Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED review: Perfecting dual display laptops

Price when Reviewed

$2,000

Best Prices Today: Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED

$1,849.00

$1946.99

Asus’ dual screen Zenbook Duo laptops are like pandora’s boxes for content creators, offering a whole new productivity experience for those brave enough to give their unique two-display configurations a try. We’ve seen some good ones since they debuted at CES back in 2019, but none that quite offer the balance of power and ergonomics available in this newly minted 14-inch Zenbook Duo model.

It’s the 12th-generation processor that wins the day, a more visible ScreenPad Plus, a taller, brighter 120Hz OLED main display that provides exceptional visuals from every angle, and a powerful new 12th generation processor. A series of thoughtful software upgrades optimizes ScreenPad Plus operation, making it more efficient than ever.

Specifications for Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED:

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED can be configured with an Intel Core i9-12900H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX3050 Ti GPU. These are the specifications of our review unit:

• CPU:Intel Core i7-12700H
• RAM:16GB DDR5 / 4800 Mhz
• GPU:Intel Iris Xe graphics, Nvidia GeForce RTX3050 Ti
• Displays: Primary: 14.5-inch, 2.8K (2880 x 1800) touch-sensitive OLED, 120 Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut; Secondary: 12.7-inch (2880 x 864) touch-sensitive, IPS-level, 120Hz panel, 100% DCI-p3 color gamut
• Storage: 1TB SSD PCIe Gen 4
• Ports: 2 x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), USB-A 3.2 Gen2, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio port, microSD Express 7.0 reader
• Networking: Dual band Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 2.
• Dimensions:12.74 x 8.85x 1.70 inches
• Weight: 3.86 lbs (1.75kg).
• Color: Tech Black
• Battery capacity 76Wh
• Price: $2,000

Design and build

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo, like last year’s 14-inch Zenbook Duo features not one but two displays – a 14.5 primary display and a 12.7-inch secondary (ScreenPad Plus) display that’s planted neatly above the keyboard. It measures 12.74 inches by 8.85 inches by 0.70 inches. That said, its 0.70-inch-thick chassis and 3.86 pound weight doesn’t quite qualify it as an Ultrabook.

The 2022 Zenbook Pro 14 Duo has some design upgrades that make it better than its predecessor. The most obvious is that the secondary display now tilts up at 12 degrees from the laptop’s base instead of just 7 degrees before. Ergonomically, that makes it a lot easier to see, as you won’t have to crane your neck in an unnatural way to get work done.

Such a tall tilt is achieved by replacing the 2021 Zenbook Duo’s Ergolift hinges with new AAS Ultra hinge mechanisms – a process that required a rejig of some of the internal components. It has also provided a thermal return on all the effort. Asus say, the internal hardware gets a 38 percent increased airflow – hence the moniker, AAS, which stands for: Active Aerodynamic System.

Air vents have been repositioned to cool the laptop. No more vents that push hot air upwards onto your primary display. They’re replaced by a neat row that blow hot air out the left-hand side. These have been disguised to look like USB A ports by Asus. They will not be noticed if hands are not placed in front.

There are also upgrades available for the primary display. It features a higher screen to body ratio of 92 per cent and a taller 16/10 aspect, which replaces last year’s 16:9 aspect ratio. It’s also notably brighter and by all accounts looks superb from any angle you view it from.

For the style conscious, this year’s 14-inch Zenbook Duo makes an ideal work accessory. It appears sleek and sophisticated no matter what kind of lighting you’re sitting under, and its Tech Black magnesium-aluminum alloy finish blends it seamlessly into just about any kind of work environment.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Additionally, flipping the lid down reveals a simple but compelling Asus ‘A’ logo that reflects just about every color back at you under bright lights, so expect your Zenbook Duo to get plenty of envious looks in boardroom meetings.

Trackpad and keyboard

Although once again quite slim, the Zenbook Duo’s keyboard feels balanced and comfortable. It makes good use of the chassis’s space. The keys feel large and have a generous 18.5mm pitch between them.

They feature convenient dish-shaped depressions that prevent your fingertips from slipping. I was able to write my reviews with high accuracy due to the dish-shaped depressions and the 1.4 mm vertical travel.

The top row has the standout keys. These keys include the Fn keys as well as some productivity shortcuts. You can use these keys to toggle the ScreenPad Plus on/off, take instant screenshots, and switch the webcam on/off.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

I found the ErgoSense trackpad wasn’t as user friendly as the keyboard. It was just a small rectangle, which made it feel a little cramped. Its awkward right-hand side positioning makes it difficult for lefties.

Its smooth, hydrophobic PVD-coated surface made it feel comfortable. Multitouch gesturing in Windows is also possible with the trackpad. This was helpful for accessing my desktop from amongst the many windows I have open.

Primary display

The primary 14.5-inch OLED HDR touchscreen is taller and brighter than ever. It produces vivid, richly saturated colors and blacks that seem to sink into the display. That’s thanks to the panel’s 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut and VESA DisplayHDR True Black rating that enables a 1 million to 1 contrast ratio.

The color accuracy of the photos I clicked was something that impressed me especially. Asus claims that the OLED panel has been validated by Pantone, which is a huge win for graphic artists and designers who need to be able to accurately colorize.

You can now customize the color gamut to suit different tasks using the Splendid page within the MyASUS software program. There are three color modes: sRGB for web content creation and browsing, DCI-P3 for cinema content, and Display P3 for movie grade color. However, switching between them didn’t show up that much difference.

