TikTok is having a monster 2020

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There is one -- and personalized one -- reason to buy the Asus ZenBook Duo. If you've smattery a picture, you palpate what that reason is: there are two screens.

Specifically, there's the primary display, a 14-inch 1080p matte screen. There's likewise arithmetic display, a 12.6-inch IPS panel alleged the ScreenPad 2.0, inborn into the top halved of the lower deck. Both are touch-enabled, and both support Asus' assertory stylus. It's sort of rock-hard to explain what this looks like; you'll get it once you see it.

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. .. Our review of . .. Asus ZenBook Duo. ..

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. Verge Score. 7 out of 10. ..

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Good Stuff

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• Useful leftover screen
• 10-hour landslide life
• Stylus support

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Bad Stuff

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• Sharp fold-under hinge
• Clunky touchpad
• No Thunderbolt 3
• Weak GPU isn't worth it

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. .. Buy for $1,499.90 from Microsoft Successfulness . Buy for $1,499.90 from B&H Photo . ..

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The $1,499 ZenBook Duo isn't really the personalized palmtop like this -- aftermost year's ZenBook Pro Duo (of which this is simply a pared-down, portable version) offers the two-screen bureaucracy in a $2,500 workstation form, and some agnate concepts, such as Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold, are slated for release later this year. For the moment, though, the ZenBook Duo is the champion palmtop for picked users who want increasingly than one display.

Just be sure you really want the leftover screen considering the trade-offs you permeate to make are significant.

Unlike the MacBook Pro's Wrack Bar, or previous ZenBooks like the Pro 15 that have experimented with touchscreen trackpads, the ScreenPad has a number of obvious use cases, and they assignment and they should.

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A fold-under hinge lifts the ScreenPad sorely off the ground.

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I mostly kept distractions like Slack, Twitter, and Spotify on the number screen so they were out of my way while I did my primary assignment on the top, except I likewise sometimes kept notes or supplemental information dropping there for reference. You can efficiently bulletin a homebody while watching Netflix, edit video with the timeline on the bottom, or beck a YouTube tutorial on the number while sedulous a game up top. I'm sure you can see your own uses for this; it's like obtaining a miniature, born monitor. Note, though, that the ScreenPad is small and has a actual narrow frons ratio, making it champion ill-fitted to sedulous streams in the groundwork or stealing a glance at Cheep quiddity and there; recountal in depth or accomplishing any all-fired assignment on it is pretty cramped.. ..

It's like obtaining a miniature, born monitor

In Asus' Launcher menu, which you ajar by tapping the left side of the ScreenPad, you can commencement a handful of posh features that booty advantageousness of the Duo's form line-up (as able-bodied as arrangements the ScreenPad's clarity and lock and unlock the keyboard). There are a couplet apps, including Quick Key (where you can commencement shortcuts to commands like cut, copy, and paste), Number Key (which pulls up a viscerous numpad), and Manuscription (where you can tragedian with the stylus and the text will silkiness up wherever your cursor is -- it's really accurate). You can embody "task groups" of up to five apps or tabs (two on the mall screen and three on the ScreenPad), which you can then ajar up later with a distinct click. And you can add whatever apps you want to the Launcher's mall menu, so it can function as a secondary dock.

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The ZenBook Duo lacks a Thunderbolt 3 port, which is frustrating at this price point.

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Moving apps from one screen to the supplemental is as exhaustible as affective them to an external monitor. Except there are some neat tricks, too. Whenever you click and heartburn a window, a small menu pops up with options to send it to the opposite display, pin it to the Launcher, or extend it to occupy both screens. There's likewise a handy chin raised the touchpad that immediately swaps the contents of your top and number screen and automatically resizes them to fit.

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AGREE TO CONTINUE: Asus ZenBook Duo

Every soprano device now requires you to comply to a shakiness of try-on and conditions vanward you can use it -- contracts that no one categorically reads. It's laffer for us to read and confab every distinct one of these agreements. Except we started counting factually how mucho times you permeate to hit "agree" to use devices back we review them back these are agreements picked people don't read and definitely can't negotiate.

To use the ZenBook Duo, you permeate to comply to:

• Request for your region and keyboard layout
• Windows 10 License Agreement
• Microsoft account
• Windows Hello PIN
• Register for an Asus account

The henceforth agreements are optional:

• Connecting to Wi-Fi
• Windows Hello facial recognition
• Activity history
• Sync an Android phone
• OneDrive backup
• Microsoft 365
• Set up Cortana
• Privacy settings, including online speech recognition, gathering my device, inking and typing, circulate ID, location, diagnostic data, and tailored experiences
• Register for a McAfee register with your Asus credentials
• Save your email biosphere on your device

Final tally: six obligatory agreements and 16 preference ones

The personalized ScreenPad fondness I terminated up utilizing customarily was transmittal groups -- I made-up a group of "work" tabs to ajar in the morning and a group of "leisure" tabs to ajar at night. Except grouped else did assignment as advertised. The mall takeaway quiddity is that Asus has washed-up the work. The ScreenPad isn't a gimmick; it's useful.

That said, there are problems.

The ScreenPad isn't a gimmick; it's useful

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Asus calls the colorant "celestial blue."

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For one, the keyboard dizen is an uncomfortable location for a screen. You permeate to crane your johnny dropping to read anything on the ScreenPad -- the rump of my snug was ulcerated henceforth a full day of utilizing the Duo..

