Remember the ASUS ZenBook Duo/Pro Duo from last year? It had that crazy dual display integrated on the upper half of the keyboard deck, which to some extent, delivered on its promise of enhanced productivity. Having said that, the secondary screen was not free from compromises. Our two major complaints were how it lacked proper support from Windows and its visibility. Though the entire chassis would lift when opening the laptop but still, you’d have to reposition yourself to properly access contents on the smaller screen. Well, ASUS is not backing down on the dual-display trend as its new ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 improves upon the legacy of its ZenBook counterpart. Let’s check out how.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15
Design
Starting with the design, the Zephyrus Duo 15 comes in a premium all-metal chassis and the lid has that classic ROG logo as well. Though it’s a gaming-centered laptop, it doesn’t have that aggressive design approach compared to other high-end ROG Zephyrus laptops we’ve seen in the past. That actually maybe because of the potentials of this beast. It’s got the latest & greatest internals with an embedded secondary display that can come handy in use cases other than gaming. So, the company has been marketing the Zephyrus Duo 15 towards both: content creators and gamers.
Display
Obviously, the display is the most interesting thing about this laptop. There are two variants of the Zephyrus Duo 15; one with a 15.6-inches 4K UHD 60Hz LED-backlit IPS panel & 100% Adobe RGB, or a 15.6-inches FHD 300Hz IPS panel & 100% sRGB. These touchscreen supported primary screens have minimal bezels all around and surprisingly, a webcam is missing. Anyways, the secondary display is what we’re excited about so let’s talk about that instead.
It is a 14.1-inches 4K-ish (3840 x 1100) touchscreen panel in both variants, which is supported by a hinge that lifts the panel in the same motion as lifting the lid. The screen (ROG Screenpad Plus) is tilted at 13º for a more comfortable viewing than the one on the ZenBook Pro Duo. Similarly, ASUS has utilized the space underneath the 14.1-inch display by integrating a large 28.5mm air intake for which allows for the inflow of cool air and reduction of fan noise.
You may already have some ideas about how to utilize that ROG Screenpad Plus. Enjoy your game on the main screen and launch your Discord, Twitch or other apps on the secondary screen. It can also act as an extension of one single program like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, etc. for a larger & more comfortable working space. So many possibilities!
Performance & Memory
Seeing how the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is a top-of-the-line gaming laptop, it is powered by the latest Intel processor & NVIDIA graphics. In terms of CPU, you can choose between two high-performance Intel Comet Lake processors – Core i9-10980HK or i7-10875H. Coming to the graphics, you get NVIDIA‘s latest Turing-based RTX SUPER cards; either RTX 2070 or 2080 SUPER, both with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
Getting to memory, the top-end configuration will have up to 32GB of DDR4 SDRAM clocked @3200MHz. However, depending upon the model, you can also choose between either 8 or 16GB of RAM with the same clock speed. Moving on to storage, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 can hold up to 2TB of SSD in RAID 0. Wait, are your eyes glowing with excitement? I kid, of course. ASUS is also particularly proud of how they put together all these components inside an ultra-slim gaming laptop. According to the company, its “easy-upgrade” design, as the name implies, lets you upgrade components like RAM without any unnecessary hassle.
Others
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 has a decent audio system as well. It supports Hi-Res audio, which is delivered by ESS Sabre HiFi DAC, for an immersive virtual surround sound. In terms of the speakers itself, it has 2x 4W speakers with Smart AMP technology. Moreover, it has two audio jacks, one of which is for plugging in dedicated mic for streaming, voice recording, and whatnot.
Also read: ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 with Ryzen 4000 CPU launched
This laptop has a 90Whr battery and supports USB Type-C PD 3.0 (up to 65W) charging or via the good-ol’ fashioned power adaptor which is a 240W juggernaut. Though a 90Whr battery sounds amazing, given the 4K dual-display & other power-hungry components, the actual endurance may not be that exciting. Now the keyboard on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is a full-sized backlit chiclet keyboard with per-key RGB lighting & a 1.4mm travel distance. The device doesn’t skimp on connectivity options either, though I would’ve loved to see a separate SD card reader as well.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 Specifications:
- Design & Build: All-metal chassis; 14.17W x 10.55D x 0.79H-inches; 2.4kg (5.29 pounds)
- Display: Dual-display (both with touch support);
– Primary; 15.6-inches Non-glare 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) LED-backlit IPS panel, 100% Adobe RGB; 60Hz refresh rate; Nvidia G-SYNC compatible
or: 15.6-inches Non-glare FHD (1920 x 1080) LED-backlit IPS panel; 100% sRGB; 300Hz refresh rate/3ms response time, Nvidia G-SYNC compatible
– Secondary; 14.1-inches Non-glare 4K (3840×1100) panel - Keyboard: Full-size Chiclet ; Backlit (per-key RGB); 1.4mm key travel
- Processor: Intel Comet Lake CPUs; Core i7-10875H or i9-10980HK
- RAM: 8 / 16 / 32GB DDR4 SDRAM @3200MHz
- Graphics: 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER or 2080 SUPER (Boost Clock: 1330MHz, 90W)
- Battery: 90Whr; 240W power adaptor; USB Type-C PD 3.0 (up to 65W)
- Storage: 1TB PCIe / 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD (RAID 0)
- Audio: 2x 4W speakers with Smart AMP; ESS, Hi-Res, Array microphones
- Connectivity: Intel WiFi 6 with Gig+ performance (ax), Bluetooth 5.0
- Ports: 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C with DisplayPort 1.4 (Thunderbolt 3 & Power Delivery (PD) 3.0), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack, 1x 3.5mm microphone jack, 1x RJ45 (LAN) port
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 Price, Availability
Having discussed all its high-end specs, you already know this thing is gonna cost a fortune. And it rightfully does. The most capable model with i9-10980HK, 4K main display, 32GB RAM, 2TB of storage, and RTX 2080 SUPER goes for $3,699. Similarly, the one with the same display, processor, & graphics but only 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage will retail for $3,499. Finally, the cheaper $2,999 configuration has the i7-10875H processor, RTX 2070 SUPER, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. ASUS will be bringing out the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 from July 2020 in the market.
| Model Name | Price | Availability |
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (4K primary display, i9-10980HK, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD in RAID 0, RTX 2080 SUPER) | $3,699 (~NRs. 452,400) | July 2020 |
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (4K primary display, i9-10980HK, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, RTX 2080 SUPER) | $3,499 (~NRs. 427,940) | July 2020 |
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (FHD primary display, i7-10875H, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD in RAID 0, RTX 2070 SUPER) | $2,999 (~NRs. 366,790) | July 2020 |
In terms of their Nepal availability, there’s no confirmation yet. However, the launch of ZenBook Duo/Pro Duo is a positive sign that the Zephyrus Duo 15 could hit the domestic market as well. But seeing the trend in pricing, we expect the base model to start at over Rs. 4 lakhs, if and when it launches in Nepal.
Check out our review of the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo!
