ASUS ZenBook Duo UX482: Refining the compact dual-display notebook proposition

Note: This review was first published on 29 Mar 2021 and has its ratings updated after further analysis of its positioning, and performance leaps over its predecessor.

Dual-display notebook, take two

In February, I got the chance to play around with an early engineering sample of the ZenBook Duo UX482. Now, I have a retail version to test.

You can read my hands-on here. But to recap, the ZenBook Duo UX482 is ASUS’ second-generation dual-screen ultraportable notebook – the first being ZenBook UX481. 

Design & ScreenPad Plus enhancements

The main ingredients of the ZenBook UX482 and its principal idea haven’t changed: cramp two screens into as small a body as it's physically and technologically possible. And to be frank, ASUS has mostly succeeded. It isn’t that much bulkier than the recently launched ZenBook 14 Ultralight, which is pretty incredible to think about what you get out of the UX482. Thickness is 17.3mm and weight, thanks to a mostly magnesium-aluminium alloy body, is 1.6kg. It’s heavy compared to the most portable ultraportable notebooks, but entirely reasonable given that it has two screens. 

The sizes and display resolutions of the two screens are unchanged. The main screen is 14 inches large and it’s Full-HD resolution. The secondary display, or ScreenPad Plus as ASUS calls it, is 12.6 inches across and has a resolution of 1,920 x 515 pixels - that's about half the size of the main display (and vertical resolution).

While the physical aspects are largely the same, improvements have been made to the user experience. The main screen now supports touch inputs to bring it in line with the secondary display. No more second-guessing which screen supports touch input when you're middle of a busy task. Next, the secondary display now has a new hinge mechanism that lifts to give it an additional seven degrees of tilt. That might not sound like much, but the end result is that the main display now flows more seamlessly into the secondary display and the added till really makes the screen much more visible. It still doesn’t quite look like one big display – the ScreenPad Plus is significantly dimmer than the main display – but it’s getting there.

Other ScreenPad Plus enhancements

There are also software enhancements to the ScreenPad Plus. There’s now support for Adobe applications including Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, and Lightroom Classic. When you open any of these apps, you’ll see customisable shortcuts on the ScreenPad Plus. Other improvements include a new ScreenXpert Control Center that manages settings pertaining to the ScreenPad Plus, the dock can now be repositioned or hidden entirely for a cleaner workspace. 

Specs and features

The ZenBook Duo UX482 is available in only one configuration and here are its key specs:

• Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor
• 16GB memory
• 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
• NVIDIA GeForce MX450 2GB GDDR6

With these specifications, the ZenBook Duo UX482 is going to set you back S$2,598. Since these specifications are comparable to other high-end ultraportable notebooks, the ZenBook Duo UX482 isn't actually that crazily priced.

However, ASUS is confident this notebook will outperform similarly-spec’ed notebooks thanks to its ASUS Intelligent Performance Technology (AIPT) and Active Aerodynamic System (AAS+). 

The former dynamically adjusts CPU power settings based on system loading status and temperatures to maximise performance and power efficiency, while the latter refers to the notebook’s enhanced cooling system. ASUS says the cooling system has been improved considerably. The two fans have 59 blades (up from 43) and they draw heat away from a heatsink that has a wider 10mm heat pipe. And because the ScreenPad Plus rises off the system, ASUS says it’s able to take advantage of that to improve overall airflow. It claims airflow is now up to 49% higher.

Together, ASUS claims AIFT and AAS+ can boost performance by up to 40%. Users can enjoy this improved performance by hitting Fn+F and activating the notebook’s Performance mode. It’s worth mentioning, however, that the fans get obnoxiously loud in this mode (headphones are recommended). There’s a Balanced mode for normal use and there’s also a Whisper mode for the times when you need the fans to be as quiet as possible.

As for connectivity options, the ZenBook Duo UX482 seemingly has all bases covered. It has two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) port, a full-size HDMI port (1.4 not 2.0), and a microSD card reader. On the wireless connectivity front, the notebook supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Keyboard and trackpad

Some sacrifices have to be made to accommodate the secondary display and the most significant one is the repositioning of the keyboard and trackpad. Like its predecessor, the ZenBook Duo UX482’s keyboard is at the bottom edge of the notebook while its trackpad is off to the right.

The quality of the hardware is good. The keys themselves are actually quite nice to type on with a firm feel and quite sufficient travel, and the trackpad feels smooth and responsive.

However, the keyboard and trackpad are obviously compromised. Left-handed readers will likely find the location of the trackpad a pain. Not to mention also that it is tiny. And if you have a lot of typing to do, a wrist-rest of some sort is highly recommended. And while most of the keys are of adequate size, two crucial ones – Backspace and Enter – are too small.

Still, ASUS has made some minor improvements. The size of the arrow keys have been reduced. They are now half-height and arranged in an inverted T formation so that users can more easily locate them by touch. As a result, the right Shift key is now larger. Since I use the right Shift to capitalise my words, I find this to be a much welcome change. This definitely shows that ASUS is listening and actively optimizing even the finer aspects to improve user experience.

