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ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481 review: Can dual displays work in a smaller package?

By Kenny Yeo - 27 Nov 2019

Final thoughts

Final Thoughts

If you can get past the ASUS ZenBook Duo's quirks and shortcomings, you'd find that it's actually a pretty great notebook.

Much like its larger sibling, the ASUS ZenBook Duo represents both an interesting concept but also a bag of compromises. The dual displays are genuinely useful for anyone who is used to working with large displays and across multiple windows. And it’s quite amazing how ASUS managed to cram two displays into such a compact (relatively speaking) form factor.

On the flip side, there are a few notable compromises to the ZenBook Duo. The most noteworthy one being that of the keyboard and trackpad. Both the layout and positioning are not ideal and will require commitment to overcome. Also, the fact that the main display doesn’t support touch and the ScreenPad Plus does make the ZenBook Duo somewhat confusing to use especially if you are accustomed to notebooks with touch displays. Another notable drawback is that the USB-C port doesn’t support charging. This means you can’t use third-party USB-C chargers with it and you’ll need to carry around the supplied charger.

The ScreenPad Plus' usefulness is somewhat negated by its dim display. In brightly lit environments, it can be hard to read.

But even so, I think most readers can and will forgive the ZenBook Duo when they find out that at S$2,198, the ZenBook Duo is just S$100 more than what ASUS charges for the ZenBook UX434 ― ASUS’ more conventional ultraportable 14-inch notebook with a single display.  At this price, it is also one of the more affordable 14-inch notebooks to feature a Core i7 processor with 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD. These are my dream specs for a portable 14-inch notebook.

Overall, the ZenBook Duo is something of a flawed genius. The packaging is clever, the performance and build quality are good, and the pricing is attractive. However, it does have some serious shortcomings that can be a dealbreaker for some people ― namely the less than ideal keyboard and trackpad positioning and layout. But if you can overlook these shortcomings, the ZenBook Duo represents good value for money and its dual displays are genuinely helpful.

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8.0
  • Design 7.5
  • Features 8.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 8.5
  • Mobility 7.5
The Good
Clever packaging
ScreenPad Plus genuinely useful
Great specs, good performance
Matte main display
Wi-Fi 6 support
Attractively priced
The Bad
Odd keyboard layout
Tiny trackpad
Main display doesn't support touch
ScreenPad Plus can be too dim
No Thunderbolt 3 support
USB-C port cannot be used for charging
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