- 5 weeks ago
Phil takes you through the latest laptop tech at Asus' CES 2026 booth! In this episode of Tom's Guide to CES, we take you hands on with the brand new, Ceraluminium A16 laptop that weighs in at just barely over 1 kilogram, the latest dual screen Zen Book Duo with magnetic keyboard and integrated kickstand, and the ultra slim S Series laptops with stylish new details. We also check out the updated ProArt laptops with super color accurate Asus Lumina OLED displays and the nifty programmable Asus Dial for creators, plus the eye-catching GoPro branded Pro Art laptop for adventurous creators.
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00:00Hey everyone, I'm here at the ASUS booth here at CES 2026, and I'm here with my friend Sasha.
00:04He's going to be running us through what's going on here with ASUS this year.
00:08And what would you say is some of the philosophy when it comes to ASUS is like thinking of when they're making products.
00:12What are they trying to accomplish?
00:14So we're like the opposite of other brands that are maybe one size fits all, right?
00:19So there's some companies who try to make the laptop for everyone and it's great and everything,
00:25but it isn't specifically tailored for one particular thing or use case.
00:28And we're the opposite. We try to do all sorts of different series tailored specifically to the needs of those kind of users.
00:35So we have devices with dual screen laptops, dual display laptops.
00:40We have some super slim laptops, some super lightweight laptops, some super long battery life.
00:44So that's kind of our philosophy.
00:46So whatever your use case is, we have the perfect product series just for you.
00:50Cool. Well, I'm excited to check out the booth. Let's go have a look. Thank you, Sasha.
00:58I'm here with Napoleon from ASUS. Napoleon, thanks for doing this.
01:02Thank you, Philip.
01:02And we're checking out the ASUS ZenBook Duo. So run me through it. What's going on here?
01:07All right. So this is our newest iteration of the ZenBook Duo.
01:10And this is basically, it has been created with maximum productivity in mind.
01:15This looks like a normal laptop.
01:16Yeah.
01:17Carry it and use it as normal.
01:18But then the secret is, here we have like integrated kickstand.
01:22You just prop it up.
01:24You take off the keyboard.
01:26And it automatically detects and you can start using it as a second screen, up and down layout.
01:33Super simple, super intuitive.
01:35And this allows you to have that dual screen productivity no matter where you go.
01:40We call this the dual screen mode.
01:42We also have desktop mode.
01:44Some people prefer a left and right layout.
01:46So what you do is that you just tilt it to the side.
01:49And it automatically becomes your side-by-side layout just to use.
01:53Because you have these two displays, are there any cool features when someone might want to work with a co-worker, for example?
01:59You're exactly on point.
02:01So when you push this back, the system automatically detects that.
02:05Okay.
02:05So you can do, for example, you can duplicate the screen.
02:08So if we were co-workers, we're discussing something, we can have the same screen.
02:13And we can collaborate together.
02:15Once we have this, we have this stuff that comes out.
02:19So I can highlight this.
02:20We can talk about it.
02:21Oh, cool.
02:21And it just facilitates discussion.
02:23And there's practically no latency.
02:25It's like an immediate as soon as I'm doing it.
02:28Exactly.
02:29Okay.
02:29So you've got the keyboard, you've got your layout, and it's time to travel.
02:32How easy is it to just get back into being on the go?
02:38And you're good to go, just like that.
02:40So this is one of the very small things that people might not think about, which I think Asus does absolutely crush it,
02:47which is how the second screen is implemented.
02:51The kickstand and the keyboard, they're all integrated.
02:54So when you're transporting it, literally, you just close it, straight into my bag, and you're good to go.
02:59All right, so now we're here with the A-Series.
03:03There's an A-16.
03:04So you guys have a 16-inch version of the A-Series now.
03:07And looking at it here, it looks like you guys were able to make something really lightweight, but you kept in fans.
03:15Yeah.
03:15No, not just fans.
03:16We kept in everything.
03:17Okay.
03:18You know, a lot of brands, they can make, you know, really thin laptops, but you can see across the board that they start to sacrifice.
03:24As you said, right, they start to remove fans.
03:26They start to remove speakers, ports, and whatnot.
03:29Yeah.
03:29I think what makes it special and really makes Asus design and engine really shine is that we have kept everything that is essential inside, right,
03:39so that we are not sacrificing on anything performance or any user experience at all.
03:45But we are still able to make one of the thinnest and one of the lightest devices that there is out there.
03:52The ZenBook A-14 is just under one kilogram, while the ZenBook A-16 is just a little bit over one kilogram.
03:59So you can touch it, you can grab it and feel it.
04:01Yeah.
04:02It's almost like air.
04:03It really is almost like air.
04:04Wow.
04:05Yeah, so even the bigger screen model is really lightweight.
04:08Wow.
04:09And the reason we are able to do that is because of seraluminum.
04:13Okay.
04:13So seraluminum is the newest and greatest when it comes to material innovation from Asus.
04:18You can touch it and you can feel it.
04:20The ZenBook A-16 thing at A-14 are fully made with seraluminum.
04:24Wow, okay.
04:25And what seraluminum is, a process of ceramization to aluminum that gives it the best benefits of both ceramic and aluminum.
04:35Okay.
04:35Yeah.
04:36So what do I mean by that?
04:37So it is tougher while being lighter than aluminum.
04:42It is anti-wear, so it has a really nice touch.
04:45It is matte.
04:46So it is anti-smudge.
04:47And it is also scratch resistance.
