Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD) Review: An impressive, book-style dual-screen portable monitor

Over the years, I’ve tested several dual-screen portable monitors that aim to vastly increase the amount of real estate you have to work with while mobile. Most of these monitors have a central panel that sits behind your laptop’s built-in display and two displays that jut out from either side (like a pair of ears).

The Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD) differs in that the two OLED panels are stacked on top of each other (in landscape mode) or lined up side-by-side (in portrait mode).

Design of the Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD)

The 2.36-pound MQ149CD offers a somewhat unorthodox (for a portable monitor) design. There are two 14-inch 1200p OLED panels (16:10 aspect ratio) joined together via two 360-degree hinges in a book-style configuration. When folded closed, the MQ149CD has the same footprint as any other 14-inch portable monitor, albeit twice as thick. However, when you open it, you also get twice the screen real estate (with roughly a 20-inch diagonal measured from corner to corner).

Build quality is good all around, with aluminum used for the display panel housings and hinges. Plastic is used for the black bezels around each panel. There are also tiny rubber feet strategically placed around the perimeter of the displays to provide some grip when using the MQ149CD in portrait or landscape orientation.

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You can stand the two displays vertically (with each in portrait mode) using the open book footprint to keep the unit upright. You can also use the displays in landscape mode, where one display sits on top of the other. The bottom display features a kickstand that keeps the entire apparatus upright. The aluminum kickstand covers nearly the width of the display and provides a stable base when using both panels in landscape mode. The multi-position stand, along with the display hinges, allows for a wide variety of viewing angles.

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Asus includes four ports aligned along the top right side of the MQ149CD (if you’re using it in landscape mode). The bottom port is a Mini-HDMI port, while the two middle ports are USB-C 1 and USB-C 2, both of which support DisplayPort Alt Mode. The final port is a dedicated USB-C port for power (a USB-C power brick is included in the box). Also on the right side of the MQ149CD are two OSD buttons and a jog wheel.

Two final additions are a small, 2.5-inch socket on the back of the unit, which can be used to mount the MQ149CD on a tripod, and a Kensington Lock. A well-padded carrying case is also included in the box.

Design of the Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD)

Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD) Operating Modes

Asus provides four distinct ways of operating the MQ149CD, all of which I tried. The first is Mirror Mode, which simply duplicates the image source from your laptop to each of the MQ149CD’s displays. Split Mode duplicates the source image, but spreads it across both displays.

Extend Mode allows each display to display content independently. For example, you could have a game playing on your laptop’s display, a movie playing on the MQ149CD’s top display, and a Word document open on the MQ149CD’s bottom display. Finally, Independent Mode allows you to exploit two separate display sources with the MQ149CD. You could have one laptop outputting content to the first panel and a second laptop outputting content to the second panel.

All four modes are accessible from the OSD. Additionally, if you install the Asus Display Widget Center, the MQ149CD supports auto-rotation when moving between landscape and portrait modes (and vice versa).

The MQ149CD includes a rather comprehensive OSD, accessible by pressing the bottom OSD button or by pressing in on the jog wheel. Pressing the jog wheel once brings up a “mini” OSD: flicking up lets you control brightness, while flicking down gives you quick access to the four display modes.

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Pressing in on the jog wheel twice brings up the full OSD. From here, you have access to Asus’ preset picture modes, image settings, color settings, input selection, and overall settings (e.g., OSD timeout, power-saving options, language settings, etc.).

In addition, the Asus Display Widget Center allows you to access picture modes, hot keys for specific monitor features/functions, and power management.

Display Performance on the Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD)

The MQ149CD features two 14-inch OLED panels, each with a 1920 x 1200 resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate. Each display features a glossy screen coating, which was a magnet for reflections in my brightly lit home office. I was able to minimize the reflections somewhat by making slight adjustments to both the kickstand and the angle of the panels.

When it comes to dual monitors, there may be slight variances between the panels due to manufacturing tolerances. Although each panel should have identical specs, we noticed slight differences between the top and bottom OLED panels, as noted in the charts below. With that said, the differences weren’t enough that you would notice them side-by-side.

Color performance from the two OLED panels is exemplary, as we’d expect. The MQ149CD is rated for a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and black levels are immeasurable. In the default, Standard display mode, we measured 145.9 percent DCI-P3 coverage with the bottom panel and 131.2 percent on the top panel. Our measurements pegged the bottom panel at 206 percent of sRGB, while the top panel was slightly higher at 213.5 percent.

There were also differences in maximum panel brightness, with the bottom panel reaching 350.6 nits in Standard mode, and the top panel topping out at 329.8 nits. However, both figures were well below the manufacturer's claim of 400 nits for SDR content. In our HDR testing, the top panel reached 503 nits with a 10 percent window, while the top panel was slightly behind at 493 nits.

I had no trouble fitting it into my workflow, connecting it to an HP OmniBook X via a single USB-C cable. I found myself using both landscape and portrait orientations equally. If I wanted to watch a movie or TV show while I worked, I’d stack the two displays, with the media content playing on the top panel.

When working with text-heavy content and looking up information in my web browser, I’d have the two panels side-by-side in portrait mode. Thanks to the Asus Display Widget Center software, I can switch from landscape to portrait automatically, without having to open Display Settings in Windows 11.

Bottom Line

The Asus ZenScreen Duo OLED (MQ149CD) is one of the best dual-screen monitors I’ve tested to date. It improves upon the dual IPS panels I’ve tested in the past with the vibrant colors and deep blacks that OLED provides. Build quality was excellent across the board, and overall brightness was competitive in this field.

Asus provides several operating modes for the MQ149CD, including the ability for two systems to each control one panel. In addition, you can use the two panels side-by-side (portrait) or stacked on top of each other (landscape), with autorotation supported via companion software.

There are only two dings that I would level against the MQ149CD, with one of them being major. The minor flaw is that it lacks built-in speakers, although that isn’t an unforgivable sin, given that most speakers on portable monitors are mediocre at best. However, the biggest downside is the price tag. While you can find dual-screen portable monitors from KYY for around $250 or less, the MQ149CD has an MSRP of $600. While Amazon regularly puts the MQ149CD on sale for $500, it’s still a hefty price to pay for dual screens.

Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.