Asus has announced several laptops tonight at the CES tech fair, which will be virtually held this year. With the striking ZenBook Duo 14 UX482, Asus takes the idea of a laptop with two screens further. We were already allowed to work with this laptop, the second screen of which this year has been placed on a hinge for better cooling.
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
price From € 1799, – (16 GB ram). Tested variant € 1999, – (32 GB ram)
Processor Intel Core i7-1165G7
Memory 32 GB
Screen 14 inch IPS (1920 x 1080), 12.6 inch (1920 x 515)
Storage 1 TB ssd (NVMe 3.0 x4)
Dimensions 32.4 x 22.2 x 1.7 cm
Weight 1.6 kilos
Battery 70 Wh
Connections 2x Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 (Gen 1), HDMI 1.4, 3.5mm audio jack, microSD card reader
Wireless Wifi 6, bluetooth 5
Extras Active stylus, sleeve, standard
Website www.asus.com
9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Good screen
- Handy second screen
- Active stylus works on both screens
- Nice keyboard (although a little tight)
- Negatives
- Trackpad size and position
The ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 is not the only laptop with two screens that Asus has in its range or even announced it tonight, but it is the variant that makes the concept somewhat accessible to many people. The design builds on last year’s ZenBook Duo. The housing is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy while the screen lid is made of aluminum. The back of the screen features the Asus brushed circles. that make the material sensitive to fingerprints. Asus calls the color Celestial Blue, but I would rather describe the laptop as dark gray. The most striking difference in design with its predecessor is that the second screen (which Asus calls ScreenPad Plus) now folds up at an angle when you open the laptop itself. The keyboard and trackpad are still placed below that second 12.6-inch screen. Furthermore, when closed, the UX482 is a fairly compact 14-inch laptop whose weight of 1.6 kilos is actually quite light given its properties.
In terms of connections, the UX482 offers a useful package of connections with two Thunderbolt 4 connections, USB 3.2 (Gen 1) and HDMI 1.4. Although it is a pity that the HDMI connection does not support version 2.0, you could also connect a 4K screen. Now this has to be done via one of the Thunderbolt ports. You can charge with the included USB-C charger, while the USB-C ports are also suitable for connecting a screen. At 1.7 cm, the UX482 is slightly thicker than the average ZenBook and that comes with a very big advantage: unlike many other new ZenBooks, this UX482 ‘just’ has a 3.5 mm connection. And in addition, you will also find a micro-SD card reader.
In the packaging, in addition to the laptop, we find a standard that you stick on the bottom, sleeve and a stylus. The USB network adapter that Asus often includes with its more expensive ZenBooks is missing.
‘Stickable’ standard
The ZenBook Duo UX482 stands by itself in a corner where you can work quite comfortably. However, Asus provides a fold-out stand that you can stick to the bottom of the laptop. Although this standard actually sticks tangibly, according to Asus it is also about electrostatic bonding. You can at least clean the sticky part with a damp cloth if it has dirt on it after which it still sticks. You can also remove the stand relatively easily without adhesive residue. When folded, the laptop hardly gets any thicker with a glued-on stand and the laptop is otherwise stable on the table. You can fold out the stand in a similar way as many cases for tablets to a construction that is about six centimeters high. This makes the screen a bit higher and the extra screen and the keyboard are in a more inclined position. It is a bit more ergonomic to work, but of course no replacement for a real separate screen at the right height and separate keyboard for long-term work. The whole is a bit less stable on the somewhat flexible stand. When typing on the keyboard, you do not suffer from this, but if you press on the sides of the screens, you will notice that it is less stable. Still, it is a nice extra for a laptop that is unique in itself.
Second screen on hinge
It is striking that the ScreenPad Plus is placed on a hinge and rises at an angle when you open the laptop. This ensures that this second screen is in a more comfortable position while at the same time creating an opening for extra ventilation. For the same reasons, the bottom of the laptop itself is also detached from the surface. Fortunately, the hinge construction of the extra screen seems to be quite sturdy, you can press very hard on the ScreenPad Plus before there is any movement in it. What you should pay attention to is that there is nothing in the gap when you close the laptop again.
Full second screen
To get the most out of the second screen, Asus supplies its own software under the name ScreenXpert Control Center. The basic operation is always in the picture on the second screen as a thin strip and serves, among other things, as a launcher to start software quickly. In addition, Asus offers virtual buttons for a number of Adobe programs such as Photoshop and Premiere Pro with which the second screen changes into a kind of controller with buttons that you can turn or press, for example. In itself useful, but for the time being limited to four Adobe applications. So you should just use it.