04:50And all of this goes into what makes this device so special, which is ultimate portability.
04:57So when you put it into your backpack, you don't need to worry about it getting scratched or damaging it.
05:03It is impact resistant.
05:04So, you know, when you're out and about, you don't need to worry about putting your backpack really lightly so it doesn't rumble it or anything.
05:12And on top of that, it carries the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor with 18 cores, which is ultra-efficient.
05:21All right, so moving on, we have the S14 and the S16.
05:27These look pretty slim.
05:30Is that where the S comes from?
05:31Yes, it does.
05:32Yes, it does.
05:33In fact, a lot of the great features that we talked about in the Sembo A-Series carries over to the Sembo S-Series.
05:38Okay.
05:39So, for instance, the sero aluminum we're talking about, we can see it in the cover, so it has a really nice touch to it.
05:45Yeah.
05:46But it goes another notch.
05:47You can see a lot of subtle detailing.
05:50So, for example, you can see on the Sembo Aces Sembo logo, there's a laser which gives it a really nice shine.
05:56Yeah.
05:57When it comes to its hitsing, it uses a hexagonal kind of arrangement which makes it look very elegant while not sacrificing anything about functionality.
06:09So, the Sembo S-Series does have a touchscreen, while the A-Series does not have a touchscreen.
06:15Okay.
06:16Aside from that, there is a difference when it comes to the CPU.
06:19The A-Series that we mentioned, it carries a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, while the Sembo S14-Series carries an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor.
06:30Okay.
06:31Which is also up to 50 tops when it comes to NPU.
06:34Yeah.
06:35While the Sembo S16 carries an AMD Ryzen AI 400 series processor, which is also up to 50 tops.
06:42So, this essentially makes these two join the Co-Pilot Plus family as well.
06:46Perfect.
06:47So, you get all the AI goodies that really help to make your productivity go into another level.
06:52The Sembo S-Series is a representation of what we call functional aesthetic.
06:57Right.
06:58Design with a purpose.
06:59Exactly.
07:00Yeah, yeah.
07:01It doesn't just look pretty.
07:02It's doing something.
07:03Exactly.
07:07When I spoke to Sasha earlier, he mentioned that ASUS is keeping multiple consumers in mind.
07:12Different types of people.
07:13Thinking of how they can make things more unique to their use case.
07:16So, we're over here.
07:17This is the ProArt Series.
07:19ProArt's mission is basically to bring creation accessible to everybody.
07:25Because in this digital day and age, everybody's a creator.
07:28My mom, my grandmother.
07:29Yeah.
07:30They love to take photos.
07:31Like goldfish.
07:32Your goldfish.
07:33They like to take videos of everything and send it to their friends and family.
07:36So, we want to bring a solution for them to be able to do this easier.
07:41So, we have packed it with all of the features that creators care about the most.
07:46And one of those things is the display.
07:48It has the ASUS Lumina OLED display, which is Pantone validated.
07:52So, it has really good color accuracy.
07:56And it also covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.
08:01So, you know that you're playing with all the colors possible that you want to use.
08:06Yeah.
08:07Right.
08:08Aside from the display, we have really great performance.
08:11So, that you can really focus on your creative instead of, you know, waiting around for your files to import.
08:18Thanks to render, export.
08:19Exactly.
08:20We have some really neat creator-specific applications.
08:25So, for example, if you can see over here, we have the ASUS dial.
08:29Okay.
08:30So, the ASUS dial, you can connect it with a lot of different settings that you want.
08:35And you can even integrate it with, for example, Photoshop or Premiere.
08:39So, this essentially becomes your scroll wheel for your multi-track editing or your color dial and whatnot.
08:47And the sky is the limit.
08:48And this is touchscreen as well?
08:50This is touchscreen, yeah.
08:52The ProArt PX13 is a two-in-one.
08:55So, it can transform into tent mode, which you can see here.
08:59Or you can transform into a tablet and you can use a stylus and just, you know, it is a two-in-one.
09:06And then, also with the ASUS ProArt laptops, we have a GoPro edition.
09:09Cool new design, finding ways to collaborate the two brands together.
09:13It seems like a collaboration that makes a lot of sense.
09:16And you're exactly right.
09:17That is the reason that we have partnered together with GoPro.
09:21Because both of our brand missions is to bring creation and creation tools to the masses.
09:28So, that it facilitates and makes it easier for people to be able to, you know, capture what they've seen and share it around the world.
09:34Right?
09:35So, the nature of the collaboration just makes sense.
09:37There is no brand that is more synonymous with, you know, adventure and sharing that footage than GoPro.
09:43Right?
09:44Nice. So, GoPro makes it easy to capture content.
09:46You guys make it easy to put it all together.
09:48That is exactly right.
09:49Great.
09:50As simple as that.
09:51Napoleon, thank you so much for walking me through all these great products coming this year from ASUS.
09:56Of course.
09:57Yeah.
09:58Some pretty great stuff.
09:59I think lots of options for basically anyone.
10:02I mean, we covered my goldfish, right?
10:04Someone's grandma, I think we talked about.
10:06Yeah.
10:07So, that's great.
10:08Yeah.
10:09Stay right here to Tom's Guide.
10:10Stay right here to Tom's Guide.
10:14We'll see you next time.
10:15I'm just beautiful.
10:17I'll see you next time.
10:19Oh, my God.
10:21Yeah, you gotta find out.
10:23We'll see you next time.
10:24Bye.
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