Rounding out the package are some Thunderbolt 3 compatible USB-C ports, a full USB 3.1 port, HDMI output, WiFi 6, a 90Wh battery and of course the second screen. This time, ASUS went with a larger 14-inch 4K panel to serve as a ScreenPad – more on this. Of course, the sheer amount of ASUS squeezed into this thing means that it’s best suited to sit in one place – it only weighs a hair under 5.3 pounds.
For those looking for something more portable, there is the ZenBook Duo 14 and its 14-inch, 1080p touchscreen. It’s not nearly as powerful as its bigger sibling, though you can set it up nicely – it’s provided with Intel’s Xe integrated graphics, but you can opt for an NVIDIA GeForce MX450, and you’ve a Core i5 -1135G7 or one of the 11th generation 17-1165G7 processors from Intel. The Duo 14 also includes up to 32 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, up to 1 GB of storage, two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, one large USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, HDMI output and a microSD card slot.
ASUS has packed all that plus a 70Wh battery in a body that weighs just over 3.5 pounds. It might just be worth it if you’re a fan of the 12.6-inch ScreenPad Plus screen that sits just above the keyboard.
Now, over to the second screens. One of the big bumps against the original ZenBook Duo and Pro Duo’s secondary screens was the way they were oriented – they sat flush with the rest of the laptops, and although the bottom of half of the machines was tilted slightly upwards can still be difficult to see the ScreenPad Plus at a glance. This time it is not so. In both of the new ZenBook Duo models, the ScreenPad itself turns upwards to sit a little neater in your eye line – think a 9.5-degree angle for the Pro Duo and a 7-degree angle for the smaller Duo.