Asus Zenbook Duo (2026) assessment: twice as good — for a worth

The most useful factor you may add to any laptop computer for productiveness is a second display. That’s why I like laptops just like the Asus Zenbook Duo. Its twin 14-inch OLED shows are hooked up by a redesigned hinge that now holds them nearer collectively and on a single airplane, for a extra seamless look than earlier fashions. The Zenbook Duo and its nearest rival look odd at first look, however having a twin monitor setup out there to you anyplace is extremely useful. And so cool, too. Let them stare.

In addition to the brand new hinge, the 2026 Zenbook Duo will get Asus’ evenly textured Ceraluminum coating (which sounds foolish however seems to be and feels nice), a a lot bigger battery, and — most significantly — a brand new Intel Panther Lake CPU. With this streamlined design, all-day battery life, and plentiful energy, the Duo is a dual-screen that’s succesful sufficient and versatile sufficient for many anybody.

Our assessment configuration of the 2026 Zenbook Duo, which is because of launch someday in Q1 2026, has an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage for $2,299.99. That’s $500 greater than the last-gen model with comparable specs.

I cowl the Zenbook Duo’s efficiency at size in my devoted Intel Panther Lake assessment, however the brief model is that the Core Ultra X9 388H chip on this laptop computer is superb, and it makes the Duo each highly effective and power-efficient. It can deal with heavy multitasking, breeze via content material creation in Adobe apps, and even play video games effectively in 1080p / 1200p decision. It even delivers near-full-power efficiency when not plugged in — not usually the case for Windows laptops.

The Zenbook Duo’s large 99Wh battery lasted over 14 hours in our rundown check, and in on a regular basis use I might simply get via an eight-to-nine-hour workday after which some whereas utilizing each screens at pretty excessive brightness. I even ran it for six hours straight in dual-screen mode with each panels at 80 p.c brightness with out letting Windows 11’s aggressive energy administration droop it or let it sleep, all whereas working throughout two digital desktops in lots of Chrome tabs and with music enjoying on its solid-sounding audio system by way of Spotify. In these six hours it went from a full cost right down to 24 p.c. Impressive. And it lasts even longer whenever you use it like a typical clamshell laptop computer, with solely one among its 14-inch 2880 x 1800 / 144Hz OLEDs energetic.

One of the Duo’s greatest tips is that it will probably rework from a traditional 14-inch laptop computer to its towering dual-screen mode as rapidly as you may rip the keyboard deck from its magnetic pogo pins and deploy the built-in kickstand. The keyboard and mechanical trackpad on the Duo are each nice.

The keyboard’s typing really feel is decently tactile, with a deep 1.7mm key journey. The trackpad has gesture controls at its edges that I discovered liable to unintentional activation, so I turned them off within the MyAsus app. When indifferent, the keyboard deck works over Bluetooth for a claimed 11.6 hours of use with its backlight on. I by no means needed to fear about keyboard battery life, as I switched to clamshell mode usually sufficient to maintain it topped up from the pogo pins — and it’s also possible to cost the keyboard by way of USB-C whereas it’s off the laptop computer.

The Zenbook Duo is much more travel-friendly than the 2024 Lenovo Yoga Book 9i: The Yoga Book’s stand is in a magnetic folio case, not inbuilt; its keyboard doesn’t have a trackpad, and you may’t shut the Yoga Book’s lid with the keyboard inside, so it and the mouse it ships with take up extra room in your bag. The solely tradeoffs of the Zenbook Duo design in comparison with the Lenovo are that it doesn’t fold over backward for pill mode, and it’s a little bit of a chunker at 3.65 kilos / 1.66 kg and practically an inch thick at its hinge.

But I desire the Zenbook Duo’s extra typical method to dual-screen laptop computer life over the Yoga Book 9i. In addition to being extra travel-friendly, the Duo has extra ports and higher port selection than the Lenovo, together with a USB-A and full-size HDMI 2.1. The dual-screen Lenovo can be nice, with distinctive model from its folio stand and vibrant blue coloration, however the Zenbook Duo is a tidier package deal.

As I discovered once I examined Lenovo’s rollable laptop computer, getting extra display actual property everytime you want will completely spoil you. Lots of individuals use moveable displays for this, however having your second display built-in into your laptop computer and completely matched to the principle display in decision, measurement, and coloration is healthier. There’s extra room to tile apps and home windows throughout your workspace, and it’s simpler to work on two paperwork on the identical time with side-by-side vertical screens — which is what I’m doing as I write this assessment. And with the screens in extra-tall orientation you get a pleasant webcam angle that’s nearer to eye stage, simpler in your neck, and a extra pleasing illustration of your mug — no tickets to double-chin metropolis right here.

As superior as this dual-screen expertise is, you’re sure to run into little bits of friction. For instance, I like turning the Duo’s orientation between horizontal and vertical relying on what I’m engaged on. But the two-up vertical place requires resting the laptop computer on its aspect, blocking some ports. Do I want my USB-A port for a mechanical keyboard or mouse dongle? Am I plugging into an exterior monitor by way of HDMI? Either of those means briefly shedding entry to the opposite, and blocks half the Zenbook Duo’s six audio system, making music sound unbalanced and slightly odd. Within Windows lie some quirks too: If you relaxation the Duo on its left edge, it’s important to change which show is the principle display in Settings, to maintain the System Tray within the backside proper the place it belongs. (Imagine utilizing a center-aligned Start menu and a center-left-aligned System Tray? Madness.)

Asus’ ScreenXpert overlay software program is designed to help with dual-screen administration. It’s useful for issues like concurrently launching grouped apps throughout the 2 screens, nevertheless it’s nonetheless clunky and restricted in scope. The identical goes for all of the multi-finger contact gestures it’s important to keep in mind if you wish to name up the digital keyboard and trackpad or transfer them across the backside display. (My resolution is to simply not hassle with the contact keyboard.)

But the odd, minor ache factors are far outweighed by the usefulness and enjoyable of the Zenbook Duo’s twin shows. It’s an extremely versatile setup, and each efficiency and battery life are nice. Asus nailed most elements of the Zenbook Duo, making it a straightforward advice. Later within the yr Asus can even carry a mannequin with the identical design, however a last-gen Arrow Lake H chip, which can be cheaper. And it’s additionally launching a dual-screen gaming laptop computer, the Zephyrus Duo, which I’m actually trying ahead to. Dual-screen laptops stay area of interest for now, however the Zenbook Duo proves they shouldn’t be as uncommon as they’re.