Asus has been experimenting with dual-screens on their laptops for a while now. The evolution and experimentation with a secondary screen can be seen with the Asus Zenbook Duo and Pro Duo, and now we have the gaming variant of it with the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo – a beast of a machine in the laptop form factor.
Specifications
The Zephyrus Duo version that we received for review has an Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER gaphics and 32GB of RAM upgradable to 48GB. Needless to say this thing can push some pixels.
There is another variation that gives you 300Hz refresh rate on the screen at the cost of display resolution, maxing out at Full HD 1920×1080. Depending on if you’re a content creator or more into fast paced Esports, you can decide on which variation is better suited for your needs.
Dual screens
The defining feature of the device is the dual screen setup – called the Screenpad Plus. Rising up from the laptop at an angle as you open the lid is a sight to behold. Previous dual screen implementations either had the screen flush with the keyboard, which required users to peer over the laptop to get a good viewing angle, or had the entire body rise up at an angle, including the keyboard. The latest implementation with the Zephyrus has the secondary screen move independently of the rest of the laptop, rising up on its own to position itself at a more comfortable viewing angle. This screen is also touch enabled, which provides quite a few use-cases from gaming to content creation.
Laptop design
Being a laptop on the premium end of the pricing scale, the Zephyrus Duo also feels like a premium laptop. The laptop has a metal finish with the bottom of the device having a mix of plastic and rubber for contact with surfaces and effective cooling. It feels sturdy in the hand and has a rugged design, while also being portable with it’s 5.3lbs weight.
There’s no shortage of IO on the device, with USB A, C and thunderbolt included.
IO
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type c with displayport 1.4 thunderbolt 3
3.5mm mic-in
3.5mm mic-in/headphone-out
Ethernet port
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A
HDMI 2.0B
Cooling
With the laptop being targeted at heavy content creators and gamers, cooling becomes a priority for the device. The screen lifting up above the rest of the device creates a unique airflow situation where the internals are exposed to a stream of ventilation. This cooling solution is amplified by intake fans just below the lifted screen.
GLK one-finger open test – pass!
Who is this laptop for?
The ROG Zephyrus Duo is positioned as a flagship hero product that sets the standard for innovation at the company. Therefore it’s by no means a mass-market product, instead maxing out the specifications, innovating on the design and setting the benchmarks for what a laptop can be. This device will put you back about Rs. 850,000 in Sri Lanka if you’re in the market for one. Considering the performance, the use cases and price, if you think this is a good fit for you or your organisation, you will have to contact Asus Sri Lanka and organise a pre-order from them. If you do make the leap and get an ROG Zephyrus Duo, you can rest assured that you are a part of laptop innovation history.
Laptop design
ඉතාමත් හොඳ premium quality එකකින් එන මෙම Zephyrus Duo laptop එක metal finish එකකින් සාදා ඇත. laptop එකේ පතුල එහෙම නැතහොත් base එක plastic base එකක් වීම නිසා cooling පිළිබඳව ප්රශ්නයක් ඇති නොවේ. රාත්තල් 5.3ක බරකින් යුක්ත මෙම laptop එක ඉතාමත් ශක්තිමත්ව නිපදවා ඇත.
මෙම laptop එකේ I/O ports ගැන කතා කරොත් කිසිදු අඩුපාඩුවක් නොමැත කිවහොත් නිවැරදියි. USB A, C සහ Thunderbolt port එකක්ද ඇතුලත් වේ.
I/O
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type c with displayport 1.4 thunderbolt 3
3.5mm mic-in
3.5mm mic-in/headphone-out
Ethernet port
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A
HDMI 2.0B
Shakir “hikkA” Razak of Sri Lankan ZeGG fame has been signed on by Noble Esports to form their Valorant team for the South Asian competitive scene.
