Last year, ASUS unleashed their first notebook that essentially has two displays: the ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 UX580. This time around, the brand is upping the ante with the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581.
Essentially a less fancy version of the brand’s concept notebook: the Precog; the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581 packs two screens: the 15.6-inch OLED 3840 x 2160 HDR display with NanoEdge bezels and 100% DCI-P3 coverage at the front and a 12.6-inch 4K display positioned just at the top of the keyboard.
The second screen, dubbed as the ScreenPad Plus, acts as a larger version of the original ScreenPad. The 12.6-inch display allows to act as shortcuts to your favorite apps and act as a secondary display for the notebook.
The secondary display is also touch-capable like the main screen which will allow users to seamlessly drag and drop program windows to and from each other.
Thanks to the ScreenXpert software for the ScreenPad Plus, users will also be able to choose from a selection of apps and shortcuts especially made from software such as Adobe apps.
Last year’s ZenBook series also sported the NumberPad, which combined the trackpad and the numberpad for a seamless experience. The NumberPad has been included on the ASUS Pro Duo UX581 now located at the right-hand side.
The keyboard and trackpad layout does resemble the layout found on the Zephyrus. The keyboard rests at the left-hand side of the device while the trackpad is found at the right.
They have been moved downward to accommodate the ScreenPad Plus although users won’t need to rest the palms on the table since the brand will be including a wrist rest with the device.
The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581 with the latest components as you would expect from a top-end product. Inside its chassis is an Intel Core i9-9980HK or an Intel Core i7-9750H paired with up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 2666MHz and up to a 1TB PCIe x4 NVMe SSD.
Graphics is handled by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB to deliver the performance needed for heavy graphics load and for gaming. The notebook includes a Thunderbolt 3 Type-C connector and the latest WiFi-6 (802.11ax) Internet speeds for the fastest experience in a notebook possible.
If the ASUS Pro Duo UX581 is a bit much for you, ASUS is also releasing the smaller (but not less impressive) ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481. The Duo UX481 comes with an unspecified Intel Core i7 (presumably an Intel Core i7-9750H).
The notebook comes with a 14.0-inch 1920 x 1080 main display and a 12.6 FullHD ScreenPad Plus. Instead of having an RTX GPU, the device will come with an NVIDIA GeForce MX250 2GB.
| Model | ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581 | ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481 |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-9980HK, Intel Core i7-9759H | Intel Core i7 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB | NVIDIA GeForce MX250 2GB |
| RAM | DDR4 2666MHz, up to 32GB | DDR4 2133MHz, up to 16GB |
| Display | Main Dispay: 15.6-inch OLED, 3840 x 2160, Touch Screen; ScreenPad Plus 14.0-inch, 4K UHD, Touch Screen | Main Display: 14.0-inch, 1920 x 1080, Touch Screen; ScreenPad 12.6-inch, FullHD, Touch Screen |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe x4 SSD, 512GB/256GB PCIe x2 SSD | 1TB PCIe x4 SSD, 512GB/256GB PCIe x2 SSD |
| I/O Ports | 1x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 2x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, 1x DC-in | 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A. 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, 1x DC-in |
| Connection | WiFi 802.11ax (WiFi 6), Bluetoth 5.0 | WiFi 802.11ax (WiFi 6), Bluetoth 5.0 |
| Battery | 71Whr, 4-cell Lithium-Polymer | 70Whr, 4-cell Lithium-Polymer |
| Others | IR Webcam with Windows Hello, Array Microphone with Cortana and Alexa, Harman Kardon-certified audio | |
| Dimensions | 359 x 246 x 24mm | 323 x 223 x 19mm |
| Weight | 2.5kg | 1.8kg |
ASUS has is saying that the ASUS Pro Duo UX581 and Duo UX481 will be available within the third quarter of 2019.
