ZenBook Duo 2026 Review

Intel Panther Lake 388H: 93%

Asus Zen Book Duo 2026: 84%

TLDR:

With its unique blend of avant-garde design philosophies, the UX8407 is not just a refinement over the UX8406 it is a dual-screen done right. With everything from more capable screens that now lay flat like a canvas, to smaller ‘hideaway’ hinge gap (that allows for darn near true planar screen alignment); to a much beefier iGPU, to upgraded Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity… this new and improved model is simply better. Certainly better than any previous ZenBook and arguably one of the best dual-screen designs released to date. Needless to say, Asus has indeed, finally, created a dual-screen laptop worthy of one’s hard-earned money…but it is blatantly obvious the real winner is Intel and their 3-series Panther Lake processor. Without Team Blue doing all the heavy lifting, this laptop would not even be half as impressive as it is.

Longer Version:

Let us be clear. We really like this laptop. It’s compact, yet dual screen, combined with an impressively potent CPU+GPU combo, ticks a lot of boxes for us… and should do so for a lot of people. For example, need a mobile Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve video editing powerhouse? Its dual screen and pixel-crunching prowess will make it seem like you are almost using a “Desktop Replacement” model. Need a presentation powerhouse for face-to-face meetings? A great case can be made for why the ZenBook Duo 2026 edition is not only a good choice but a great one. Need a laptop for university that can also help you unwind in the evenings? Once again, it’s a very good choice… even if that means Helldivers or Fortnite or {something else} is your decompression program of choice.

With that all said, and while we can see plenty of use case scenarios for the ZenBook Duo 2026 edition, the fact remains that when making any significant (enough) purchasing decision the first question that must be answered is not “does it come with {insert buzzword bingo of the day}”, or “is it cool” or ”do reviewer like it”. No. The primary concern should be more basic. A simple “does it fit my needs and satisfy all the requirements of why I am buying a new mobile device?”. That is why we can not give you a complete answer on if you should run out and buy it. There are simply too many variables to be that precise. We like it. Most people will probably like it… But only you know you and your specific wants/needs/desires, and if this book of zen will be pure Nirvana or harsh your mellow.

After all this is a “9-class” based laptop that has some rather interesting features… but said features do noticeably increase the MSRP. The fact of the matter is that one will be spending about 300-500 more for the dual OLED touch-screens than what a similar 388H-based laptop with only one “normal” screen will set you back. Furthermore, the ZenBook Duo is competing in a corner of the market that prioritizes price and svelte weights over sheer performance; yet, that second monitor screen does add to the bottom line. Be it design time or simply because it is consuming resources that could have instead been used for replaceable DIMM slots, shaving a couple of ounces off the weight… or even knocking a couple of bills off the asking price. The reason does not matter, nor does it change the fact that the second screen is an expensive addition. While these trade-offs are well worth making if you have ever used a dual-screen laptop, the fact remains that for every single person who has dual-wielded in the past, there are 5, 10… maybe even 100 people who have not. As such, getting people to take a ‘chance’ on a feature that may not even sound all that enticing to them is a tough row to hoe.

These days, every dollar counts. Many are going to look at the long list of features and drool over them; then look at the price tag, do a double-take, squint hard at the features, look back at the price tag, and… pull a Shania Twain with a “That Don’t Impress Me Much” attitude. At which point the sales staff had better be ready to bring their A-game… and have had Asus’ marketing already soften them up by refocusing buyers’ attention away from what this ZenBook is asking of them and instead focus on what it can do for them.

Thankfully, counteracting this mastodon-sized issue is that Intel finally has a worthy mobile processing lineup. One that has an actually good, bordering on great, iGPU baked into it. We are not exaggerating when we say the 300 series is a game-changer for Intel’s mobile processing division. Yes, this means that with Panther Lake, Intel can finally compete on both the business and entertainment fronts against AMD. So while it is true the ZenBook Duo is a highly portable, highly mobile device… that no longer means ‘lowered expectations’ when it comes to performance. Instead, this is a small laptop with enough power to run SolidWorks, Siemens, Creo, and any other professional CAD/CAM program of choice. It is a 9-class CPU-based laptop with enough power to run AV1 (and everything else) encoding on the GPU or CPU. It is an entertainment beast with a crisp screen, a rather good speaker system, and a CPU+GPU combo that can maximize battery life well beyond what most other premium mobile CPU+GPU combos can do.

The same is true of the connectivity. Yes. We would like to see even more, especially the M.I.A. ThunderBolt 5… but with multiple ThunderBolt 4.0 ports, all but the most ardent of storage enthusiasts will not feel too limited by what it has to offer in its “out of the box experience”. Mix in good and yet typically silent cooling, and the latest generation ZenBook Duo does indeed have a lot of good arguments for professionals to make to their purchasing department; semi-pros to make to their significant others… and even teens to their parents.

As such, if you can get past the asking price, what you will find is one rather potent package. One that has a surprisingly wide range of buyers who will not just be satisfied but downright love what it has to offer. So if your budget can stretch this far, this may just be a great introduction to the world of dual-screen goodness. By the same token, if the asking price is just a bridge too far… fear not. There will be other… toned down options rocking that CPU+GPU coming down the production river soon. Alternatively, Asus will also be releasing 7-class and maybe even 5-class versions of their ZenBook Duo series that may also exceed your needs without exceeding your budget. Either way, the new Intel Core 300-series mobile CPUs with a legit Battle Mage backstopping it is about to make the mobile PC market rather interesting, to say the least.

Intel 388H:

Asus Zen Book Duo 2026