Asus is launching the ZenBook 17 Fold OLED today in the US. According to the company, the new foldable laptop will be sold through both Newegg and B&H Photo, with a price set at $3,499. The news comes after the device was unveiled during CES 2022, then shown off again at IFA a couple months ago.
The ZenBook 17 Fold OLED isn’t unlike Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold in its approach. It sports a 17.3-inch 2560×1920 display that can fold in half for better portability. You can prop the display up and use it as a 12.5-inch 1920×1280 screen in a familiar laptop orientation, and it comes with a Bluetooth keyboard that can be placed on its lower half to complete the experience. You can also stand the whole thing up vertically or horizontally and use a 17.3-inch display wherever you go.
It’s powered by a solid list of specs, with a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and Windows 11. You’ll also find a 75Whr battery inside, a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports on the side, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 5MP webcam, Harman Kardon speakers, and Wi-Fi 6E.
I’ve never used the ZenBook 17 Fold OLED, but I have played with Lenovo’s folding PC, and I dig the idea of having such a large screen you can fold in half and take with you anywhere. The amount of form factors a device like that introduces is intriguing, since you could use it as large laptop in a coffee shop or fold it slightly and read an e-book. Stand it up vertically and you’ll get a ton of height to write on, and the classic laptop orientation is good for confined spaces.
Obviously, this is Asus’ first swing at a foldable laptop, a device category that’s still well in its infancy, so it’s probably far from perfect. Lenovo’s first attempt was a bit of a mess, to say the least, and Asus will likely go through the same growing pains with the ZenBook 17 Fold OLED. But it’s exciting that companies are working on devices like this nonetheless, and the fact they’re shipping them is even more exciting.
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