Updated April 13, 2022, at 12:45 p.m. ET: ASUS has provided a release window of "mid to late-Q2."
What you need to know
- The Zephyrus Duo is getting some serious new upgrades.
- It now comes with a 16-inch display without making the laptop larger.
- Innovative display option provides multiple resolutions and refresh rates on the same panel.
Just before everything shut down in March 2020, the last product briefing I went to in person was for the original ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo. Even two years on, everything about that laptop is pretty crazy. But for 2022, the machine is getting even crazier.
Revealed at CES 2022, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 takes the latest and greatest from AMD and NVIDIA, keeps the basic design the same, and just adds, well, more. Lots more.
Here's a quick overview of the main specs.
| Category | ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 |
|---|---|
| Display | 16-inch, 16:10 ROG Nebula HDR, QHD, 165Hz Dual Spec, 4K 120Hz and 1080p 240Hz |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX 8-core, 16-thread |
| Graphics | NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti |
| Memory | Up to 64GB DDR5 |
| Storage | 4TB PCIe 4.0 in RAID 0 |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E |
| Power | 100W Type-C charging |
| Ports | HDMI, DisplayPort, micro SD card slot, Ethernet, USB-C, USB-A |
One of the key features is the display, which grows to 16-inches while the overall profile of the laptop actually shrinks a touch. There are two options available, a QHD 165Hz Nebula HDR mini LED panel or a quite brilliant sounding Dual Spec display.
This Dual Spec display offers two distinct modes, one of which is native 4K resolution at 120 Hz. The other is a more standard 1080p resolution with a 240Hz refresh rate. This ROG exclusive uses Pixel Acceleration Technology and offers gamers a choice over resolution and higher frame rates whenever they please.
Inside, it's fair to say ASUS did everything possible at this time to make this the most powerful gaming laptop on the planet, with AMD and NVIDIA providing their latest range toppers. The RTX 3080 Ti is so good, it's said to outperform a desktop Titan RTX, which is scintillating performance to have in a laptop.
To help with cooling all that horsepower, the secondary display has been redesigned a little, now sliding up and back to meet the main panel, creating a lovely air gap with an improved intake as well as a seamlessly large display area. Inside, ASUS has partnered with Thermal Grizzly to use liquid metal over regular thermal paste and claims up to 15C lower temperatures as a result.
The keyboard and trackpad layout remains a little unorthodox, but the keys themselves sound great. Each has 1.7mm travel and per-key RGB, so you can go wild with the blinking lights. Rounding out the goodness is Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio support so your games can sound as good as they look. And one of the staples of the whole ROG lineup for this year is a MUX switch, which enables a direct GPU mode for reduced latency and boosted performance.
No word just yet on when specifically it'll launch (the current window of time ASUS has stated is "mid to late-Q2") or exactly how much this goliath is going to cost, but as far as flagships go, it's still absurd and we love it.
