Asus Zenbook Duo (2026) review: Twice as better – for the price

The most useful thing you can add to any laptop to increase productivity is a second screen. That’s why I love laptops like the Asus Zenbook Duo. The two 14-inch OLED displays are connected by a redesigned hinge that now keeps them close together and on one level, for a smoother look than former Models. Zenbook Duo and Closest competitor It may seem strange at first glance, but having a two-monitor setup anywhere is very easy. And very cool too. Let them stare.

In addition to the new hinge, the Zenbook Duo 2026 has Asus’ lightweight design Ceraluminium coating (this may sound silly but it sounds great), a much larger battery, and most importantly, the new Intel Panther Lake CPU. With this streamlined design, all-day battery life, and abundant power, the Duo is a capable dual-screen display that’s versatile enough for most people.

Our review configuration of the 2026 Zenbook Duo, which is scheduled to launch sometime in the first quarter of 2026, has an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage for $2,299.99. That’s $500 more Last generation model With similar specifications.

I cover Zenbook Duo performance at length My dedicated review of Intel Panther LakeBut the short version is that the Core Ultra X9 388H chip in this laptop is excellent, and makes the Duo powerful and power efficient. It can handle heavy multitasking, easily create content in Adobe applications, and even run games well at 1080p/1200p resolution. It even delivers near-full power performance when not plugged in — which isn’t often the case for Windows laptops.

The Zenbook Duo’s giant 99Wh battery lasted more than 14 hours on our rundown test, and in daily use, I could easily get through an eight- to nine-hour workday and then some while using both displays at fairly high brightness. I even ran it for six hours straight in dual-screen mode with both panels at 80 percent brightness without letting Windows 11’s powerful power management suspend it or let it sleep, all while working across two virtual desktops in multiple Chrome tabs and with music playing on the solid-sounding speakers via Spotify. In those six hours, the charging percentage dropped from full charge to 24 percent. Awesome. And it lasts longer when used as a standard clamshell laptop, with only one 14-inch 2880 x 1800/144Hz OLED display active.

One of the Duo’s best tricks is that it can transform from a traditional 14-inch laptop to towering dual-screen mode as quickly as you can yank the keyboard surface off its magnetic pogo pins and deploy the built-in kickstand. The Duo’s mechanical keyboard and trackpad are great.

The typing feel on the keyboard is well tactile, with a deep key travel of 1.7mm. The trackpad has gesture controls at its edges which I found vulnerable to accidental activation, so I turned them off in the MyAsus app. When detached, the keyboard works via Bluetooth for 11.6 hours of use with the backlight turned on. I never had to worry about the keyboard’s battery life, as I switched to clamshell mode often enough to keep it full of pogo pins — and you can also charge the keyboard via USB-C while the laptop is turned off.

The Zenbook Duo is more travel-friendly than the Zenbook Duo 2024 Lenovo Yoga Book 9i: The yoga book holder is in a magnetic folded case, not built-in; Its keyboard doesn’t have a trackpad, and you can’t close the Yoga Book’s lid with the keyboard inside, so it and the mouse that comes with it take up more space in your bag. The only trade-offs of the Zenbook Duo’s design compared to the Lenovo are that it doesn’t fold back for tablet mode, and it’s a small piece that weighs 3.65lbs/1.66kg and is about an inch thick at its hinge.

But I prefer the Zenbook Duo’s more traditional approach to dual-screen laptop life over the Yoga Book 9i. In addition to being more travel-friendly, the Duo has more ports and better port variety than the Lenovo, including full-size USB-A and HDMI 2.1. The dual-screen Lenovo is great too, with the unique style of its folded stand and bright blue color, but the Zenbook Duo is a much tidier package.

As I found when I tested Lenovo rotatable Laptop, having more screen space whenever you need it will completely spoil you. Many people use portable monitors for this purpose, but integrating a second monitor into your laptop and having it exactly match the main monitor in terms of resolution, size and color is best. There’s more room to tile apps and windows across your workspace, and it’s easier to work on two documents at the same time using vertical side-by-side displays — which is what I’m doing as I write this review. And with the screens positioned in an extra-tall orientation, you get a nice webcam angle that’s closer to eye level, easier on your neck, and a more flattering representation of your cup—no tickets to double chin city here.

As great as this dual-screen experience is, you’re bound to experience a little friction. For example, I like to switch the orientation of the duo between horizontal and vertical depending on what I’m working on. But dual portrait mode requires placing the laptop on its side, blocking some ports. Do I need my own USB-A port for my mechanical keyboard or mouse? Do I connect an external monitor via HDMI? Either of these means temporarily losing access to the other, and blocks half of the Zenbook Duo’s six speakers, making music sound a bit unbalanced and weird. There are some quirks within Windows as well: if you place the Duo on its left edge, you’ll have to change which display is the home screen in Settings, to keep the system tray at the bottom right where it belongs. (Imagine using a center-aligned Start menu and System tray aligned left middle? Madness.)

Asus’ ScreenXpert overlay software is designed to help manage dual displays. It’s useful for things like running batch apps across both screens at the same time, but it’s still fiddly and limited in scope. The same goes for all the multi-finger touch gestures you have to remember if you want to call up the virtual keyboard and trackpad or move them around the bottom screen. (My solution is to not disturb the touch keyboard.)

But the weird, minor pain points far outweigh the utility and fun of the Zenbook Duo’s dual displays. It’s an incredibly versatile setup, and the performance and battery life are great. Asus nailed most aspects of the Zenbook Duo, making it easy to recommend. Later in the year, Asus will also introduce a model with the same design, but with a last-generation Arrow Lake H chip, which may be cheaper. It will also launch a dual-screen gaming laptop Zephyrus duoAnd I Really looking forward to. Dual-screen laptops are still relevant right now, but the Zenbook Duo proves they don’t have to be as rare as they are now.