If a mere 18 months ago someone close to you claimed that your next laptop was going to be rocking not only an Intel mobile series CPU but also an Intel integrated GPU, you probably would waiting for the punchline. When they said it would not only be an Intel + Intel combination but a 9-class CPU with a built inBattleMage iGPU better than some dGPUs (especially “portable” dGPUs), you would worry about their sanity. Possibly even nodding slowly while backing away slowly. If they also said it would not only be that kind of combination but also come with two touch screens, you would be calling 911 as they probably have brain swelling or a brain worm. Thankfully, your friend is not pulling your leg. Your friend is not having parasite-induced hallucinations… as it is not 2024. It is 2026, and both ASUS and Intel are banking on the likes of the ZenBook Duo UX8407 to not only be serious competition to AMD but also offer a seriously fun experience for anyone willing to plunk down ~2300 (USD or aboot 2900 canuckbucks) on an ultraportable laptop.
How do they plan to do all that? Simple. Give buyers enough CPU and video horsepower that heavy laptops are pretty much on the endangered species list. Give buyers a six-speaker system-based laptop that can create a rather immersive experience. Give buyers dual “3K” OLED touchscreens with a 180-degree “hideaway” hinge. Give buyers not only a dedicated HDMI 2.1 port, a USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 2… aka USB 10Gbps) port, and dual Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps / 5GB/s) ports… but also a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard that is actually good.
For anyone paying attention to the mobile market, that all sounds like a fever dream filled with way too much “Team Blue” Copium to be reality. Yet, that is precisely what the 2026 ZenBook Duo offers. On the CPU front, it is rocking the Intel Core Ultra 9 388H (aka “i9” 3-series, aka the fully enabled Panther Lake mobile processor series), which was freshly baked (partially) in a 1.8nm oven. On the video card/iGPU front, it is rocking an integrated Intel Arc Gen 2 “Battlemage B390” iGPU that actually has Arc Gen 3 Celestial refinements baked into this so-called Gen 2 “B-series” iGPU. On the screen front, the two 14-inchers are “Lumina Pro” touchscreens rocking $2800 \times 1800$ resolutions (aka 3K) with OLED tech for deep, rich blacks, ultra-wide viewing angles, and a dot pitch so small you need to stick your nose right up to them to see the pixels (at a whopping ~243 PPI). Better still for professionals who use their laptops for actual work, these are not 16:9 form-factor screens, but rather use the much, much more optimal 16:10 standard.
And the keyboard? It’s a keyboard that somehow is a mere ~5.5mm thick, yet boasts not only of being wireless (Bluetooth) with days of battery life, but also having zero keyboard flex and 50K key-cycle durability. It’s a combination that is about as good as one can get this side of mechanical keyboards… and did we mention it is not only wireless but charges as soon as it is placed over the bottom screen? Or the fact that when one does this, it auto-shuts off the secondary screen to allow for a more… “standard” laptop experience? ‘Cause it does all that and more.
If all that does not make you sit up and take notice, we don’t know what will. Sadly, what will also make you take notice of the 2026 ZenBook Duo is… the asking price. 2026 pricing or not, this is not an inexpensive laptop. In fact, it is edging right up into Republic of Gamers and AMD Ryzen ‘395 territory. However, if—and it’s a big “if”—this new Zenbook Duo can push enough pixels, crunch enough data, and allow buyers to have one device that can handle all their business needs during the day and entertainment at night… maybe, just maybe, the new Zen Duo will indeed be able to pull off that asking price with style. So, without further ado, let’s get this review started.
