The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is the end result, with a pop-up touchscreen beneath the main display. Asus claims the screen further allows you to "optimize your gaming space, content creation, and more."

Imagine if you combined a Nintendo DS and a gaming laptop. The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is the end result, with a pop-up touchscreen beneath the main display.

Why does the gaming notebook need to be displayed a second time? Good question. Asus claims the screen further allows you to "optimize your gaming space, content creation, and more." In practice, this means you can browse the web or watch YouTube videos while gaming, with the streamer displaying all chat and broadcast controls while gaming.

There's certainly a large audience for this laptop, even though it's an incredibly niche computer. But with a starting price of GB 3000, you'll have to get the most out of this screen panel to make it a worthwhile buy.

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo Screen Pad - Scratching Twitches

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Asus' ROG Zephyrus Duo's screen pad is essentially a touchscreen that extends into the main chassis, capable of displaying apps or small browser windows.

It proved useful to open a web browser and search for game guides without having to abandon (or even pause) my Crusader Kings 2 campaign. You can even leave your steam chat turned on or configure performance and RGB lighting settings. There's a lot of choice here, although I always thought my smartphone already offered them all.

Asus claims that certain AAA games take greater advantage of the second monitor, with games like Dying Light 2 allowing you to move your inventory, quest log, and co-op chat to the screen pad. I had real trouble with Crusader Kings 2's menu-cluttered screen, so these features really appeal to me. Unfortunately, I can't drag them to the screen because the game doesn't support it at all. This will be the case for most games.

Apps like OverWolf will also display real-time stats on the screen for the likes of League of Legends, Fortnite, and CS:Go, but compatibility is limited. The concept of a screen mat is great, but I worry Asus will have trouble finding developers willing to support it since this is a niche product. Therefore, I would not recommend buying the Zephyrus Duo just for gaming purposes.

If you are a video game streamer or content creator, I think the Zephyrus Duo can prove to be a very useful laptop. Being able to keep broadcast controls and chat open and visible without interrupting gameplay is invaluable, especially in optimized applications like XSplitGamecaster.

I can also see it being useful for editing videos, where you often work with multiple windows. Asus also claims that the screen pad supports handwriting input, so you can use it as a mini drawing tablet and then effortlessly drag your creations onto the gorgeous 4K screen above.

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo Design - Odd Compromise

When the laptop is opened, the screen panel automatically tilts at a 13-degree angle, making it easier to see than the MacBook Pro's TouchBar. It's a neat mechanism that works flawlessly while allowing the fans to dissipate rising heat.

To make room for this screen pad, Asus had to shunt the keyboard to the bottom of the chassis, leaving the trackpad uncharacteristically pressed into the lower right corner. From the outside, it looks a bit strange.

Otherwise, the Asus ROG Zephyrus duo look similar to other high-end gaming laptops. There are air vents on the edges, and the device folds flat like your traditional clam shell laptop. It's a machine that weighs 2.4kg, but that's unusual for a 15-inch, high-end spec gaming laptop. The Razer Blade 15 2020, for example, weighs over 2kg.

You also get a ton of ports, with headphone and microphone inputs on the left and two USB-A and one USB-C (with Thunderbolt 3 support) on the right. Finally, you'll find HDMI, Ethernet, and an additional USB-A port on the rear. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 also feature wireless connectivity.It's strange that there's no SD card slot, but Asus is making a laptop for streamers and content creators.

Related: AMD Ryzen 4000

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo Keyboard – Awkward Position, No Clicks

The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo’s RGB keyboard feels like an afterthought. It has been pushed to the front, which is not ideal as there is no longer any wrist support.

keys are also very shallow, especially on gaming keyboard . In FPS, there is no noticeable feedback when pulling the trigger, resulting in a bland feeling. Neither is very good to type, and certainly not something I would choose for a lengthy article.

The small arrow keys are also personal horns, making it difficult to play games like Crusader Kings and Civilization. It's obvious that Asus is just assuming you'll be using a dedicated gaming keyboard, but you have to ask yourself whether you'd be better off with a desktop gaming PC.

The trackpad is squeezed into the lower right corner of the keyboard, and it's too small. There are dedicated right-click and left-click buttons underneath, but it's still an awkward alternative to a traditional trackpad. You're really going to want a gaming mouse instead. Asus has at least made the trackpad a touchscreen number pad while ensuring it's pleasantly responsive. But there are few other positives to be said.

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo Monitor - Professionally Accurate 4K Dazzling

The Zephyrus Duo comes with two different screen options, including a full HD 300Hz panel and a 4K 60Hz option. ASUS considers the former to be the best choice for competitive gaming, while the latter is ideal for content creation.

