After waiting for several months, Asus has finally unveiled its new ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED laptop in the list of ASUS foldable laptops. The latter is quite peculiar because, as its name suggests, the screen can bend in its center. Asus originally unveiled its Zenbook 17-Fold OLED at CES 2022 in Las Vegas in January, but it ended up taking months to get the word out.
This unusual 17.3-inch laptop reminds us a lot of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1, which was launched in 2019. The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED really stands out from the competition thanks to its gigantic folding screen, which allows the computer to fold into two equal parts. As much as a laptop as a tablet, the new device from Asus will allow users to customize its format according to their use.
ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Specs:
Despite its specific format, the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED offers us a rather interesting technical sheet. It’s 17.3-inch 4:3 2.5K OLED 60Hz 2560 x 1920 pixel touchscreen display can fold into two identical 12.5-inch pieces. Its folding appearance does not make it a bad screen, as we find a maximum brightness of 500 nits at 100% DCI-P3HDR and Dolby Vision or even a response time of 0.2 ms. According to Asus, the screen would “only” support 30,000 opens and closes, far from the 200,000 folds provided by the Galaxy Z Fold 4. However, this still allows you to use it an average of 6 times a day for 9 years.
The power is there too. The computer is powered by an Intel Core i7-1250U processor, 16GB of 5200MHz LPDDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage. As for the GPU, no discrete graphics card, the computer relies on Intel Iris Xe. The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is powered by a 75Wh battery, sufficient to ensure all-day autonomy. Inevitably, the computer will be much more durable when folded than when the entire screen is used. Asus promises up to 9.5 hours in 12.5-inch notebook mode and up to 8.5 hours in 17.3-inch computer mode.
Here we find four Harman Kardon speakers with Dolby Atmos certification. The computer also has a webcam of 5MP, an ambient light sensor, and an infrared sensor. On the connectivity side, the Wi-Fi 6Ethe laptop offers Bluetooth 5.2 and two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports compatible with 65W fast charging, as well as a 3.5mm jack. It all comes together in a fairly compact device that weighs only 1.5 kg without the keyboard and 1.8 kg with the keyboard.
The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED has a separate Bluetooth keyboard
Unlike most notebooks, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED does not offer an integrated keyboard. As the entire surface is occupied by the screen. While it’s possible to call up a virtual keyboard when folded in half. ASUS provides a physical Bluetooth keyboard with a touchpad that you can attach directly to the screen. Or simply place it on your desk to make use of the entire 17.3-inch screen.
Asus offers several ways to use the computer. Here we find desktop mode, where the screen is spread out horizontally with the keyboard placed in front, laptop mode, where the keyboard can be magnetically attached to the lower half of the screen, tablet mode, reading or viewing support mode (folded screen with the keyboard disconnected) and finally, wide-angle mode (Windows 11 with portrait orientation).
Price and availability:
The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED will be available in Q4 of 2022 for €3,999/$3,499 in Tech Black color. That’s more expensive than two brand new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4s.