It takes time to get the novel designs. But even so, I still wonder why the Zenbook Duo didn’t have a bigger impact on the market after ASUS released the first true dual-screen laptop two years ago. Notebooks like these provide the kind of screen space you usually get from a dual monitor setup, but in a more compact form factor that you can easily take on the road. People may be wary of an unfamiliar design, shorter battery life or buying a first-gen product – all of these are understandable concerns. However, now that ASUS has given the ZenBook Duo a total redesign for 2026, the company has addressed almost all the barriers to entry while making it a more convincing machine for anyone who can use more display space. Which, in my experience, is almost everything.

Editor’s note: The 2026 ASUS Zenbook Duo is expected to be available for pre-order sometime in late February, with general availability scheduled for March.

ASUS / Engadget

While it’s a bit pricey, the added convenience and productivity of the Zenbook Duo’s dual-screen design is more than worth the premium.

Pros

• Two beautiful OLED displays
• More compact design than the original
• Surprisingly good battery
• Unique form factor

Cons

• A bit expensive
• No SD card slot

Design

For the new model, ASUS didn’t bother much with the basic layout of the laptop. Instead, the company polished and tightened everything, resulting in a system that weighs the same (3.6 pounds) while reducing its overall size (12.1 x 8.2 x 0.77 to 0.92 inches) by five percent. Critically, you still get a built-in kickstand underneath and a removable keyboard that you can move wherever you want. There is also a decent number of ports, including two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A 3.2 jack, HDMI 2.1 and a combo audio port. That being said, I hope ASUS found a place for an SD card reader of some kind, although given the unique design of the Zenbook Duo, I can see why it didn’t.

One of the most important design upgrades in the Zenbook Duo is a new “hideaway” hinge that reduces the gap between the two laptop screens. Not only does this make the laptop easier and nicer to use in dual-screen mode, it also allows the entire system to be laid flat on a table, which is great for drawing or sharing your screen with someone sitting across from you. Unfortunately, while my review unit didn’t come with one, ASUS says the upcoming Pen 3.0 will come with the Zenbook Duo in the US, so you won’t have to pay extra for it.

Another small but appreciated improvement is the new pogo pin below the lower display, which provides a safer and more reliable way to keep the laptop’s detachable keyboard topped up. In my experience, even after running several rundown tests that completely drained the Duo’s battery, I never had to charge the keyboard itself. It is always smart enough to absorb electricity from the main system in the background, although it has a built-in USB-C port for power when possible. On the other hand, if you’re not afraid of typing on the glass, you can still use the bottom screen as a keyboard and touchpad, or as a place to display widgets for news, weather, performance and more.

showed

The standout feature of the Zenbook Duo continues to be its dual displays, and now for 2026, they look better than ever. Both OLED panels have a 144Hz refresh rate with a 2,880 x 1,800 resolution while also covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 spectrum. And while the nominal brightness of 500 nits for SDR content is OK, ASUS makes up for that with peaks of up to 1,000 nits in HDR. And to make the two screens more enjoyable, ASUS has managed to reduce the size of their bezels to just 8.28mm. That’s a 70 percent reduction compared to the previous model, so now there’s much less to distract you from using these screens to their fullest.

Manifesting

The Zenbook Duo can be configured with a range of new Intel Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9 processors, including the X9 388H chip used in our review unit. For general use and productivity, the laptop is very smooth and responsive, although that’s not a surprise coming from Intel’s latest top-of-the-line mobile CPU. However, for those looking for maximum performance, some of the benchmark numbers are not as impressive as you might expect. That’s because ASUS has limited the Duo’s TDP (thermal design power) to 45 watts – just shy of the chip’s 80-watt turbo power limit.

In PCMark 10, the Zenbook Duo only managed a score of 7,153 compared to 9,651 from the Dell XPS 14, despite the latter having a lower-level Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor. That said, in other tests like Geekbench 6, the Duo has no problem staying on top with a multicore score of 17,095 compared to 9,651 for the Dell.

Another pleasant surprise is that since Duo’s chip comes with Intel’s upgraded Arc B390 integrated GPU, this thing has a lot of oomph in gaming, let alone editing videos or other similar tasks. on Elden Ring at 1,920 x 1,200, the Zenbook maintains a fairly stable framerate between 55 and 60 fps at high settings, which is good considering this thing doesn’t have discrete graphics. This means that as long as you don’t mind fiddling with the game options a bit, you should be able to play newer AAA games without too much trouble.

Battery life

You’d think a laptop with two displays would be power hungry. However, by increasing its cell capacity from 75WHrs to 99WHrs, ASUS has made the Zenbook Duo’s endurance (or lack thereof) a complete non-issue. In PCMark 10’s Modern Office rundown test, the laptop lasted 18 hours and 33 minutes in single-screen mode. Granted, that’s nearly four hours less than what we got The Prestige 14 by MSI Flip AI+but considering that it is the longest-lasting notebook that we have tested, I didn’t make a fuss. Compared to ASUS’ own Zenbook A14 (18:16), things are basically a wash, which I think is a win for Duo, because the A14 is meant to be an ultralight system with an emphasis on portability and longevity.

Obviously, battery life will suffer if you use both displays. However, when I ran our battery test again with both of its displays turned on, the Duo still impressed with a time of 14:23. This is more than enough to give you the confidence to set this thing up in dual-screen mode even if an outlet isn’t close at hand. Fortunately, for those times when you need a power adapter, the ASUS charging brick cable is quite compact, so it’s not a chore to pull it out.

packing

I believe that one day people will eventually accept typing on screens with laptops like they have with smartphones. However, even if you’re not ready to take the plunge, the Zenbook Duo still has all the bases covered. Its detachable keyboard gives you a great experience while freeing up the bottom of the notebook to become a second display. It allows you to have something similar to a traditional dual-monitor desktop but in a chassis that you can easily take on the road without any major compromises.

The 2026 Zenbook Duo combines a compact design with solid performance, plenty of ports and surprisingly good battery life. Sure, it’s a touch heavier than a typical 14-inch laptop, but its two screens more than make up for a little extra weight and thickness. That leaves price as the Duo’s remaining drawback, and starting at $2,100 (or $2,300 as reviewed), it’s certainly not cheap.

However, if you consider that a similarly equipped rival like a Dell XPS 14 costing only $50 less for a single screen, that price difference is negligible. On the other hand, if you opt for a cheaper ultraportable and then tack on a decent third-party portable monitoryou’re probably looking at a package that costs between $1,500 and $1,800. Plus, that setup is bulky and annoying to carry around. So while the Zenbook Duo may be an unconventional choice right now, it has all the tools to deliver unparalleled portable productivity and I don’t think it will be long until it catches on with the masses.