ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED: welcome to the imperial folding laptop

Maybe the concept of laptop with folding screen don’t be newbut of course here ASUS has given the chime with its ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, a team that takes that idea to its maximum expression.

We are facing a surprising team for its versatility and for being able to play in practically all situations. The screen is a technological marvel, and the proposal refines what others have tried in the past to propose an imperial folding laptop.

ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED data sheet

come and see

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold may have already surprised us last year by taking advantage of this type of format, but here we are before an iteration that takes advantage of that idea and takes her to new heights in practically all sections.

The design is certainly the first of them, and one of the most spectacular. We are here before a team that It will catch glances on the outside and inside.

outside, because we have a metal back (an alloy of magnesium and aluminum) that is partly protected by the support that allows the screen to be supported on any surface.

The thickness is very small with the screen unfolded —just 12.9mm—, and what we do have are appreciable frames around the entire screen that allow us to protect and encapsulate that flexible panel.

When folded dimensions are those of a compact laptop and that it has a reduced thickness considering the circumstances: it goes from 17.4 mm in its thinnest part to 34.4 in the part in which the support/cover significantly increases that dimension.

The weight is not high either: without the keyboard it amounts to 1.5 kg, while if we add the keyboard the weight is 1.8 kg.

Even so, we are facing a splendid design that we think he is right with the two diagonals: In the aforementioned ThinkPad X1 Fold the fully unfolded screen only reached 13.3 inches, but here the equipment is perfectly usable whether we use the 12.5-inch screens or if we unfold it and take advantage of its 17.3 diagonal.

This design also has MIL-STD 810H military durability certificationwhich guarantees that it can be used in extreme temperatures, that it is capable of withstanding falls from small heights or that it is resistant to high altitudes and humidity, for example.

An amazing foldable, touch screen

The design is remarkable, but of course the most remarkable feature of the equipment is that folding screen that dominates everything thanks to its 17.3-inch diagonal once unfolded.

The format is curious, 4:3 —like that of the old televisions—: it invites you to work with maximized applications, and it is perhaps less suitable for enjoying movies and series by the black bands that will appear above and below.

However, the versatility of that screen makes that detail less: we will not only be able to use that screen with that large diagonal: folding is possible or have two 12.5-inch screens in 3:2 format (one of them would accommodate, for example, the on-screen touch keyboard), or “attach” the physical Bluetooth keyboard and take advantage of the equipment as a “traditional” laptop with that comfortable diagonal.

Obviously that format. requires some sacrifices: when folding the equipment, the thickness goes up to 34.4 mm. The team seems almost like a short book at the time, but once again the design of the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED makes it stand out in that area too.

The possibilities seem almost limitless with this screen, which is also a touch screen and therefore can be turned into a a fantastic canvas for users who want to take advantage of it in the field of creativity.

Here we can play with that 17.3-inch diagonal and thus have a spectacular digital tablet for drawings and designsbut also a device with which to present ideas “in a big way” in all kinds of meetings.

The hinge designed by ASUS engineers ensures its resistance to 30,000 operations folding and unfolding, which seems to make it clear that we will not have problems with that deployment mechanism.

It remains to be seen what impact that has on long-term use of the device and whether almost unavoidable “wrinkle” that usually forms that hinge on these screens harms the experience.

This ergonomic design is joined by a keyboard with a touchpad —the so-called ASUS ErgoSense Bluetooth— that docks and “sticks” to the screen when we want to use the computer as a small laptop with a 12.5-inch screen.

This keyboard works through the Bluetooth connection – it is possible to combine it with other devices – and it has a full key size, of 1.4mm travel and a small concave design that also helps the user experience.

Of course we can use that keyboard separately, placing the unfolded screen as if it were a 17.3-inch monitor resting on the leather support. So we will not have a laptop anymore, but a kind of All-in-One with that unique 4:3 screen format to work and enjoy.

The interior does not detract

The technical characteristics of the equipment are also outstanding. The OLED screen is the protagonist for its vivid colors and its Display HDR 500 certification, but also for its excellent color representation —100% of the DCI-P3 gamut—, its 1,000,000:1 contrast and its response time of just 0.2 ms.

Inside we meet a more than decent Intel Core i7-1250Ua fully solvent processor with an integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU that will even give us room to enjoy gaming sessions with moderately demanding games.

That processor is accompanied 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD drivewhile in the wireless connectivity section we are very well covered thanks to the support of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity.

The thing not that remarkable in terms of ports: We only have two USB-C ports (yes, with a Thunderbolt 4 interface) and a headphone port. Here the thickness was probably an important limitation, as was the complexity of a design marked by that folding screen.

The 75 Whr battery promises 9.5 hours of autonomy in watching videos, and to charge it we have a 65W adapter.

The screen has a 5 MP webcam with an artificial intelligence system to improve the image during video conferences, plus an IR sensor with facial recognition which thus poses this biometric method.

The sound section is also covered with a Quad speaker with Dolby Atmos support and in whose development Harman Kardon has collaborated.

The quad microphone allows you to create a quality audio matrix for video conferences according to the manufacturer, and we also have a noise cancellation system that minimizes annoying noise around us.

ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED versions and price

The new ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED will be available during the fourth quarter of 2022 and will have a starting price of $3,499.