Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “ASUS ZenBook Duo 2021 Review: Twice The Screens For Half The Price”.
A portion of this video is sponsored by Surfshark.. You know my favorite thing about a good idea in tech. If it makes enough sense, it can be used on products for all kinds of people.. It was the summer of 2019, but it feels a lot longer ago that I bought my first dual-screen laptop.
The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, which was focused on creative professionals. In 2020, ASUS improved its two-screen approach and brought it over to the gaming world. With that absolute monster called the Zephyrus Duo, which I reviewed in December. For 2021. The company is spreading those improvements all across its laptop lineup., Including this more affordable, double display notebook for those of us who like to stay mobile., (, upbeat, synth, music, ), Angular, chassis, low, key blue casing offset trackpad. Yeah at first.
It doesn’t seem like there’s much new here, but that all changes, once you add some scale to the mix. By shaving, the bezels down to four millimeters ASUS – has squeezed a 14-inch display into what feels like a 13-inch bag.. Don’T get me wrong at almost 17 millimeters.
It’S no MacBook Air and at 3 1/2 pounds. It’S no LG Gram either., But even so the ZenBook Duo still doesn’t seem big enough to achieve what it does squeezing in a whole second screen above the keyboard. Plus the new mechanism that props it up. So you can see it more clearly than on the previous model., While seven degrees is only about 1/2.
The angle on the ScreenPad on the Zephyrus Duo it does help bring down the glare and opens up a big enough gap to bring over that machine’s approach to cooling.. Dual fans pull in air from above instead of below for almost 50 % more airflow. Other productivity perks, ported from prior PCs include ports.. The new ZenBook duo features a headphone jack the microSD slot.
I missed on the Zephyrus the horrendously named USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A. A full-size HDMI and two Thunderbolt 4 ports., Each of which can also take power from the slim 65-watt, brick, that ships in the box., The old ZenBook keyboard, comes over too, and that’s great news., 1.4-millimeter key travel switches with just the right amount of click and the Slight incline of the deck make for comfortable typing, despite the board’s low position on the laptop., Now remember, there’s no Pro in the name and that’s for a good reason.. This has made to be a more affordable machine than its ancestors starting at about $ 1,300. For the spec sheet you see on the screen., So sacrifices had to be made.
For one thing: there’s no magical numpad, hiding under the trackpad here For another. The speakers are fuzzy and thin, with bass so lacking as to sound almost grating.. It fails the one-handed opening test, as well as the fingerprint resistance test on the lid. Ugh.
MacMillan Utility. I mean in McAfee. Security is of course, pre-installed.. The touchscreens max out at full HD instead of 4K., Especially apparent on the ScreenPad Plus. And the biggest compromise, is in how those pixels are pushed.. Unlike its performance pack predecessors with their discreet graphics, the ZenBook Duo makes do with either integrated Intel XE or NVIDIA MX450 GPUs..
Now, while that means this, isn’t the machine to buy if you’re gon na be playing “, Cyberpunk” or “ Microsoft, Flight, Simulator, ,” or recording any video in other than ideal lighting conditions on this webcam, my buddy David Cogen at the TheUnlockr, has demonstrated that not only Does photo editing work fairly well, but video editing is also possible and even smooth with what 8-bit 4K 8-bit. Not 10 bit, but I mean integrated graphics right. That’S pretty good. Wild times., But I use Final Cut.
So what do I know? Yeah. Yeah. There’s also a nice bonus. If you use Adobe’s Creative Suite.
ASUS worked with Adobe to make custom controls for Premiere Photoshop After Effects and Lightroom Classic that live down, here., Which you can see more of and Cogen’s video., And even if you don’t use those applications, there are upgrades to the basic Software that runs the ScreenPad as well.. The layout is more logical., It’s more responsive than before., And because this trackpad is pretty much as cramped as it looks, a three-finger tap transforms this entire touchscreen into a giant trackpad.. These upgrades aren’t gon na be trapped on this machine by the way ASUS tells me it’s extending them to its other dual-screen laptops as well..
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The ZenBook Duo 14 is the first machine. I’Ve used that’s Intel, Evo, certified powered by this 11th Generation Core i7.. Now, to get that Evo sticker, a PC has to meet a bunch of criteria from battery life to quick wake-ups and my results have been mixed.. As usual, the manufacturer estimated battery life of 17 hours isn’t just not in the same ballpark as reality. It’S not even the same city., And when you look at the fine print on the testing, you start to understand. Why.
The tested model, among other things, was the i5 version.. The display was set to less than 1/3 of its max brightness of 400 nits. And that second display, you know the biggest reason to buy the machine. In the first place. ( sighs ). It was turned off.
In my testing, with an average of 10 tabs running in Microsoft, Edge the performance slider at 3/4 and the 75 % brightness. I find that I need in a well-lit room. I got five to 5 1/2 hours between charges.. I generally consider anything over four hours to be acceptable and I get really excited when I’m able to get anything over seven., So 5.5 hours is good and kind of becomes really good.
When you remember that the machine has to power this whole second screen. And as for the one-second wake-ups, the Intel Evo certification calls for Well, sometimes yeah, sometimes no. One place. The manufacturer estimates are right on the money is quick.
Charging. 49 minutes on the charger got me from dead battery to 62 %, with a full charge taking about an hour more than that., And this is the best Windows laptop I’ve ever used ever in terms of standby drain.. At one point, over the weekend I closed the lid came back 16 hours later and found I’d only lost 1 % of battery.. Finally, I’m a sucker for clever software that solves common problems and the noise-canceling that ASUS calls clear voice is incredible..
Listen to what happens when I crank up some background noise and then try the different, clear voice. Modes. “, The original machine had a base plate “ of prefabulated amulite “ surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way, “ that the two main spurving bearings were in a direct line “ with the panametric fan. ( laptop chiming, ) “. The latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzlevanes “ so fitted to the ambifacient lunar waneshaft “, that side fumbling was effectively prevented.” And this is a system-level tool.. I mean you can use it with whatever video conferencing or conference call solution.
You use. And with so many of us on constant conference calls these days it’s a very timely feature that almost makes up for the very low-quality webcam., With machines of similar specs going for between 750 and $ 1,000. You’Ve really got ta, be sure you want that. Screenpad Plus, if you’re gon na splash the extra cash on this one.
But like I’ve, said in every ZenBook and Zephyrus video so far. That second screen is no gimmick.. It adds real value to every minute I spend on this machine. And when I have to move back to a similarly sized single screen notebook, I really do feel more confined. And just as important ASUS has made so many improvements to that dual display experience in such A short time that I feel confident recommending it because the company seems genuinely committed to the category for the long haul.. In short, I’m a ScreenPad super-fan and I’m quite pleased to see it offered and expanded on a more affordable machine.. I think most people who use one will feel the same way.. This review was produced following eight days with a ZenBook Duo, 14 review sample on loan from ASUS..
As always, the company didn’t have any editorial input into my conclusions and no compensation was requested or provided in exchange for this coverage. ASUS, seeing it for the first time right alongside you., Remember to watch David Cogen’s real-world test of this machine at TheUnlockr and don’t miss My review of its bigger brawnier cousin, the Zephyrus Duo both linked below. Until next time, thanks for watching. And remember to stay safe and mask up.
While you stay mobile, my friends. ( gentle upbeat electronic music, ) .