It's CES, and that means it's time for new PCs with unique form factors. The Asus Zenbook Duo isn't the first dual-screen laptop we've seen. In fact, we loved the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i when it came out last year. However, Asus has made a lot of improvements to the form factor, with two 14-inch 120Hz OLED displays. Best of all, it starts at $1,499, which is $500 less than the Yoga Book 9i.

The keyboard is the key

Terrible pun intended

The keyboard is the thing that really separates this from the other dual-screen laptops on the market. It fits inside the laptop, much like we've seen on foldable-screen devices. This makes for easy storage, of course, but it also keeps the keyboard charged.

I've actually found keyboard storage on the Yoga Book 9i to be a bit of a pain point. Since the keyboard attaches to the outside with a somewhat weak magnet, it tends to fall off. There's no issue with that on the Zenbook Duo.

The keyboard also extends over the entire bottom screen, rather than using the touchscreen as a touchpad. This makes it look and feel like a regular laptop when you're using it as one. Of course, you can also stand up the unfolded Asus Zenbook Duo and use the keyboard separately.

Here's what's really cool. Asus left the option to use it as a wired keyboard. If you don't like the instability of Bluetooth keyboards, you don't have to worry about it.

The two screens aren't even

One really strange thing, however, is that if you open the Zenbook Duo to 180 degrees, the two screens don't lie flat. The reason that it's like that is because Asus decided to store the keyboard inside the folded device. As you can see in the image above, the right side is pushed back further than the left side.

Thankfully, if you use the device horizontally, with one screen stacked on top of the other, you won't notice. Seriously, Asus wouldn't have made this compromise if it had made a big difference in the experience. It's much more noticeable if you're using it with each screen in vertical orientation.

The price is right

It's only $1,499!

Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i came in at $1,999, with two 13.3-inch displays and 13th-gen U-series processors. The Asus Zenbook Duo is $500 less, and it has two 14-inch 120Hz OLED screens and Intel Core Ultra processors, up to a Core Ultra. That's a much better deal with a much better form factor.

I'm really excited to get my hands on the Zenbook Duo. While I obviously haven't tested it beyond the time I spent with it at the briefing, it seems to have the potential to one-up the Yoga Book 9i, a product that was praised by reviewers like myself.

I feel like Asus fixed many of the pain points I had with the other dual-screen Windows device. It stores the keyboard inside the closed laptop, which is the correct way of storing a keyboard accessory, and things seem to fall into place from there. Lenovo had a lot of bugs. For example, the screen under the keyboard wasn't actually turned off on account of it needing to be used with the virtual touchpad. Apps would sometimes try to open under the keyboard. Stuff like that doesn't seem to happen on the Zenbook Duo, and it's overall a much smoother experience.

That said, Asus does have a history of dual-screen devices. While this is its first all dual-screen laptop, there have been prior Zenbook Duo models with small screens built into the top of the keyboard. This product just feels more refined than Lenovo's implementation.

I'm looking forward to reviewing this one, and we'll know more when it comes out.