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00:00Cut, Neil! What's this asshole doing in my shot?
00:04I'm sure the gentleman didn't mean to, Pam.
00:06Isn't that right, mister?
00:08Hey guys, I'm Tom, a tech chap, and this is the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE.
00:14Probably the most ridiculously over-the-top laptop you can buy right now.
00:18RTX 3080, 8-core Ryzen 9, and dual 4K screens.
00:24In fact, this main panel is actually 4K 120.
00:28Don't tell my wife this, but I think I'm in love.
00:31Now, you may have already seen this.
00:33In fact, I did a hands-on with an engineering sample back in January.
00:36But the lovely people over at ASUS and NVIDIA got in touch and asked if they could sponsor a video
00:41where I switch to this as my main laptop and see what I think.
00:45As always, even though it's sponsored, all my opinions are my own.
00:48That's the most important thing.
00:49And it gave me the opportunity to use this for more than a few days or maybe a week or so,
00:54which I normally get before they grab the review sample right back off me.
00:57So it's been really interesting, actually.
00:59And the big question for me was whether this ScreenPad Plus was actually useful or just a bit of a gimmick,
01:05and also what it was like to use a 4K 120 screen.
01:09The funny thing is, though, that despite the fact that having an AMD CPU, a Ryzen 5000,
01:13and the latest NVIDIA GPU is such a good combination right now,
01:17these stickers couldn't be any further apart.
01:19So how much?
01:20Well, for this top spec, we're looking at about £3,500.
01:25Although it does start from about £2,000, which gets you the RTX 3060 and the same 4K 120 screen.
01:31But the fact is, there's really nothing else out there like this,
01:34except maybe, here's one I made earlier, ASUS' own ZenBook Duo range.
01:40This is the ZenBook 14, which I reviewed a few weeks ago.
01:43And it really does feel like the smaller little brother to the Zephyrus SE.
01:48This is obviously a lot sleeker, more portable, a little bit lighter, less powerful.
01:52This is next level.
01:54And obviously, being an ROG device, it's more gaming-oriented.
01:58But for me, this has actually turned into not only a proper gaming desktop replacement,
02:03but also a workstation.
02:04This is kind of like the ultimate laptop where you can edit your videos or do your 3D rendering in a day,
02:09and then come 5 o'clock, you can switch over to a bit of Warzone.
02:13And while it doesn't look that much different to last year's model on the outside,
02:16on the inside, it's a big step up.
02:18We've gone from a 2080 Super Max-Q to a 3080, and also Ryzen 5000 series processors.
02:25So we're looking at around 45% faster CPU and GPU performance.
02:33Okay, so first things first.
02:35Is this ScreenPad Plus useful or just a gimmick?
02:38Well, it turns out, in the last few weeks I've been using this,
02:41there's three ways I actually do use it in real life.
02:44Firstly, Discord.
02:45Whenever I'm gaming on this, I have Discord open on the second screen.
02:49Yes, it's kind of sad that my only two active groups right now are for Call of Duty and Age of Empires 2,
02:55but it's really handy to have it up because if someone's streaming in the Discord chat that I'm in,
03:00and say I'm playing Warzone, I can get a bit of a tactical advantage,
03:04aka not quite, but feels like cheating, by watching their stream while I'm playing.
03:09And as well as Discord, I might have a Twitch stream up here.
03:12So whether you're watching or even streaming yourself, that's pretty useful.
03:15And to be honest, gaming while in lockdown can get a little bit lonely sometimes,
03:20so having a stream on as I play just makes it feel a bit more sociable.
03:24Secondly, because we're getting a good quality 4K screen,
03:27we're talking about 100% Adobe RGB and Pantone validated,
03:32coupled with the pretty serious horsepower that we have inside here,
03:35I can comfortably edit my 4K videos on this.
03:38I still use proxies because Premiere Pro is a system hog,
03:41and actually I'm shooting this at 10-bit 4K on my Sony A7S III,
03:45but having the screen pad down here for my project files is just insanely helpful,
03:50and going back to a regular laptop, unless you have an external screen,
03:54just feels so cramped otherwise.
03:56And I think that's kind of the beauty of this,
03:58that it's not just some RGB-gone-mad ridiculous gaming laptop,
04:02it's also a proper workstation with that performance that we're getting.
04:06You can of course also switch between Nvidia's GameReady or Studio drivers,
04:10which have been tested with a much wider range of creative programs,
04:14but you still get all those game updates as part of it.
04:16So whether you are using this purely for gaming,
04:19or for a bit of work in CAD and engineering and design apps as well,
04:23it's kind of like a really good all-in-one.
04:25And actually, on both the ZenBook Duos and this ROG Zephyrus,
04:28ASUS have added some fancy control panels which make use of the screen pad.
04:32So if you load up Photoshop or Premiere Pro,
04:35it is mainly just the Adobe Suite right now,
04:37but you can fully customize it.
04:39And this is actually one of those things that,
04:40having an extended amount of time with this,
04:42I've realized isn't really for me.
04:45I do like the idea of it, it's a cool concept,
04:47and for some of you guys you may love it depending on what program you're using,
04:50but I prefer having my media browser down here instead.
04:53I'm pretty quick with my keyboard shortcuts and my mouse,
04:56but however you use it, it just gives you more flexibility.
04:59And I said the same thing in my ZenBook Duo video,
05:01but I bet you already have in your mind
05:03exactly how you would use this dual-screen setup.
05:06In fact, let me know what it would be in the comments below.
05:15But the ScreenPad Plus software on here is a lot better than on the first-gen models.
05:19It's a lot less buggy, and one of my favorite features is creating task groups.
