A couple of months back, we had an opportunity to test out the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 GL532 which impresses us in every aspect from its aesthetic, all the way to its core performance.
Thanks to ASUS Singapore, we’re in for a treat again with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 which I would say is one of the most fascinating and unique gaming laptop that’s unlike any of those we currently see in the market.
The main differentiator is of course, the presence of a secondary touch display that will come in handy whether you’re gaming, working or studying. Coupled with its state of the art hardware, the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 is definitely a dream laptop to own.
Without further ado, let’s dive into some of our favorite features about the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550!
Revolutionary Design That Impresses All
On the outside, the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 flaunts an understated, Gunmetal Gray paintjob upon its highly resilience and durable magnesium-aluminide chassis. With an overall footprint measuring 36.0 cm x 26.8 cm x 2.09 cm, it is definitely a massive laptop, but I’m glad that its weight is still manageable.
Coming to its interior, that’s where you will find all the excitements and doses of adrenaline rush. As you open up the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15, its secondary display raises from a flat position above its keyboard, to a slightly inclined position which really helps in terms of viewability.
In fact, other than improving the viewing angle, the elevated position of the secondary display also allows ASUS to fit an advanced cooling system to draw in cooler air from above. Its definitely a purposeful and intuitive design.
Moving on, its keyboard area also dons the usual RGB lightings similar to what we saw among other ROG-line of gaming laptops. As with any other ROG gaming laptops, the colors and effects can be easily customized via the Armory Crate application.
Interestingly, the touchpad on the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 has been shifted to the far right of the keyboard, instead of the usual position below the keyboard. No issues with that since you’ll probably get used to it after a couple of days.
What’s notable however, is that the touchpad also doubles up as a numpad which mimics the traditional keyboard layout. This is a nice to have feature that can be toggled on and off by pressing on a touch-sensitive button on the upper-left corner.
Along its flank, you can find multiple ports including a pair of USB 3.1 ports, and a USB-C port on the right-hand-side; as well as a power connector, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a mic jack on the left-hand-side.
No doubt, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 has one of the most innovative gaming laptop design that’s well thought out for the users – improving their gaming and productivity experience on this exquisite flagship.
Multi-purpose Secondary Display
Let’s touch on its secondary display, which is coined as ScreenPad Plus by ASUS. To start off, this innovative display actually comes with touch support which allows you to use your finger to drag the windows around, or even doodle on the paint app.
Coming to the specifics, its 14.1-inches ScreenPad Plus offers a 3840 x 1100 pixels screen resolution. It brings along a matte finish which ensures the screen remain visible under a bright environment.
When gaming or streaming videos, you can actually make use of the secondary display to reply messages on instant messaging platforms like Whatsapp, Discord or Steam Chat without the need to switch windows. Likewise, you can also easily change your game or laptop settings via the Armory Crate application as well.
For productivity, there are also a plethora of use cases for the secondary display. To give an example, you can make use of it to drop down notes or minutes during a Zoom meeting with your colleagues or clients. This is especially useful during this work-from-home period.
Just like smartphones with foldable display, having a secondary display on a laptop is not simply a wow factor, but also a game changer for productivity.
Blazing Performance
Unsurprisingly, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is one of the most deadly gaming powerhouse in the market capable of delivering blazing-fast performance thanks to its 10th-gen’s Intel i9-10980HK processor that comes with a maximum clock speed of 5.3GHz (single-core) with Thermal Velocity Boost.
In terms of graphics, the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 also features the NVIDIA GeForce RTX2080 (Max-Q) with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM which is capable of delivering immersive 4K graphics on the display with decent frame rates. Speaking of display, its front panel is actually able to support up to 300Hz refresh rate though its resolution will be trimmed to Full HD.
Other than that, there’s also 32GB LPDDR4 RAM that’s definitely more than sufficient to prevent any instances of memory bottleneck. Finally, it also offers 2TB worth of ultra-fast SSD storage which allows you to store countless of game titles or video files under the hood.
Its beefy setup makes the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 an ideal machine for both gamers or creators who rely heavily on its performance muscles.
Advanced Cooling System
Once again, the cooling system of the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is based upon the company’s advanced Active Aerodynamic System. However, on top of the usual bits and pieces, there’s also a larger 28.5mm air intake that sits behind the secondary display to draw in cooler air (as mentioned earlier).
To sweeten the deal, there’s also liquid metal thermal compound on the CPU to keep its temperature down in order to deliver a smooth and lag-free experience for its users.
So, Does It Worth The Money?
Obviously, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 will be worth every single penny you fork out. Though it cost considerably more than other 15-inches gaming laptops, but it’ll double your enjoyment and productivity with its innovative secondary display. It definitely goes beyond our traditional notion of a gaming laptop.
For those who’re interested, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 is available for S$6,998 through ASUS official online store.
