Asus Zenbook Duo 14 Review Laptop for Fun and Work
The Asus ZenBook Duo 14 (UX482) is the company's latest offer for users who expect nothing less than the company's best performance.
The best thing about this laptop is that it can duplicate your work into a gaming machine, enough to run any popular heavy-graphic gaming title. The Genbook Duo offers two screens that offer more real estate for multiple tasks.
Before I go into the review, let’s talk about the PC market in India (including laptops) where the demand for them has increased, and working from home has been a common rule for many in India for over a year now. Earlier this year, the International Data Bureau (ITC) Data 2020 was the largest year for notebooks, with 7.9 million units shipped this year.
Asus ranked fifth with a 6.4 percent stake in the fourth year of 2020, according to the ITC report. The wide range of laptops available through online and offline channels has helped keep the company growing. The Asus Zenbook Dio may play a key role in the premium end of the laptop segment, which will help bridge the gap with companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Acer.
But the pricing Asus Zenbook Duo 14 is not for the faint of heart. I have been using this laptop as my primary machine for a week, offering the Sennheiser Duo which is second to none in this price segment.
Asus Zenbook Duo 14 Review: Unique Design
The Asus Zenbook Duo 14 stands out in the design industry because it has a screen pad and a plus secondary display, as well as the overall build. The chassis and lid are made of magnesium-aluminum alloy, which gives the body a premium feel and firmness. Asus told the conference that the new Genbook Duo is undergoing an internal layout update and is set to include all new hinges that will improve the cooling system.
The company uses a new Active Aerodynamic system that makes the screen pad part of the laptop's full cooling system. This means that the secondary display is slightly raised and offers a better angle, which we will talk about a bit more.
The Asus ZenBook Duo weighs in at 1.6kg, which is not a very lightweight design, but overall, I must appreciate the work done by the company's R&D team. The laptop also offers a slim body of 16.9mm, which cleans up small touches. However, let me tell you that the Asus Zenbook Dio is not the machine you want to carry everywhere and is as small as other options available in the market. The reason is simple: working keys are not very strong, just assume this is a premium offer and you do not want to damage it. This means sticking to your desk (not intended).
When the two changes are used together for a task, the design changes help give Asus a seamless visual experience. The company has reduced the distance between the primary and secondary display, which improves the view. The touchscreen experience is better than the last Genbook Duo version. When you build a laptop dual fan, you will not hear them, thanks to the amazing design changes introduced by Asus.
The lid is an asymmetrical-circle design feature that we continue to see in many Asus laptops and in its signature design format. It is available in Sky Blue finish in attractive form. The laptop is shipped with a full-size keyboard, but this is not the standard you see on all other laptops. The secondary display takes up enough space from the keyboard as it is located on the bottom panel. Design changes to the Zenbook Duo 14 adjust the front of the keyboard, which means you have no rest. Instead, during the review, the full-size keyboard is arranged in such a way as to feel crowded. However, it offers a much better typing experience, and the touchpad is an excellent class.
Despite the space crisis, Asus has not compromised on any side, and the laptop offers exclusive hotspots. The FN key comes with a built-in LED light to indicate which mode. The laptop keyboard offers a dedicated button to adjust the backlight, which focuses better on the details.
However, for those who type a lot, we feel that the Asus Zenbook Duo 14 is not the best laptop choice. These laptops will appeal to those who expect more from editing videos, pictures, games, and more. These are not laptops suitable for writers. It should attract creators, video editors, and other experts.
Asus Genbook Duo 14 Review: Stunning Performance
The Asus Zenbook Duo is powered by an Intel Core i7 processor with up to 16GB of RAM. However, I have here a 32GB RAM version which is not available in India and I would like to offer a model available in Asus India.
The laptop offers almost similar features, the only difference being the internal RAM, so do not change the fate significantly.
The Genbook Duo comes with the Intel Evo operating system standard that ensures high performance. The new Intel Evo operating system for laptops will become the new standard for users expecting better performance. Intel has put forward the minimum requirements to qualify as an Intel Evo laptop. For example, laptops powered by Intel Evo laptop quality Core i5 or i7 processors, Sport Full HD or 12-inch screen-sized large display, 256GB SSD storage, 8GB RAM, Intel Thunderbolt 4 ports, and Bluetooth 5 can provide life.