05:24So what you can do is set up your screen exactly how you'd like,
05:27and then in the ScreenPad menu you can capture it,
05:29which basically takes a screenshot of the layout and saves it.
05:32So then with a single press, you can then go back to your ideal setup every time.
05:36So obviously the big, wow, look at me feature is the ScreenPad Plus,
05:40but actually this is also the first laptop I've ever used with a full 4K 120 screen.
05:46It is still an IPS LCD, it's matte, as is the ScreenPad,
05:49which is quite nice because it means there isn't a glaring difference,
05:53unlike, say, on the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED,
05:56where you have a glossy OLED up here and then just a matte LCD down here.
06:00These are pretty similar looking.
06:01But it's that combination of 4K and 120 that makes everything from using the desktop,
06:06browsing the web, editing in Premiere Pro, incredibly smooth and sharp.
06:11And considering there's barely a handful of proper 4K 120 monitors on the market right now,
06:16I guess it goes some way to make the price of this seem a little bit more reasonable.
06:20However, my first thought with a 4K 120 screen on a gaming laptop
06:26is there's no way even with a laptop 3080 that you're going to get that kind of FPS to max this out.
06:31And it turns out that's true for the most part, but it depends on the game.
06:35Maxed out at 4K, Rainbow Six Siege averaged 124 FPS, Overwatch 103.
06:41Crysis Remastered and Cyberpunk, as you would expect, were a lot more demanding, though.
06:46But dropping to QHD makes a big difference.
06:48So I've settled on full fat 4K when I'm video editing or working or just using the desktop.
06:54But then in demanding games, I'll just drop it down to QHD and get a much higher frame rate.
06:59So that way I'm kind of getting the best of both worlds.
07:02I'll tell you what makes all the difference, though. DLSS.
07:05I've made a bunch of videos on NVIDIA's fancy deep learning super sampling tech.
07:09But in my mind, it is probably the biggest single advancement in PC gaming we've seen in the last five years or so.
07:16And it's only getting better.
07:17The impact it has does vary between games. Cyberpunk is a good example.
07:21I mean, with ultra settings without any RT, I get 25 FPS with this.
07:25With ray tracing enabled, a barely playable 14 at 4K.
07:29But turning DLSS on to balanced on average doubles my frame rate.
07:34Fortnite also massively benefits from DLSS.
07:3763 up to 92 at 4K and up to a huge 142 FPS at QHD.
07:43Now, having the top spec RTX 3018 here goes a long way to help, of course,
07:48although this is actually using a more middle of the road 115 watt TGP variant of the 3080.
07:54But it's not just about raw horsepower because the NVIDIA 3000 series GPUs we get in here
08:00will give you the best performance when it comes to ray tracing and DLSS.
08:04Plus, we get extras like NVIDIA's new Reflex low latency mode,
08:08which in games like Warzone and Fortnite can help reduce latency,
08:11hopefully giving you a bit of an edge.
08:13I mean, I'll take any help I can get.
08:19Good job.
08:22Now, jumping into the arm, we create software and most of the time when I'm gaming or even editing,
08:26I stick this in turbo mode, which gives me the best performance,
08:29but it does make the fans woe up quite a bit.
08:32Now, design wise, it is a little bit chonky, I think is maybe the word.
08:36We have this protruding matte bezel, which is nice and thin on three sides,
08:40but then we get this big chin in the bottom.
08:42And apart from maybe the lid and this all black color,
08:45it looks pretty much the same as last year's Zephyrus Duo.
08:49But either way, open or close, this thing will turn heads.
08:55And while it is a pretty hefty laptop, I mean, it's 5.3 pounds,
08:59which I think is 2.4 kilograms.
09:01I think given the form factor and everything you're getting,
09:04it's still pretty portable.
09:06Although you'll probably need to carry this fairly hefty 280 watt power brick.
09:10Although actually, if you go for the 30, 60 or 70 options,
09:13you get a smaller 200 watt adapter.
09:15As for battery life, well, it is a little bit better than before.
09:18Although no surprise, it won't really get you through a full day.
09:21I found I get about four hours of light use from this non-gaming
09:25or about five hours if I should turn off the screen pad.
09:28The keyboard and touchpad also haven't really changed.
09:31I still like to plug in a Bluetooth mouse to avoid the cramped touchpad,
09:35but the keyboard itself is quite nice to use.
09:37So then, after using this for the past few weeks,
09:40what do I think? Would I recommend it?
09:42Well, it is very expensive and probably a bit overkill,
09:46especially if you're just going to whip this out in a Starbucks.
09:49And I don't think this 4K screen is ideal for pro or eSports gamers.
09:53But for someone like me who edits 4K video and also plays some games on the side,
09:57it's the ideal combination.
09:59The ScreenPad Plus for extra screen space and that flexibility.
10:03The color accurate and fast, it's just three millisecond response time,
10:064K 120 screen.
10:08And also the sheer performance we get out of this,
10:10particularly the top spec one.
10:12If I had a few quid to spare, I would definitely invest in one
10:15and I would recommend it.
10:17But it is going to be quite a niche audience.
10:20Someone who wants a super high-end gaming laptop
10:23but isn't a pro competitive gamer
10:25or maybe someone who wants to use this for work and for play
10:28and has a spare two or three or three and a half thousand pounds
10:32burning a hole in that pocket.
10:34But what do you reckon?
10:35Would you be tempted to buy something like this?
10:37What would be your ideal dual screen setup?
10:39Let me know in the comments below
10:41and I'll leave links for this in the description
10:43for Overclockers, Scan and Amazon.
10:45I think they're getting new stock in soon.
10:47Hopefully you guys enjoyed this video.
10:48Thank you so much for watching.
10:49Hit that subscribe button if you want to see more from me
10:51and I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Jam.