Asus isn’t giving up on dual screens yet. For the last few years, the company has been releasing some of its laptops with second screens embedded into the touchpad, but since last year, Asus released the suaver ZenBook Pro Duo UX581, which adds a second large screen right below the primary panel. For 2022, they have updated that line with the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 which builds on an already futuristic idea, that’s remarkably well-executed.
Now with the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582, Asus is polishing the rough edges of its initial experimental design, making significant changes to the form and function. In this review, we look at the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX582ZM-AS76T with a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD storage, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, a 15.6-inch 4K touch display (3840 x 2160) alongside a ScreenPad Plus (3840 x 1100).
The Asus ZenBook UX582ZM-AS76T will set you back slightly more than a machine with similar specs minus the second display, like the LG Gram 16T90Q. Is the dual-display functionality enough to make this one of the best laptops for video editing and photo editing?
Design
The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15’s design is going to stand out regardless, but there are still several features that will make this laptop unique if you want to show off. It arrives in a rugged, solidly built profile with a beautiful celestial blue brushed magnesium-aluminum finish that will turn heads, a nice thing before introducing you to the rest of the world before you marvel at the secondary display that lifts to a comfortable angle when you open the lid.
The secondary display is taking up a good bit of real estate where the keyboard deck would normally be, and the keyboard and trackpad are pretty cramped down on the bottom half. Practically, writing is the only creative content this laptop is not well suited for, everything else will run seamlessly.
The Asus UX582ZM-AS76T is fairly thick, coming at 0.85 inches with the lid closed and 5.16 lbs, it’s going to feel like a brick if you take it with you on the go, especially if you’re going to be bringing the power supply with you wherever you go.
The included stylus offers decent response on both displays, so if you’re a stylus wizard out there, you’ll find it very useful, assuming the AAA battery powering it won’t run out on you. Luckily, in case the battery dies, you just need to swap out the battery and get right back to work. On the downside, you need to swap out the battery to get back to work, and if you don’t have one at hand, you’re just stuck.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 is the limited number of ports, including the complete lack of an SD card slot of any kind. For photographers or videographers, this is a fatal omission, you’ll need a dongle or wireless/cloud transfer for your work. The USB Type-C ports are also Thunderbolt 3, not the latest Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Displays
The ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED’s primary display is. 4K LED panel with DisplayHDR 500 support that looks gorgeous. OLED is special in that it typically makes colors pop without being oversaturated and generates blacks that look incredibly deep, and the panel Asus uses on the ZenBook Pro Duo does both.
On the other hand, the second display, called the ScreenPad+, is also OLED running at 3840 x 1100. Like the primary display, it’s bright and colorful with deep blacks. The second display is large enough to be useful, although the widescreen format does mean that any maximized apps on it can look a little funky.
Asus packs lots of functionality into the second display, all of which are accessible via a ScreenXpert Control Center menu that can be pinned to the left, right, or bottom of the display or allowed to float. Useful ScreenPad+ apps include a Quick Key utility that provides quick access to functions like copy and paste, a Handwriting app that converts ink to text, a virtual numeric keypad, a Spotify control center, and a Corel Multicam utility.
There are several ways to use the ScreenPad+. You can turn it into a massive touchpad, which is less useful than it seems given that it’s positioned above the keyboard and not very practical to use. It can host app windows and thus can function as a typical external display. Asus has created a new Control Panel app that supports Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and Lightroom Classic and provides several commonly used functions for each app.
Overall, the ScreenPad+ is a useful addition, but mainly for the specific user who can use the app-specific functionality. That’s fine because this laptop is designed for creators, and it’s those targeted users who will get the most use out of the second display. Personally, I wouldn’t use it more than dragging windows down that I don’t want cluttering my main display or items I want to see separately. That might make the ScreenPad+ a niche component, but it’s useful nonetheless.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Taken by itself, the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582’s 3-step backlit keyboard is a good one. It has lots of travel and comfortable key spacing, and the switches provide precise action with a mouse click. The only complaint about this keyboard is the lack of a palm rest, which puts your fingers at an uncomfortable typing angle when using the laptop by itself.
