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[Music] Hi I’m matthew buzzy from pc mag and this Is the 2021 edition of the asus zenbook Duo 14. Now if you’re unfamiliar with the duo Line uh well what that means is for the Big reveal That this has two displays uh the duo Laptops are asus’s brand that has uh Two screens which basically is a Multi-monitor setup built into your Laptop Now obviously the second screen is not Quite as big as a desktop full-size Monitor would be But it gives some pretty unique Functionality a couple of manufacturers Have gone in On this um two screen setup this concept And done in various different ways This is sort of a seuss’s solution Across a number of machines there’s a Bigger one a 15-inch there’s also a Gaming laptop the zephyrus duo Um and they’ve kind of done more all in On the idea of a two screen laptop i Think Than any other manufacturer has so far Off the bat it’s very cool i mean this Is not the first edition of this laptop This is a Refinement of the 14 inch duo but um The screen’s a little brighter uh the
Machine is thinner and lighter overall Um you have this nice ergo lift hinge so That the laptop like the screen Lifts off the desk and they both get Better cooling as a result of that Uh and the better viewing angle for the Display so a bunch of things have been Considered here um As far as making this slimmer lighter It’s about three and a half pounds Um it’s not really very thick as you can See so it’s a pretty portable system All the more impressive engineering wise Considering that you have these two Screens Uh built into this compact laptop both Of these screens are touch enabled and The Main screen is a standard full hd 1920×1080 resolution Um the smaller screen it’s still sharp But it has an unusual resolution due to Its unusual shape It’s by 515 pixels um it’s still clear It’s sharp both 400 nits Of brightness which is up from the Previous model so it’s a little brighter Easier to see especially Good because you’re going to be looking At that screen at an angle uh if you’re Unfamiliar with this concept of these Dual displays you might be wondering What it’s for um is it a gimmick is it Actually useful and i would say it’s
More than a gimmick i think It depends on your workflow depends what You’re doing and how much you value Convenience But um it’s definitely legitimately Useful because you can pull really I’ll show you here you can pull any file That’s um On the main display down to the second Display so any if you have let’s just Say Uh your file explorer you drag it right Down there and it’s there act as a Reference Obviously this is just my you know open File folders but It could be it could be a text document Um you could put something like spotify Down there You could put a reference excel Spreadsheet for what you’re What you’re looking at so it replicates Kind of a dual monitor setup you can Look at it without having to tab Out of whichever window you have open so That i mean that’s pretty useful you can Fit a couple things it’s wide enough You could have spotify over here you Could split it in half like you can the Main display Um you kind of snap things to the side And drag things up and drag things Around so Um it’s actually it’s pretty useful in
Addition asus has this sort of smart Launcher here that has a bunch of Customizable options Uh customize it to your liking and then Put a couple things in the quick bar There’s brightness there’s a couple ways To snap the screen pad options up to the Main display Um so it’s pretty robust and these Features didn’t all exist when the Uh the screen pad plus which is the name Of the second screen First debuted but um the software has Come a long way to help support it to Help Make this a bit of an easier thing to Use because it does take a Bit of learning there’s some learning Curve involved i would say on figuring Out how to use this exactly But it’s impressive it’s really cool Again I wouldn’t say it’s essential but it is Useful um depends whether you’re whether You want to pay for it depends How much you think you’ll get use out of It especially on the 14 inch Size because the 14 inch screen that Means this is even smaller than the Larger 15 inch models which means this Screen is also smaller it’s about 12 and A half Diagonal which is modest you can’t fit a World of information on there but you
Can fit Quick references and make it work for Whatever your workflow is So the size does come with some Compromises i think even the 15-inch Version of this laptop because of where The screen is Inherently requires some sacrifice to be Made obviously the keyboard is Pushed down to the front usually you Have it up higher which gives you a Wrist rest There’s really no way to rest your wrist Here you kind of float off the laptop if You’re on the edge of the desk that’s Fine But it can be a little uncomfortable the Keys are okay as well they’re a little Mushier than i’d like but it’s It’s serviceable uh the touchpad i would Say suffers even more because it’s not Very wide as you can see it’s pretty Narrow It has to be fit in line with the Keyboard because of the screen So it takes a little getting used to too It’s a little narrow you kind of run up Against the sides um It’s serviceable it’s all serviceable um That might not be what you want to hear When you buy an ultra portable laptop Just serviceable But uh if you think about how much Functionality you get out of the screen
It might balance out and i think the Amount that the keyboard or the touchpad Would bother different people especially Mouse users Is definitely going to vary by user so Take that for what you will Everyone can draw their own conclusion On that i think it’s a little Uncomfortable a little less than ideal Um But it’s still it’s still workable one Area where the smaller size does not Hold the laptop back is the port Selection Um compact and they have to fit the Second screen in but they didn’t skimp On ports On this side you have two usb-c ports With thunderbolt 4 support which is Thanks to intel’s latest processors and An hdmi connection And this side has a standard usb Connection as well as a micro sd card Slot So i mean that’s that’s pretty good for A laptop this size i’ve seen I’ve seen laptops even bigger than this Have about the same ports or less and Ultra portables definitely Usually have have fewer a lot of them Have trimmed out to usbc only So it’s good that this has two it has Hdmi and it has a standard usba port so Nothing to complain about on the port
Side i think that’s positive here moving On to the components This can come with a core i5 or core i7 Processor those are both 11th generation Intel so Pretty good processing power um up to 32 Gigabytes of ram up to one terabyte ssd So pretty robust options for such a Little system And on the graphic side intel iris xc Integrated graphics are The base option but you can also bump That up to nvidia’s mx450 Dedicated graphics option now that’s Really a far cry from their powerful Gtx especially rtx graphics options Those are not This is not a high power gaming gpu but It is a step above integrated um Intel’s integrated graphics have come a Long way from where they used to be but They’re still not as good as a discrete Gpu The mx 450 option should add a good bit Of power But still short of those dedicated Gaming gps so somewhere in between if You need a little boost You do some 3d um operations then it Will it will boost you you can run some Casual games or games on low settings a Little better than you would be able to With integrated graphics so If that’s an option that appeals to you
This can actually pack a pretty decent Configuration inside it Despite the screens again all the more Impressive especially when there’s added Cooling under the display here And that the hinge on the bottom also Helps With the cooling so all in all the Performance should be pretty good Uh this is just a preview here so we Didn’t run our full suite of usual Benchmark tests Um so we’ll get back to you with a full Review of how the performance uh Holds up uh under our rigorous benchmark Test day so all in all i come away Pretty positive About this laptop um i think it’s really Cool i think that’s some factor that Isn’t intangible If you just think this is a really cool Thing that exists or not Uh i i do think it’s kind of neat um the Two displays again is not the first time We’ve seen it whether 15 inches or 14 inches but it’s kind of Cool every time i think this is a bit of A head turner It’s it’s a luxury i would say having The second screen it’s not essential i Don’t think it will change your life Laptops have been getting around fine With one screen for a long time but Improvements can be made and hopefully
You find if you do Want this laptop a good way to have it Improve your workflow Um because outside of that everything’s Really solid about this the port options It feels uh sturdy but not too heavy um The quality is good magnesium alloy Builds i even like The blue color here um i think that as i Said the compromises on the touch pad And the keyboard are Mainly where where those compromises are And other than that it’s a solid system With what should be pretty good Performance so Uh we look forward to giving this a full Review and running our benchmark tests On it so check back to pcmag.com for [Music] More
