Of late, laptop manufacturers have been testing different kinds of formfactors in pursuit of increase in productivity. The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo is no different. With two high resolution screens coupled with a powerful specs, this is definitely a creator’s dream laptop. In contrast to its predecessors, they managed to fix most issues especially with the second display.
The elevation is now better than ever at 12°, it finally has a 120Hz refresh rate, the brightness has been bumped up to 500nits and it now has a higher resolution of 2880X 864. These improvements may seem minute of paper but they make all the difference. In this article, we are going to discuss its design language, the secondary display, its performance, its speakers, its webcam, its mic setup and I will finally give you my final verdict.
Specs.
• Main Display – 14.5-inch, 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED, 550nits
• Second Display – 12.7″ 2880 x 864 IPS Panel, 500nits
• RAM – Up to 32GB LPDDR5
• Storage – Up to 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
• Refresh Rate – 120Hz (Both displays)
• Processor – Up to Intel® Core™ i9-12900H
• Graphics – Up to NVIDIA RTX™ 3050 Ti (4GB VRAM)
• Webcam – 720P with an IR sensor for Windows Hello
• Battery – 76WHrs
• Ports – USB Type-A, 2 Thunderbolt™ 4, HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm Audio Jack, DC-in and Micro SD card slot.
• Weight – 1.75Kg (3.86lbs)
• Color – Tech black
• Starting Price – ($1699)
Design language.
This laptop has a unique and rare form factor that makes it an eye catcher when using it in public. This is mainly due to the massive 12.7” 120Hz display. The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo is covered in an anodized Aluminum chassis which gives it a more premium feeling. The new Asus logo engraved at the back part of the laptop makes it a bit distinct as compared to its predecessors which only had the Asus name engraved.
The moment you lift the lid, you can’t help but notice the two massive screens. The main one has a 2.8K 14.5” OLED display with a peak brightness of 550nits which is plenty even outdoors. The secondary display is a big improvement from the previous generations. It comes with a 12.7” IPS panel with a peak brightness of 500nits. Both displays are touch screen and they come with a 120Hz refresh rate for a silky-smooth user experience.
At the top of the main display, we have a 720P webcam. It is well above average but in 2022, we deserve a 1080P webcam. In addition to this, it comes with an IR sensor that supports Windows Hello. This simply means you can easily login with facial recognition. Due to the cramped top deck, Asus decided to place the speakers at the bottom of the laptop. These down firing speakers have been tuned by Harman Kardon and they support Dolby Atmos. The sound quality is superb. It is rich, bassy and most definitely loud enough.
Furthermore, it comes with a Four-mic array; two at the front and two at the rear. This intelligent design is great for a 360° audio capture. The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo also comes with an AI noise cancellation feature. It is useful especially in Zoom meetings as it reduces background noises giving you distraction free meetings.
Keyboard Layout and port selection.
The keyboard and touchpad layout in this laptop are a bit squeezed at the bottom of the deck. The touchpad more so, is the smallest in any modern laptop and it has been placed at the bottom right of the device. When using the laptop on your laps, it is a pain mainly because of the keyboard layout. It is way better if you just use it on a desk. In addition to this, there are some complains that it gives you sore wrists after a long typing session. An easy solution for this is to get a wrist pad.
The port selection in this laptop is amazing in this modern age where manufacturers are in a rush to remove every possible port in order to make the laptop thinner. On the left side, you get a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right side, you get one USB Type a port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports that support power delivery. On the back part, you get one HDMI 2.1 port and a Micro-SD Card slot. The HDMI 2.1 port got me really excited. Its sad to see manufacturers not embracing this newer generation of HDMI which packs tons of features as illustrated below. Even the highest end M1 Macbook Pro 16 still has a HDMI 2.0.
| Output | HDMI 2.0 | HDMI 2.1 |
| 1080P @120Hz | Yes | Yes |
| 1440P @30Hz | Yes | Yes |
| 1440P @60Hz | Yes | Yes |
| 1440P @120Hz | Yes | Yes |
| 4K @30Hz | Yes | Yes |
| 4K @60Hz | Yes | Yes |
| 4K @120Hz | No | Yes |
| 8K @30Hz | No | Yes |
| 8K @60Hz | No | Yes |
| 8K @120Hz | No | Yes |
Performance.
