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ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED (UX5400E) In-Depth Review – Eye Candy and Productivity with a Steep Learning Curve

It’s not every day that we see something new and interesting when it comes to laptops. We’re so used to seeing the mundane clamshell form factor with new insides, displays and ports. However, ASUS has been on a roll lately with a slew of laptops that bring fun, new features as well as new hardware that is truly revolutionary. Over the past year, they’ve been adamant about equipping their laptops with OLED displays which are certified for their colour accuracy.

ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5400E 19

With their Zenbook Duo lineup, they’ve brought an interesting approach to multiscreen productivity. But what happens when you take multiscreen productivity and fit it into a space once exclusively reserved for the trackpad? You get the hallmark feature of the ZenBook 14X’s hallmark feature: the Screen Pad. Does this new approach make sense? Is productivity enhanced or deterred by the feature and is it here to stay?

We’re looking to answer those questions and also the most pertinent one when it comes to any piece of tech, “Is it worth my money?”, in our in-depth review of the ZenBook 14X OLED.

Design

The ZenBook 14X OLED has its origins in the ZenBook’s early days as a flagship. It’s equipped with a machined aluminium body with a brushed finish and made of premium build materials; like any other ZenBook. However, the thing that makes the laptop stand out is the sheer sleekness and miniature form of the laptop overall. ASUS has made the ZenBook 14X OLED one of the smallest and sleekest laptops in its lineup. However, its minute stature isn’t where the story ends.

ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5400E 7

When it boils down to it, the ZenBook 14X OLED distinguishes itself with its brushed aluminium top. However, it doesn’t give in to the incessant need to be thin as paper. Instead, it’s thicker and more substantial than its predecessor and competition. Coming in at just under 17mm, the laptop strides the line of being just thin enough and being thick and chunky in this day and age. That said, the added thickness and sturdy build materials provide the top lid with added stability and rigidity. This also prevents the display from flexing which can be detrimental to the laptop.

That said, the ZenBook isn’t only sturdy, but it’s also well designed. ASUS has made sure that while the ZenBook 14X OLED is slim and light, it’s also well equipped for working on the go. It comes with a good range of ports – which we will elaborate on later in the review. That said, these ports don’t break the overall aesthetic of the laptop. Instead, ASUS has made them flush seamlessly into the aluminium chassis. The thickest point of the laptop is also used to house the largest ports: USB-A and HDMI ports.

The small body of the laptop doesn’t hinder ASUS from equipping the laptop with a tactile keyboard that emblazons the entirety of the main body. It’s only complemented by the chamfered dip which adds to the aesthetic of the laptop. That same aesthetic dip also highlights a change in materials as the top plate of the keyboard and ScreenPad isn’t made with the same aluminium. Instead, it feels a little more like plastic. That said, the plate is still encased within the aluminium frame.

Hardware

The ZenBook 14X OLED isn’t just about the aesthetics, it’s built for productivity. To achieve this, ASUS has packed the laptop with rather commendable insides which allow the ZenBook to stride the fine line between battery life and performance.

Specifications

ASUS ZENBOOK 14 | UX5400EAs tested
Processor (clock)Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 processor 2.80 GHz quad-core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.70GHz) and 12MB cache
GPUIntel® Iris® Xe Graphics NVIDIA GeForce MX450
Display14” OLED 2.8K (2880 x 1800) resolution 16:10 aspect ratio Touch Panel anti-glare screen 550nits brightness
Memory16GB LPDDR4X 512GB PCIe® NVMe™ 3.0 x2 M.2 SSD
Networking and ConnectionsIntel WiFi 6 with Gig+ performance (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.0   2 Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C® 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1 Standard HDMI 2.0 1 MicroSD card reader 1 Audio Combo Jack
Battery63Wh lithium-polymer battery Up to 8.3 hours of battery life   100W Type-C power adapter (Output: 20V DC, 100W, Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz universal)
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home 64-bit
MiscellaneousHD camera ScreenPad Backlit Keyboard Stereo Speakers Microphone DisplayPort over USB-C Thunderbolt 4 MIL-STD 810H Durability

Features

The mainstay of the ASUS ZenBook OLED 14X is undoubtedly going to be its ScreenPad. However, it’s not the only feature that comes with the laptop. It comes with a slew of software and hardware features that make this laptop a real contender if you’re in the market for a new one.