In terms of the Sennheiser Duo, the Core i7 - 1165G7 is the first from Intel, while the Core i7-1185G7 is not as strong as Intel's core of laptops. The laptop does a great job of handling standard everyday tasks, including multiple Chrome browser browsers, video calls, image editing in Photoshop, and more. The best thing about the Genbook Duo is that I never think twice about opening new apps on the device, thanks to the 32GB RAM board. The Genbook Duo is a great option for people who want to work with 3D animation, video editing, text editing, multi-screen presentations, or background music or video for easy reference.
The secondary display is unique and useful even in everyday use. The ScreenPad Plus automatically tilts up to 7 degrees and improves brightness and readability. The secondary display includes the company's Screen Expert 2 software, which provides a control panel to access certain tasks.
There are options to choose from from the dial, button, slider, and scroll, where each control is designed to work uniquely to enhance the workflow.
The control panel on the secondary display is fully customizable and integrates with popular applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. You also have access to Spotify, which means you can play your favorite podcast or song in secondary while continuing to play the main scene. Asus claims that ScreenExpert is available to third-party developers, which means that compatible applications can be expected soon.
There are some simple options like Task Swap that switch all the apps between the primary and the screen pad plus. There is also a button for the app navigator that lists all the apps that are open in both directions. Creators that require stylus work can turn off the keyboard with a single tap. There is also a touchpad mode, which makes the entire secondary display the largest touchpad. If you're running on a laptop battery and worrying about two juice-consuming scenes, you can disable the secondary display, which is a great addition again.
The 14-inch full-HD Nano Edge touchscreen display is bright, and the slim 4mm side bezel and 7mm top bezel provide an amazing viewing experience. This device offers a screen-to-body ratio of 93 percent and can provide the highest brightness of the 400 Note, which is remarkable. Fortunately, the laptop also has a TUV Rhineland Eye Care Certificate. The 12.65-inch IPS display on the screen pad offers a screen resolution of 1920x515 pixels, which is enough to handle light visual content such as your music player or video player, or control panel. However, as it comes with a premium price tag, Asus may have sent a higher resolution screen.
The Genbook Duo 14 laptop has a built-in display for multimedia fans who want to see more content on the laptop screen. The speakers on the Hormone Gordon laptop are tuned, which is great for your gaming or streaming videos.
The laptop also offers several connectivity ports, including Thunderbolt 3 ports, 1 USB 3.2 Type-A, 1 HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. Genbook Duo 14 ships with Windows 10 Home with many pre-loaded Asus applications for user convenience.
Those with problems with the Genbook Duo 14 can run computer diagnostics using the MySus app already loaded on the laptop. If the problem is large, users can access customer service through the same application.
While the epidemic has forced people to look for laptops that offer high-quality webcams, the Genbook Duo 14 is not disappointing. It provides a good quality webcam that serves the purpose. Enabled to open face using Windows Hello feature with integrated IR camera on the laptop. This is flawless at the time of review.
We got the 32GB RAM version for review and considering that customers in India will only get up to 16GB RAM, we decided not to list the key scores as they will be higher than what is available in SKU in India.
When it comes to gaming, the Intel Core i7-1165G7 is the best processor for handling heavy-graphic titles, while the Zenbook Duo 14 does not disappoint with its gaming expertise. We played a few hours on Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and had a good time. The Intel Iris GPU is not very powerful but is compatible with most requests.
Asus Zenbook Duo 14 Review: Battery Not Impressive
The company claims that the Asus Zenbook Duo 14 has a 70 Wh lithium polymer battery that offers up to 17 hours of battery life. The laptop is powered by a 50W Type-C power adapter that can charge from 0 to 60 percent in 50 minutes.
At the time of review, the laptop offered a typical battery life of up to 6.5 hours, which is not bad considering the overall power of the laptop offers, however, it is less than what Asus claims.
Asus Zenbook Duo 14 Review: Verdict
Priced at Rs 99,990, the Asus Zenbook Duo 14 is a laptop for content creators, video editors in general, and people who want the best for everyday performance. While there are other options on the market for lower prices, it is definitely worth looking for other experts.
Asus also offers a one-year international warranty and packaged applications for Rs 129,990, which is not a bad deal for those who want to spend less money on these extra subscriptions and jewelry.
The secondary display is a highlight of the Asus Zenbook Duo 14, and you won't find it in most of its competitors. It feels a little brittle with the new Hing, so if you have a work desk and someone wants to stick to your seat while creating a new animation or editing a picture or video, this would be a good choice. If you want better battery life, you may want to consider the new M1 Powered MacBook Pro.