Wouldn’t it be impressive if you could simply DOUBLE the size of your laptop when needed and then magically SHRINK it back down to a small, lightweight, highly portable device for packing? This is ACTUALLY possible! Meet our Zenbook 17 Fold OLED! It sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it? A laptop that LITERALLY transforms, shifts, and expands. And this is definitely our most passionate and innovative product in the long run. MAYBE you’ve already heard of the Zenbook Fold… We haven’t really kept it a secret…
We couldn’t help but present a prototype at CES a few months ago, and based on the feedback from that event, we’re clearly not the only ones who are excited. So, what’s it like to be one of the first to experience the latest technology and get a glimpse of what’s to come? Well, let me give you a brief overview of the device and what it was like to test it for a few weeks. Foldable screens are really cool, they allow for the creation of devices that literally transform into something else. Something that has always fascinated ASUS.
You can turn a phone into a tablet…
Or a tablet into a laptop. But these screens are a whole new level of complexity and very demanding in manufacturing. There are only 2, maybe 3 companies worldwide that can produce them in large quantities.
And the larger the display, the more difficult it becomes. So why did we make it even harder and aim for a 17-inch display? Well, because when you fold it in half, you get 13 inches. And 13 inches is like the magic number for laptops. That’s by far the most popular form factor.
Everything revolves around how portable 13-inch laptops are. They are light, compact, and fit well in almost any backpack. And it is probably the smallest laptop size that still supports a comfortable full-size keyboard. The Zenbook Fold offers you all of that, but then transforms into a huge 17-inch display!
Okay, let’s start with the unboxing. On the back, you can see a matte glass panel, like on flagship smartphones. Thanks to a microscopic pattern on the glass, it captures light and reflects it in a really cool way. This helps to give the feeling of working with a futuristic high-tech device.
The case is only just under 8 mm thin when opened, making it about as narrow as a modern smartphone, and it feels just as slim in the hand. To make it as light as possible yet still very robust and solid, it is made of magnesium alloy. These alloys have only about a quarter of the weight of steel, are half as heavy as titanium, and about 30% lighter than aluminum.
With a weight of around 1.5 kg, it feels about as portable as a 13- or 14-inch laptop. That SOUNDS heavy for a tablet, but given its size, it doesn’t feel heavy at all, at least not to me. The weight is very well balanced and never bothered me when I placed it on my sofa, bed, or lap. The whole thing is rounded off with faux leather accents on the back and palm rest, and I actually wish we wouldn’t hide the really complex and cool hinge behind this faux leather, but I guess that’s just because I’m a nerd. So, glass, magnesium, and leather… Definitely extravagant! And when it’s opened… Look at those slim bezels…
And this ENORMOUS display…
Due to its 4:3 aspect ratio, the display area is actually even larger than that of conventional 17-inch laptops with a 16:9 aspect ratio. When you fold it into clamshell or laptop mode, you get a 12.5-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio. This is somewhat unusual but roughly equivalent to a 16:10 display, but with even more vertical space and essentially no bottom bezel or the like.
And… it’s an OLED screen! That means it delivers incredibly rich blacks and impressive colors.
I haven’t seen a better-looking screen on a laptop, it can hardly get any better! QHD resolution, 100% DCI-P3 color coverage for over 1 billion colors, 500 nits peak brightness, a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. That’s the kind of incredible contrast that makes everything look so vivid and rich on OLED displays, and it adds more atmosphere when watching movies, especially in HDR or with high dynamic range. The device received the HDR-500 True Black certification, something only OLED TVs and OLED displays are capable of.
And remember, it’s a touchscreen! You can tap, swipe, and use familiar gestures. You may be wondering how durable a device with a folding screen can be. Our customized, precisely engineered 180-degree hinge, combined with our foldable OLED screen, withstood a stress test of over 30,000 folding cycles of opening and closing. That’s equivalent to 84 years if you fold and unfold the device once a day, and about 2 years if you fold and unfold it dozens of times a day. I tested it and personally averaged about 15 cycles per day, which would give me over 5 years of use.“
We also put the Zenbook Fold through a series of durability tests to military standards, which it successfully passed. And both the display and hinge are fully covered by our warranty, the duration of which depends on the place of purchase, but is usually about 2 years. Now let’s take a look at the different usage options. In laptop mode, it visually and tactually resembles an extremely portable 13-inch device.
It comes with the same standard key spacing of 19.05 mm as desktop keyboards. It is essentially the same ERGOSENSE keyboard as on all our Zenbooks from 2022! But here’s something no other laptop can do, and that’s a pretty cool party trick that definitely catches attention. You can simply remove the keyboard in just one second and get double the screen space.
This is pretty much exactly the same as our Zenbook Duo laptops, except that with the Zenbook Fold, the entire laptop is a touchscreen. This was pretty handy for me when browsing through images, scrolling through text or files, online shopping, as well as browsing social media and websites. This was also my preferred mode for video calls, with the call in the upper and notes in the lower area.