Fortunately, software does not have to be specifically suitable for the ScreenPad Plus. Windows recognizes the ScreenPad Plus as a normal second screen with a resolution of 1920 x 515 pixels and you can drag any program or window to the second screen. For example, almost all video editing software offers the possibility to show the timeline in a separate window and you can then easily drag it to the Screenpad Plus. The second screen is also useful for applications such as Spotify or Slack. In short, you have an extra (half) screen available and that certainly increases the productivity of your laptop.
One of the drawbacks, the placement and size of the normal touchpad, can also be solved a bit. You can also use the ScreenPad Plus as a gigantic touchpad. The disadvantage of this is that other content is hidden. A bit inconvenient is that you can still move the mouse cursor to the ScreenPad Plus in this touchpad mode.
Keyboard and touchpad
Asus has equipped the UX482 with a particularly fine keyboard whose keys have enough travel with 1.4 mm and a nice click. The somewhat small keys are provided with lighting in three brightness levels. The keyboard is all the way to the front of the laptop, but the angle at which the device is on the table means you can type comfortably.
I am less enthusiastic about the touchpad. Not only is it in an unusual place, it is also very small. It is a compromise that Asus had to make to be able to get rid of the second screen. It is a precision touchpad that is controlled by Windows and supports multi-touch gestures. But actually the touchpad is too small for gestures. It is nice, however, that tap for click works well, so you don’t necessarily need the two physical buttons under the touchpad.
Good full HD screen
The screen is the same screen we saw earlier on ZenBook 14 UX425. It is a 14-inch Full HD screen with excellent image quality and excellent clarity. It is nice that the screen, despite the fact that it is a touch screen, has a matte finish. The second 12.6 inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 515 pixels is also a good screen in itself. The smaller screen has the same high brightness as the normal screen, but the color reproduction is visibly less good than that of the main screen. That is not bad, all important things you will do on the normal screen. The second screen is also pleasantly matte and suitable to touch. It is striking that both screens appear to be suitable for the included active stylus. This stylus has two buttons, one of which functions as a right mouse button and one as an eraser. The third button that many styluses have on top to start a program is missing. By the way, buy extra batteries, because you can’t buy the AAAA battery in the stylus on every corner of the street.
Performance
The tested version of ZenBook Duo 14 is built around an Intel Core i7-1165G7, a quad-core chip that we recently found in the Asus ZenBook UX371. That review will soon be online, we compare the UX482 in the text below with that laptop. The processor is combined with 32 gigabytes of ram and a Samsung PM981a nvme-SSD with a storage capacity of 1 TB. Presumably the tested variant is the top model and Asus also announces a Core i5 variant based on the Intel Core i5-1135G7. The SSD is a fine specimen with a read and write speed of 3509.23 and 2990.86 MB / s. It provides a system that feels smooth and outperforms the aforementioned comparable UX371. For example, in PCMark 10 this system scores a score of 5173 points where the UX371 comes to 4519 points. Asus has therefore increased the tdp of the chip from an energy limit of 15 watts to 28 watts. In addition, the cooling is audibly quieter than that of the UX371, so excellent performance.
Asus has equipped the UX482 with a 70Wh battery that should provide up to 17 hours of runtime, but that’s a feat with the ScreenPad Plus turned off. Of course you don’t buy this laptop for that. However, with the ScreenPad Plus enabled, you can still work fine for more than a full working day if you do light office work. A working time of ten hours is no problem for tasks such as browsing, word processing and light photo editing. The PCMark Modern Office battery life test confirms this picture with a score of 13 hours and 26 minutes. And if you use the laptop for things where you don’t necessarily need the second screen, such as watching a movie, you can of course switch off the ScreenPad Plus for an even longer operating time.
Conclusion
Although the ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 is difficult to call revolutionary by its predecessors, it remains a very unique laptop. The second screen ensures that you can actually be more productive on the go. It is also nice that the ScreenPad Plus is recognized by Windows as a normal screen, so that you are not dependent on specific support. The housing and folding construction are sturdy, you just have to be careful that there is nothing in between the screen when you close the laptop again. The advantage of the gaps is the better cooling: the performance is excellent while the volume of the fan remains modest. The main compromise is the somewhat cramped keyboard and, above all, the awkward position of the touchpad that is too small. You can of course use the supplied stylus, but a separate mouse is useful anyway for creative work.
The ZenBook Duo 14 will be released in the first quarter of 2021.
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