Like The Apple Touch Bar, But Better: Asus ZenBook Duo UX481 Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Asus wants to prove that there are other ways to innovate besides just creating the thinnest laptops year after year. The ScreenPad Plus display is both practical and invaluable when at its best, but it entails some ergonomic drawbacks.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Like-The-Apple-Touch-Bar-But-Better-Asus-ZenBook-Duo-UX481-Laptop-Review.463186.0.html

[william blake]

witcher 35 watt total, 39 db noise. classic.

[Max Siegieda]

I've owned one of these for 15 days now and generally agree with this review. The keyboard placement is a bit awkward, the touchpad's too small, that could be helped if the front edge were lower to the table so you don't need a wrist rest. Dual screens has been amazing, usually I've got youtube or an IM window open on the bottom screen and some article I'm reading on the top. Sometimes to help with the trackpad limitations I extend a browser window across both monitors then use the bottom screen as a touchscreen to scroll.

My model doesn't have a touchscreen on the primary display (irritatingly, I was waiting for a dual touchscreen model and they've released it just after I bought) but it looks like they've done it with a glass overlay so I'd be interested to see how that's hooked up in case I can retrofit it. My primary LCD panel has already been replaced as my cats jumped on it, I went for a 14" IGZO panel with 70ms response time but double the contrast, 100cd/m^2 higher brightness and less power consumption than the stock display.

Linux support has been alright. Ubuntu 19.10 and Elementary OS didn't detect my wifi and a few other bits so I dropped them in favour of Manjaro which has been pretty flawless after choosing non-free GPU drivers. I even have the IR camera working for login and sudo using a program called Howdy. The touch and pen element of the lower screen usually needs tying to the lower display but that's a couple of commands on each boot. I've even found a good pen-input notebook program so I spend a lot of time with work video calls on the top screen while I take notes on the bottom screen.

I've got a USB PD trigger to Asus barrel jack (4.5mm x 3.0mm) adapter coming in the post so then I'll be able to charge this laptop off USB-C just as Asus should have allowed from the factory. 

[william blake]

My primary LCD panel has already been replaced as my cats jumped on it, I went for a 14" IGZO panel with 70ms response time but double the contrast, 100cd/m^2 higher brightness and less power consumption than the stock display.

great solution to fix mediocre brightness and contrast. not an easy though, you need a well trained cat.

[Jesse]

This thing is like what you see at a car show when manufacturers want to grab attention for a future model.   However, those same manufacturers never produce the gimmicky, unusable, hype creations.  By the time they make it to market, every one of those gimmicks have been tweaked back to something less flashy and more useful for their customers.

Unfortunately, Asus decided to put it into production.   

A few gits will buy it, but it will ultimately cost them money.

Maybe next time they will just go with a two layer lid that slides a second screen up above the main screen, and not mess with the trackpad or keyboard.   Then at least you'd have the second screen in front of your face and not at some weird oblique angle.  Feel free to steak my gimmicky idea Asus.

[Jim Mag]

Finally a review!
Ive had the i7 512gb non touch version for a few weeks now and got it at a reduced price of around £1150. Completely agree with the review. Its a pretty decent device. The only major drawbacks for me being no usb c charging and its a pretty chunky device for its size. But having those two screens and awesome battery life is amazing. Really enjoying it.
Noticed on Amazon UK that the reviewed version should be finally available soon for £1699. Currently £400 more than the version I have, bit much for just extra storage and a touch enabled main screen.

[_MT_]

You need to do something about your power measurement methodology. How can you claim 10 W average idle draw and then 22 hour idle endurance? That would take about 220 Wh. Yes, nominal capacities are typically determined at a much higher draw where it's going to be less. But not 70 Wh. Also, your load average is 53 W. And yet load endurance is almost 4 hours. Again, 200 Wh territory. I guess you could be using two different loads but these numbers don't make much sense. I'm expecting to see a relationship between the two.

I imagine the problem is simple - you measure power consumption at the wall while endurance, obviously, on battery. So the laptop can do two different things. Thing is, I'm not that concerned with power consumption when I'm powering it from the grid. It's interesting from cooling perspective, but not beyond that.

I would appreciate more performance testing on battery. Especially with ultrabooks. These things are built to be used on the go, without external power supply.