And the best part: you can either use the on-screen keyboard that appears when you need it and then disappears immediately, or if you’re typing a bit more, you can reattach the Zenbook Fold’s Bluetooth keyboard, which snaps securely and audibly into place thanks to some powerful magnets. You can fold the device a bit flatter into a book-like form. In this mode, I can hold it in one hand while asking for a seat on the subway or walking around.
Das fühlte sich vor allem bei E-Books, Dokumenten, digitalen Zeitschriften oder Comics cool an, bei denen man durch Wischen die nächste Seite aufrufen kann. Einige Apps und Dokumente haben sogar Animationen für einen virtuellen Seitenwechsel, was echt Spaß macht. Und natürlich könnt ihr es flach zu einem gigantischen 17,3-Zoll-Tablet aufklappen. Das gefiel mir besonders, wenn ich meine Lieblingssendungen ansehen, im Internet surfen und soziale Medien nutzen wollte. Und dieser Modus funktioniert sehr gut, wenn ihr Inhalte teilen oder mit anderen zusammenarbeiten wollt. Flach auf einem Tisch eignet es sich ideal für Skizzen, zum Spielen von Touchscreen-Spielen, zum gemeinsamen Blättern durch Dateien und Karten… Und zu guter Letzt nutzte ich überwiegend den „Desktop-Modus“. Das Zenbook Fold hat einen integrierten Ständer. Er verwandelt das Gerät in so etwas wie einen ALL-IN-ONE- oder DESKTOP-PC. Für mich fühlte es sich noch besser an als die Nutzung als 17-Zoll-Laptop. Nicht nur, weil es zusammengeklappt so leicht und kompakt ist, sondern auch, weil ich die Tastatur an jede beliebige Stelle bewegen konnte. Natürlich könnt ihr kabellose Bluetooth-Kopfhörer nutzen, aber dank eines 3,5-mm-Kombi-Audioanschlusses habt ihr die Wahl zwischen kabellos und kabelgebunden. Dank des Audioanschlusses stellte der Wechsel zu Kopfhörern nie ein Problem dar. Kabelgebundenen Kopfhörern geht nie der Strom aus und sie lassen sich innerhalb einer Mikrosekunde koppeln. Übrigens: Obwohl es einen integrierten Ständer gibt, könnt ihr die meisten Laptop- oder Tablet-Ständer nutzen und so die Auswahl an Winkeln erhöhen und den Einsatz im Hochformat ermöglichen. Das war mein bevorzugter Modus bei privaten Videoanrufen. Es fühlte sich atmosphärisch und natürlich an, seine Familie und Freunde auf solch einem großen und lebendigen OLED-Display zu sehen.
The Zenbook Fold features a wide range of sensors. There is a 5-megapixel AI webcam, an ambient light sensor that adjusts screen brightness and even color temperature based on the environment, and an HD-IR camera with our ASUS AdaptiveLock. Powered by Intel’s Visual Sensing Controller, it effortlessly logs you in without passwords and dims the screen or locks the Zenbook Fold when you look away or move away from the device. This allows you to save battery life, protect your privacy, and control who can use the device. It’s also a great feature to have when there are children in the house. Let me walk you through a typical day. First thing in the morning, I take a quick look at my phone. I know everyone says it’s not a good way to start the day, but I guess I’m not the only one who has this bad habit. The Zenbook Fold can be easily stored on the nightstand when folded, as it doesn’t take up much space. Then, browsing social media and news sites on a massive 17-inch display instead of my phone felt extremely luxurious. And as a BONUS: since the display is so large, you probably won’t need glasses or contact lenses if you normally wear them! The stand allows for easy placement of the Zenbook Fold on a coffee table, shelf, desk, kitchen table, and use as a portable OLED TV. It’s pretty much like the Vivobook Slate 13, but this device is about TWICE as big. It’s perfect for watching shows during breakfast, listening to podcasts in the background or news, or just listening to music. Thanks to the powerful quad-speaker system, it’s pretty loud.