The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo comes with some beefy specs even for the most demanding tasks. The processor maxes out at Intel® Core™ i9-12900H with 14 cores; 6 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores. The Graphics card maxes out at Nvidia RTX 3050Ti with 4GB VRAM. Just from the processor and graphics unit, you can already tell that this machine means business. With such a beefy processor, thermal throttling is bound to happen.
Luckily, Asus has incorporated has good cooling system dubbed the ASUS IceCool Plus. This comprises of two fans placed on both the left and right side of the laptop. These are used to cool the two 8mm heat pipes from the CPU and GPU. With this cooling system, Asus claims that both the CPU and GPU can run at an 85W combined TDP without throttling. Although all this sounds very cool, the fans are still fairly loud under load.
It is also important to note that the Nvidia RTX 3050Ti comes with Nvidia’s Studio drivers. Studio enabled Graphics cards tend to be more inclined to creatives rather than gamers. Sure, you can game, but this should be a secondary function of this laptop. For the most demanding games, you will get better performance with lower settings. As for video editing, 3D tasks, photo editing and most creative tasks, this laptop does not stutter.
It is also worth noting that most components in this laptop are soldered on to the motherboard apart from the SSD. RAM being very crucial to the tasks that you plan on doing, you should choose carefully bearing in mind you cannot upgrade after buying the laptop. The RAM maxes out at 32GB which is plenty enough for most creative apps. As for storage, it maxes out at 2TB.
Screen Pad.
The second display is the main eye catcher in this laptop. With this new generation, comes new and improved features. It is now a 12.7” 2.8K panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is even brighter than before at a peak brightness of 500 nits. As compared to its predecessors, the angle of elevation is now at 12° all the way from 7°. Previously you would strain trying to use it but now it is brighter and that angle is just perfect. But the big question is, how do you use the second display? Well, there are endless to how you can use it but these are our top favorite ways.
Controlling Spotify.
Music is quite essential when handling certain tasks. As you carry on with your work in the main display, you can open up Spotify in the lower deck and use it to scroll though playlists and skip tracks. This is very useful compared to switching windows every time you need to find a playlist or play a different song.
Touchpad mode.
When you are tired of the second screen but you don’t want to switch it off, you can turn it into a touchpad. Just tap with three fingers to activate it. If you get a chance to use this laptop, you will notice how tiresome and unergonomic the integrated touch pad is. All in all, the touch pad mode works like a charm.
As a second screen.
This is one of the most useful features in this screen pad. It eliminates the need for a second monitor. In addition to this, it is the most portable secondary monitor in any laptop right now. Just as with any second display, you can drag Windows and easily multitask. The best use case that I have seen so far is having a Zoom meeting while typing key points from the meeting. The Word app stays at the top display while the Zoom Window at the bottom display. It is very versatile and efficient and the only limitation is your creativity.
Drawing and Taking notes.
To complement the two high resolution touch screens, Asus also includes the Asus pen in the package. It is excellent for drawing and typing as it features a pressure sensitivity level of 4096. The experience is as close to pen and paper as it gets. The top screen is fairly wobbly which can get annoying at times when writing or drawing. You are better off with using the stylus on the bottom screen.
Asus control panel for Adobe Apps.
The bottom screen can well be utilized by people who frequently use the Adobe suite. Apps such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator have a control feature at the bottom screen which you can use to adjust saturation, resize brushes, zoom in or out and so much more. It is very useful instead of digging through settings or using shortcut keys.
Final thoughts.
The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED is definitely one of a kind and very few laptops if any can compete with this formfactor. The Screen pad being the star of the show has definitely proven to be useful while also increasing productivity. Despite all the bells and whistles, this laptop is quite expensive at a starting price of Ksh200,465 ($1699). Would you consider getting it? Comment below your thoughts on this machine.
