The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is a laptop that may seem like it was taken from the worlds of science fiction. At its core, it is a huge tablet with a 17.7-inch screen, or alternatively, it turns into a laptop using a wireless Bluetooth keyboard.
But it is a folding screen, which allows work in two additional configurations while it is folded in half and stands like a standard laptop: using a virtual keyboard that appears on the bottom side of the screen, or by attaching the wireless keyboard, which connects to the computer magnetically, to the screen while hiding about a third of it (the resulting display is the size 12.5 inches). This is how extraordinary flexibility is obtained. In fact, Lenovo already offers a similar solution on the market called the ThinkPad X1 Fold, only with a much smaller screen.
According to Asus, the unique folding mechanism of Zenbook 17 Fold was developed so that it can last for at least 30,000 opening and closing cycles, while the battery is expected to last for about 9 and a half hours of continuous work. Asus has developed a window management system called ASUS ScreenXpert 3, and it is the one that should allow a logical arrangement of windows on the surface of the folded screen, and a smooth transition of software between the two halves of the display, as well as the presentation of the virtual keyboard in the correct position and proportions. An artificial intelligence system is able to provide biometric protection through the recognition of the user’s face, through a front camera with an infrared scanner and a photo sensor with a resolution of 5 megapixels that should provide excellent performance even during video calls.
Zenbook 17 Fold is based on the Windows 11 operating system, with an Intel i7-125OU processor, 16 GB of working memory and an OLED screen with a resolution of 2560X1920 pixels and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The specification also includes a terabyte NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD drive, a pair of USB-C connections that are also suitable for connecting to external monitors, four speakers that support virtual surround sound with Dolby Atmos technology. The weight of the computer is 1.5 kilograms.
Asus plans to open orders for the computer starting in the fourth quarter of 2022, when the starting price in Israel will be NIS 14,499.