„It can also be practical to keep the children in check with a children’s show. Since the keyboard is detachable, it was the perfect living room entertainment keyboard for the sofa, coffee table, or my lap. You can effortlessly connect the Zenbook Fold to your TV. Both Type-C ports support charging and display output, so you only need a small dongle and one cable to get started. Some TVs even support direct Type-C charging, so you don’t even need a dongle. An easy Type-C cable is all you need. Whether at home or in the office, I used a dongle to connect multiple peripheral devices at once. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, USB microphone, webcam, internet cable, and USB storage device. Both Type-C ports of the Zenbook Fold allowed me to connect all of that and power and charge the laptop by connecting a single cable. And again: some monitors support charging and have a built-in USB hub, so you may not even need a dongle. What’s cool about the Zenbook Fold is that it can do all of this in any of its modes. It can be folded and stored like a book, set up in tablet mode or laptop mode. How does it perform as a desktop replacement? Well, since it uses the latest 12th generation Intel hybrid CPU architecture with 10 CPU cores that can reach up to 4.7 GHz in turbo mode, it always works quickly and smoothly. In addition to the 12th generation Intel Core i7, you get 16 gigabytes of LPDDR5 memory running at an impressive 5200 MHz, and a PCI-Express Gen4 SSD with 6500 MB per second, as well as the latest Intel WiFi 6E. In standard mode, it runs at 28 dBA or less.“
Therefore, the integrated fan of the Zenbook Fold only became noticeable to me when I switched to the performance mode, which increases the CPU’s TDP by about 30%, for video editing and Photoshop, which the 10 cores handled very well, considering that it is an ultra-efficient U-series CPU. Intel’s hybrid architecture of the 12th generation really does a great job here. Depending on the quality of your internet connection and your location, cloud gaming is also an extremely tempting scenario on the Zenbook Fold! If you are interested in trying it out, we included a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate license so you can give it a try. The transition between these different modes worked very smoothly. Windows 11 handled the transition great, and our in-house app ScreenXpert 3 also gives you the option to dock and automatically move different apps so you can make the most of your screen space when rotating the tablet or switching between modes. Thanks to the 75 Wh battery and fast charging on one of the two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, battery life was never an issue for me. And thanks to our ASUS WiFi Master Premium technology, I never had any problems with the Wi-Fi signal. The device automatically and seamlessly switched between different Wi-Fi networks depending on which one currently offered me the best signal. It was great not having to manually switch Wi-Fi networks and never losing internet connection just because I was too far from the network, as was always the case before. Returning to a device that does NOT automatically switch made me really miss this feature. Why is this not part of the Wi-Fi standard?
„Ich bin froh, dass ASUS dafür gesorgt hat, dass zumindest fast alle unsere Laptops dies unterstützen. Neben dem kompakten, leichten 65-W-Type-C-Ladegerät erhaltet ihr einen Type-C-auf-USB-A-Dongle für alte Geräte und USB-Sticks. Zudem erhaltet ihr eine leichte Kunstlederhülle, die zur Farbe und zum Material des Zenbook Fold passt. In unserem MyASUS-Kontrollzentrum findet ihr eine Sammlung praktischer Apps und Tools, mit denen ihr das Maximum aus eurem Laptop herausholen könnt. Ihr könnt euch ein paar Apps holen, die euch helfen, euer System zu pflegen, alle eure Treiber automatisch zu aktualisieren, die PC-Leistung zu optimieren und bei Fragen oder für Support Kontakt zu ASUS aufzunehmen. Es gibt einen Ein-Klick-Systemdiagnosetest. Ihr könnt verschiedene WLAN-Netzwerke für spezifische Apps oder Aufgaben priorisieren. Ihr könnt die integrierte KI-Geräuschunterdrückung für perfekte Anrufqualität anpassen, Dateien zwischen eurem Laptop und Telefon oder Tablet übertragen, zwischen verschiedenen Modi wechseln, vom Flüstermodus zum ausgewogenen Modus bis zum Leistungsmodus. Außerdem könnt ihr die Anzeigefarbprofile umschalten, SRGB oder DCI-P3, oder ein angepasstes kalibriertes Farbprofil erstellen. Und MyASUS beinhaltet GlideX, eine geräteübergreifende Bildschirmfreigabe-App, mit der ihr ein anderes Gerät als zweites Display nutzen könnt – kabellos! Zu guter Letzt erhaltet ihr einen 3-monatigen ALL-ACCESS-Pass für Adobe Creative Cloud. Und das Beste daran: Falls ihr bereits einen Plan habt, könnt ihr die 3 Monate einlösen und zur Verlängerung eures aktuellen Plans nutzen! Okay, damit wäre unser Überblick über das Zenbook 17 Fold OLED abgeschlossen!“
„Ich hoffe, ihr seid ebenso gespannt, es auszuprobieren wie ich es war und genießt es, einer der ersten zu sein, die ein hochmodernes klappbares Hybridgerät nutzen, das in einigen Jahren womöglich zum Standard-Formfaktor wird. Ich und wir alle hier bei ASUS danken euch für eure Unterstützung, insbesondere jenen, die uns in den letzten paar Jahren empfohlen haben, ein klappbares hybrides Laptop-Tablet-Produkt herzustellen! Wir lieben Technik und können es kaum erwarten, euch die aktuellste und interessanteste Technologie zugänglich zu machen. Vielen Dank fürs Zuschauen! Ich hoffe, ihr hattet ebenso viel Spaß beim Ansehen dieses Videos wie ich beim Aufnehmen. Wir sehen uns in der nächsten Folge.“