Almost everything you want for connectivity

ASUS has proven time and time again that compact, thin laptops need not be handicapped when it comes to connectivity. The Zenbook 14X OLED comes with all the connectivity options that you need – well – unless you’re looking to take over the internet. It comes with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a single high-speed USB 3.2 Type A port, an HDMI 4.0 port, a combo audio jack and even a micro USB card slot. With these essential ports, you’re pretty much covered when it comes to plugging in. That said, you also charge with USB-C ports, so, if you’re charging the laptop, you’ll have one less USB-C port. The only physical port missing is an ethernet port but you have WiFi 6 connectivity with a high enough throughput that you can even do online gaming.

Since we’re already on the topic, the Zenbook 14X does come with all the bells and whistles when it comes to wireless connectivity on laptops. Aside from WiFi 6, it also comes with Bluetooth 5.0. So you’ll be able to stream and connect to your wireless keyboard, mouse or even headphones without much hassle.

ASUS ScreenPad

ASUS’s novel ScreenPad is definitely a unique feature of their Zenbook series. It brings a whole new level of productivity. You’re presented with an additional screen from the get-go when you purchase it and given the norm of having more than one screen nowadays, it’s a welcomed addition to a laptop purchase.

ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5400E 25

The ScreenPad brings an additional 1080p screen albeit a little smaller than we’re used to. It allows you to use apps on the track pad which makes so much sense especially if you’re working with a mouse. The extra screen real estate allows you to use the calculator more naturally, refer to a website or document or even control your media while keeping productive. ASUS has also integrated their multiscreen setup with Link to MyASUS more deeply.  A lot of the functionality that we’ve come to expect from the Link to MyASUS app is now natively integrated into ScreenPad with the Screen Xpert software. You can get prompts for messages and phone calls on the ScreenPad while you work and even use the ScreenPad to mirror your smartphone.

While all that is fine and dandy, the ScreenPad comes with a steep learning curve. It brings a layer of complexity to functions that many people expect to “just work” on Windows. One of the most irritating issues that we faced during our time with the Zenbook 14X OLED was the fact that the ScreenPad added an additional screen when it came to projecting displays. This was due to Windows recognising it as a display but it not showing on the display setup in Windows’ settings menu. To make things work as you would expect, we had to put the ScreenPad into trackpad mode which turned off the screen functionality.

In addition to this, you also need to get used to a new set of gestures that allow you to use the ScreenPad more effectively. The most essential is a three-finger swipe that will allow quickly toggle the track pad function. However, this toggle is only temporary – a fact we found out in the most annoying way. Due to the track pad function being temporary, we would be toggling apps unintentionally. This became an irritating occurrence particularly when we were trying to get urgent work done.

While it does seem like a deal-breaker, we have to keep in mind that the Zenbook is one of the only laptops with the ScreenPad. This also means that we have a little bit of learning when it comes to the novel features of the laptop. After using the laptop for a week, the gestures and extended functionality became second nature.

That said, when it came to working on the go, we found ourselves turning the ScreenPad off all together. This was due to the fact that having it on while on battery had a significant impact on battery life. We noticed about 20-30% less battery life with it on. That equated to about 4-5 hours of battery but without it, we got about 8 hours.

AI Powered Clear Voice, Quick Sign In with Windows Hello & Linking Up

Hardware aside, ASUS has also bolstered the laptop with a whole bunch of AI enhancements. One of our favourites is the ClearVoice mic. With ASUS’s ClearVoice, the integrated microphones can intelligently suppress background noise and detect and enhances the speaker’s voice. So, you won’t be cut off by a passing vehicle or even a crying baby when you’re taking your video call. Given the work from anywhere reality that is quickly becoming mainstream, this is definitely a welcomed feature. In fact, during our review time with the laptop, the feature was so good that people didn’t realise that we took a call from a café as the background noise was so minimal.

The Zenbook 14X OLED also comes with an integrated fingerprint sensor in its power button. This has to be one of the most welcomed features on the laptop. With the integration, the laptop seamlessly powers on and signs in with one click. This is bolstered by the SSD in the Zenbook 14X OLED. It boots and is ready for use in a matter of seconds.

ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5400E 6

Of course, with the Zenbook 14X, you get multiple options when it comes to keeping connected with your smartphone. You have Windows Phone Link (previously Your Phone) and Link to MyASUS. The latter provides even more functionality in our opinion. The Link to MyASUS app not only integrates seamlessly with the ScreenPad, but it also allows you to use tablets and large phones as an external display. This allows you the flexibility of being able to have multiple screens on the go. The wireless connection does have a little lag when it comes to interactions but if you’re simply using it to refer to documents or even to play media while working, you won’t even notice it.

