CES 2024: Asus Zenbook Duo is a gnarly dual-display monstrosity with a jaw-dropping price

[NelsonG]

The Asus Zenbook Duo took everyone's breath away when it got unveiled at CES 2024. How could it not? It looks like two gigantic tablets welded together.

But what really shocked me is its price. You see, the Zenbook Duo's dual-display design isn't new. Lenovo did something similar with the Yoga Book 9i, which is about $2,000 via its official website. If you think that's painful for your wallet, wait until you hear the price for the Spectre Fold I reviewed recently (see GIF below) — it's a whopping $5,000 at HP.

The Spectre Fold isn't a dual-display model per se, but it can split apps between the fold, which delivers a similar functionality.

Via Giphy

But then Asus came in and managed to undercut both Lenovo and HP with a jaw-dropping price tag of $1,400.

Asus Zenbook Duo steals CES 2024 spotlight

Not only is the Zenbook Duo an eye-catching product in its category (i.e., laptops), I'd argue it's a showstopper across all CES 2024 showcase items. For some background, the Asus Zenbook Duo's predecessor had a dual-display, too, but it was a tiny panel that spanned only half of the deck.

The Asus Zenbook Duo's predecessor is now a thing of the past. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

This time around, however, Asus launched a mind-blowing upgrade, swapping that limited second display for another jaw-dropping 14-inch display that matches the top panel.

Two sick displays

The Zenbook Duo comes with two full-sized 14-inch, 3K, OLED displays, and when I played around with them, I found that I could make use of both of them with supercharged multitasking.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

I can, for example, launch YouTube on the top screen while firing up Google Docs on the second panel to take notes.

However, I worry about the Zenbook Duo's battery life. Not only does it have two sizable screens, but both feature a 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of peak brightness: two aspects that can be a huge drain of battery. We'll be lucky if the Zenbook Duo can last two hours on a charge at this point.

Innovative keyboard

And can we talk about the keyboard?

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

First of all, the second display can double as a gigantic virtual keyboard. Before testing it, I was skeptical. "Pfft, there's no way it'd be comfortable typing on digital keys." To my surprise, the experience was actually comfortable.

I thought I'd need to "feel" the keys to facilitate my touch-typist ways, but as it turns out, they don't need to be tangible to type without looking. The keyboard layout is still familiar, so it supports muscle-memory typists like myself.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Fortunately, if the idea of virtual keys turn you off, the Zenbook Duo features a physical, detachable keyboard that you can place over the second display for that traditional laptop look. Or if you prefer, you can allow both displays to shine and use the keyboard without attaching it to the system.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

And here's what's particularly striking about it — there's actually a touchpad on it, which detachable keyboards typically don't have. (Non-touchpad detachable keyboards force you to use your finger to navigate the display.) The detachable keyboard on the Zenbook Duo, however, has a touchpad, freeing you from being imprisoned to the display for navigation.

You can scribble on it, too

The Zenbook Duo also offers a stylus, the Asus Pen 2, allowing you to smoothly glide across both screens.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

However, the stylus doesn't come with the Zenbook Duo; it's sold seperately.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

It transforms into several different modes

You may be wondering, "How does the Zenbook Duo stand up on its own like that?" Well, on the back of the laptop, you'll find a built-in kickstand that lets you prop it up at the most optimal angle for yourself.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

As you can see in this picture, it can transform into a book-like mode that lets you interact with two apps side-by-side. As shown on the far right, you can also lay it flat in a posture Asus calls "sharing mode."

Final thoughts

Asus made a big splash at CES 2024 because the dual-display world is typically inaccessible and painfully pricy. However, the Zenbook Duo only costs $1,400.

It's packed with new Intel Core Ultra processors and offers configurations up to 32GB of memory and up to 2TB of SSD storage. It also has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an audio jack, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port.

I'm concerned about battery life, but interestingly, the Asus Zenbook Duo is Intel Evo-certified, which means that it has been designed to meet an acceptable battery life standard. But I'll only know for sure when I test it in the Mashable lab.

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Prefer a more traditional 2-in-1 laptop? Here are some on sale right now.

• Dell Inspiron 14 7435 Ryzen 5 512GB SSD 14" 2-in-1 Laptop — $499.99 (List Price $699.99)
• Dell Inspiron 14 7435 Ryzen 7 1TB SSD 16GB RAM 2-in-1 Laptop — $649.99 (List Price $899.99)
• HP Envy x360 Intel i7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 15.6" 2-in-1 Laptop — $799.99 (List Price $1,099.99)
• Lenovo Yoga 7i Intel i7 512GB SSD 14" 2.2k 2-in-1 Laptop — $749.99 (List Price $1,049.99)
• Samsung Galaxy Book3 360 Intel i7 512GB AMOLED Laptop — $899.99 (List Price $1,349.99)

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