The dual-screen laptops are still a rare find but they are slowly becoming more widely available. Last year, Lenovo Yoga Book 9 (13IRU8) impressed us with its many features and transforming capabilities. Now, the ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) has the upper hand with its pure performance. This device has two OLED displays but the second panel is covering a powerful Intel Meteor Lake-H CPU. You can choose among three chips with a 28W base power while the top-end variant is the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H. Our laptop is equipped with the latter to see how good the cooling is when it has to tame a 16-core beast. There are no IPS options which is actually a positive thing. You get two 1200p 60Hz OLED screens or if money isn't a problem - a duo of 3K 120Hz screens. The high resolution shouldn't be an issue for light gaming thanks to the snappy Intel Arc (7-Cores) and Intel Arc (8-Cores) iGPUs. Well, it's not a gaming device, but let's just appreciate the fact that our machine showed 100 FPS in CS:GO on Max details. Interestingly, servicing the device is a hard job but it's not impossible. Opening the Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3) is easier but Apple only lets you watch the internals. ASUS has made the Zenbook DUO serviceable - the SSD and the battery can be replaced if needed. As you may already guess, the UX8406 can be used in different modes such as dual-screen mode with or without the external keyboard, and as a normal laptop. Let's try it! You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-zenbook-duo-ux8406/ Specs, Drivers, What's in the box Drivers All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/zenbook/asus-zenbook-duo-2024-ux8406/helpdesk_download?model2Name=UX8406MA What's in the box? Inside the package, you'll find the laptop itself, a bit of paperwork, a protective sleeve, a Type-C cable for charging the keyboard, and a compact 65W Type-C charger. Design and construction The ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) looks modern and clean thanks to the simple design with geometric lines on the lid covered with stealthy Inkwell Gray color. The device is made of 90% recycled magnesium-aluminum alloy. When the wireless keyboard is placed on the top of the second screen and the lid is closed, twisting the device seems impossible - it feels solid as a rock. The lid opens easily with one hand. The unit is thin but has a Corning Gorilla Glass cover that makes it super rigid and the same applies to the base. The machine weighs 1.32 kg (2.91 lbs) and the keyboard adds another 284 grams (0.63 lbs) which results in a total weight of 1.604 kg (3.54 lbs). The profile is 14.6 - 19.9 mm (0.57" - 0.78") which is just fine for a dual-display gadget. The bezels around the screens are as thin as possible. Above the main display, a 1080p IR webcam for Windows Hello is placed, supporting AI noise cancellation. The external keyboard is one of the laptop's biggest advantages, attaching to the second panel via a pogo pin connector. The 180-degree hinge allows the notebook to lay fully flat on an even surface (the so-called "Sharing mode"). The included stylus works well and it glides with ease. The cooling and the ergonomics during typing can be enhanced thanks to the ErgoLift mechanism. The lid acts as a lever and it lifts the back of the base when the angle of opening is a bit wider than 90 degrees. Thanks to that, more fresh air reaches the internals and the two fans. Since the keyboard is wireless, you can place it in front of the device and enjoy content on both screens. The board is surprisingly good, the key travel is decent and the feedback is clicky - pretty good for such a thin external model. The keycaps are quiet on press. The touchpad is wide, its surface is smooth and this allows good accuracy. The kickstand is a useful feature. This way of usage is called "Dual-Screen mode" so can have a Web browser opened in the main display and Discord on the second one while you can use a full-blown keyboard and touchpad at the same time. Multitasking feels great. We didn't feel the need to use the Alt+Tab function during testing. You can watch a movie and chat with someone on the other display without minimizing the video player. Expectedly, you can use the laptop as a standard clamshell device even without a keyboard. Which feels a bit strange because the virtual keys lack travel. The bottom panel is home to four rubber feet, two speaker cutouts, a ventilation grill, and a detachable kickstand. The hot air is exhausted via two vents on the side and another one on the back. Some amount of hot air reaches the main panel during heavy CPU loads. Ports On the left side, there is a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports with DisplayPort and PowerDelivery capabilities. On the right, you get an HDMI 2.1 TMDS and an Audio combo jack. Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) is equipped with two screens that have the same kind of OLED Touch panel, model Samsung ATNA40CU06-0 (SDC419D). They come with a 120Hz refresh rate and 10-bit color support (10-bit color depth). Their diagonal is 14.0" (35.5 cm), and the resolution - 2880 х 1800p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 243 ppi, and their pitch – 0.1 x 0.1 mm. The screens can be considered "Retina" when viewed from at least 36 cm which is excellent for a laptop (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels). Viewing angles are good. We offer images from different angles to evaluate the quality. Also, a video with locked focus and exposure. The maximum measured brightness of the main screen is 380 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen (HDR off) and 379 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of just 2%. The maximum measured brightness of the second panel is almost the same as the one of the main unit - 382 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6450K („Splendid“ – „Native“ ;„Normal“ mode in „MyASUS“ app) for the first display and 6526K for the second panel. In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits). Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio of OLED panels is practically infinite, due to their ability to turn off black pixels entirely. To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook. Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day. The yellow dotted line shows ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406)'s color gamut coverage. Its displays cover 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, and 100% of DCI-P3, ensuring a super vibrant and attractive picture. The "MyASUS" app also emulates the DCI-P3 and the sRGB color spaces. We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. Below you can compare the scores of the ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) with the default settings - HDR off; „Splendid – Color Gamut: Display P3, Normal mode“ compared to P3-D65 (Display) color space. Also, you can see the sRGB accuracy results. The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light. (HDR Off) The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions. Response time (Gaming capabilities) We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa. We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 1.8 ms. The score is much better compared to the majority of the LCD panel results. After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude. Health Impact: PWM (Screen flickering) Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the display is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM. ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406)'s displays pulse with a not-so-high amplitude for the entire Brightness range (with a frequency of 480 Hz). This makes the panel relatively comfortable to use in this aspect. The bottom graph applies to the second display. Health Impact: Blue light emissions Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light. Health Impact: Gloss-level measurement Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 150 GU). Sound ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406)'s speakers produce a sound of relatively good quality. However, the low, mid, and high tones all have some slight deviations from clarity. Buy our profiles Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the main screen of ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) configurations with 14.0" Samsung ATNA40CU06-0 (SDC419D) (2880 х 1800) OLED. *Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com. Read more about the profiles HERE. Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests All benchmarks and tests were conducted with the “Performance mode” fan profile activated in the MyASUS app. Also, the "Best Performance” preset is applied in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu. The "Memory Allocated to GPU" option is set to "Automatic". CPU options This notebook can be found with the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, or Intel Core Ultra 9 185H. GPU options You can rely on Intel Arc (7-Cores) or Arc (8-Cores) depending on the processor under the hood. Gaming tests CS:GO HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) Average FPS 308 fps 201 fps 99 fps DOTA 2 HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) HD 1080p, High (Check settings) Average FPS 180 fps 137 fps 90 fps The Intel Arc (8-Cores) is pretty fast for an iGPU. It looks like it can allocate up to 16GB of system memory (at least in our case, with a 32GB RAM configuration). [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life Max CPU load In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering. Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; Average LP E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (28W Base Power) 0:02 - 0:10 sec 0:15 - 0:30 sec 10:00 - 15:00 min ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) 3.13 GHz @ 2.54 GHz @ 1.68 GHz @ 78°C @ 64W 2.55 GHz @ 2.25 GHz @ 1.39 GHz @ 90°C @ 53W 2.09 GHz @ 1.88 GHz @ 1.00 GHz @ 78°C @ 35W The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core beast with 6 P cores. Here, the CPU can maintain high clocks and power limits in short and medium loads. In longer stress, the LP / E cores can sustain a higher clock than the official base values while the P-core slock is ~ 2.10 GHz (200MHz less than the default frequency of 2.30 GHz). On the other hand, the 78°C temperature and the 35W power limit are a respectable achievement for a laptop with two displays. Gaming comfort During 100% CPU load in "Performance mode", the two fans are audible but not noisy at all. At the same time, the second screen or the keyboard that is attached on top of it doesn't feel unpleasantly hot to the touch. This allows you to use the device comfortably even when the processor is doing the heavy lifting. The "Whisper mode" offers near-silent fan noise for light tasks such as Web browsing. Battery Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This notebook's 75Wh battery pack lasts for 16 hours and 40 minutes of Web browsing or 10 hours of video playback. The result is very good! To achieve that, you have to apply the “Balanced” preset in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu, select the "Standard fan mode, turn off Noise Cancelling completely, and use the "Dynamic refresh rate" option in the My ASUS app. Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance If you want to open this device, you need to undo 12 Torx-head screws. One of them is hidden below the kickstand that is fixed to the base with two pairs of screws. To pop the small service door, you have to undo two more Torx-head screws. You have to detach the battery and the second display connector. The latter is a ribbon connector and you have to flip up its plastic cap before pulling it out. After that, turn over the machine to pry the zone around the second panel with a thin plastic tool. You can start from the back or the sides, the front should be last. When that is done, raise the display and lift it away from the chassis. Here's how the second panel looks on the inside. The first thing to do here is to detach the two connectors in front of the hinges. Remove the two antenna cables of the Wi-Fi card. Detach the two fan connectors as well as the ones for the speakers. Undo all the screws on the motherboard that are marked with a white arrow plus the two below the heatsinks. If you want, you can also remove the fans - each one is held to the base by three Phillips-head screws. This laptop has a 75Wh battery. To take it out, undo the three Phillips-head screws that keep the unit in place. The capacity is enough for 16 hours and 40 minutes of Web browsing or 10 hours of video playback. The memory is soldered but you get up to 32GB of LPDDR5x-5600MHz RAM which should be enough for most people. To see the cooling and the NVMe, you have to flip the motherboard. For storage, there is one M.2 slot for 2280 Gen 4 SSDs. The thermal system has two fans, a pair of heat pipes, two side-mounted heatsinks, and two heat spreaders. Storage performance Our device has a 2TB WD PC SN740 SDDPNQE-2T00-1102. This is a Gen 4 NVMe. It's well-isolated from the heat and it reached just 52°C during benchmarking. Verdict The ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) impresses with its excellent performance, a remarkable feat for a dual-screen device. Its cooling system, equipped with two fans and a pair of heat pipes, effectively handles high CPU clocks under short to medium loads. Although the processor faces challenges in maintaining its official base P-core clock during prolonged stress tests, it manages to deliver decent frequencies. Fortunately, chip temperatures remain controlled, and noise levels are minimal. The two fans aren't noisy even in "Performance mode". Still, the "Whisper mode" is the way to go for daily tasks - the fans are quiet and the overall performance is also good. Of course, the main event here is the OLED touch panels (Samsung ATNA40CU06-0 (SDC419D)). These displays boast 100% DCI-P3 coverage, fast pixel response times, and an infinite contrast ratio, rendering them ideal for color-critical tasks. Moreover, the exceptional sub-1.0 average dE color accuracy stands out as a major selling point - wealthy designers should be happy. This ASUS machine is a great tool for multitasking. You can work with the laptop in "Desktop mode" with the two panels in a vertical position or in "Dual-screen" mode (in a horizontal way) with the keyboard in front. You don't lose any display space and at the same time, you can use the quiet wireless keyboard with its smooth touchpad. Placing the keyboard atop the second display transforms the notebook into a conventional single-screen laptop. The upgradability isn't great but that's normal given the form factor and the low weight. Changing the SSD or cleaning the cooling is possible but it requires a bit more time than usual and previous experience is an advantage. Or at least follow our disassembly guide. However, the detachable battery and the option to configure the device with up to 32GB of soldered LPDDR5x memory offer some level of future-proofing for most users. The build quality of this machine is impressive. The machine is built like a tank, the lid and the base with the second screen are very solid. It offers prolonged battery life, capable of powering through two workdays on a single charge - more than 16 hours of Web browsing on a single charge. Expectedly, the price of the gadget is high and the only downside of the two panels is the PWM usage but the “Flicker-Free Dimming” function in the MyASUS app solves this issue. Speaking of which, the ASUS software is full of handy features such as different fan presets, battery care mode, noise canceling options, and you can allocate to the GPU up to 8GB of system memory. Though not abundant in ports, you get one Type-A port for better compatibility with older peripherals, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports - not bad! The ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8406) is a versatile laptop with two color-accurate OLED displays for great multitasking. The device also boasts capable hardware, good cooling, and a useful external keyboard. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-zenbook-duo-ux8406/
I am planning to upgrade SSD. Is it possible to replace that SSD with a double-sided m2 ssd such as 4TB?
Yes it is possible thanks to the SSD slot (storage module is not solderen on MB).