PERFORMANCE

ASUS’s commitment to creating powerful, versatile, thin and light laptops shines through in the Zenbook 14X OLED. The laptop doesn’t perform like your typical thin and light. The thought that ASUS put into the design and feel of the laptop allows it to be one of the most sturdy and powerful small form factor laptops out there. While it’s no gaming laptop, it’s able to handle nearly workloads we don’t typically expect from a thin and light.

During our review period with the Zenbook 14 OLED, we were editing video and even doing some light gaming on the laptop without much hassle. When it came to editing video, we had source footage at 1080p resolution. The edit had about 3 layers with subtitles and effects and it was exported to a 1080p video for YouTube. While it did send the fans into overdrive, the laptop was able to handle it without overheating. In fact, aside from a longer export time, it was very seamless.

Gaming on the Zenbook 14 OLED is best left for proper gaming laptops. It goes without saying that AAA titles really taxed the processor and the NVIDIA GeForce MX450 GPU of the laptop. However, if you’re playing games like City Skylines or even Star Craft 2, the Zenbook 14 can definitely handle the load. You may not be able to play on maxed out settings, but you will definitely have a good experience playing it.

ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5400E

Other than those taxing activities, the Zenbook 14 OLED was able to handle everything else. Word processing and even large Excel files were a breeze for the laptop. Even if there was some slowdown, it was only with active tasks. Once those were over, the laptop performance was seamless and back to being smooth as butter. It could even handle Firefox and Chrome with multiple tabs open at the same time. It didn’t slow down but it did get a little warm which kicked the fans into overdrive.

Battery life on the laptop is typical of one as small and power packed as the Zenbook 14 OLED. It lasted about 8 hours on a single charge without the ScreenPad on. However, when the ScreenPad was turned on, this generally dropped to about 4-5 hours. This is partially due to the extra power drawn by the ScreenPad’s screen. That said, the high resolution and luminance of the main display are also factors. However, if you’re running low on charge you’ll be able to use a USB PD compatible charger to get the charge up to about 50% in forty minutes. The Zenboook picks about its chargers, more often than not, it will ask that you plug it into its original charger, however, GaN (Gallium Nitride) chargers with about 85W capacity seems to work as well – keep in mind, that the original charger in the box is rated at 100W.

Display

The focus that ASUS has on bringing colour accurate OLED displays is really apparent in the Zenbook 14 OLED. This is partially because of the contrast between the screen quality of the main display and the ScreenPad’s IPS panel. However, the differences were mainly apparent when it came to viewing content and content creation.

The main display produced vibrant and saturated colours. While being saturated and vibrant, they were also relatively accurate colour reproductions. The accuracy was spot on and allowed us to colour grade video and photos when we were using the laptop on the go. The high resolution also gave us more visual real-estate when it came to doing programs like Adobe Illustrator. That said, the effect of this was relatively minute considering the 14-inch size of the display.

ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5400E 14

While 14-inches may seem like a very small screen, it actually strikes a balance when it comes to size and productivity. It feels close to what we can consider a goldilocks zone for compact laptops. It’s just enough real estate that you have enough detail and clarity while keeping the size of the laptop portable.

The ability to use touch to navigate brought an added simplicity to interacting with the PC. The touch input allowed us to scroll through websites in what felt like a more natural way and also interact directly with links and the like. It also complemented the ScreenPad as you didn’t need to have it in trackpad mode to get things done.

Taking Multitasking to a Whole New Level with a Steep Learning Curve to Boot

The Zenbook 14 OLED is a machine built for multitasking and for productivity. It excels at being a machine for productivity and creativity. It’s one that allows you the freedom of multitasking in a way that makes sense to you while having a beautiful screen and a complementary ecosystem with Screen Xpert 2 and Link to MyASUS. All in all, it’s a machine that dedicates most of its resources to enabling its users to be creative, productive and even let loose with some light gaming.

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo In-Depth Review – Two is Better Than One?

