Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 Notebook Review: Multitasking monster with AMD Zen4, RTX 4090 & Mini-LED

[Redaktion]

Asus refreshes its ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 and uses the best components you can currently get. The new GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop is supported by AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX, the fastest mobile CPU right now. The manufacturer also replaces the 4K screen with a new WQHD Mini-LED panel with 240 Hz, which is supported by a secondary 4K screen.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ROG-Zephyrus-Duo-16-Notebook-Review-Multitasking-monster-with-AMD-Zen4-RTX-4090-Mini-LED.701152.0.html

[NeoGimp]

"Connectivity - Card reader, but no USB 4.0

The rear area of the base unit is almost completely occupied by the cooling, which is why there are only three ports (Ethernet, HDMI, USB-A) in the center of the rear. The majority of the remaining ports is located at the front of the left side, which is also the case for the angled power connector. The cable from the PSU is pretty short, so the power cable can block the USB-A port depending on the orientation. There is one more USB-C port at the left side.

In addition to the somewhat inconvenient port layout, we are surprised that Asus did not include USB 4 support. The AMD processor supports USB 4 in general, but requires an additional USB controller, and it seems Asus did not want to spend the money."

This omission on a Laptop that laptop Better not be Branded AMD Advantage without that USB4/40GBs support included. It's really AMD's fault for not requiring that be supported there.

[5KE]

Does anyone know if it's possible to connect a xbox series s directly to switch via wire. Then play xbox games on the switch screen using joycons?

[NikoB]

Author, why are there no AIDA64 tests? Where is the screenshot of the memory speed test and L1..L3 caches and all the benchmarks?

Why is there no test with multi-zone illumination turned off and is it possible in principle?

Lack of USB40 (at least 2 ports) is a complete disgrace from Asus - the 7945HX has 28(!) free pci-e 5.0 links.
Greedy Asus saved on a penny TB4.0/USB40 Parade 8830 controller or its equivalent?!

The noise is the wildest even at rest. How to work on this "miracle"?
The keyboard is completely curved and non-standard.

The weight and power supply preclude portable use other than to carry around the house from car to car. Why then a ridiculous and shameful 2.5k screen on ridiculous 16", Asus? Why not 18" with 4k@144Hz?

Asus, start small - just make a normal laptop, with a normal full size keyboard with numpad, 18" LG "IPS Black" screen with 4k@144Hz, normal port layout - power in the back.

Why is RJ45 shameful 2.5 Gb / s when you already need 10? With a monstrous price of 5,000 euros?

7945HX costs no more than 1000 euros, no more, mobile 4090 costs 1000, because. it is 1.5 times weaker than the desktop version. Total we have 2000 euros. Everything else does not pull on 1000 euros. Why another 2000 euros, Asus?

I have no idea who this frankenstein was made for in real life. Apparently, Asus designers need to somehow justify high salaries so that they don't get fired before the estimated time of receiving the promised stock option packages ...

[dsakdasdas]

first of all, while the performance is super, the battery situation is a bit worrying, seems like amd has some issues making their desktop chips super efficient for laptops.

so maybe phoenix is the only option for those who want performance and battery from AMD.

second, what is with these prices man? they have to stop. 4000 euros for a laptop is just outrageous.

[LL]

I think the issues is more the BIOS, maybe that is related to AMD but i doubt about it.

I praise Asus for trying something different, but the outrageous price don't justify it.

[yurymleh]

I'm sure the underwhelming battery life is due to high CPU's inherent high idle power because it's a chiplet desktop-first design merely adapted for laptops.

[gg09k9h7]

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 GX650PY(2023) is not 175W.
TGP 140W
Dynamic Boost 10/25W
Max GPU Power 150W (Turbo) / 165W(Manual)
The complete list of 2023 GeForce GPU power specifications in ROG and TUF Gaming Laptops | ROG – Republic of Gamers Global
rog.asus.com/articles/rog-gaming-laptops/the-complete-list-of-2023-geforce-gpu-power-specifications-in-rog-and-tuf-gaming-laptops/

[Emanuel A]

Just got mine delivered 2 days ago(while paid & pre-ordered about a month ago..crazy right?!)
4,8k £ with the 64 gb ram difference vs the article in 32gb ram version.
Coming from a Asus Zenbook Pro Duo after 3 yrs of use (i9 8 cores 32 gb ram 4k oled) i will say the first noticeable difference is in the resolution and inferior quality of the MiniLed panel, when compared with the 4k oled technology. Though way brighter - even at the lowest dim, at night is a bit too bright - being used with the feel of the old laptop.
Other than that noticeable difference in perfomance with the double amount of physical cores, double ram at higher frequency, double ram on the gpu so overall an upgrade of performance in a portable package which is ultimately the reason of purchase - although outrageously figure paid for it(not sure if justified the gap difference from the price tag of the previous laptop that was at the time 2,8k and still on the edge of reasonable).

