Asus Zenbook 17 Fold review

The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold looks straight out of a sci-fi film with its massive 17-inch foldable OLED display boasting a number of features.

This is the most futuristic laptop I’ve used all year albeit being worried about carrying it around with me in case something happens.

In ten seconds, the Zenbook Fold transmutes from a compact notebook to a comfortable workstation and, in the evening, to a TV.

Display

This 17.3-inch OLED display has a hinge in the middle, allowing you to fold it in half like a book — except it’s a book with a pair of 12.5-inch OLED touchscreens instead of pages.

The folding screen makes window management more important and easier than ever since you can arrange multiple windows in a variety of ways on both halves of the display.

The ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED series features a 17.3-inch OLED touchscreen with 4:3 aspect ratio and 2560 x 1920 resolution.

The display provides an up to 87% screen to body ratio and supports a 1 000 000:1 contrast ratio, 0.2 ms response time, 60 Hz frame frequency.

The display also offers an ultrawide colour gamut of 100% DCI-P3, which is widely used in the motion picture industry, and is PANTONE Validated to provide the most precise colour accuracy.

Specs

With thin and light form factors, the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED series is equipped with the 12th gen Intel Core i7 U-series processors, up to 16 GB of on-board memory and a 1TB SSD as well as Thunderbolt 4, a 3.5 mm audio combo jack.

Asus also packs in its own ScreenXpert software that makes it easy to arrange whatever you’re working on across the Zenbook 17 Fold’s display, and together these tools make the concept of doing computer work on a folding screen seem downright reasonable.

The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED’s design is its most outstanding feature.

Asus recommends you try using it in at least four or five different positions, from folded like a traditional laptop with the included ErgoSense Bluetooth keyboard tucked on top of the bottom half to unfolded like a big book, with the keyboard on the desk inf front of you and the full 17.3-inch display stretched in front of you.

Battery

The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED series is equipped with a 75 Whr battery, and it can provide enough battery life to cover a day of work or play unplugged.

They also offer a fast-charge function, charging from 1% to 60% in just 49 minutes.

Verdict

ASUS wowed the world with the new ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, even though they weren’t actually the first to bring a laptop with a foldable screen to market.

That honour belongs to Lenovo. However, ASUS captured minds by offering a larger foldable 17.3″ screen, and by targeting the mainstream segment instead of the commercial market like Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold.

That’s a massive differentiator as means the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702) is vastly more accessible than the ThinkPad X1 Fold, cost notwithstanding. So, is this going to be your next laptop?

The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is an impressive piece of kit and certainly makes a solid case for itself when it comes to highlighting the multi-functionality of foldables in the notebook space.

The big issue right now, which is the same one for all foldables at the moment, is price and at R64k, you better make sure you have insurance on the device before you buy it.

Availability and pricing

Unveiled at IFA 2022, the device is already available to purchase in South Africa, starting from R64 999 (RRP).

ALSO READ: Asus unveils Zenbook 17 Fold, worlds first foldable laptop