New Asus ZenBook Pros announced

At the Asus Pinnacle of Performance event last night, a large range of ZenBooks and VivoBooks were announced, with the latest Intel processors and a huge focus on performance boosts. Asus confirmed the ZenBook Pro 14 Duo OLED and ZenBook Pro 16X OLED are coming to South Africa soon.

ZenBook Pro 14 Duo OLED

The new Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED (UX8402) is a powerful and compact dual-screen creator laptop that features a next-generation ScreenPad Plus secondary touchscreen. It also features a redesigned Active Aerodynamic System Ultra (AAS Ultra) auto-tilting design that improves both cooling and ergonomics. 

The laptop is an Intel Evo-certified powerhouse, with up to 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processing and creator-grade Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics. These are all cooled with an Asus IceCool Plus technology, aided by the innovative AAS Ultra mechanism, which vents the chassis efficiently and also tilts the next-generation ScreenPad Plus secondary touchscreen to a comfortable angle for a seamless and immersive visual experience. 

For studio-class visuals, the industry-leading 2.8K OLED HDR 16:10 Dolby Vision touchscreen has a smooth 120 Hz refresh rate, Pantone Validated colour accuracy, and a cinema-grade 100% DCI-P3 gamut.

Next-gen ScreenPad Plus

The next-generation ScreenPad Plus is a 12.7-inch, full-width secondary touchscreen with support for styluses, such as ASUS Pen 2.0. The tilt mechanism has been redesigned to create AAS Ultra, with a precision-engineered mechanism that raises up the rear of ScreenPad Plus by up to 20 mm, tilting it by 12° when the laptop is opened. This positions ScreenPad Plus at a suitable viewing angle for cross-screen operation with the main touchscreen. It also enhances cooling by allowing 38% more airflow than the previous generation.

Asus ScreenPad Plus with AAS Ultra is powered by the new ScreenXpert 3 software, which now makes cross-screen multitasking and creative workflows more efficient. The built-in apps such as App Switcher and App Navigator boost productivity, and now support external displays. The new Control Panel app gives users precise and intuitive control over their creative apps. There are four types of control — Dial, Button, Slider, and Scroll — to integrate seamlessly with creative workflows. Control Panel is fully customisable and works with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, and After Effects — and there are more compatible apps on the way.

Take it to the max

The flagship up to 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor delivers extreme performance for creative tasks, with fourteen cores for enhanced multitasking and a Turbo Boost speed of up to 5.0 GHz. Its 60 W maximum TDP excels at CPU-heavy tasks, so users will be able to spend less time waiting and more time creating.

This powerful CPU is a great match for the studio-grade Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics, an essential component for graphics-intensive graphics tasks such as 3D rendering and video editing. With its advanced features and capabilities, it can blitz through the toughest visual tasks. The best compatibility, performance and stability are assured by the included Nvidia Studio drivers.

Up to 32GB of fast RAM and an ultrafast 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD ensure there are no memory or storage bottlenecks to slow the user’s creativity down.

Availability & Pricing

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED (UX8402) will be available from July 2022 for an RRP of R44,999 via the newly launched ASUS eCommerce Store.

ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

The new Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602) is a no-compromise creator laptop with a wealth of innovative design features, and an all-metal design.

Powered by 12th Generation Intel Core processors and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, this laptop delivers powerful mobile performance, and is full of innovations to help maximise productivity. The AAS Ultra mechanism automatically raises and tilts the keyboard to ensure a comfortable typing angle, and also enhances overall system cooling by allowing more hot air to dissipate.

Other innovative and upgraded features include the white-RGB intelligent lighting system that enables smart interactivity features, Asus Dial, and an enlarged touchpad with haptic feedback for click-anywhere convenience.

Innovative design

It features several productivity-enhancing innovations. The AAS Ultra mechanism tilts up the keyboard by 7° when Zenbook Pro 16X OLED is opened. This also positions it at a good angle for comfortable typing. It raises the keyboard by 14.5 mm, which enhances cooling by allowing 30% more airflow than the previous generation.

The laptop also features an updated Asus Dial, an intuitive physical rotary controller that gives precise fingertip control over parameters in leading creative apps. It’s now 3.2 mm thin and is glass-covered for smooth operation. This makes it easy to change brush size, enhance saturation, adjust layer opacity, or rapidly undo actions. The Dial also allows the user to control screen brightness and volume, or vertical scroll to smooth creative workflows. It works seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Lightroom Classic, After Effects, and Illustrator.

As well as an illuminated monogram lid logo, there’s per-key White-RGB keyboard backlighting, augmented by light bars on either side of the keyboard. This system enables a variety of smart interactive effects. When the laptop is powered on or off, or the performance modes are switched, an exclusive light effect can be displayed. If the battery’s low on juice, all the lights will glow red. Plug in a USB device to see yet another light effect, and when a new email is received, a handy visual reminder can be activated. It also supports a variety of animated ambient lighting modes.

To further enhance efficiency and creativity, it is equipped with a new and enlarged touchpad with haptic feedback. Using linear resonant actuator (LRA) technology for the most precise haptic feedback, this 150 x 90 mm touchpad — 84% larger than the previous generation — also has pressure sensors underneath the surface, so it’s ready to respond to and interpret taps.

Unrivaled performance

Delivering the ultimate performance, the flagship 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor is capable of handling creative tasks, and the studio-grade Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU with Nvidia Studio drivers supplies effortless and stable graphics power. 32GB of fast RAM and an ultrafast 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD ensure there are no memory or storage bottlenecks to slow creativity down.

It manages to pack all this power and performance into a 2.4 kg chassis that’s 16.9 mm slim, so it’s easy to get creative in more places. The high-capacity 96 Wh battery provides up to 10 hours of autonomy to ensure Zenbook Pro 16X OLED will get through demanding workdays.

The laptop is also packed with all the I/O ports needed for easy connectivity to modern devices and peripherals. The latest ultrafast Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports support fast charging, 4K external displays and up to 40 Gbps data transfers, and there’s also an HDMI 2.1 port and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port alongside the latest 985 MB/s SD Express 7.0 card reader. Communications and audio I/O are taken care of by the audio combo jack. 

Stunning visuals

It features an industry-leading 16-inch 4K 60 Hz OLED HDR NanoEdge touchscreen with stylus support. 

With an expansive 16:10 aspect ratio, the display is Dolby Vision certified and Pantone Validated to ensure accurate colour rendering. With 550 nits peak brightness, it’s also VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified for the deepest blacks to give ultra-realistic detail. Its cinema-grade 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut delivers ultra-vivid colours, and the 0.2 ms response time makes the fastest action scenes look super-smooth. To keep creative eyes comfortable and safe during the longest work or relaxation sessions, it’s also TÜV Rheinland certified for low blue-light emissions.

Availability & Pricing

The Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602) will be available from July 2022 for an RRP of R59,999 via the newly launched ASUS eCommerce Store.