Even more noticeable was the dazzling smoothness of the 120Hz OLED panel while watching videos. Micro stuttering was absent. The frames were sharper than a number of new gaming laptops. Consequently, if you’re wondering whether this laptop’s primary display is superior to a 165 Hz IPS-level panel with a comparative resolution, the answer is a resounding yes.

Connectivity

The addition of the AAS hinges has allowed the power input, HDMI and MicroSD card reader to be moved to the back side this year – a placement that does require you to uncomfortably lean over the laptop at times. However, the I/O options are excellent. Apart from the above, you get two Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen2 port as well as a 3.5mm audio connector.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Thunderbolt 4 ports will be a boon to power users who are looking to improve their productivity. Each port can be used to transfer files at 40Gb/s and to output to up 2K or 1K displays.

The Zenbook Duo also features Bluetooth 5.2 and dual band WiFi 6E. The latter is made even better by a few sweetener technologies – Wi-Fi Stabilizer acts to prevent electromagnetic signal interference, while a technology called SmartConnect works to provide the best possible Wi-Fi signal in your environment.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Although it is difficult to quantify, my wi-fi signal seemed a bit stronger than my laptop at work. So kudos Asus for these wi-fi enhancements.

Webcam and audio

The Zenbook Duo has a HD Webcam and Windows Hello compatibility. It produced decent images. However, the AI sometimes overcooked faces which made them look a bit plastic. The positive side is that pictures are extremely bright in low light conditions which saves you the trouble of constantly having to turn on overhead lighting.

The laptop’s dual speakers with Dolby Atmos support do a decent job of keeping the audio sounding clear and crisp and noticeably louder than some laptops of a similar size. I was also impressed by how little distortion they produced at the laptop’s higher volume levels.

Performance

Considering my review unit’s Intel Core-i7-12700H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU configuration, I pulled comparisons from the PCWorld stable of productivity laptops as well our list of gaming rigs. The MSI Katana GF76 notebook had the same GPU/CPU combination that my review unit.

I began by running the PCMark 10 Overall benchmark, which is good indicator of a laptop’s suitability for the modern office environment; as it runs this benchmark simulates a range of tasks like word processing and video chats and then calculates an overall score based on the outcomes. The Zenbook Duo, a Zenbook Pro laptop powered by AMD Ryzen, had a slight edge in this test.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Next, I examined the competency of the laptop’s CPU with Maxon’s Cinebench R20 Single-Threaded benchmark that targets just a single Core of our laptop’s CPU. The Zenbook Duo scored 692 in this benchmark. This indicates that the Zenbook Duo has enough power to perform everyday tasks such as running apps and programs.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Still in Maxon’s Cinebench R20 app, I ran the Multi-Threaded benchmark, which flexes all cores of a laptop’s processor. The Zenbook Duo came out on top of our list of comparisons with a score of 5,585. The Zenbook Duo is well-suited for CPU-intensive tasks such as video editing and encoding.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

I used the HandBrake utility to tell the Zenbook Duo how to convert a 30GB MKV to MP4 file using the Android Tablet preset. This test tested its ability to complete a CPU-intensive task without it becoming too hot. It had to throttle its performance. The results show that the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED finishes faster than the MSI Katana GF76.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

What do these results mean? Looking them over, it’s clear that the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED provides adequate processing power for content creators working in programs like Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop. Its high PCMark 10 Overall score means that it will perform well in productivity apps such as Microsoft Excel and Word.

The HandBrake result is however very encouraging. This suggests the Zenbook Duo’s innovate AAS facilitated aerodynamic design could in fact provide thermal advantages over some larger laptops with comparable Intel or Ryzen processors, like the MSI Katana GF76, in CPU-intensive tasks. This makes it a rare find among 14-inch productivity laptops.

3D performance

Since their launch, Asus’s Zenbook Duo laptops have occupied a middle ground for graphics performance, carving out a niche above most productivity laptops, but slightly below high-end gaming laptops. Based on my benchmarking, this is where the new model sits.

However, the results shown below show that Zenbook Duo can perform well in 3D rendering applications. And, although it is not a gaming laptop. It can produce decent frame rates even in moderately difficult 3D games.

To gauge the general graphics performance of my Zenbook’s RTX 3050 Ti GPU I used the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark. The graph below shows that the Zenbook Duo came in second to the MSI Katana GF76. It outperformed most comparisons, even those with RTX3050 Ti discrete graphics cards.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

For the Rise of the Tomb RaiderI created a game benchmark comparison chart and compared the Zenbook Duo to gaming laptops. It did not perform at the same pace as the other comparison list.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Battery life

While the Zenbook Duo’s hardware and graphics performance more closely resembles a gaming laptop than a productivity laptop, so too does its battery life, which proved to be somewhat lacking.

I tested the battery life by putting the laptop on standby with a 4K Hollywood movie. This test showed that productivity laptops with 76Wh batteries typically last between nine and thirteen hours. However, the Zenbook Duo lasted only seven hours. That means it can only last approximately four hours for battery-demanding tasks like 3D rendering and gaming.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Consequently, you’ll want to be around an outlet after your morning coffee break if you want to keep it powered up for a full working day.

Should you buy it

The Zenbook Pro 14 DuoOLED is a highly-tuned tool for content creators. It excels at both general office tasks and those that require more grunt such as coding and 3D rendering. The big attraction is the laptop’s dual displays. They’re the best ones we’ve used in an Asus Zenbook Duo laptop to date with a spate of year-on-year improvements that make the visuals more striking and the cross-screen integration easier than ever before.