Today at CES 2021, Asus announced the head-turning Zephyrus Duo 15 SE, an update to its dual-screen gaming laptop that impressed us last year.
We reviewed the Zephyrus Duo 15 (GX550) on its debut in 2020 and came away impressed by this two-screen laptop that manages to maintain a thin chassis and plenty of power. Now, Asus is bringing some upgrades (including Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-Series GPUs, which were just announced at CES 2021) to this concept in terms of both design and component offerings.
CES is entirely remote this year, but since this is a product that really benefits from being seen in action, we spoke to Asus over a video call for a private look. In the video below, you can see the design firsthand as we learn about its features and components and have our questions answered...
Screens Galore: High-Refresh 4K Display Options Available
No time to watch the video? Here's a quick spec recap. The main new addition to this refinement of the original is a 4K option on the main screen, which also boasts a 120Hz refresh rate. Usually you sacrifice refresh rate when opting for a 4K resolution, but this premium system will offer the best of both worlds. If you’re already playing in a high price tier for a gaming laptop, you may as well go big. Models will also be available with a 300Hz full HD (1080p) display, however, and both will utilize Adaptive Sync technology.
The second screen will mirror your choice in the main display. The 4K option will pair with a 4K second screen, with a 3,840-by-1,110-pixel resolution due to its unusual shape. The full HD main screen will come with a 1,920-by-550-pixel display. The second screens of both resolutions operate at a maximum 60Hz refresh rate.
If you haven’t seen this concept in action before, you can drag any application or window down to the second screen, so whatever you need is accessible at all times for a quick tap or a reference while you multitask. See the Zephyrus Duo 15 (GX550) review linked above for more on what the second screen can do.
AMD's and Nvidia's Latest: Ryzen 9 CPUs, GeForce RTX 30-Series GPUs
As for components, Asus is bringing Nvidia and AMD’s latest parts to the party. The Duo 15 SE will max out at a GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. The GPU can run at a higher power envelope than similarly slim laptops can, thanks to the system’s cooling and ROG Boost technology, allowing for up to 130 watts with Dynamic Boost. On the processor side, you can equip this machine with up to the lightning-fast Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU. The laptop also maxes out at 32GB of memory.
Despite the dual screens and all of that potential power, the Zephyrus Duo 15 SE weighs a reasonable 5.3 pounds and measures 0.82 inch thick. It’s a fairly niche and pricey machine, no doubt, but the original really impressed us with how thin and portable it was despite all of these features, and the Duo SE looks set to do the same.
For all of the details on its other features, as well as a closer look at the design, check out the video above. We look forward to reviewing the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE when it becomes available in Q1 of this year.