The touchpad, on the other hand, is simply underwhelming. I hate to mention, it’s tiny, vertically oriented (which makes it strange to use), and is mounted to the right of the keyboard where its use is fairly disruptive. It includes the Asus virtual LED numeric keypad functionality, which is great for those who would use such a feature, but that doesn’t make up for the size and placement. It’s a Microsoft Precision touchpad, so it works well enough. There’s an included palm rest so we hope that makes things better.
Both displays are touch-enabled, of course, and both support the included Asus active pen that can attach magnetically to the lid. The pen works fine, providing for smooth and precise inking and control on both displays.
Performance
The performance of the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 is one of its major selling points, though it is also one of the major factors that hold it from taking the creative crown in its entirety.
On the positive side, the RTX 3060 GPU and Intel Core i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage provide some truly incredible performance on most content creation tasks. You can load more than a dozen high-resolution photos on Adobe Photoshop and flipping between them while applying filters, editing, cropping, you name it is quick and responsive, especially for a laptop.
That said, it doesn’t triumph over other creative workstations. The Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021), for example, packs a Pantone-validated 4K OLED display, though it comes slightly larger at 17.3 inches, and its configuration can go as high as an RTX 3080 GPU, which easily outperforms the RTX 3060 in the ZenBook Duo Pro 15 (as expected) and whose 64GB RAM fires at all your Chrome tabs and Adobe Photoshop canvases.
Also, there are some other truly premium mobile creative workstations out there like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, the MSI Creator M16 and the Acer ConceptD 7 that don’t quite blow past the ZenBook Duo Pro 15 even though they cost a lot more and lack the ZenBook Duo Pro 15’s versatility.
All told, we just wish the ZenBook Duo Pro 15 has the latest hardware with some more premium component options, like an RTX 3080, then it wouldn’t be a contest, but some creative professionals like 3D animators or game developers will find more powerful options on the market better suited toward their work, even though it might cost a bit more.
Battery Life
The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 might have a 92WHr battery, but it’s still not going to last very long running two 4K OLED displays. To its credit, the Asus ZenBook UX582ZM-AS76T has pretty consistent battery performance regardless of the task, lasting four hours and 34 minutes in our tests.
Still, that’s not particularly good, so you won’t be spending much time away from an outlet with this laptop. It does mean that if you’re going on the road for a full day of work, you’ll have to carry the hefty 240-watt power brick along with you. Add that to the palm rest extension and the ErgoLift Stand, and your backpack s going to feel pretty full.
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 Review | Verdict
The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 is an impressive laptop that will be great for anyone who truly needs a second display attached to the machine, not to mention a peppy CPU and GPU that can shoot through demanding tasks. That includes creative types who use their laptops with apps like Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop, which makes sense because that’s exactly what Asus is targeting with the ZenBook Pro Duo 15. In that regard, Asus has managed to deliver a laptop that can fit particular needs.
For the rest of us, though, the ZenBook Pro Duo is hefty, too complicated, and bleeds from too-short battery life. It’s also expensive for the feature set, competitors like the Dell XPS 17 9720 and Apple MacBook Pro (M1 chip) cost much less but offer solid performance for creators, and also offer excellent battery life.
Should you buy it?
Yes, if you need that second display, then the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 (UX582ZM-AS76T) isn’t just any choice. It’s a brilliant choice, period. Otherwise, if you don’t need the versatility of a second screen, something more traditional like the Dell XPS 15 is a great buy, too.
The Review
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582
The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED UX582 (UX582ZM-AS76T) boasts an ambitious dual-screen setup and delivers lots of power and a vibrant OLED display, but poor ergonomics and middling battery life keep it from winning the crown in the creators’ hall of fame.
Recommended Configuration
Dell XPS 17 9720 Laptop17.0-inch UHD+ (3840 x 2400) Touchscreen Display, Intel Core i9-12900HK, 32GB Memory, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11 Pro - Silver
PROS
- Superb 15.6-inch OLED display
- Dual OLED screens are a boon for mobile content creation
- Creative options via secondary ScreenPad Plus
CONS
- No memory card slot
- Expensive
Review Breakdown
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EDITORS RATING
Last update on 2024-11-14 at 22:37 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
