The two big things for ASUS this year seem to be AI-powered features and 16-inch screens, regardless of whether you’re looking at their productivity or gaming-centric laptops.
At the 2024 launch event today, ASUS spotlighted the Vivobook 16 (A1605), Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405), Zenbook DUO, ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024), and TUF Gaming F16 (2024).
With quite a few laptops to go through, we’ll focus on some of the more interesting ones.
ASUS Zenbook DUO
The Zenbook DUO isn’t the predecessor to the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, if you were wondering. It’s in a category of its own, and will please fans who want more screen real estate but dislike the look and utility of just one large, foldable screen.
Made for multitasking and mobility on the go, the Zenbook DUO features dual 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED touchscreens, with a 120Hz refresh rate and 16:10 aspect ratio. The chassis measures just 14.6mm and features multiple ports and an audio jack.
The displays are joined by a lay-flat 180-degree hinge that expands your visual workspace to 19.8 inches, which can be used in a vertical or horizontal orientation for versatile work modes.
It comes with a rechargeable ASUS ErgoSense keyboard that can be fully detached, or placed on the lower display for a more traditional laptop experience. There’s also a built-in kickstand on the back of the laptop.
Altogether, this allows you to use the laptop in many ways. Aside from the traditional style, you can use each screen independently which is convenient when you need to work using a reference, and you can opt to have this in a top-bottom orientation.
Or, flip the laptop on its side and you get a side-by-side view of your work. For those who don’t want to bring the detachable keyboard around, the lower screen can be configured as a full-size virtual keyboard.
Internally, the Zenbook DUO boasts the latest generation of Intel processors, up to the all-new Core Ultra 9-H series, and has 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
The Intel Core Ultra processors feature Intel’s first integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to help unlock AI experiences on the PC, including low-latency AI computing, accelerated multitasking, advanced immersive graphics, and more.
The battery has also been redesigned to a 75 Wh high-capacity one with an extended lifespan that supports up to 20% more charging cycles than the previous generation.
The Intel Core Ultra 7 processor variant of the Zenbook DUO will be available from February 19, 2024, onwards, and is priced at RM9,999. Meanwhile, the variant featuring the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor will be coming to Malaysia at a later date.
ASUS TUF Gaming F16
A brand-new gaming laptop from ASUS, the TUF Gaming F16 has an upgraded chassis and a 16-inch display with a 16:10 ratio, giving users a 90% screen-to-body ratio.
It’s available with a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13650HX with 14 cores and 20 threads, ultrafast RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with NVIDIA Advanced Optimus for what ASUS assures will be long-lasting value for mainstream gamers.
A 90Wh battery will power your gaming needs too.
ASUS added that upgradeability is a key highlight of the TUF Gaming F16 with two memory and storage slots available for expansion. The laptop has also been tested to the new 2024 military-grade MIL-STD-810H standards for durability, including vibration, shock, altitude, and temperature resistance.
This will be available in Mecha Gray, and in two GPU options: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU-powered version (RM 5,999), and the GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU-powered option (RM 6,299).
It should be on shelves from January 24, 2024, onwards.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16
The Zephyrus G16 has been completely redesigned and now features all-aluminium and ultra-sleek chassis designs.
This year, brand-new Intel and NVIDIA silicon with powerful AI acceleration features have also been added. Basically, this will supercharge your experience, be it with gaming or work.
The AI features include Microsoft Copilot in Windows, video conferencing tools like dynamic backgrounds and automatic gaze correction, and rendering technology like NVIDIA DLSS and Frame Generation.
It’s also the first ROG OLED gaming laptop with ROG Nebula Display, and sports a 2.5K 240Hz display.
This allows it to showcase true inky blacks, great colour accuracy, and provides gamers with a 0.2ms gray-to-gray response time for the cleanest image possible.
On the outside, the new aluminium CNC-machined chassis offers weight reduction, structural rigidity, and increased chassis space.
This design gives the laptop an edge-to-edge keyboard design, and larger and louder speakers (25% larger than the previous generation, with a 47% volume increase).
To increase precision in typing and scrolling as well as facilitate fluid gaming, the Zephyrus G16 comes with larger individual keycaps and a larger touchpad.
A new colourway, Platinum White, has been introduced, and the laptop also sports a new LED lighting array on the lid.
The Slash Lighting array traces a diagonal line across the lid, and has animated sequences and customisable unique patterns.
For a gaming laptop, it still boasts portability, measuring 1.49cm thick and weighing 1.85kg.
The ROG Zephyrus G16 starts at RM9,999 and the Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 155H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GDDR6 (105W) version will be available around the end of January.
The higher-end variants will come in around mid-February, with prices going up to RM14,999.
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It’s still difficult to see AI features as more than just a buzzword in a lot of the consumer tech we have these days, but AI has been used to enhance user experience across devices and brands for quite a while now.
As an end user, I think while I might not yet be able to fully understand just what the AI is doing for me, I can definitely still appreciate better performance and utility in a device.
Plus, I’m always down for brands being bold enough to try something new.