Asus sent me the 4K configuration and I have to say, it looks absolutely beautiful. High brightness levels and an excellent contrast ratio (1419:1) complement the detailed display, ensuring colors stand out with dazzling authority.

color accuracy is impressive, with 95% sRGB and 85% AdobeRGB coverage proving to be accurate enough for professional content creators.

NVIDIA G-Sync support will also help prevent screen tearing, which occurs when the display's refresh rate is out of sync with the game's frame rate performance.

Overall, the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo has an excellent screen. Unfortunately, you can't combine a 4K screen with a refresh rate higher than 60 Hz in a system that's competitive for both gaming and content creation, but I don't even want to consider the price of such a combination.

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo Performance - Industrial - Dominant Force

The Zephyrus Duo is a powerful gaming laptop, Asus offers the option of Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super or RTX 2080 Super paired with high-end 10th generation Intel core Processor (Intel Core).

imitation Asus sent me an Intel Core i9-10980HK processor and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super graphics card , which is arguably the most powerful combination you can find in current gaming laptops.

If that's not powerful enough, Asus also offers a Turbo Boost mode, which allows for dynamic TDP boosting between the CPU and GPU, squeezing out every drop of performance power. In this mode, both temperature and fan noise increase, but in turn you get better performance. We benchmarked the Chephilus duo this way.

As you can imagine, the benchmark data is outstanding. This is one of the most powerful gaming laptops I've ever seen, beaten only by similarly priced systems like the Acer Predator Helios 700 and the Alienware Area 51M.

Asus ROG
Multileaf Zephys Alienware Area 51M Acer Predator
Leos 700 PCMark 10515367646785 3D Marker Fire Strike 19,42522,11819,780

In actual gaming performance, the Zephyrus duo were able to reach the golden 60-foot mark in Full HD with even the most demanding titles.It was even able to run Shadow of the Grave at 83 fps, and the framerate jumped to 145 fps when playing older titles like Dirt Rally.

For modern titles running at 4K, the Zephyrus duo is stuck at about 30 feet. This is certainly still playable, but may look a little choppy for those used to smoothing out movement. This also explains why Asus has not upgraded the refresh rate beyond 60 Hz for 4K configurations.

Full HD 4K Shadow of the Tomb Raider 83 fps35 fps Ghost Wasteland 59 fps30 fps Dirty Rally 145 fps85 fps

Since it comes with an RTX graphics card, you can also access advanced features like ray tracing and DLSS. Recent reports indicate that DLSS has greatly improved the performance of the likes of Death Stranding, so this is certainly not a noteworthy feature.

Note, however, that the Zephyrus Duo can get very hot even when running in silent mode or default performance mode. I tried playing Crusader Kings 2 on my lap with my laptop (it's a very low-intensity title) and got a blast of searing heat on my knees. This is definitely an ideal laptop that should stick to your desk.

The fan noise is also quite loud, but not any kind of decibels that is unexpected for such a high spec system.

In terms of storage, the Zephyrus duo sees a massive 2TB capacity, which should easily be enough to store all your favorite games. With support for RAID 0, the SSD has read and write speeds of 3494 MB/s and 3356 MB/s respectively. This means the Zephyrus Duo can store and load data faster than most laptops.

Related: NVIDIA Ampere

Asus ROG Zephyrus Dual Battery – Better to Plug It In

Having a powerful graphics card and a 4K monitor is a recipe for disaster when battery life is taken into consideration, so it’s no surprise to see The Zephyrus duo struggled in battery benchmarks.

After running PCMark 10 with the brightness down to 150 nits and simulating typical office tasks, the Zephyrus Duo only lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes. Pitiful.

To make the test more fair, I repeated the test with the display settings dialed back to 1080p. This kept the laptop alive for 2 hours and 54 minutes - a result more in line with other gaming laptops, but still questioning its portability.

Battery life will be longer if you play games on Sephirus Duo. With this in mind, I recommend plugging your laptop into a power source when possible, especially since it's required to enable Turbo Mode.

Related: The Best Gaming Laptops of 2020

Should You Buy Asus’ Roger Zephyrus Duo?

It's hard to recommend the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo to your fellow gamers as it costs over £3000, especially since the Alienware Zone 51m competes in price but has better performance and keyboard.

You really need to take advantage of this unique screen pad to get your money's worth here, and while I do find it useful for web browser multitasking while gaming, it does little to offer gamers your intelligence Functions that are no longer possible on mobile phones.

If you're a video game streamer, the Zephyrus duo becomes even more appealing. Being able to stick things like broadcast settings and chat messages onto the lower screen is extremely useful. Having extra screen real estate will be invaluable when editing video.

With high-end specs and a professional-grade 4K screen, the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is easily a very good portable option for professional video game streamers and content creators. While it's worth considering whether you'd be better off with a more affordable desktop gaming PC setup instead.