with other current ZenBooks. To be honest, that's unforgivable for a $ 1,500 laptop. Thunderbolt 3 offers the best connectivity performance, including the ability to connect to an external GPU chassis. This would be a blessing for the creative types who might be interested in the ZenBook Duo.

Keyboard and touchpad

The most noticeable victim forced by the second ad is right below. While the keyboard has snappy keys with a fixed mechanism and a lot of travel, I found it too small for comfortable typing. The keys are small and the keyboard layout felt tight, which made typing a challenge. It cannot be compared to the excellent keyboards of the latest Apple MacBooks and the HP Specter x360 13. There's also no wrist, so your palms hover just behind it. It is a recipe for fatigue.

This Asus has an ErgoLift hinge with which the props are attached at an angle to the back of the laptop. This helps in the absence of a palm rest and improves airflow for better performance. On the other hand, the laptop gets thicker when placed on your lap or desk.

The touchpad is small, but it responds, and it's on the right of the keyboard. It has the same lack of a palm rest as the keyboard, and it's almost impossible to use left-handed. You want to take a mouse with you for use with the ZenBook Duo because the touchpad becomes a real task.

I liked the infrared camera that Windows 10 Hello supports without a password. It worked fine during my tests, and although I prefer to have a fingerprint reader (either in addition to or instead of face recognition), I appreciated its presence.

Display quality

The ScreenPad 2.0 is characterized by its additional utility. The 14-inch full HD main display remains important. I prefer 4K displays, but I also like displays with wide and precise colors, great brightness and a lot of contrast.

Unfortunately Asus has equipped the ZenBook Duo with a mediocre display. The color gamut is not wide at only 70% of AdobeRGB and 94% of sRGB, although its color accuracy is reasonable at an average DeltaE of 1.45 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent). The display only reaches 251 nits, far below our preferred 300 nits, and the contrast is low at 730: 1 (we want laptops to reach 1000: 1 or more).

The display quality prevents it from being ideal for content creation.

Subjectively, this is a pleasant indicator of productivity work and watching Netflix videos. However, creatives won't like the narrow range of colors, especially if you can buy great displays on other laptops, including the HP Specter x360 13 AMOLED panel, which has spectacular colors (100% of sRGB and 98% of AdobeRGB) and brightness (405 nits) offers) and contrast.

The ZenBook Pro Duo’s AMOLED display is just as great, which makes the ZenBook Duo’s main screen a little disappointing. I would have preferred to see a brighter display with better colors and contrast on a laptop designed for creative types. Ultimately, the display quality prevents it from being ideal for content creation.

performance

While the larger ZenBook Pro Duo has an eight-core Core i9 H series for serious performance, the ZenBook Duo is in the middle of the road. It uses a quad-core Comet Lake Core i7-10510U CPU that is good enough for productivity tasks, but not particularly suitable for demanding creative workflows. Overall, the ZenBook Duo is fast compared to other 14-inch laptops, but cannot compete with more powerful creative platforms.

In our real handbrake test, which converts a 420 MB file to H.265, the ZenBook Duo lasted exactly three and a half minutes. This is solid for a quad-core Intel Core i7. However, the ZenBook Pro Duo completed the same test in one minute and 16 seconds, while the Dell XPS 15 finished in one minute and 42 seconds – but still significantly faster than the ZenBook Duo. The Dell XPS 13 completed the test in three minutes and 13 seconds.

In terms of graphics performance, the ZenBook Duo is again far behind the larger ZenBook Pro Duo. The latter has a very fast Nvidia GeForce GTX 2060, which makes it a powerful tool for creative apps that support the GPU. The ZenBook Duo is limited to the Nvidia GeForce MX250. It's faster than built-in Intel graphics (and about as powerful as the new Intel Iris Plus graphics), but doesn't make much of a difference when rendering videos.

You will also find that the ZenBook Duo is a bit challenging to play with. Fortnite runs at just over 30 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and Epic settings and shifts down towards 60 fps with details. However, it is difficult for you to run more demanding titles with the same resolution and the same graphic details.

The ZenBook Duo is only available in the United States in a configuration that includes 16 GB of RAM and is sufficient for the vast majority of productivity users. It also has plenty of 1 TB of SSD storage.

Portability and battery life

Portability is also compromised on the Altar of the ScreenPad – the ZenBook Duo is pretty bulky at 0.78 inches thick. Thanks to the relatively small display bezels, it's not too big in width and depth, but at 3.3 pounds it's pretty heavy. Other 14-inch laptops are smaller than this, including the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the ZenBook 14 from Asus.

However, the battery life is solid. When the ScreenPad was turned on, the battery capacity of 70 watt hours kept the ZenBook Duo for a surprisingly long time, considering that the batteries supply two displays with power. In our web browser test, nine hours passed, which is good, if less than the 11.5 hours of the Dell XPS 13.

The ZenBook Duo looped our test video for almost 12 hours, again a good score, but less than the XPS 13 at 14.5 hours. And in our demanding Basemark test, the Asus managed almost five hours less than the XPS 13 with 10 minutes less.

Our opinion

At $ 1,500, the ZenBook Duo is more expensive than comparable laptops. That hurts when you look at the less-than-great screen, the chunkier design, and the lack of Thunderbolt 3.

The ScreenPad 2.0 is the salvation of this laptop. It goes beyond the cool factor (although it also has a lot of it). Even with compromises on the keyboard and touchpad, extreme multitaskers will be happy to access another panel directly on the device.

Are there alternatives?

You will find a variety of 14-inch (and 13.3-inch) laptops that can easily compete with the ZenBook Duo. None of them offer the second display, but all are thinner and lighter. Some of them offer better performance and durability, and most offer much better keyboards and touchpads.

One example is the Dell XPS 13 with an aspect ratio of 16:10, which has a positive impact on productivity and makes the display about as tall as the ZenBook Duo, if not as wide. The XPS 13 is significantly faster than the ZenBook Duo, even in terms of video editing, where the ZenBook Duo itself works fairly quickly. Depending on the configuration, you can spend less on the XPS 13 or a lot more, but it is a good alternative for anyone who is not interested in the ScreenPad 2.0.

Asus also makes several 14-inch models that deliver solid value. They lack the ScreenPad 2.0, which cuts hundreds off the price. This is the obvious step if you don't find ScreenPad attractive.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook Duo is well built and promises years of productive performance thanks to its modern components. You'll miss Thunderbolt 3, however, and the ultimate usefulness of ScreenPad 2.0 depends on developer support. The one-year warranty is industry standard and is shorter than desired. However, Asus offers one year of accident protection if you drop your ZenBook Duo or spill a cup of coffee on the keyboard.

Should you buy it

Yes. There is no other laptop like the ZenBook Duo except the larger and more expensive ZenBook Pro Duo, which makes this a uniquely useful option.

Editor's recommendations