ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED review – foldable laptop offers stunning versatility
- Design
ASUS has reinvented the laptop with the 17 Fold OLED and puts the future in your hands today. You’ll never look at a laptop in the same way again after using the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED.
The ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is not one laptop – it’s several and includes the option of enjoying the full 17.3-inch OLED display and folding it in half to look more like a laptop with either a virtual or a physical keyboard.
In fact, it’s the world’s first 17-inch foldable OLED laptop.
Running Windows 11 Pro, the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED can be used as a laptop, a tablet, a desktop computer and an e-reader.
It is powered by the 12th Gen Intel Core i7 chip and can offer users up almost 10 hours of battery life.
The versatility of the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is the real eye-catching feature something that will get people around you asking you about it if you’re using the laptop in public.
In its unfolded form factor, the computer offers a beautiful big 17.3-inch OLED display.
And even though it’s a foldable display it still looks amazing with a 2560 x 1920 resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio with a 90Hz refresh rate.
On top of the remarkable screen quality there’s also HDR (high dynamic range) onboard with compatibility with Dolby Vision for a true cinema-like experience.
That added screen real estate can be utilised for work or play.
It makes it easy to spread out your work and run multiple applications at once and to enjoy your movies, TV shows, sport and games when it’s time to wind down.
Around the screen is a bezel that’s about 1cm wide so it’s not offering the same almost edge-to-edge look of a flagship laptop.
But not all laptops can give you this much room to move.
Now we come to the amazing part – folding the screen to make it look more like a laptop.
The hinge flexes effortlessly and has been durability tested to work perfectly for more than 30,000 folds – that equated to years of use.
When the screen is unfolded it folds flat and you can hardly notice the crease especially when there’s something on the gorgeous screen
So now you’ve gone from a 17.3-inch screen to a 12-inch screen with the lower area clear for you to activate the digital keyboard.
This way you’re typing on the lower half of the display.
If you prefer typing on a real keyboard, the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED does come with a thin and light Bluetooth keyboard.
This can be used when the screen is unfolded so it’s like using a desktop computer.
But when the screen is folded in half, the keyboard attaches magnetically to the frame and this then limits the display to the area above the keyboard, so it looks and now feels like a regular laptop.
The ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is as responsive as a regular laptop albeit a bit bulkier.
This foldable laptop is a lot thicker but it’s still easily portable.
It comes with a leather satchel which can store the Fold OLED itself and the Bluetooth keyboard.
Now the fact it is a foldable device doesn’t mean it isn’t a powerful laptop. It has Intel Iris X graphics, two Thunderbolt 4 ports to connect other monitors and other accessories and drives.
The included keyboard has 1.4mm key travel and a touchpad.
Also onboard are Harmon Kardon speakers and includes both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision so your entertainment experience is top shelf.
For video conferencing the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED has a 5-megapixel AI camera and AI noise cancellation so you not only look good but also sound good as well.
Now let’s talk price. A revolutionary folding laptop like this doesn’t come cheap.
In Australia, it’s priced at $6999.
But you must remember you’re getting a device that’s so much more than a laptop.
You can use the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED in so many ways.
It is definitely the most futuristic laptop we’ve ever seen and looks set to become the first in an exciting future range of products from ASUS.
VERDICT
ASUS has reinvented the laptop with the 17 Fold OLED and puts the future in your hands today. You’ll never look at a laptop in the same way again after using the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED.