Top-rated brands are never shy about experimenting with design and form factors in the world of technology. And Asus, for example, did exactly that when it released its ZenBook 17-Fold OLED. It goes without saying the laptop has a touch of inspiration from Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 1, which was the first foldable laptop released in January 2020. The Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED is somewhat of a unique concept and is not a mass-market product at the moment. Read the blog further to get a clear idea about the product and its abilities.
Design And Build
The ZenBook 17-Fold OLED is made by Asus from premium-quality materials like faux leather, frosted glass, and magnesium aluminum alloy. The laptop’s design is unique, and its folding factor allows it to be used in multiple ways, including tablet mode, reader mode, desktop mode, and extended mode. Though it may look fragile due to its aesthetic design, it is quite durable and has got certification for military-grade MIL-STD, so it can withstand extreme temperatures, moisture, vibration, and shock, among many other things. The hinge mechanism is quite standard, and the company has promised that it has gone through a hinge durability test and will at least provide 30,000 cycles. The device weighs only 1.5 kg without the keyboard and 1.8 kg with it, and in clamshell mode, it has a thickness of 1.25 in. The ZenBook 17-Fold OLED even comes with a folio case and, due to its size and weight, is easily portable. One thing that has to be kept in mind is that you cannot access the device’s internals because it is not user serviceable.Â
Display
The 17.3-inch foldable OLED display is absolutely stunning and provides 2560 x 1920 pixels in a 4:3 aspect ratio and 1920 x 1280 pixels in a 3:2 aspect ratio. For general use, the device will offer a brightness of up to 350 nits, while for HDR content, it will offer 500 nits. The overall brightness is sufficient for the indoors while not being too suggestive for the outdoors. ZenBook 17-Fold OLED has a display with HDR True Black 500 certification and a refresh rate of 60 Hz, along with features like 0.2 ms response time, Dolby Vision, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, Pantone validation, and low blue light. BOE Technology is the manufacturer of the F-OLED, and the bezels of the ZenBook 17-Fold are quite thick. Though the screen is touch-enabled, a stylus cannot be used as there is a thin glossy plastic layer. This particular thing about the device is quite irritating, and this plastic layer also picks up dust, fingerprints, and smudges but is necessary for protection. And as far as the thick bezel is concerned, it not only provides a good holding grip for the device but is also necessary for the protection of the OLED panel. When the display is lit up, you will not even find the crease in the middle annoying, which is quite prominent to look at.
Software And Performance
The Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED comes with Windows 11 and has an Intel 12th-Gen Core i7-1250U processor. With integrated Iris Xe Graphics and 1 TB of storage capacity, the device also offers 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The i7-1250U processor is not as powerful as the H-series but can provide magnificent performance when it comes to media consumption and daily productivity. When tested on Geekbench 5, the Asus ZenBook 17-Fold earned a score of 1,705 on a single-core and a score of 7,098 on a multi-core. The heat of the device is handled by a single cooling fan, and the temperature of the CPU lingers between 42 and 45 degrees Celsius. Other than everyday work, the device can handle a minimal amount of photo and video editing, but gaming is strictly prohibited. The Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED does not have many pre-installed applications other than the MyASUS app, which can be used for tinkering with audio, connectivity, privacy, and power, among many other things.
Battery And Connectivity
The 4-cell battery of the Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED is 75 WHrs rated and comes with a Type-C 65 W charging brick. When using the 17.3-inch screen, the device can provide a battery backup of up to 6 hours 30 minutes, and when using the 12.5-inch screen in laptop mode, it can provide somewhere around 10 hours, and both numbers are pretty decent and above average. The connectivity is quite limited in the device, which is understandable, and the ports it offers are 2 USB Type-C, 2 USB Thunderbolt 4, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and 2 Thunderbolt 4 for display support. The Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED also has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0.
Miscellaneous
With a thickness of just 5.5 mm, the Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED comes with a slim ErgoSense Bluetooth keyboard that has a built-in touchpad. Along with a USB-C port for charging and a power switch, the keypad has a 19.05 mm key pitch, a 0.2 mm key-cap dish, and 1.4 mm key travel. The charge on the keyboard can last a week, and it also has the ability to connect with other devices like iPads or desktop computers. The only drawbacks are that the keyboard is not backlit and the magnets that help it clamp to the tablet, making it a laptop, are not strong enough. The audio parts are tuned by Harman Kardon, and the AI noise cancellation helps for noise-free video calling. The 5 MP AI camera has the ability to support 720p video calling and also has 3DNR technology.
Conclusion
When it comes to concept, the Asus ZenBook 17-Fold OLED is a true mechanical wonder. The portability factor and availability of different device modes are truly interesting and revolutionary. Though Asus needs to work on the price tag, which is $3,499, and also the Bluetooth keyboard, among many other things. Without a doubt, this product line has great future potential, and Asus will undoubtedly have the upper hand when its demand will rise.
