Some laptops have a certain wow-factor, perhaps because of a very low weight, high performance or because they are just very unique. The new Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is one of these devices and impressed with high performance figures as well as perfect multitasking with two 16-inch OLED touchscreens during our review. Thanks to a removable keyboard and stylus supports, the usage scenarios are very versatile and the Zephyrus Duo GX651 is an unrivaled package right now, but it also comes with a corresponding price tag. The SKU with 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD storage and the RTX 5090 retails for $5,500.
Even though the new concept sacrifices some performance compared to the previous model from 2023, there are massive advantages in terms of multitasking, because you can use two identical screens and you simply notice that Asus has plenty of experience with dual-screen devices for a smooth user experience. The battery runtimes are also significantly improved and the new Asus Pen 3.o also worked flawlessly during our tests.
The gaming performance is obviously also very good and the RTX 5090 also handles demanding games at highest details without any issues. If you use the maximum performance, you will obviously hear the two fans, but you can also use quieter operating modes if you want.
However, there are also some drawbacks, and they are suprising considering the high price. The first topic is the new Panther Lake processor from Intel, because it has a bigger focus on efficiency. This also results in a comparatively low multi-core performance. Asus also decided to use soldered memory, so the limit is 64 GB. The Core Ultra 9 386H, however, can also be combined with regular SO-DIMM modules, which would increase the maximum capacity to 128 GB. If you purchase such a specialized device would probably benefit from more RAM as well. Asus does not implement Thunderbolt 5, either, which is a shame. You do get a fast PCIe 5.0 SSD out of the box, though, and there is a second M.2-slot (PCIe 4.0) if you want to expand the storage capacity.
Please see our comprehensive review for more details about the new Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo GX651 and also watch our YouTube review for additional impressions.







