It’s becoming harder to get excited about laptops that try to stand out because, too often, they’re expensive without any added value. It is often the hardware, or the Windows operating system, that remains inconsistent and irregular. Since HT first reviewed the dual-screen Asus ZenBook Duo in 2024, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Have things evolved since then? this is one ₹299,990 questions, the answer to which is quite simple.
What was new and different did not develop for the brand more than through force of habit. A new iteration every year, because it just has to be done. Apart from the generational progression of features, the experience has not evolved in a meaningful way, and neither has the product itself. Of course, this time it is Intel’s latest Panther Lake chips that are really a leap forward.
The fact that the ZenBook Duo (UX8407AA-SN183WS) sits comfortably as neither a laptop, convertible, tablet, nor a desktop is a notable feat in achieving nothing. I would classify it closest as a desktop replacement, and even then, you’d be better off with a real desktop. It’s too thick and heavy to function as a laptop that you want to take with you wherever you go, or as a tablet. What’s a relief is that this 100-watt Type-C power adapter isn’t bricked, which is still common with many laptops — Asus switched to this adapter design some time ago, and many others still haven’t shown the desire to do so. Small things matter.
Whatever one’s opinion about the form factor and indeed its usefulness, this is undoubtedly a well-made machine. Asus’s use of Ceraluminum gives it a desirable mix of rugged construction, a nice shade of mohair grey, and a finish that doesn’t catch fingerprints easily (though dust is often visible). The big visual difference, if you want to pay attention to the finer details, is that Asus is reducing the gap between the two screens from 25.31mm to 7.66mm due to a redesigned hinge.
Asus has introduced four modes for this dual-screen machine. As a laptop, there’s a desktop in which the screens are aligned vertically, a dual-screen mode where the removable keyboard becomes the third party in the laptop offering, and a sharing mode, which is basically a tablet-like scenario. In my book, only laptop mode works. Desktop mode with vertical display orientation significantly reduces the usable width of each. Secondly, if you have it in a typical laptop setup with two screens and a separate Bluetooth keyboard, you’ll have to do it on a desk. Also one that is hosting ample depth. And if you enable the virtual keyboard on the second, lower screen, it’s basically a futile, unimaginative attempt to redesign the wheel.
The integrated kickstand enables these features, and Asus says it has conducted more than 40,000 open-and-close tests to check durability.
Two aspects where I don’t have any significant analysis are the Asus Lumina Pro OLED display and the Intel Panther Lake chips. These screens are simply gorgeous to look at and are basically another chapter in the book of Asus’ genius at customizing OLED displays. I clearly remember the time a few years ago when Asus took a solid step towards OLED screens as the common form factor in most of its laptops, and it was a journey that was only successful. Even in a room with the brightest of afternoon sunlight, these OLED screens on the ZenBook Duo offer no distractions from reflections or glare. And that’s before you even get to the absolutely gorgeous colors, an optimization that I’d say is unmatched with a Windows laptop (my preference is DCI-P3 during use).
This specific version of the ZenBook Duo is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 chip, with 32GB of memory and 1TB of storage. I’ve experienced the same machine with a Panther Lake Core Ultra X9 388H chip and noted at the time that this generation of chips is a big step forward for Intel and the broader computing device sector. The 2026 edition of the ZenBook Duo also benefits from improvements to the overall performance, thermal, and economy of this chip. Battery specifically: It’s easy to get about 13 hours of backup time with intermittent use of the second screen, about 15 hours if you only use one screen, as you do on a normal laptop, and about 9 hours when both screens are mostly in sync.
Despite the really good generation of hardware, i.e. the latest chips from Intel, and the usable OLED screen, the Asus Zenbook Duo (UX8407AA) isn’t exactly an easy recommendation. Case flexibility with this form factor will still be a rarity for most users (and so it will be money that will not return the best value), it is heavy and often impractical, it costs a lot of money, Windows is still the best, and it has too much preloaded software to make heads or tails of it without breaking a sweat. Even under regular use, noticeable heat emanates from the vents on either side of the base, and the bottom is too uncomfortably hot to actually be usable when placed on a lap. Not sure how many people are actually the target audience for this attempt at flexibility (all those who like to carry two screens with them, hands up). Still, he is not an expert in any business.
