Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Review: Price, Performance, User Reviews & More Details

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Review: One of the coolest laptops we’ve ever seen is the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, which impressed us when it was first announced for release in India in October. However, its unconventional design also sparked a lot of concerns about its practicality and usability, which we’ll address in this review. The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702), according to Asus, is the first 17.3-inch laptop with a folding display. However, this is not the first laptop of any kind. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, which had a 13.3-inch folding display and was followed by a second-generation model with a 16.3-inch folding display a few months later, holds that title.

There clearly appears to be some potential for such a device, regardless of how niche it may be, given that HP is also said to be working on a product that is comparable to the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. It’s time to find out if Asus’s most recent, very expensive experiment is just a novelty or if choosing this over a standard laptop with a large screen actually has a practical advantage.

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Review

One business that doesn’t hesitate to experiment with form factors and design is ASUS. The Flow Z13, a potent Windows gaming tablet that resembles the Microsoft Surface Pro, followed the ROG Flow X13 as the first 2-in-1 ultrabook targeted for gamers. The ZenBook 17 Fold OLED is a sizable Windows tablet that can now be folded exactly in the middle. You can use it as a laptop or a desktop by using the included ultra-thin Bluetooth keyboard, which is included with the device. Sounds alluring, don’t you think?

Some of the main PC manufacturers either confirmed they were working on 17-inch foldable laptops or were rumoured to be. But Asus appears to be the first to act, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who is aware with the firm and its shenanigans. The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, the first shelf-ready product of its sort to reach reviewers’ hands, is where I’m typing this right now. It is a 17.3-inch laptop with a foldable screen. And the fact is, it works.

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Review Details

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Price And Availability

A single configuration of the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) is available for Rs. Although the price of 298,990 in India seems absurd, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold laptop, which had a much smaller display and was released in 2021 for roughly the same amount, was available for purchase. If you were one of the customers who pre-ordered the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, it could have been yours for Rs. 2,84,290, which includes discounts and some freebies like a portable SSD and an extended warranty.

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Review

The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is not without real complaints. Even when compared to other Asus laptops, its $3,500 price tag is insane, and it is somewhat bulky and heavy. But as an idea, it’s hard to argue against the setup’s value. I’m in love with the Zenbook 17 Fold, and I think it will be the future of computing for people who need or want to work on the go when technology gets advanced enough to lower prices and improve battery life.

Design and Display

When it comes to trying new things, Asus is one of those companies that doesn’t hold back. The bizarre Asus Zenbook Duo was previously used as an experiment by the Taiwanese tech company to justify its use case for content creators. The Zenbook Fold does the same thing. Absolutely, it is an elegant device. The high-quality materials used to construct it, such as magnesium alloy, faux leather, and frosted glass, contribute to its distinct style. Yes, when was the most recent time you observed a laptop with a glass shell? Given that this is Asus’s first attempt at foldable laptops, they have pretty much perfected the design, both in terms of functionality and aesthetics.

It is approximately 1.5 kg in weight and has dimensions of 14.9 x 11.3 x 0.34 inches when unfolded. With a thickness of 8.7 mm when unfolded, it is fairly thin. The laptop appears to be unbalanced in weight and feels a little heavy. Even though the leather carry case helps make it portable, it can’t be held in one hand for long periods of time. Additionally, it has MIL-STD 810H durability certification. The laptop does not take up a lot of space when folded and can also be carried in a backpack.

Each of the three sections of the back is constructed of different materials. The company refers to the matte black finish on the right portion as “Tech Black.” A faux leather cover and a kickstand occupy the middle section, which is useful for watching movies; we’ll go into more detail later. The final section has Asus‘ new monogram painted on frosted glass with a reflective dark blue finish that attracts a lot of smudges and makes it look very elegant.

A moving part in the faux leather case at the back responds to the laptop’s state. It slides smoothly over when folded and covers the hinge mechanism well. When held in one’s hand, the entire package resembles a diary. Additionally, rubber padding on the back aids in elevation when used in laptop mode. It has fairly large bezels at the front to house the hinge mechanism. At the point when collapsed, the right half of the PC houses a 3.5mm earphone jack, a USB-Type C Thunderclap 4 port, air vents, a Drove marker for the battery, and the power button. A speaker grille, volume rockers, and additional USB-Type C Thunderbolt 4 ports are held in place on the upper side. Speaker grilles can be found on the device’s left and bottom sides, making it a quad-speaker setup.

