This dual-screen laptop is a creator’s dream, but my favorite feature is more subtle

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Asus’ Zenbook Duo is an attention-grabbing, dual-screen laptop that can be arranged in a myriad of unorthodox configurations, with a detachable Bluetooth keyboard, stylus, and two brilliant 14-inch OLED touchscreen displays. It’s niche, but it’s had time to mature into a more practical device than you might think.

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I reviewed last year’s model, and found it to be an overall impressive device for creators, artists, or designers, but a little clunky. This year’s refresh boasts some significant improvements, with a redesigned hinge, better displays, and improved battery life at the top of the list. 

The Duo still has its quirks, however, and despite its smaller footprint and tighter design, it remains a specialized product with a few trade-offs. 

Design improvements

With an Intel Core Ultra 9X Series 3 “Panther Lake” processor, up to 32GB of 9600 MHz LPDDR5x RAM, and up to 2TB of storage, nearly every element of the 2026 Duo is an improvement.

The most noticeable physical element is the redesigned hinge connecting the two displays. Last year’s model had an overlapping design, while the panels on this year’s version snap into a completely flush position, resulting in a 70% smaller gap between screens and a more seamless look.

Less distance between the two displays doesn’t just look better, it also gives the device a more compact footprint in dual display mode. It’s less like a precarious stack of screens with different-sized bezels (a big critique I had), and way more sleek. 

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This design maturation shows up in other areas as well. For one, it’s the same weight as last year’s model despite beefier hardware and displays. They’re twice as bright, for example — up to 1,000 nits of brightness with a 144Hz refresh rate. Even though both displays look identical, they have slightly different builds. 

The bottom display, for example, is on a thicker, heavier frame as it serves as the base in both laptop and dual screen modes, and is capable of withstanding up to 33 pounds of force. Conversely, the top display is on a thinner panel, but still manages very little wobble. 

Its design in laptop mode also doesn’t feel like an afterthought. Asus’ proprietary “Ceraluminum” texture on the keyboard and overall build feels smooth and luxe, as does the trackpad surface, which allows for some effortless finger gliding across the surface. 

The keyboard is spacious and silent, with 1.7mm key travel and a responsive, comfortable build. All of this is great on its own, but more impressive when you consider it’s detachable with three-way connectivity: Bluetooth, Pogo pin, or USB-C cable. 

When it’s attached, it gives little indication of its removable nature. However, in my time with the Duo, certain keys sometimes stopped responding while disconnected, namely on the Backspace and Enter key column. Reconnecting the keyboard and detaching it again fixed the glitch, but it’s a pretty inconvenient bug I’ll chalk up to early hardware compatibility issues.

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When separated, Asus says the detachable keyboard has a 200% improvement in battery life from the previous version, with up to 52 hours without the backlight and 11 hours with it on, and it charges quickly when attached. 

Lastly, I’ll say the freeform nature of the board is nice, but also a little awkward in that it can just be placed anywhere. Some sort of snap-to feature to the base of the clamshell would be a nice touch for future builds. 

Hardware and performance 

The 2026 Duo packs Intel’s latest processor, the Core Ultra X9 388H “Panther Lake” CPU. The “X” here signifies that it’s paired with the integrated Intel Arc B390 GPU with 12 Xe cores and 16MB of shared L2 cache — a significant amount of L2 cache for a GPU of this size. 

Intel claims its Series 3 processors offer 50% better multi-threaded performance with similar or lower power consumption, and power efficiency is an overarching theme for the Duo — another upgrade from last year’s model.

Rightfully so, as the two 144Hz OLED displays on top of each other don’t exactly scream battery longevity. However, the Duo handles its power surprisingly well, especially with non-demanding workloads and in single display mode.    

In fact, as a “regular” laptop, I found battery life to be essentially identical to competing 14-inch devices. With regular office-related workloads, I got about a full work day’s worth of battery life. In dual screen mode, you can expect anywhere from a few hours to half a day, or more, depending on what you’re doing. 

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Asus’ official numbers claim up to 18 hours of video playback with both screens on, and 32 hours with a single screen. It charges fast, too — up to 60% or beyond after 49 minutes. During my testing, I got a little over 17 hours during a video playback test, and after a full day of work in laptop mode, with a little less than 20% remaining when I left the office. 

To unlock the Duo’s 45W TDP performance, Asus improved thermals with larger intake vents, larger bladed fans, and a 24% increase in exhaust capacity to prevent throttling. In laptop mode, however, the vents on the side move hot air directly to the right of the device, which could be directly onto your hands or the mouse. 

In terms of all the different ways to use the Duo, I found swapping between configurations mostly easy and natural. For example, removing the keyboard automatically puts it into dual screen mode and the swap to Bluetooth is instant, requiring no user input. Similarly, the Asus Pen (included with the device) is responsive and power-efficient. 

I actually came to appreciate desktop mode this time around — turning the screens vertically and propping the device up on the desk like an open book. Alternatively, you can use the kickstand on the back, which is sturdier and better designed this year. 

As expected, Asus has its fair share of proprietary software related to the device’s different configurations and accessories, and some of it is definitely more helpful than others. The floating icon on the bottom of the window, for example, often gets in the way, but is necessary to open the Screen Xpert software where you can swap to sharing mode — duplicating the display and allowing markup to whatever is on the screen. 

Who’s it for? 

For creators, the split screen setup has tons of obvious applications, with file navigation/communication apps on one screen and media software on the other. For developers, popping into desktop mode with double vertical displays makes for a cozy and productive user experience. 

For gamers, the Duo performs well with the Intel Arc GPU and Core Ultra X9 carrying the show, but niche applications might see mixed results. For example, multiboxing two instances of the same game (with one on each display) will perform well on less demanding titles, but dedicated gaming laptops will fare better with such uses. 

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If you’re a casual gamer and like to multitask, however, the Duo excels at running your game on one screen and keeping Slack or Google Suite up on the other — a use case it’s perfect for (just don’t tell your manager).  Possibilities like this allow for the user to really get creative with how they use it, something I appreciate. 

In my week or two with the Duo, I kept finding new ways to use it, and no matter what I threw at, it handled it with snappy performance. This includes gaming, photo editing, media playback, intensive tasks and large file transfers, as well as typical productivity tasks. 

For that reason, I’d say the Duo’s versatility runs deeper than its physical configurations — it’s supported by solid hardware and a design that Asus has put in the effort to improve.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The 2026 Asus Zenbook Duo is an impressively-designed device, but you have to be committed to its dual-screen design. If you’re anything less, it’s likely overkill, as you can get similarly-specced laptops (with a single display) for less. 

However, the $2,299 is not exorbitantly priced, all things considered. If you’re in love with the dual screen form, you’ll find it to be well worth it. 

Asus’ rollout of the 2026 Zenbook Duo is slated to start with pre-orders in Q1 2026, with the device hitting general availability later this year. Asus hasn’t committed to a specific date for the Duo’s general availability, but I would estimate early Q2 or late Q1. 

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