Noble Esports is a North-American multi-gaming Esports organisation. The newly formed Valorant roster consists of hikka and 4 former Indian CS:GO players:
Shakir ‘hikkA’ Razak
Tejas ‘Rex’ Kotian
Rahul ‘t1to’ Sridhar
Simar ‘psy’ Sethi
Harsh ‘Harsh’ Arora
hikkA had this to say:
“I would like to thank Noble.GG for giving me this opportunity to be playing VALORANT as a professional alongside experienced Indian talent with the necessary resources to become the best South Asian Team in the near future. Also thankful and excited to be the first LANKAN player to be signed by an international org for VALORANT and will make this opportunity count. I’d like to thank my former team and team mates for all the support shown throughout the years and look forward to meeting them in the competitive scene.”
hikkA was a part of Sri Lankan super-team ZeGG for many years, dominating the Sri Lankan Counter-Strike scene, and then the brand new Valorant scene in the country. Captain of ZegG Omal ‘Roach’ Prabudhdha had this to say about his team mate:
“Today, Shakir “hikkA” Razak is parting ways with ZeGG to begin a new journey with Noble Esports. We wish him all the very best for his future endeavors. We are deciding on the future path for ZeGG and will be making an announcement soon.”
We wish hikkA the best of luck on his new journey and will be following Noble Esports closely as they vie for the top spot of South Asian Valorant.
Registrations open for Samsung Members August edition
The Samsung Members Challenge Series Season 1 consists of 3 monthly tournaments – July, August and September. The August monthlies are now open for registration for the following titles: – Fortnite (Solos) – Free Fire (Solos) – Clash Royale – Call of Duty Mobile (Solos) – Call of Duty 4 (Free For All)
The tournaments are open to Samsung Members. Become a Samsung Member here: https://gamer.lk/go/samsungaccnt.
For the fifth consecutive year, Gamer.LK has announced it’s annual Inter-University Esports Championship which will be played completely online. Considered the largest university-level sports event in the country, last year’s event drew 50 universities and higher education institutes from across the island with Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) emerging as the overall champions. The 2018 trophy was secured by Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), 2017 by International College of Business & Technology (ICBT) and 2016 by Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT).
Esports has been recognised as the fastest growing sport in Sri Lanka and has been officially recognised as a sport by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports last year.
Registrations have opened across 12 titles for students of any university or higher education institute to participate and compete from home.
Team Games: Call of Duty 4 Dota 2 League of Legends Mobile Legends Rainbow Six Siege Valorant
PUBG Mobile will be held as a separate event – PUBG Mobile Inter-University Cup
Individual Games: Call of Duty Mobile (Solo Battle-royale) Clash Royale Fortnite (Solo Battle-royale) Free Fire (Solo Battle-royale) Real Cricket
Women’s League: Mario Kart Tour Call of Duty 4 (Free For All)
The Inter-University Esports Championship is sponsored by Red Bull.
For more information and registration, visit https://university.gamer.lk.
Stay tuned with Gamer.LK for more news from the Inter-University Esports Championship.
Perera & Sons, Sri Lanka’s foremost baker and caterer, has announced their first foray into Esports with 2 events for mobile gamers. The “P&S PUBG Mobile Series” will feature PUBG Mobile as it’s stand-alone event with Rs. 100,000 in prize money going out to the top 8 placements of the event. In addition, the “P&S Mobile Contenders” event will feature Free Fire (squad based battle-royale) and Call of Duty Mobile (Multiplayer) with a prize pool of Rs. 50,000 split between the two.
Perera & Sons, founded in 1902, celebrated their 118th year providing meals for Sri Lankans across the island. P&S has modernised their offerings recently with their web-store for online purchasing, partnering with food delivery networks such as Pickme & Uber Eats and catering to a younger consumer with their product offerings.
Perera & Sons has partnered with Gamer.LK to take their brand to todays youth and young adults who are engaged heavily in Esports.
Register for the events at the links below: P&S PUBG Mobile Series: https://gamer.lk/go/pnspubgm P&S Mobile Contenders: https://gamer.lk/go/pnscontenders
Stay tuned to Gamer.LK for more news from the P&S Esports tournament series.
