Asus announced the launch of the new ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED, a successor to the previous ZenBook. ZenBook Pro Duo comes with a set of high-end specs and a secondary tilting 14-inch touchscreen that can be used alongside the main 15.6-inch 4K OLED touch display. The laptop is already available from various retailers and can be configured with different components before purchase.
The new notebook is decked out with the latest hardware, but the most eye-catching feature is, of course, the dual touchscreen. Very similar in design to the previous ZenBook, this one picks up where the previous one left off. The main screen is surrounded by thin, unobtrusive bezels and has a 93% screen-to-body ratio. The secondary display lies below it, right above the keyboard. While the laptop itself doesn’t have a palm rest, Asus says that a bundled one comes with the notebook.
With a 15.6-inch 4K OLED HDR NanoEdge main display, the ZenBook Pro Duo is likely going to provide high-quality visuals that will cater to professional creatives. Asus promises great performance both in terms of color reproduction and contrast. This is further confirmed by the Pantone certificate that it received.
The secondary screen measures 14 inches in width, has improved 400-nit brightness, and can be tilted upwards by 9.5 degrees. This should help with issues such as glare, reflections, and simple ease of use. Asus stated that the secondary display is tilted in such a way so as to make working with a stylus easier. Both the displays are touchscreens and respond to a keyboard and stylus alike. Asus includes a stylus in the bundle — a 4096-pressure-level model that works with both the touchscreens on the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo.
Asus’ new notebook can be customized beyond the first starting price point. You can deck it out with an up to 10th generation Intel Core i9 eight-core processor. You can also add extra RAM, up to a total of 32GB, as well as an up to 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD. Asus ZenBook Pro Duo comes with a discrete graphics card, the RTX 3070, by default. A discrete GPU in a laptop is always a welcome sight, especially in what looks to be a powerful machine.
The notebook is said to offer improved cooling solutions thanks to Asus’ AAS Plus thermal design. It takes advantage of the space underneath the laptop, as well as the chassis opening, and increases cooling airflow by up to 36%. In addition to that, Asus has stated that inside the laptop, you’ll find a dual-fan setup with six heat pipes included.
To finish off the specs, ZenBook Pro Duo comes with two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port, and an HDMI port. The two Thunderbolts can be used both with Power Delivery and DisplayPort sockets, allowing users to connect up to two 4K UHD displays or even a single 8k display.
Only time will tell the true power of the ZenBook, but it certainly makes an interesting option for anyone interested in a dual-touchscreen setup. It’s likely that content creators and professionals will find more interest in this laptop than gamers would. Asus seems to extend the nod to creatives by including Screen Xpert 2 software that comes with a collection of productivity apps. Some of them include Window Flick, Task Group, and an updated Control Panel tailored to help with creative workflows.
The laptop is now for sale at select retailers, including Amazon, Newegg, and BH Photo with an MSRP of $2,399. Asus ZenBook Pro Duo is likely to get snapped up quickly even despite the seemingly steep price point. It certainly fills a gap in the market that even most of the best laptops don’t aim to fill.
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