The new ASUS Zenbook Duo is a laptop like no other. When it's closed it looks and feels like a premium ultraportable laptop, but open it up and you'll see something incredible: two 14-inch 3K OLED displays, delivering an absolutely massive place for you to work or play.
It's an astonishing, revolutionary laptop – and it's also a promise delivered. Way back in 2018 ASUS showed us the future of laptops, and now that future is right here.
From jaw-dropping to range-topping
In 2018, ASUS caused gasps when it unveiled the PRECOG concept at the Computex trade show. It looked like nothing we'd seen before, an AI-powered laptop whose second display could be a touchscreen, a keyboard, a trackpad or a video screen.
The PRECOG made jaws drop, but as it was a concept there was some scepticism over whether it would ever become a real product – scepticism that was soon dispelled when ASUS launched the dual-display Zenbook Pro 15 (UX580) later that year. ASUS called its second screen the ScreenPad and it sat where you'd usually see a trackpad – but this trackpad doubled as a display that you could use to launch apps and carry out key tasks in apps.
The ScreenPad was brilliant, but it was also small – although it wouldn't stay small for long. In 2019 ASUS launched the ScreenPad Plus, and this time the ScreenPad was the full width of the laptop. That meant it was a fully usable display, not just a place for app icons and shortcuts. ASUS also delivered a range of special tools to take full advantage of that second display for multitasking, app switching and more.
While ASUS was making ever-smarter laptops, display technology was improving dramatically too. And one of those technologies would prove to be crucial in delivering ASUS's vision. OLED didn't just deliver vivid colours, exceptional contrast and excellent energy efficiency. It also did so in panels that were much thinner than the LCD ones that you'd typically find in laptop displays. You can probably guess what happened next.
The future is foldable
With the ScreenPad Plus ASUS had demonstrated that a second screen could be a must-have feature. The next step was to make it even bigger and even better, taking full advantage of those thinner OLED panels. 2022's ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED was the result, a proof-of-concept laptop that according to Techradar delivered a "gorgeous, foldable OLED display" with an "innovative design" to create a "weird, awesome laptop".
One of the most important things about the Zenbook 17 Fold wasn't something you could see: it was what happened behind the scenes. ASUS designed the Zenbook 17 Fold to be incredibly tough, and to withstand more folds and unfolds than any laptop could expect in its whole lifespan. And that meant that unlike some early folding smartphones, there were never any doubts about the quality, reliability and stamina of ASUS's folding OLED laptops.
Techradar's review did take issue with one thing, though: the price. Cutting-edge tech tends to come with a fairly hefty price tag when it's first released. So having cracked the technology, the next step for ASUS was to make it more affordable and more available. And that's exactly what ASUS has done.
The price is right
This year, ASUS is going to make jaws drop again. The new ASUS Zenbook Duo (2024) is an incredible dual-display laptop with an astonishingly affordable price – and ASUS hasn't been cutting corners to make that happen. In addition to those gorgeous 3K 120Hz OLED displays there are all-new Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 H-series processors — and those processors are combined with up to 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to a 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Those processors also feature Intel's very first Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which delivers on the AI promises we first saw in the PRECOG concept. The NPU shifts processing from the CPU and delivers serious acceleration for AI apps, making it easy for you to seamlessly manage even the most complex workloads. With that computing power and the massive screen real estate delivered by those twin 14-inch OLEDs, you can have all your essential apps on screen at the same time without clutter or congestion.
It's been fascinating to see ASUS take the dual-screen laptop from the concept of the PRECOG and the early ScreenPad to today's incredible no-compromise Zenbook Duo – and you won't have to wait very long to get your eyes and your hands on one. The new ASUS Zenbook Duo (2024) UX8406 will be available from the end of January in the UK from just £1,699.