The PC that we know today has evolved leaps and bounds from the old days. These days, while PC towers are still around, and you can buy a decent one for less than MYR 2,000, portable PCs are kings. They offer unrivalled portability and yet still offer you the power to work like you have never left the office, or your desk. Powerful enough notebook PCs are even able to allow you to not only work on graphic heavy applications, they allow you to play games at a level of immersion that has never been seen before. They are as powerful as your desktop tower PC at home.  

Still, there are some limitations to a notebook PC. The keyboard for one, you cannot change that, and most will never get the benefit of mechanical keyboards, thanks to the bulk in most mechanical keyboard designs. So you end up with less-than-stellar keyboard most of the time. Then there is cooling. A notebook PC will always have the same cooling issues because you try to fit powerful, aluminium melting processors into a space that is not even big enough for your pinky to fit into. Of course, there are going to be heat management problems. Of course, technology have negated those issues and caught the notebook PCs up to the traditional desktop towers.  

There is however, one problem that can hardly be solved when it comes to notebook PCs – display, or should I say; displays. There is only one display on a notebook PC, and you cannot upgrade it once you get one. On a desktop tower, you can choose to get one large display, or two, or three, or four; depending on your budget and set up requirements. On a notebook PC you only can have one, thanks to the size. Or is it? 

Not according to ASUS though. This is the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, a dual-display wieldinng piece of hunk that you call a notebook PC. It has two displays and still folds the same way any notebook PC does. No this is not some kind of an e-ink display paired to a normal display like the Lenovo YogaBook C930. This is a proper coloured LCD display that you get alongside a 4K resolution OLED display. It is not a concept like the Razer that we saw a few years ago too. It is real, and it is in our hands. Is it any good though? Should you spend your money on this? Oh wait, we have not told you how much it is just yet.  

Design 

On the outside, it looks just like any other notebook PC. It is none of those super slim, super light notebook PC though. It is a properly heavy notebook PC packing some metal in its sculpted body. Well, then again, its body is made up of metal as well.  

There is plenty aluminium everywhere, not a lot of plastic; very unlike any other ASUS notebook PCs that we are used to. While using plastic sounds cheap, the ones on most ASUS notebook PCs I know are quite high in quality. The benefit of weight is also a good encouragement for the use of plastics. 

Of course, aluminium and other metal materials are more premium. That is exactly the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, premium in both feel and build. The downside to that is weight, but you are going to want this to sit on your desk most of the time anyway, it weighs 2.5kg; reminds you of the old days of notebook PCs no? 

Still, the ZenBook Pro Duo looks unique. In line with ASUS Anniversary design language, the ZenBook Pro Duo looks sharp, with acute angles and powerful lines. You have the iconic brushed aluminium on the top clam, and multiple grilles on the sides and the edges to cool the rig. It looks, cool in that its metallic blue finish. It looks like a spaceship; otherworldly. It looks cool.  

To be fair though, this is a hate it or love it design. At first, I was struggling to like the look of the odd notebook PC. It is aggressive in looks, and if I am being honest, I like more flowy designs with softer lines. Still, it grew on me. 

Open it up and you see the dual displays. The regular display is a beautiful OLED, glossing in your eyes. Look down and you see another LCD display that is put right above the keyboard, a familiar layout (ehem Zephyrus ehem). Oh, and there is an LED outlet too at the bottom part of the clam, under the keyboard. That is strangely cool.  

Because typing on this kind of layout can be awkward, there is a palm rest included in the box of the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, which extends the bottom part of the notebook PC a little bit. No, it is not aluminium just like the rest of the PC, it is plastic constructed with some faux leather top and rubberised strips for better grip on the table and comfortable typing. There is a prism thing going on in the palm rest too reflecting the LED below the keyboard. It glows green when the PC is fully charged, and red while charging. Pretty cool if you ask me.  

Unlike the ASUS notebook PCs of the previous generation, you do not get an indented display hinge. It is now a completely seamless hinge that goes from one end to the other end. It does make the notebook PC look cleaner than before. But there is another reason for this completely streamlined hinge. The display part of the notebook PC also acts like the stand to angle the notebook the PC’s bottom part. The benefit of that is the better ergonomics on your keyboard. The downside is cooling because the vents at the back is now pointing to the display. The ZenBook Pro Duo’s cooling though is on the sides, so your main display is not going to be overheated. 

Hardware 

The premium ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is built with aluminium mostly, not as cold and heavy as steel but still very sturdy and high quality. That aluminium build, that we may not be very used to on an ASUS notebook PC, while makes it 2.5kg heavy, makes it a little more special. Yes, it has two displays. 

