3D TVs, game consoles, and even smartphones have quickly become a distant memory, but not all companies have completely abandoned the technology, and I’m not just talking about the new Avatar movie.
Acer introduced a glasses-free 3D display laptop in 2021, and now Asus has also jumped on the bandwagon and decided to go further.
At CES, the company introduced the first 3D laptops with OLED screens (Acer opted for LCD instead): the ProArt Studiobook 16 3D OLED and Vivobook Pro 16X 3D OLED. The 16-inch, 3,200×2,000 panels on both also boast 120Hz refresh rates and a 550-nit peak brightness, making it one of the higher-quality displays around.
But it’s the 3D aspect that’s most exciting here. The devices can switch between 2D and 3D modes at the touch of a button, using eye-tracking technology to make content appear to roll off the screen towards you.
I had a chance to try out the ProArt Studiobook briefly before the official announcement and it was surprisingly good. The effect works best on content produced specifically for 3D, with Asus-created demo models particularly impressive.
Asus
Of course, almost all existing video content is designed for 2D screens. Adding a 3D effect can still be effective in some scenes, but it often looks artificial and can detract from the content itself. Asus expects more producers and directors to return to making made-for-3D movies and TV shows in the coming years, and indeed expects these laptops to do double duty as tools creators will use to produce this 3D work.
Even in its current state, visuals remained smooth and transitions were nearly seamless – Acer’s version struggled with both at times. The ProArt Studiobook 16 doesn’t do it all, but it seems like a step up for 3D laptops. Although I couldn’t test it, the identical specs of the Vivobook Pro 16X suggest it will be just as good.
However, it will take a while for your eyes to adjust to 3D mode, especially if you’ve never experienced it on a smaller screen before. But once you do, he feels really immersive. Even as a normal 2D panel, it’s one of the best screens on any laptop. It’s rich, vibrant and offers excellent detail, making it a great content consumption device.
However, the high-end specs suggest that both devices are capable of much more. This includes the new 13 from Intel.me-gen under the hood, specifically, the more powerful Core HX series. It is paired with the new Nvidia RTX 40 series graphics cards, also announced at CES 2023.
Asus didn’t mention specific CPUs and GPUs, but the Core i9-13950HX and the higher-end RTX 4090 are likely options. Paired with up to 64GB of fast DDR5 RAM and 8TB of SSD storage on both, performance should be among the best of any laptop.
So how are the two laptops really different? Essentially, the ProArt device is advertised as a mobile workstation for creators, while the Vivobook focuses on both creation and entertainment. Aside from a slightly different design, that means you’ll find a few more hardware features in the Studiobook.
Asus
The most noticeable is a haptic touchpad, which also directly supports note-taking thanks to its stylus support. With no convertible functionality on either device (the hinge stops at 180°), this is an easier way to quickly jot something down for later.
The physical Asus dial from other ProArt devices also appears here, giving you control over key system settings and options in Adobe creative apps.
However, many other main features are consistent across both devices. This includes a sizeable 90 Wh battery, a Full HD infrared camera, four microphones and an advanced cooling system called “IceCool Pro”. There’s an impressive array of ports, too, with 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, 2x USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
These extra features mean the ProArt Studiobook 16 3D OLED is likely to be more expensive, although we don’t have prices for it or the Vivobook Pro 16X 3D OLED yet. The non-3D versions of the ProArt Studiobook 16 and Vivobook Pro 16X should be a bit more affordable, though they retain all the other premium features of the device.
Asus says the new devices will arrive in the UK sometime in Q3 2023 (July-Sept), so expect similar availability elsewhere.
related stories
“Total social media fan. Travel maven. Evil coffee nerd. Extreme zombie specialist. Wannabe baconaholic. Organizer.”