Asus has stepped up to the dual-screen portable monitor plate with the Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED MQ149CD and it’s a solid hit. Combining two lovely displays in a surprisingly compact and light design, the Duo has a lot going for it. And at $599, it needs to. While the build quality is a step above the competition, it might be overkill if you’re just after something for productivity. 

A beautiful, flexible design

The ZenScreen Duo OLED MQ149CD is one of the best-designed portable monitors I’ve tested. It has the fit and finish of a decent metal two-in-one laptop, and not an especially heavy one at that. It weighs just 2.3 pounds, giving it an advantage over several other dual-screen monitors I’ve tested. By comparison, the Acer PD163Q weighs 3.1 pounds and the Minisforum MDSA156 is 3.26 pounds.

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Flexibility is at the forefront of the design. Not only does the hinge allow the displays to flip around nearly 360 degrees, but the kickstand allows a variety of angles for the lower display. A tripod mount on the back lets you elevate the displays, or you can prop the two displays in a side-by-side orientation instead. 

The on-screen display lets you quickly switch between different screen setups. You can treat each display as an independent monitor in Extend Mode (two displays, one connection) or Independent Mode (two displays, two connections). You can run them as a single larger monitor in Split Mode (albeit with a gap in the middle) or have one or both of the displays duplicate your laptop display in Mirror Mode. 

Vivid visuals and strong OLED contrast

Both of the displays are great. They’re an equal pair of 14-inch, 1,920×1,200 OLED panels that offer infinite contrast and a stunning 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, allowing for vivid visuals. The color accuracy is decent, with the displays at full brightness measuring at a dE1976 max of 2.05 and an average of 1.14.

Impressively, the ZenScreen Duo can run with just a single USB-C connection, even in the modes that treat the two screens as independent monitors, although not with HDR. The power supplied by a single USB-C connection, however, isn’t enough for max brightness on both displays. And since the screens are glossy, you might want that extra brightness in certain situations. 

By default, the monitor runs in an Eco mode with the brightness set to 65%. With this setting the screens hit 167.2 nits in my measurements (explained below). At 100% brightness, the screens can manage 379.2 nits. With the monitors’ HDR capabilities turned on, they can put out a 600-nit peak with a 10% window, providing respectable highlights for video and game content. 

While the ZenScreen Duo might be good for creators, it’s not as stellar as it could be for gamers. It has only a 60Hz refresh rate, which is offset somewhat by OLED’s fast pixel response. 

Worth the money, but it’s not for everyone

I’d recommend this dual-screen monitor wholeheartedly, but it’s more than some people will need. If you need a second screen for word processing or data entry, or you only need one screen, you don’t need to pay for this setup. And despite its impressive specs, its refresh rate isn’t fast enough for gamers. Make sure it’s right for you before you buy it. 

How we test monitors

Measurements for the Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED MQ149CD were taken with a Spyder X2 Ultra colorimeter using DataColor’s Spyder X2 software for SDR. Color accuracy measurements results are reported in Delta E 1976 using Datacolor’s 48-color patch test.

On the most basic models we may only test brightness, contrast and color gamut. With more capable displays we may also run tests of user-selectable modes for gaming or color-critical usage, uniformity and so on. We may also run tests to verify how white point accuracy varies with brightness. We also use Blur Busters’ motion tests to judge motion artifacts (such as ghosting) or refresh rate-related problems that can affect gaming. 

Keep in mind that individual results can and often do vary from a manufacturer’s reported results for a variety of reasons.