The new Asus Zephyrus Duo is unlike any other gaming laptop you have seen before

Not very long ago, I wrote about how the next big shift in laptops is likely to come from breaking away from the familiar clamshell design. For decades, laptops have been little more than rectangles hinged to a keyboard. In recent years, we have seen a few experiments, such as laptops that fold into tablets, but most of those ideas have stayed firmly within the business and productivity space. Gaming laptops, on the other hand, have played it safe, prioritising power over bold design.

There has been some talk about Lenovo’s rollable gaming laptop being a possibility, but it remains a rumour for now. What is no longer a rumour, however, is the return of Asus’ Zephyrus Duo gaming laptop. And this is truly one of a kind.

Also read: Beyond the clamshell: The age of the shapeshifting laptop has just begun

Asus Zephyrus Duo is back with two full 16-inch screens

Now, let me be honest. The earlier versions of the Zephyrus Duo felt experimental, as even though the second screen was useful, it was narrow and looked like a clever add-on to instantly grab attention. But the 2026 model fixes that in the boldest way possible. You get two edge-to-edge 16-inch 3K OLED touch displays, stacked one above the other, each running at 120Hz with a lightning-fast 0.2ms response time.

Both panels hit up to 1,100 nits of peak brightness and carry VESA DisplayHDR True Black 1000 certification, which means HDR games and movies actually look like HDR. Blacks are promised to be inky, highlights pop, and motion is expected to stay clean thanks to NVIDIA G-SYNC support on the main display.

What really hits you is the sheer amount of screen real estate. Over 21 inches of total display area on a single laptop changes how you multitask. Game on one screen, Discord and OBS on the other. Timeline on top, tools below. Once you get used to it, going back to a single screen might even feel limiting.

This is paired with a detachable, magnetic keyboard that changes how you use the machine. You can use it like a regular laptop keyboard, or pull it off and use it wirelessly over Bluetooth. Despite being just 5.1mm thin, it still offers a satisfying 1.7mm key travel, which is rare even among premium gaming laptops.

Now, since the laptop comes with two screens, it is natural to be concerned about the weight. And while it is not exactly light at 2.85 kg, it feels like a fair trade-off for what you are getting. This is not meant to be the thinnest gaming laptop in the room. It is meant to be the most capable.

Thanks to its design, you can use the laptop in five different ways. The Dual Screen Mode gives you a clean two-monitor setup with the keyboard removed. Laptop Mode keeps things familiar for gaming and everyday work. Sharing Mode lays both screens flat for meetings and collaboration. Book Mode flips both screens into portrait, which is surprisingly great for coding and reading. And the Tent Mode props the screens up in an A-frame, making it perfect for co-op gaming or media viewing with someone sitting across from you.

What’s under the hood?

Indeed, even a laptop with a radical design won’t make much of an impression if it cuts corners with respect to performance. And Asus has kept that in mind. The new Zephyrus Duo runs on the latest Intel Core Ultra processors and comes with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU pushing 135W. That puts it squarely in flagship territory, whether you are gaming, rendering, or working with AI workloads. Add to this up to 64 GB of LPDDR5X memory and PCIe Gen 5 storage, and the Duo feels built for people who want an all-in-one powerhouse that can also run their favourite AAA games.

Cooling has also been reworked specifically for the dual-screen layout. With no keyboard vents, Asus has redesigned the airflow path entirely. A larger custom vapour chamber, redesigned fans, and a full graphite sheet covering the CPU and GPU work together to keep performance stable without turning the laptop into a jet engine.

The Zephyrus Duo is expected to launch in mid-to-late Q2 2026, with pricing to be revealed closer to release. It will not be cheap, and it is not trying to be. This is a machine for gamers, creators, and multitaskers who want something genuinely different, not just faster specs in a familiar shell.

Among the many gaming laptops that look and feel increasingly similar, the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo stands apart. It does not just push performance. It pushes the form factor itself. And that makes it one of the most interesting laptops to come out of CES 2026 so far.

About Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops

If the Zephyrus Duo seems like a huge experiment for you at the moment, Asus has also launched the all-new Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops.

Both laptops arrive with next-gen Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, with the G14 also offering an AMD Ryzen AI option. Across the board, you get up to 50 TOPS of NPU performance, making all three Zephyrus machines certified Copilot+ PCs. In simple terms, these laptops are built for a future where local AI tasks, smarter workflows, and privacy-focused processing matter just as much as raw gaming performance. On the graphics side, the G14 scales up to an RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, while the G16 can be found with an up to Nvidia RTX 5090 laptop GPU.

Both laptops also remain quite portable and weigh under 2 kg. Both also feature CNC-milled aluminium chassis, refreshed Slash Lighting with 35 zones, and colour options that work just as well in a studio or meeting room as they do at a LAN party.

Asus has also offered upgrades in terms of display quality. The new ROG Nebula HDR OLED panels hit up to 1100 nits of peak brightness, carry VESA DisplayHDR True Black 1000 certification, and deliver 0.2ms response times with full DCI-P3 coverage. Whether it is the G14’s sharp 3K 120Hz panel or the G16’s ultra-smooth 2.5K 240Hz screen, these are displays that feel wasted on spreadsheets or word docs and absolutely shine in games, video edits, and movies.

Thus, the Zephyrus G14 and G16 do not try to reinvent the laptop form factor, but they refine it to a point where compromises are genuinely hard to find. And for creators and professionals who want power without the weight, these two launches matter just as much as the headline-grabbing Duo.

Also read: CES 2026: Samsung unveils Galaxy Book6 laptops with Intel Core Ultra series 3 processors