[NikoB]

i will say the first noticeable difference is in the resolution and inferior quality of the MiniLed panel, when compared with the 4k oled technology. Though way brighter - even at the lowest dim, at night is a bit too bright - being used with the feel of the old laptop.

Argument your position, because. The 2 reviews clearly say the opposite, except for operation in total darkness (where OLED will always outperform all technologies except microLED in terms of black levels).
OLED has terrible flickering at 60Hz. Farewell to the nervous system and eyes. Yes, always glare glossy panel. In the case of miniLED, it is semi-matte. The glare is much less.
2. Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * - 2.6. With an acceptable minimum for amateurs of 2. MiniLED - 1.2 - color accuracy after hardware calibration is more than 2 times higher. This alone puts an end to professional work with color on OLED screens.
3. The resource of the OLED panel is 2 times worse than the resource of the IPS backlight before burnout, and it is also not bright - only 300-330 nits. At the same time, the color rendering run-up will only worsen over time, which puts an end to professional work with color on OLED for at least 3 years.

That is why Asus had to change the screen from OLED to miniLED.

Where OLED is dramatically better in 2021 model (other than black levels in total darkness):
Specifically, Pro Duo has an honest RGB matrix, so there is a sharply higher ppi, because. in the model 2021 4k panel, and in 2022, a miserable 2.5k.

Response time is 6-7 times better on OLED. The 2.5k panel is a fake "240", in reality it's slightly faster than 50Hz on the refresh rate. OLED is really 300Hz+, but alas, the refresh rate is hardware-locked to 60Hz maximum.

In the light and under office lighting on light themes, there is no sense in OLED contrast, which is easy for anyone to check by comparing AMOLED smartphones with IPS screens - IPS always win visually, even those that have already worked for 4-5 years...

[NikoB]

A researcher from Samsung implicitly acknowledges the harm from PWM on AMOLED (OLED) smartphone screens. Laptop options are even worse because people spend many hours a day on them. PWM influence is maximum.
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15980316.2021.1950854

[S.Yu]

Asus is pushing boundaries, in many directions. After careful comparison I believe I'm sold on the top tier Flow X16(who'd have thought the best 2-in-1 on the market is called "Flow"??) It's very unfortunate that even though the chassis manages 120W TGP the graphics would be limited to merely 4070, but this model has a proper screen unlike Alienware, is far better value than Razer, is pretty good-looking unlike most gaming laptops, and supports touch and stylus like nothing else in its class.
But it seems that with all these specialty devices they really are spread a bit thin, so unlike Dell who can support extensive customizations for each model(making lack of a proper screen on Alienwares even less excusable), Asus only has a couple fixed tiers for each model, so it's AMD-only here and Intel-only there, and aesthetically the designs could get a bit mixed up, like this Zephyrus Duo which IMO should be one of the least "ROG" models, yet it still has a fat logo slapped onto the back, with a strange protruding corner...
------------
As for this review...C'mon, why is it that most of the benchmarks are run on FHD while this is a QHD model???

[JohnMag]

Thanks for the review! One clarifying questions: for the 4 hour battery life, was that with discrete or integrated GPU?

[Zooks]

So you're comparing a 4090 laptop to some that have 4080's that's not really apples to apples here. Example the duo beat the legion 7i, of course it would graphically, I sure as heck hope a 4090 would beat a 4080. Come on here. When you give stats, please do like for like. Kinda makes me want to read elsewhere..

[S.Yu]

Update: I'd like to bring to attention the fact that 8GB VRAM is no longer sufficient for AAA games in 2023. It's the developer's fault for wasting so much VRAM but as the end consumer we can't do anything about it especially if we really want to play certain titles, and the situation would only get worse with time. Personally I'm sitting out this year again for the Flow X16's lack of 12 or 16GB VRAM options, and the various issues of the other offerings on the market. Now if Razer cuts prices by at least 20%, we can talk...