[REVIEW] ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 – Perfect Content Creator Laptop

The ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 is not your average 14-inch laptop, as a matter of fact, I would consider this as a multitasking or content creator laptop that features two usable screens. The implementation is good yet handy for those who need to work with two display that portable enough.

ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482

Here’s the unboxing and first look video of the ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482;

Design

This is the updated ZenBook Duo that now features a tilted-up secondary display when you open this laptop. It uses the same kind of mechanical execution in the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo.

ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 Hinge

It improved not only the viewing angles of the secondary display, allows the laptop to draw fresh air into the internal, which results in improved airflow and temperatures. If you find the secondary display too sharp low angle, ASUS also includes a low profile kickstand that can further push it up for a more viewable angle.

Despite having so many moving parts, the ZenBook Duo is well built with magnesium alloy as the main chassis. The matte finishes do pick up some fingerprint smudges which isn’t a big deal for me. The overall craftsmanship and design are good.

ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 Ports

No complaint on the connections; On the left are two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C and a full-sized HDMI 1.4, while on the right is a USB 3.2 Gen 1, microSD card reader and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. I wish the Thunderbolt 4 port could be placed left and right each for easier charging regardless from which direction.

ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 Ports
ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 Keyboard

The trade-offs of having a second display are space. The keyboard on the ZenBook Duo 14 is cramped and relocated the touchpad to the left. I would need some time to adapt to the new layout of the keyboard and touchpad. Due to limited space, there isn’t any more palm rest space and when it tilted up with the kickstand, I would need to angle my wrist to type which kinda uncomfortable to use in a long period. Unlike the ZenBook Duo 15 OLED, it comes with a separate palm rest.

There is no fingerprint scanner instead, the ZenBook Duo 14 opt with an IR camera that supports Windows Hello and even work in pitch dark environment.

Displays

Both the main and secondary displays support finger-touch and work with the included ASUS Pen. The ASUS Pen does support 4,096 pressure levels and as well as palm rejection which ideal for document signing, doodling and drawing.

The main 14-inch sports a Full HD resolution with 400 nits of brightness, 100% sRGB colours gamut and as well as Pantone validated. As for the secondary retain the same 12.6-inch but brighter, higher resolution and more responsive compared to the previous model.

ASUS has polished up the user experience of the ASUS ScreenXpert 2.0 software like a new Control Panel app that gives you customizable dial, slider and button decks for Adobe Creative Cloud applications including Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Premiere and After Effects.

Windows also recognize it as a secondary display where I can have three windows between the screens and can be swapped between with just a button above the touchpad. Overall both of the displays are bright and offer very close colour accuracy.

Performance

The review unit that we received is powered by 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 with 16GB DDR4x 4,266MHz and uses an Intel Iris Xe graphics card. The models that Malaysian getting will get NVIDIA GeForce MX450 discrete graphics which added more advantage for content creation.

With the Intel Core i7-1165G7 on the ZenBook Duo able to deliver a fairly solid performance pushing up to 28W TDP on performance mode.

  • GeekBench 5 (Multicore) – 5,355
  • CineBench R20 (Multicore) – 2,290
  • PCMark 10 – 4,856

Despite the review unit that I received doesn’t have a dedicated graphics card, it still able to handle photo editing on Adobe Photoshop and video editing with Adobe Premiere without a problem. The performance would be greatly enhanced with NVIDIA GeForce MX450 discreet card configuration.

Battery Life

The ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 is packed with a huge 70Wh battery, which is larger than a normal 14-inch laptop to keep up with both displays. On our video streaming test with brightness set to 50% on both display, I’m getting around 9 hours of battery life. To extend the battery furhter you can always disable the secondary display with a press a button to the left of the power button.

It can be power hunger when I pushed the laptop to do more like video and photo editing. The ZenBook Duo 14 lasted me around 4 hours which isn’t bad for mobile content creation usage.

The provided 65W USB -C charger allows fill-up 60% in about 55 minutes and 2 hours to fully charge from 0%

Price and availability

The ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 is available starting today at ASUS authorized dealers and ASUS e-Stores. It comes with two configurations and Malaysia will be getting with NVIDIA GeForce MX450 graphics card.

  • Intel Core i5 11357G with 8GB of RAM + 512GB NVMe SSD – RM 5,499
  • Intel Core i7 1165G7 with 16GB of RAM + 512GB NVMe SSD – RM 6,499

Do take note, the RAM is soldered on board so decide wisely as the RAM is non-upgradeable.

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ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 Review
  • Design
  • Built
  • Performance
  • Display
  • Features
  • Battery Life
  • Value
4.5

Verdict

As mentioned, the ZenBook Duo 14 is not your average 14-inch laptop. I would categorize it as a content creator laptop that paired with great hardware implementation and not gimmicky. Matter of fact, there’s no direct competition in the market that offers two usable screens like the ZenBook Duo.

The only trade-off I can highlight is the keyboard and touchpad position. It’s not suitable to use on lap due to no palm rest space. Other than that, it’s a pretty solid multitasking laptop.