To power two displays though you need some real processing ang GPU power. That is the 9th Generation Intel Core i7 you find under the hood. That processor is also paired to a NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 for good measure. Yes, they could have gone for an RTX 2080, but that would bring the cost up and complicate the whole heat management issue. Remember, they have to deal with dissipating heat from the other display too.  

Specifications 

ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581GVAs Tested
Processor (clock)9th Generation Intel Core i7-9750H
(2.6GHz ~ up to 4.5GHz)
GPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB DDR6 VRAM)
Display(s)Primary
15.6-inch OLED 4K (3840 x 2160) touch sensitive
100% DCI-P3
Secondary (ScreenPad+)
14-inch 4K (3840 x 1100) touch sensitive
Memory1TB NVME M.2 SSD
32GB 2666MHz DDR4 RAM
Networking and Connections1 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C (up to 40Gbps and DisplayPort)
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A (up to 10Gbps)
1 x Standard HDMI 2.0
1 x Audio combo jack
Intel Wi-Fi 6 with Gig+ performance (802.11ax)
Bluetooth 5.0
Battery71Wh 8-cell Li-Polymer
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
MiscellaneousASUS SonicMaster Audio with Harman Kardon Certification
Detachable Palm Rest
Detachable Laptop Stand
ASUS Pen

Features 

Its good looks are not all show, no go. This thing packs plenty of tasteful goodies. For starters you see the dual displays.  

Doubling Down 

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, true to its name, packs two displays. One is a full 15.6-inch display with 4K resolution on board. The other is also 4K in resolution, in width anyway. In height, it is half the size of the 15.6-inch display. It is not the same OLED panel as the main 15-incher display too. It is an LCD panel amd we are guessing that the decision to go LCD was also because of cost. An OLED panel would have made sense though with its minimal heat production and accurate colour reproduction. It would have added quite a little bit to the cost, yes. 

Still, dual displays built into a notebook PC; not the first time we see it but it is the first that is commercially available. The first we saw of this was a prototype that came from Razer a few years ago. While that was an interesting concept, it was not viable mainly because of its massive weight and estimated cost. It was stolen as well, a day or two after it was displayed on the biggest electronics show floor. 

So, this the first commercially available and viable dual display notebook PC for the market. It will still set you back more than MYR10,000 and that is still a lot of money to be fair. But hey, where eles can you find a notebook with two displays built into it. 

The LCD display on top of the keyboard is mostly used as a control panel for whatever applications you might think of. Things like Adobe’s Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and what not can support a multi-window workflow and the dual display surely benefits users from that. For example, you can control your timelines and what not on Adobe Premiere Pro on your secondary display. That way, your preview panel can be bigger and fuller. I would still be recommending anyone to downscale the preview to half the resolution if they are planning to edit 4K videos though for smoother workflow.  

For gaming, we hardly see the point. But other form of entertainment like movies, or Spotify, or YouTube, maybe. For Spotify especially, you can just leave the Spotify window to open on the secondary display and control music on the secondary display via touch. Yes, both displays are touch sensitive, so there is that. Of course, you may not extend your movie watching to go all the way into the secondary display, but you can pull out your controls and use it on the secondary display. 

The secondary display can also act as your alternative web browser just in case you need to refer to anything for other things on your main display. If you do use the pen that comes in the box (we did not have ours) you can even use the secondary panel as a drawing pad. There is one thing about the PadScreen (as they call it) though that is a little annoying; its placement. 

While the secondary display is functional, its placement can be a little bit of a literal pain in the neck. You are craning down on the secondary display most of the time when you are looking at it. If you are not using any palm rest for it the keyboard, you are going to have to prepare yourself for carpal tunnel syndrome too, your wrist is going to get injured in that kind of prolonged usage. Yes, they have included a stand out of the box which you can use to raise the keyboard and ScreenPad panel a little bit, which helps; not a lot.  

Still, there is definitely use for the ScreenPad. While we do think that you will not miss out that much if you do not have a ScreenPad, it is a nice thing to have on the go. Still, we would recommend you to pack the palm rest as well in your bag when you want to work offsite. Still, it is a heavy piece of kit to be carrying around so you might want to leave it behind and pack something lighter. 

OLED Forever 

The 15.6-inch main display is a 4K OLED unit, which also means ultra-accurate colours with ultra-high contrasts. The numbers speak for itself though; 100% DCI-P3. You get HDR with this display too for even better contrasts. Well, it is an OLED panel after all. 

