ASUS ZenBook Duo is an upcoming ultrabook with a really unique form factor. The new ultrabook comes with a full width touchscreen display (ScreenPad Plus) above the keyboard and there is a digitizer pen bundled with the laptop. In this post, we deliver our first impressions of the ASUS ZenBook Duo.
Build
If I ask you to imagine a phone from 2000, you will image the Nokia feature phone that buttons and tiny display. If I ask you to imagine a phone from 2006, you will imagine a Blackberry or one of Nokia N series or Sony Walkman series and these came with varying form factors. If I ask you to imagine a phone from 2010, you would image a phone with touch screen, modern UI etc.
Now, if I ask you to imagine a laptop from 2000 or 2006 or 2010 or 2015, you would image the same form factor where there is a keyboard, display. You will only think of how laptops have become thinner and lighter over past decade. There is nothing else to think of. Well, this has started to change. With ZenBook Duo, we are beginning to see seismic shift in this form factor that remained the same every since the first laptop came out to market.
If you started using electronics from the beginning of 20th century, you would have seen complete change in smartphones, home appliances, in car entertainment systems, televisions. There is one electronic product that did not change much. When I first started working in 2004, I used an IBM ThinkPad T400 and now, I am using ThinkPad Yoga 380. Though the Yoga 380 comes with a touchscreen the form factor has not changed much. Apart from getting thinner and getting 360 degree hinge etc, these are still display at the top and keyboard/trackpad on the base models.
At just 1.5kg, the ASUS ZenBook Duo is super lightweight. Yet, ASUS has made this one so sturdy that it has passed MIL-STD-810G military standard with flying colors. The laptop feels very sturdy and you will not feel like it may break if you drop it.
Open the lid and the gorgeous Pantone validated main display with 90% screen to body ratio and the 12.6″ ScreenPad Plus drops your jaw. The ZenBook Duo looks absolutely stunning. The keyboard sits in bottom half of the base and the trackpad is moved to the right side of keyboard as there is absolutely no space left below the keyboard.
ASUS ZenBook Duo comes with ErgoLift hinge that lifts the ultrabook just a little bit to make typing on keyboard easier for you. The unit we are reviewing came with an Core i5 CPU and MX250 GPU.
ASUS has manged to include all necessary ports to the ZenBook Duo. There is a microSD card reader, audio jack and USB 3.1 port on the right and power, HDMI, USB, USB Type-C ports on the left.
The duo comes with gorgeous display but what makes it truly stand apart is the massive second display above the keyboard. ASUS calls it ScreenPad Plus, an increment to screenpad tech where they had display in place of trackpad in earlier models. It indeed looks brilliant and we will get to know how useful it is after using it for a week or two atleast.
Form Factor
The big questions is ‘does it work?’. Well, for first 10 minutes, I was more like ‘this is not a good form factor’. But by the end of the day, I got used to this new and unique design. Mind it, this is not for those who just type from sunrise to sunset. This is for those who can truly make use of second touch screen.
One issue that I had faced though was when I kept he ZenBook Duo on my lap and started typing. The compressed size of keyboard is a little difficult to type on. If you have been using compressed iPad and tablet keyboards, this wont be an issue at all for you.
ScreenPad Plus
You can use the screenpad plus like a normal second display. or you can use it for drawing using included Digitizer pen. You can also use it for hand writing, you can run ASUS apps in there and use it as a control centre. You can also have a group of icons and use it as a launcher.
You can write here and text is converted to app. This is one feature that I liked most.There’s lot more for artists though. And hey, you can write in cursive writing style and it will recognize the text and convert it into printed text in open application. Overall, I am impressed at the possibilities of the ScreenPad Plus.
Battery Life
This one lasts long, really long. Even though it is a thin and light laptop, the battery life is solid. This, I think, is due to the highly battery efficient Core i5 chip. I am yet to check actual battery life, exepect more details in the full review.
First Impression
ASUS ZenBook Duo is beginning of the end to the boring laptop design that has not changed since the first laptop. Take a look at the ThinkPad T400 from 2006 and Dell XPS 13 from 2019. Except that the XPS 13 looks prettier and simpler, there isn’t much of a difference.
This is where ASUS ZenBook Duo series comes in. ASUS is doing something different here. Not every company has the courage to create new product to take the industry into a new era. Now, ASUS ZenBook Duo is one such product that can take the laptop industry into a new era. But is it a masterpiece that makes sense today? You will get to know in my full review.
Coming to first impressions, I am impressed by display quality and build quality of ASUS ZenBook Duo. I like having a second display and I have mixed feelings about size of the keyboard. Battery life felt great too.
