In a market of laptop rather dull and with timid developments, Asus is a model of innovation. Whether we like the Zenbook Duo or not, we can’t blame the Taiwanese for sticking to his laurels without trying new concepts.
The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is an efficient laptop on its own, but its foldable display sets it apart from almost anything on the market. In tablet mode, when the screen is fully unfolded, the Zenbook 17 Fold offers a large 17.3-inch touchscreen for work or entertainment. It’s a flattering and bright OLED panel, with excellent contrast ratio and high pixel density, all in a 4:3 aspect ratio, ideal for productivity.
For its foldable screen, Asus did not use ultra-thin glass like Samsung did on its Z Fold. The top layer is made of glossy plastic, which feels less smooth, premium and durable than a composite including glass. In addition, the screen seems to have no anti-reflective treatment, making it difficult to use outdoors. Asus says the hinge inside the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is rated for 30,000 open and close cycles.
4 more or less effective modes of use
Closed in notebook mode, the Zenbook Fold is quite thick.
Open the screen and you get a compact 12.5-inch laptop with a 3:2 aspect ratio screen. The device detects this and adapts the user interface to use only the upper half of the screen. The software, while not definitive, feels responsive and mode switching is pretty smooth.
In this mode, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED behaves like a small classic laptop. The removable keyboard (not backlit and requiring cable charging) rests on the lower part of the screen, which is protected by strips of soft plastic on the sides. The use is identical to a traditional portable PC, except it is the Windows taskbar which is found right in the central fold of the screen.
Remove the keyboard and unfold the screen to 90-100° for hybrid use, ideal for web or spreadsheet display, for example. In this mode, it is not necessary to use the physical keyboard, it is possible to display a virtual keyboard on the lower part of the screen, it works, but it is clearly not optimal.
Fully unfold the screen and you have a gigantic 17.3-inch tablet. This is probably the least interesting use, the dimensions being far too large for comfortable handling. Good news, the fold, although visible from certain angles, is very quickly forgotten once in front of the device. The hinge seems solid, but you can’t help but be careful when opening it. Hopefully this feeling will go away with frequent use of the device.
Finally, once the foot on the back of the device is unfolded, and the keyboard placed in front of the screen, the formula of the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED takes on its full meaning. This mode is optimal for working by making the most of the format and dimensions of the screen. The Zenbook Fold is a complete workstation with a stunning 17-inch screen, which fits into a 12-inch laptop sleeve.
Potential, but at what cost?
In terms of manufacturing quality and materials, the Zenbook 17 OLED is elegant and solid, especially when folded in notebook mode. That said, it’s thick and heavy with a weight of around 1.5kg, but considering the 17-inch screen it houses, that’s still quite acceptable. We can’t help thinking that this first iteration looks a lot like a marketed prototype, and by the Asus teams’ own admission, it’s a necessary first draft to test market reactions.
We imagine that only wealthy technophiles, and others early adopter will be seduced… at a high price. Because it will cost nearly 4000 € to fold his laptop. If the formula works, and Asus manages to amortize its R&D and reduce its manufacturing costs, we can imagine that future iterations will be more affordable. In the meantime, we will soon offer you a complete test of the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED on Clubic.
0