A rubber shell protects the hinges from dust and assists with the folding mechanism. Despite the fact that this is a laptop/workstation, it is unlikely that one would frequently open and close it, despite Asus’s claim that the hinges are capable of supporting more than 30,000 folding cycles. It requires more skill than force to unfold. Additionally, it has a front-facing 5-megapixel 720p camera. In tablet mode, it functions as a webcam and a selfie camera thanks to its excellent alignment. The camera quality is not particularly impressive. It also holds a few IR sensors in place for Windows Hello face recognition, which works most of the time except in slightly dim lighting.

The Zenbook Fold, according to Asus, can be used in six different positions. Among the most common is using it as a laptop or workstation. Since the weight of the laptop eventually causes sharp pain in your wrists, using it as a tablet is very difficult. We used it in workstation mode with the Bluetooth keyboard positioned in front of it for the majority of our review period. If you have a desk that can accommodate the large screen, this is a great way to use it. For content consumption, the massive 17.3-inch 2560 x 1920 OLED display is stunning. It has been validated by Pantone and supports the DCI-P3 color gamut. It was an immersive experience to watch movies and the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 on it, despite the chunky bezels.

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The majority of our time was spent watching television shows like House of the Dragon, Better Call Saul, Modern Family, and the Big Bang Theory. The OLED display is capable of producing true-to-life blacks, and the colors look great. It has a vivid color profile by default, and videos have a lot of contrast and detail. YouTube’s HDR content also looked good on this big screen. It has a peak brightness of 500 nits, so using the laptop in daylight was no problem. However, the screen has a lot of reflection, which might make the experience a little less enjoyable. When in workstation mode, it is difficult to remember that this laptop can fold because the crease is completely hidden from view. Harman Kardon tuned the quad-speaker setup, which has Dolby Atmos certification. The speakers significantly enhance the viewing experience.

When we reviewed Samsung’s most recent foldable phones earlier this year, we discussed the “foldable tax.” One of our main complaints about the two phones was their inconsistent aspect ratios. It also follows here. The Zenbook Fold has a 4:3 aspect ratio when it is unfolded and a 3:2 aspect ratio when it is folded. This indicates that black bars appear at the top and bottom of almost all contemporary content. The touchscreen display works most of the time well. However, it may take a few tries to register the touchscreen once you start using it and change the laptop’s orientation. You might want to keep a cloth nearby because the screen accumulates a lot of fingerprint smudges and dust.

Software and performance

The design aspect of the Zenbook Fold has been very well implemented. Nevertheless, the software is unquestionably one of the most significant aspects. The software should be able to handle the fact that Asus claims the laptop can be used in multiple positions. The company has integrated a few apps that can help improve the user experience so that this flows well. The Bluetooth keyboard that comes with the device is an excellent and much-needed addition. It fits quickly onto the laptop because it is well-built and relatively thin. Windows 11 responds well for the most part, but there are times when it fails. The transition from tablet mode to laptop mode is quite intriguing. The magnets on the back of the included keyboard can be used to attach it to the laptop’s bottom.

The keyboard has a thin frame, but the keys are very clicky and don’t feel cheap at all. Sadly, there is no backlighting for the keys, which is a real shame. On the other hand, the trackpad is a little tacky. It sometimes doesn’t respond, and the click isn’t good. Additionally, when connected via magnetically, the keyboard does not automatically charge. That is correct; it must be billed separately. Fortunately, it can be paired with up to two devices simultaneously and lasts more than two weeks on a single charge.

When you switch from the extended tablet interface to the standard Windows layout, the Windows UI automatically adjusts. This ensures that the taskbar and other components blend seamlessly into the frame. This brilliant concept demonstrates its adaptability. Sadly, not everything goes according to plan when it is carried out. The laptop remained in tablet mode even when the software failed to recognize the keyboard at times. Additionally, there were instances in which physically switching from tablet mode to workstation mode did not alter the orientation of the screen. This happened many times and it ended up being entirely aggravating. This was resolved by restarting the laptop, but that is irrelevant here.

