It’s turning into more and more tough to get enthusiastic about laptops that attempt to be completely different, as a result of as a rule, they’re costly with none substantial extra worth. It’s usually the {hardware}, or the Home windows working system, that continues to be inconsistent and erratic. Since HT first reviewed the dual-screen Asus ZenBook Duo in 2024, loads of water has handed underneath the bridge. Have issues developed since then? That’s a ₹299,990 query, to which the reply is relatively simple.
What was modern and completely different hasn’t developed to something greater than a pressure of behavior for the model. One new iteration yearly, as a result of it merely needs to be accomplished. The expertise hasn’t developed meaningfully, and neither has the product itself, other than the generational uptick of specs. In fact, this time it’s Intel’s newest Panther Lake chips, that are certainly a leap forward.
The truth that the Zenbook Duo (UX8407AA-SN183WS) sits comfortably neither as a laptop computer, a convertible, a pill, nor a desktop is a exceptional consistency in reaching nothing in any respect. The closest I’d classify this as is a desktop alternative, and even then, you’d be higher off with an precise desktop. That is too thick and heavy to work as a laptop computer that you could be want to carry round, or as a pill. The saving grace is that this 100-watt Kind-C energy adapter doesn’t have a brick, which continues to be widespread with many laptops—Asus made this adapter design swap some time in the past, and lots of others nonetheless haven’t proven the willingness to take action. Little issues do matter.
For regardless of the opinions in regards to the type issue and certainly its utility, that is undoubtedly a well-made machine. Asus’ use of Ceraluminum provides this a relatively fascinating mixture of inflexible construct, a pleasant shade of Moher Gray and a end that doesn’t catch fingerprints simply (although mud reveals up as a rule). The massive visible distinction, in the event you like to note high quality particulars, is Asus managing a major discount within the hole between the 2 screens — from 25.31mm to 7.66mm, due to the redesigned hinge.
Asus pitches 4 modes for this dual-screen machine. As a laptop computer, a desktop with the screens vertically aligned, a dual-screen mode the place the detachable keyboard turns into the third cog within the laptop computer proposition, and a sharing mode, which is basically a tablet-like situation. In my e book, solely the laptop computer mode works. The desktop mode with vertical show orientation considerably reduces every one’s usable width. Secondly, in the event you maintain this in a typical laptop computer setup with two screens and a separate Bluetooth keyboard, you’ll want to do that at a desk. One which’s additionally internet hosting sufficient depth. And in the event you do allow the digital keyboard on the second, decrease positioned display screen, it’s mainly a futile, unintuitive try to revamp the wheel.
The built-in kickstand allows these options, and Asus says it has undergone greater than 40,000 open-and-close checks to examine for sturdiness.
The 2 facets the place I’ve no vital evaluation are the Asus Lumina Professional OLED shows and the Intel Panther Lake chips. These screens are completely beautiful to have a look at, and mainly one other chapter in a e book of Asus’ brilliance with optimising OLED shows. I distinctly keep in mind a time from a few years in the past when Asus made a concerted push in the direction of OLED screens because the widespread consider many of the laptops they make, and its a journey that’s solely been successful. Even in a room with the brightest afternoon daylight streaming in, these OLED screens on the Zenbook Duo supply no temporary for distractions from reflections or glare. And that’s earlier than you get to the completely beautiful colors, an optimisation which I’d say stays unmatched with Home windows laptops (my desire is DCI-P3 throughout utilization).
This particular variant of the Zenbook Duo is powered by an Intel Core Extremely 7 355 chip, with 32GB reminiscence and 1TB storage. I’ve skilled the identical machine with the Panther Lake Core Extremely X9 388H chip and had famous on the time that this technology of chips is a giant step ahead for Intel and the broader computing machine house. The 2026 version of the Zenbook Duo additionally advantages from this chip’s enhancements in general efficiency, thermals and frugality. Battery particularly: it’s simple to get near 13 hours of backup time with intermittent use of the second display screen, shut to fifteen hours in the event you use only one display screen, as you’ll on a typical laptop computer, and about 9 hours when each screens are principally in sync.
No matter a genuinely good technology of {hardware}, that’s, Intel’s newest chips and the OLED screens in use, the Asus Zenbook Duo (UX8407AA) is completely not a straightforward suggestion. The case for flexibility with this manner issue will nonetheless be uncommon for many customers (and subsequently it’ll be cash not returning greatest worth), it’s heavy and infrequently impractical, it prices some huge cash, Home windows continues to be wonky at greatest, and there’s far an excessive amount of preloaded software program to make heads or tails of it with out cursing. Even underneath common use, perceptible warmth emerges from the vents on both facet of the bottom, and the underside is generally uncomfortably heat to be actually usable when stored on a lap. Unsure how many individuals are literally the audience for this try at flexibility (who all like to hold two screens round, increase your palms). Even then, this isn’t a grasp of any commerce.