Dual-screen laptops are nothing new, in one form or another, but innovations within this subset of notebooks are still coming, and the Acemagic X1 is a case in point.
Acemagic just officially unveiled the X1, giving us some spec details, and the big trick here is not just that it’s a true dual-screen laptop, but also, as we saw in a previous leak, it lets you fold out the second display to the side (horizontally). So it’s a bit like you’re working at a desktop PC with two monitors side-by-side (but the laptop is your PC, of course).
As Acemagic puts it, the X1 benefits from a “unique 360-degree horizontal folding dual-screen design, allowing users unparalleled flexibility in adjusting the displays to meet their needs.”
So, as mentioned, you can have the laptop as two 14-inch displays, side-by-side, or you can fold them over with that 360-degree hinge, so the screens are back-to-back, allowing for scenarios where two people might want to use the laptop simultaneously. (One working on it, another watching a video perhaps, on opposite sides of the same desk).
Acemagic previously showed off this device at Computex 2024, although it has now renamed it the X1 (it was the Z1A before), and has confirmed the core specs as mentioned (or at least some of them).
The Acemagic X1 offers twin 14-inch Full HD resolution displays, an Intel Core i7-1255U processor (with 10-cores, 12-threads), and boasts 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, and a 1TB PCIe 3.0 SSD (apparently the notebook sports twin M.2 slots, though that isn’t actually fully confirmed yet).
There may also be an option to beef up the CPU to a Core i7-1265U, though that hasn’t been confirmed either.
Analysis: Reasons to be cautious
Acemagic is a Chinese vendor with a name that admittedly suffers from a degree of cringe factor, but it’s a fairly sizeable brand over in Asia (not so much elsewhere, of course – but that could change).
While the idea of the X1 is certainly novel, as with any such efforts that have two screens folding out in a somewhat elaborate configuration, a lot of the concerns for us are in the reliability and durability stakes. How sturdy will the hinges or the inner workings of the folding mechanisms be?
Furthermore, Acemagic might have a cutting-edge dual-screen concept, but the hardware inside doesn’t match that, with the engine of the laptop being a two-year-old Alder Lake processor. It’s hardly Meteor Lake, is it? (And for that matter, next-gen Lunar Lake mobile chips are not all that far off now, and will be powering some of the best laptops around, no doubt, before too long).
It’s too early to judge the device yet, of course, but we remain skeptical, and Acemagic making a clumsy attempt to align the X1 with Apple’s MacBooks doesn’t exactly further stoke our confidence.
As the press release says: “Adding to [the X1’s] distinctive appeal, Acemagic has engraved Steve Jobs’s iconic quote, ‘Stay hungry, Stay foolish,’ in real gold on the left side of the keyboard. This touch symbolizes the device’s premium quality and innovative spirit.”
As The Verge points out – which spotted the laptop’s press release, flagged up by Liliputing – Jobs actually took that quote from the Whole Earth Catalog, but the exact origin isn’t really important. Clearly, the crucial detail to focus on here is that it’s written in real gold (and MacBooks don’t have that – do they?).
In short, in a world where dual-screen laptops could be perceived as gimmicky by some folks, said quote doesn’t feel like the smartest addition to the X1.
As a final note, also bear in mind that Acemagic was found to be selling mini PCs with spyware pre-installed earlier this year, but claimed this was an isolated issue with an initial shipment of devices.
