Performance analysis

How does it perform?

To find out, we will be pitting the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo against comparably-spec’ed 15-inch machines such as the HP ZBook Studio x360, ASUS ROG Strix Scar III, Aftershock Forge 15 Pro, and more. Here’s how the ZenBook Pro Duo stacks up against its competitors.

Test notebooks compared
	ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581	ASUS ROG Strix Scar III GL531GW	Acer Predator Triton 500	Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XA	Aftershock Forge 15 Pro

Launch SRP	From S$4998	From S$3598	From S$3198	From S$3799	From S$2080
Processor and Chipset	Intel Core i9-9980HK	Intel Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache)	Intel Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache)	Intel Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache)	Intel Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache)
Operating System	Windows 10	Windows 10	Windows 10	Windows 10	Windows 10
System Memory	32GB 2,666MHz DDR4	16GB DDR4-2666 single-channel RAM	16GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel RAM	16GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel RAM	16GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel RAM
Video & Display	15.6-inch OLED 3,840 x 2,160 pixels 14-inch IPS 3,840 x 1,100 pixels ScreenPad Plus NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 240Hz IPS-type display	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 144Hz IPS display	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q 15.6-inch 3,840 x 2,160-pixel AMOLED display	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 144Hz AHVA display
Storage	1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD	Intel 660p 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD	512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD	Intel 760p 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD	512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
Optical Drive	None	None	None	None	None
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax/ac/b/g/n/a Bluetooth 5.0	Intel Wireless-AC 9560 Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller Bluetooth 5.0	Killer E3000 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Killer Wireless-AC 1550i Wireless Network Adapter Bluetooth 5.0	Killer Ethernet E2600 Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 Wireless Network Adapter Bluetooth 5.0	Intel Wireless-AC 9560 Bluetooth 5.0
Audio	Built-in stereo speakers tuned by Harmon Kardon Built-in microphone array	Built-in stereo speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Built-in stereo speakers
I/O Ports	1 x USB-C Thunderbolt 3 2 x USB-A USB 3.1 1 x HDMI 2.0	3x USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A 1x USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x RJ-45	3x USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A 1x Thunderbolt 3 1x HDMI 2.0 1x Mini DisplayPort 1.4	3x USB 3.1 (Gen1) Type-A 1x Thunderbolt 3 1x HDMI 2.0 1x DP 1.4 & USB3.1 (USB Type-C) 1x 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack 1x UHS-II SD Card Reader 1x DC-in Jack 1x RJ-45	1x USB 2.0 port 1x USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1) port 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port (Type A) 1x DisplayPort 1.3 over USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C) 1x Mini Display 1.2 port 1x HDMI 2.0 output port (with HDCP) 1x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Microphone) 1x Microphone jack 1x RJ-45 LAN port
Battery Type	71wH	66Wh	84Wh	94.24Wh	47Wh
Dimensions	359 x 246 x 23mm	360 x 275 x 24.9mm	358.5 x 255 x 17.9mm	356 x 250 x 20mm	361 x 258 x 27.9mm
Weight	2.5kg	2.57kg	2kg	2kg	2.2 kg

Performance was generally good, which is what you’d expect given its crazy high-end specifications. CPU performance was stellar, as you would expect from Intel’s flagship Core i9-9980HK mobile processor. Looking at the Cinebench scores, it blitzed the HP ZBook’s formidable Core i7-8750H processor with over 30% higher multi-core scores.

Can it run games?

Of course it can. However, we noticed that graphics performance was lagging, especially when you compare its performance against the Aftershock Forge 15 Pro which is powered by a similar GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. The reason is likely because the ZenBook Pro Duo has to drive a 4K display and the additional ScreenPad Plus. That’s a lot of extra pixels to draw, even if they aren’t all being used during the benchmarking process. That said, gaming performance is decent and good enough as long as you stick to Full-HD resolution.

Does turning the ScreenPad Plus off help?

It some cases it does. On 3DMark, the scores remained the same even with the ScreenPad Plus turned off. But in games, we noticed improvements. On Deus Ex, turning the ScreenPad Plus got us at least a 10% boost in frame rates. On Far Cry 5, we got a 20% increase performance on the High preset, but nothing in Ultra.

Does the Turbo mode work?

The Turbo mode is activated by pressing the crosshair-like button next to the Delete key. The key to its right swaps the app between the main display and the ScreenPad Plus. The next key to the right (to the left of the power button) turns off the ScreenPad Plus.

Again, it does, but it seems like it works best in CPU-intensive workloads. As you can see from the charts below, GPU-intensive benchmarks like 3DMark and games saw little to no improvement. However, there was a vast improvement in Cinebench, with multi-core scores jumping by nearly 20%. And if you look at the breakdown of PCMark 10 scores, you can see that the ZenBook Pro Duo performed noticeably better on the Essential workloads ― which tests everyday performance including app startup times ― in Turbo mode.