Still, the OLED display is not just important when you want to sit back, kick back, and enjoy a good movie, or play a video game. It is important for you as a creator as well. You need highly accurate colours to do colour correction and editing. You need HDR to correctly tell where your content is. You need OLED for everything. Yes, we really like OLED technology. 

Still, beyond your creator and editing duties, you would like to be able to enjoy contents too. In that case as well the OLED on the ZenBook Pro Duo does not disappoint. Playing Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint definitely highlights the super accurate and vivid colours that the OLED boasts. Even the slightest in light changes can be noted on the display thanks to HDR on OLED. Watching Netflix with HDR and 4K enabled shows is breathtaking and immersive, especially with a good pair of headphones. 

Harman Kardon 

While it is not the loudest speakers you can find on a notebook PC, it is actually quite good. Thanks to some magic from Harman Kardon, the speakers fires very balanced audio with very clear highs and mids. The bass needs a little working but it is quite normal for notebook PCs with no built-in woofers. Then again, not many notebook PCs come with subwoofers.  

Still, it is loud enough if you are not sharing the speakers with a room full of people. It is good enough for personal listening and entertainment purposes. Spotify on the speakers sounds plenty than good enough. Watching movies with it though is awesome. 

Gaming with the Harman Kardon speakers is a little weak though, mostly because the lows are not that great here. Still, it is not that you cannot use it for gaming; you can. Maybe play games that does not include a lot of explosions? 

Performance 

Power Power Power 

The weighty ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is bound to be a powerful notebook PC. Especially its packing of an Intel Core i7 paired to at least 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. You can spec this with a Core i9 by the way if you really wanted, of course you have to pay more for it if you do. The maximum that they will do for GPU is the RTX2060 though, as we previously mentioned and as per specified by ASUS; cooling issues.  

That is not to say that the Intel Core i9 produces the same heat as the Core i7. The more powerful CPU obviously runs hotter than the less powerful Core i7. Still, the Core i9 does not produce a significantly larger amount of heat that the fans within the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo cannot manage. It is a different story with the GPU though. While the heat produced from an NVIDIA GeForce RTX2070 is not that much bigger than an RTX2060 too, it is about choosing between using a lesser CPU or a more powerful one. In the case of ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo – it is the matter of pure processing power. 

The result, at least on our unit (Intel Core i7), is a fast machine, very fast with the SSD installed in the machine. While you can expect a bigger performance to come from the Core i9, we do think that the Core i7 is plenty capable enough and you may not need to fork out an extra MYR3,000 price tag that the Core i9 comes with. Yes, the Intel Core i9 option sets you back MYR3,000 more than the regular Core i7 option. You only need that kind of power in certain situations.  

Still, our Core i7 can cope with plenty that we can throw at it. It handles video editing without major issue, we pushed 4K videos on it mind you and downscales it to 1080p. It renders the preview with no more issue or render time than usual.  

Gaming  

We seldom push games to extend all the way to the secondary display. Why? What for? 

Most of the time, if you do want a multi-screen gaming experience, you want to extend the displays horizontally; not vertically like the ZenBook Pro Duo’s dislpay arrangement. In this case, I cannot really think of any use case for the secondary display.  

Still, you can game with it and as I have mentioned, the 4K OLED display will not disappoint you. Any games will look gorgeous on the 4K OLED display with great contrast and vivid colours.  

Of course, the powerful Intel Core i7 helped with the generously adequate NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 helps with the extra smooth gaming performance when we play Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: BreakPoint and The Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While we may not be able to push the graphics all the way to ultra, we are still able to render them at high settings at the minimum. We did not try Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on it yet, but we are pretty sure it will look good.  

Would we like to see better GPUs in the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo? An RTX2070 perhaps? Yes. Would it make sense if we spec it at a mere Core i7? Maybe? Would it make sense cost wise? Maybe not. On its own, we think that the MYR 12,999 asking price is already quite steep if you are just looking to game. We admit that games look really good though.  

Still, if you wish to go all the way to the RTX2080, just remember that the behemoth of a thing called the Acer Predator Helios 700 with their slide down keyboard just for more airflow to keep the big GPU from overheating or melting your hands.  

