Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15: A twin-screen high-speed laptop

With the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15, Asus has created a benchmark for gamers, who love to flaunt their gadgets, while enjoying high-speed gaming experience

Asus seems to have created a visually unique product with the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15. This dual-screen high-end gaming laptop from the Taiwanese tech-giant screams character from the moment you open it. The multi-monitor setup greets you with its subtle, sleek grey casing, and those multi-coloured key backlights. The secondary screen doubles up to mask the cooling system and does quite a job at that.

A display that bacons you to play and how!

If you are done ogling over the stunning appeal of the dual screen, the hardware and other features would surely convince you to get on with your favourite game right away. The ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 wears a 15.6-inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel, 60Hz refresh rate, 16:9 IPS LCD display and players can go for a 1920 x 1080 pixel, 300Hz refresh rate panel, for higher speeds and lower refresh rates. It’s a toss-up, but Asus gives this worthy option just in case.

Powering this top-of-the-line gadget is an eight-core Intel Core i9-10980HK processor plus an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics chip and both of these are overclocked and optimised by Asus for a powerful gaming experience. At a tad under 2.5 kgs, this one is a not-so-sleek unit but is sure to be a well-designed, elegant ownership experience for gamers.

It’s no holds barred here…

The treats continue with a liquid metal cooling system on-board along with dust-resistant fans. The keyboard gets per-key RGB lighting and its touchpad doubles up as a number pad. The mouse is a ROG Gladius II unit and the USB-C ROG Delta headset decked up with RGB lighting. What’s missing though is an integrated webcam and to compensate for this missing feature, a 1080p60 USB webcam is part of the standard kit.

The show-stopper however, is the 13 degree inclined secondary screen, which might or might not be every gamer’s thing. For starters, this allows gamers to stream their gameplay and monitor the stream on the second display, while also keeping a tab on performance stats while gaming, editing or performing multiple other tasks. It also proves to be a boon while keeping an eye on enemy data while shooting at them in CS:GO. While grinding for XP in an RPG as well, a gamer can smartly peruse through a strategy guide.

Specifications:

CPU: High-speed Intel i7 10875H

GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q

RAM: 32 GB of 3,200 MHz DDR4

Displays: 15.6-inch 300 Hz, Pantone-validated FHD display with a 3 ms response, 3840×1100 ScreenPad Plus touch sensitive display

Storage: 1 TB Samsung NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 SSD

I/O: 3x USB-A, 1x USB-C rated for Thunderbolt 3 and USB-PD65, 1x Ethernet port, 1x HDMI port, 2x 3.5 mm audio jacks, WiFi 6 support

A dual-screen on offer: Boon or bane?

However, the addition of this new screen does eat up space for a few essentials. For instance, there is no palm rest, which means in terms of ergonomics, this one doesn’t score very high. Also, while the trackpad does double up as a numpad, its positioning is difficult getting used to. Adding to the woes, apps on the second screen will revert to the main screen each time the lid is opened or closed and any input on the second screen will draw focus from the primary display.

Priced at Rs 2,79,990, the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 surely is expensive, but the rich list of features make it one of the best high-speed gaming laptops available in the market today. If a gamer is willing to live with the minor niggles that this product has, a lot to offer in terms of performance, versatility and lest we forget –the added satisfaction of owning a dual-screen gamers delight.