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Moving on, the ScreenXpert 3 software that comes with the Zenbook Fold assists with screen layouts. It has a small, floating icon on the desktop that can be used to quickly access screenshots, layouts, and other content. MyAsus is another application that comes pre-installed in addition to this. This is helpful for checking the health of the battery, maintaining the OLED, and more. McAfee Antivirus and Microsoft Office are also pre-installed on the laptop.

The Zenbook Fold is powered by the Intel Core i7-1250U, a chip from Intel’s U-series designed specifically for thin and light laptops. Despite the fact that it isn’t as powerful as other processors from the chip manufacturer, it can run smoothly in a small package. There are a total of ten cores in it, two of which are efficiency cores and the other two are performance cores. The laptop comes with Iris Xe graphics and does not come with a discrete graphics card, which is pretty well known due to its form factor. It has a maximum frequency of 4.7GHz and a maximum power consumption of 29W. At 5200 MHz, it has 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It also comes with a 1TB SSD that can be upgraded, but most users probably won’t need more space.

The Zenbook Fold performed admirably in lighter workloads, despite the fact that opening multiple tabs in Google Chrome exhausts the laptop. We typically worked on the laptop, juggling Chrome, Slack, Basecamp, and a few other applications. In this regard, Windows provided a smooth and quick experience. When unfolded with the keyboard, it is an excellent laptop for work. The laptop also didn’t have a problem multitasking with multiple open apps or editing photos.

Sadly, video editing is not supported well by the Zenbook Fold. The laptop was stretched to its limits while editing a 45-second 1080p Instagram Reel. There was little delay in the timeline, but the addition of a few graphic templates to the sequence caused chaos. We also tried out the gaming capabilities by playing a few Counter-Strike games: Rounds of deathmatch from Global Offensive. With the graphics turned up to “High,” the game barely made it to 30 frames per second. While gaming, the rear of the Zenbook Fold slightly warmed up, but you won’t likely notice that when playing games in workstation mode.

When playing casual games with low graphics, such as Rocket League and Among Us, it feels most at home. This is understandable given that this laptop is designed for productivity and is not intended for gamers or creators. The results of putting the Zenbook Fold through fake benchmarks were interesting. In both the single-core and multi-core tests, Cinebench R23 received scores of 1198. PCMark 10 received a total score of 4756, with 7093 and 4605 respectively for the productivity and digital content creation tests. In the single-core and multi-core Geekbench 5 tests, the Zenbook Fold received scores of 1305 and 4182, respectively. The sequential read and write speeds recorded by CrystalDiskMark were 5119 MB/s and 7037 MB/s, respectively. Even when we were working extremely hard or running benchmarks, we could barely hear the fan, which is pretty cool.

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Battery life and Charging

The 75WHr battery in the Zenbook Fold lasts quite a while. We spent the majority of our days using the laptop to watch the World Cup or consume content on OTT platforms in workstation mode, which makes use of the entire screen.

We were pleased with the laptop’s battery life because it easily lasted us more than 8 hours with moderately heavy use of Photoshop and Chrome. The 65W USB-Type C charger that comes with the Zenbook Fold is included. It takes the laptop about an hour and a half to charge from 4% to 90%, and it does so fairly quickly.

Conclusion

The Zenbook Fold sets the stage for subsequent products of comparable stature. It stands out from standard laptops with hinges due to its adaptability. For those who consume content on a daily basis, the enormous display is a haven. Clear audio enhances your overall experience thanks to the quad-speaker setup that is built in. The faux leather casing cleverly conceals the hinge mechanism, and the laptop’s overall appearance and feel screams premium, as it should.

Although the screen shrinks to 12.5 inches when used in laptop mode, which initially feels awkward, it serves its purpose well. We couldn’t hold the tablet mode for very long, so it’s mostly for gym goers. Although charging the keyboard separately might be a hassle, the included keyboard is an excellent and crucial addition. Given that the compact form factor had to be preserved, there is only a limited number of ports available. They do, thankfully, come with an adapter. You probably won’t like the software’s inconsistencies, but they won’t stop you from buying it. We anticipate that future updates will resolve the situation. The charging times and battery life are commendable.

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Review FAQ’S

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