Benchmarking the notebook

Since the ZenBook Duo UX482 is powered by mostly the same components that are found in most of today’s ultraportable notebooks, we’ll be comparing it closely against notebooks like the ZenBook 14 Ultralight, Dell XPS 13, Lenovo Slim 7i Carbon, and more. Will ASUS’ AIFT and AAS+ technologies really help boost performance? Let’s find out.

First, let's see how they stack up:

Performance analysis

The performance of the ZenBook Duo UX482 was generally excellent. It was first or close to the top in nearly every benchmark. Graphics performance was very impressive. In Tomb Raider, it produced consistent frame rates and was over 30% faster than the other notebooks even if it has the same class of graphics processor. What’s fascinating is that it has the same NVIDIA GeForce MX450 discrete GPU as the ZenBook 14 Ultralight, which goes to show just how big a role cooling systems play in modern notebook design.

That said, ASUS’ claims of up to 40% better performance may be a little optimistic. While it managed to maintain these claims in the Tomb Raider game, such leaps are not the norm as seen on other tests where gain are 10% or less. Even in Performance mode, scores in CPU-intensive benchmarks like Cinebench and Geekbench only went up marginally more than usual. On Tomb Raider, I saw little difference in frame rates when engaging this mode. Also, it must be noted that the fans get loud when the notebook is taxed. No doubt some users will find the noise bothersome.

Battery life

Note: Battery tests were conducted using PCMark 10's battery benchmark with display set to 100% brightness.

To accommodate the additional power consumption of the ScreenPad Plus, ASUS fitted the ZenBook Duo UX482 with a large 70Wh battery. Overall, battery life is respectable for a notebook with two displays. Even with both displays at maximum brightness, the ZenBook Duo UX482 managed to last well over 7 hours. Much of this can be attributed to its large battery, but power consumption figures reveal that, by and large, the ZenBook Duo UX482 can be considered to be fairly power-efficient.

What’s interesting is how it managed to last longer than the ZenBook 14 Ultralight when it came to gaming. Even more impressive is how it managed better portability scores than some other ultraportable notebooks like the MSI Prestige 14 and Razer Book 13. This is largely because of its much slimmer design, thus drastically reducing its volume over its predecessor and giving it a pretty big leap.

\

Does a dual display notebook really work?

The answer, as it’s so often the case is, it depends. It’s hard to deny that this is a better notebook than its predecessor. The combination of the latest CPU and GPU means better performance. Plus, the improved cooling system and slimmer notebook design have allowed the ZenBook Duo UX482 to deliver much higher sustained peak performance than other 14-inch counterparts, while managing to boost its portability ratio by nearly double the standings of its UX481 brother from the previous year.

Most of all, the dual-display experience has been improved substantially with the clever new hinge mechanism and better app support. It’s a lot easier to see and therefore it’s a lot more helpful.

That said, there’s room for improvement. Crucially, ASUS can further improve the dual-display experience by using a brighter panel for the secondary display. The keyboard and trackpad are still somewhat compromised, but I’ll concede that this is probably the best that can be done. Short of massively increasing the footprint of the machine (in which case, there's the UX582 big brother) or removing the keyboard and trackpad entirely and asking owners to provide their own, I just don’t see how it’s possible to improve on the situation.

If you are considering this notebook, the question to ask yourself is: are the dual screens so important and beneficial that I’m willing to overlook the odd position and layout of the keyboard and trackpad?

If the answer is in the affirmative and you are committed to overcoming the limitations of the keyboard and trackpad, then there’s actually quite a lot to like about this notebook. As I said, performance is good, battery life is decent, and the notebook itself, despite its twin screens, isn’t bulky and heavy. Best of all, it isn’t even crazily priced. The ZenBook Duo UX482, with the specs as tested, is S$2,598. To provide some context, that’s just S$200 more a ZenBook 14 Ultralight with similar specifications, better performance and double the screens.

In the end, one must applaud ASUS for sticking with and improving their line of dual display notebooks. Fundamentally, the ZenBook Duo UX482 is flawed (because of its design choices), but a select group of people who value screen real estate over everything else will find it perfect. One thing is for sure, you would definitely be surprised at how compact the notebook is considering it has dual displays.

 

Where can you get one?

Now, if you're ready to make the leap to improve your productivity, Courts is currently offering the ZenBook Duo UX482 at their e-store. So if you feel like checking it out personally before making the purchase, you can also visit their bigger stores to ascertain the notebook's fit for your usage. Challenger is also stocking it through Hachi.Tech. Even the ASUS store doesn't stock this model yet and is now exclusively sold by other authorised retailers.

If you don't mind half the storage capacity and RAM, Amazon has another UX482 SKU stocked for less than $2k (inclusive of free shipping), but we don't think it would bode well for power users, which this model is set out to appease. Note that it ships from the US, hence you would be out of luck to get any free aftersales locally.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.