Asus Claims Longer Battery Life in Next-Generation PCs With ScreenPad

Asus bowed the ZenBook 14 ($1,199) and 15 ($1,399) Windows laptops with ScreenPad 2.0, an interactive 5.65-inch secondary screen said to boost productivity. The secondary screen, with a smartphone-like interface positioned in the touchpad location on traditional laptops, is designed to make it easier to multitask among applications, said the company. Features include an eighth-generation Intel i7 quad-core CPU, Nvidia GEForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics processor, 16 GB RAM, PCIe solid-state drives and Wi-Fi 5, it said. The secondary screen’s utilities include a Quick Key for one-tap automation of keyboard sequences, handwriting for natural text input and number key for rapid data entry, said the company. Third-party developers can use the Asus application programming interface to optimize their software and user experiences for ScreenPad, it said. The hardware was updated to be more energy efficient than its predecessor, allowing 2.5 times longer battery life when ScreenPad is in use, Asus said.