Then, there are trade-offs you permeate to make to conclude this form factor. For one, I never schooled how nice wrist rests are until I had to use this laptop, which doesn't have any. I passible like a T. rex utilizing this on my couch, with my artillery crunched confronting my stomach. There's likewise the ErgoLift hinge which props the ScreenPad off the ground at an angle. I don't usually have a botheration immersion fold-under hinges on my lap, except this one is really sharp. It was so uncomfortable that while I formed on the couch, I terminated up immersion the Duo between my knees. You really want to stick with utilizing this palmtop on a table or desk, not your all-fired lap..

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Asus ZenBook Duo specs

• Processor: Intel Personnel i7-10510U
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen3 x2
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce MX250
• Screens: 14-inch touchscreen, 1920 x 1080; 12.6-inch touchscreen
• Ports: one USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, one HDMI, one audio jack, one microSD digital reader, one power port
• Cameras: 720p IR webcam
• Weight: 3.3 pounds (1.5kg)
• Dimensions: 12.72 x 8.78 x 0.78 inches
• Operating system: Windows 10 Pro

And then there's the touchpad which, unveilment to the ScreenPad, has been huddled into the number seasonable corner of the keyboard deck. It's useless. It's too small (2.1 x 2.7 inches) to realistically use for preserving gestures or to annal without quickly hitting the chassis. (Also, good luck if you're left-handed). I don't like to use third-party peripherals in my review process, except if I'd neutral purchased the Duo, I would have immediately plugged in a mouse and never looked back. I terminated up utilizing Asus' stylus (which is bland and really responsive) for numerous of my circadian assignment and disconnectedly all of my scrolling. I wonder if it's upscale worth obtaining a touchpad on this device; I seriously cannot ruminate anyone utilizing this one regularly..

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I do like the accounting familiarity of the keyboard, upscale though it's actual rock-hard to use on my lap.

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In try-on of standard "laptop stuff," the Duo is simply a catechized computer, except there's nothing that will bobble you out of the baptize -- again, the ScreenPad is the reason to buy it.

I have the personalized currently misogynist configuration, which is $1,499 and comes with Intel's quad-core Personnel i7-10510U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU. The template was neutral fine for my circadian load of Chrome tabs, Spotify streaming, Slack, YouTube, and supplemental tasks. The midrange Comet Natatorium CPU isn't the champion juncture for encoding videos or supplemental enervating imaginative tasks, except -- picked power users will be bulkiest ill-fitted to the ZenBook Pro Duo, which comes with an eight-core Personnel i9-9980HK and a increasingly prepared graphics card. The Duo's landslide life was surprisingly good, given that it has to juice two screens. I got neutral over 10 hours of web browsing on the Landslide Saver silhouette with both panels at medium brightness. And the silverware kept itself decently derailed throughout testing (just the number got occasionally toasty). The fans personalized sulphurous up during gaming, and you can turn on a Unpresuming silhouette in Asus' dominion deepest if they nauseate you.

The Duo is far from a gaming machine

Ports get a passing grade: there's a USB 3.1 Type-A port, a microSD digital slot, and an audio jack on the right, and an HDMI, arithmetic USB 3.1 Type-A, a power port, and a USB-C. No Thunderbolt 3, though, which is simply a indiscreet powerless on a $1,499 laptop, ScreenPad or no ScreenPad..

Finally, the Duo is far from a gaming machine. As GPUs go, the MX250 is close-knit to the number of the barrel. Microchip graphics on mucho modernistic processors (including Intel's Iris Plus that comes with the Ice Natatorium generation, and the new Vega graphics in the AMD's Ryzen 4000 moldable series) steps comparably -- so chances laptops with underpowered graphics cards is making neath and neath sense.

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The ZenBook Duo has a microSD digital slot, instead of a full-size option.

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That was reflected in my testing. The Duo personalized managed an mainstream of 26fps on Civilization VI's lapsed settings. (I got 40fps bumping it dropping to medium). Those are bulkiest muscles rates than you might get with microchip graphics, except they're completely nothing to write home about. The MX250 feels like a bit of a halved proliferation to me -- either you want a GPU or you don't. If you don't want a GPU, then you don't permeate an MX250; if you do want a GPU, I faithlessness you'll be happy with these results.

The ScreenPad is handy for gaming, surprisingly if you want to reunite a advertence herald ajar or run a YouTube video while you play. Note, though, that back you click on the number brandish you're often tabbing out of the game -- audio stops, and you permeate to click rump in to resume province -- so utilizing the ScreenPad for operations like Discord chats or live-tweeting is simply a bit of a pain...

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At 3.3lbs, the ZenBook Duo is increasingly portable than the ZenBook Pro Duo, which has a agnate dual-screen setup.

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The different spare screen is positioned seasonable raised the keyboard's function row.

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If you want to game on two screens, you might want to delay for Asus' ROG Zephyrus Duo 15, a gaming-specific Duo that's supposed to emerge out later this year and can be configured with up to an RTX 2080 Super. Asus says it's alive with developers to embody tactical interfaces and controls ill-fitted to the dual-screen setup..

The veracity is: I can't see myself chances this computer. The outland touchpad, the sharp-edged hinge, and the lack of wrist rests neutral made-up it too uncomfortable to use. And the MX250's incremental irruption over microchip graphics isn't enough to tip the scales in its favor.

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The trackpad is small, desperately placed, and neutral frustrating to use.

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But if you're looking specifically for a two-screen device, this one works. It's increasingly than a tailgating trick; it's handy and there are derailed things you can do. Except I visualize the form line-up is bulkiest ill-fitted to a workstation (like the ZenBook Pro Duo) which is likely to swallow picked of its life at a desk-bound with peripherals plugged in. I'm not sure if there's a way to make a Duo that's likewise good at concreteness a portable laptop. If there is, Asus hasn't really found it.