Bringing in the Heat 

With any PC build, especially a notebook PC, there is always the consideration of heat management. This is always true when you are trying to have a powerful build. In the case of the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, there is the problem of powerful internals. Imagine the thought of fitting in an ultra-powerful Intel Core i9 to pair it to a powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060.  

While that may not be that much of a scary thought; you have to also think about the extra display that the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo packs. Not only that, ASUS is stacking the display on top of the CPU and GPU placements. That adds a whole slew of cooling problems in itself.  

Still, ASUS manages the heat with their new designed fans to dissipate the heat mostly from the sides. That is why you see large grilles on the side of the notebook PC, instead of the usual exhaust toward the back of the device. In this case, if you aim all the heat to the back of the device, it will heat up the 4K OLED display instead; not ideal.  

Firing the heat to the sides then is the most ideal way to dissipate the heat generated by the internals and the additional LCD display; both the left and right side for the ASUS. You will not believe the heat that is produced by this thing though. I left a glass of chilled Coke with some ice in it about 1 meter away from the left side of the notebook PC and the ice melted within the 10 minutes I left it there. The drink got warm a little later after that; so, I was left to drink a warm Coca-Cola after that. To be fair, I was on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint at the time.  

On normal operations though, you still feel a little bit of the heat coming down to your hands when you use a mouse right next to the notebook PC. While the fan may not be running at full chat, you can still feel the gush of air come out the side exhaust ports when the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is on. If you have anything that is taxing on the GPU and CPU, you will hear the fan spooling faster and feel more heat on your hand; your mouse hand.  

The Workhorse 

The main function of the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo though is mostly for an added productivity. Thanks to the dual displays, at least, it should be quite something at that. Of course, with an included stylus, it should be even more intuitive and productive. We did not get to test it with the stylus though, sadly. 

Still, the dual displays do help a little with our video workflow. We use Adobe’s Premiere Pro quite a lot in our video work process. As we have mentioned we used the main AMOLED display for previews. The secondary display is where all our timelines sits. You can put all the assets there too and use that to enhance your workflow that way; we did anyway.  

Thanks to the colour accuracy of the main AMOLED display and 4K too, colour correcting is much easier to do with the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo. Of course, all the controls are pushed to the secondary display to give more real estate for the preview screen. Larger display real estate also means you can see more. 

It is not all sunshine with the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo though. We do not like the keyboard too much, we feel that the keyboard travel was a little too short; uncomfortable to type on. The discomfort is pushed even further with the keyboard placement; especially when you do not use the palm rest provided in the box with the notebook PC.  

The kind of keyboard layout the ZenBook Pro Duo has does not give us the possibility to use the notebook PC comfortably on our laps too. That, and the heat produced from the Zenbook Pro Duo just makes it uncomfortable after a while. The 2.5kg does not help too, it makes it feel like you are using your legs as ironing boards. You could toast a sandwich there too. 

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo – Unportable Productivity Machine 

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo will set you back MYR 12,999. If I am being completely hoinest, I would tell you not to buy this notebook PC for that kind of money. For that kind of money, you might get a better deal if you look elsewhere even in ASUS’ extensive stables. For that kind of money, you could easily get a large sized gaming notebook with a fast 17-inch display that is powered by the same sort of CPU and an even more powerful GPU to work with. 

You lose the AMOLED display, sure. But you get bigger display, lighter build, and more power. You might not get 4K resolution, but the trade-off is still quite big.  

You do not get the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo for gaming though. You get it for the productivity appeal of it. You get it for the dual displays; not because it is practical to bring around. You are most likely to just leave it on your work desk, or home desk, and go to a meeting with a piece of print out or thumb drive you can work with. You really do not want to carry it much, you might break your back with it.  

You get it for work mostly; creative work. You get it because you need extra flexibility that you get with the dual display. You get it for the beautiful 4K AMOLED display that you would use to watch movies and make films out of it. You get it for the touch screens that you would use to draw something with. You buy it as a creator, you buy it as a creative professional. Except, you might still not.  

If you are a creative professional and have MYR 12,999 to spend on a powerful work notebook PC that you will not carry around, why not spend on a PC tower that you will not even move from your work place? What about getting two other full-sized monitors with highly accurate colours as well?  

So, who, in their right mind would get this? We still do think that this ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is made for professionals and those are the guys that would get their hands on this device. Most likely though they might not get it on their own account. The most probable scenario for this is that the companies that they work for get one for them out of whatever necessity they have out of it. Hey, that is still one way to get a notebook PC.