Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED: Foldable tablet presented

Asus has introduced a 17.3-inch tablet that folds in the middle and can thus also be used as a classic notebook. The device is the largest in its class – and relatively expensive.

Foldable display and optional keyboard

The heart of the device is its OLED display, which measures 17.3 inches diagonally and can be folded in the middle. Thus, it can not only be used as a classic tablet, but also as a notebook. The folded part of the display can be equipped with a digital keyboard that is displayed on the screen and operated via touchscreen. It is also possible to attach a classic keyboard to this part of the display. Magnetic mounts can be used for this.

The 4:3 format display has a resolution of 2560 × 1920 pixels and covers the DCI-P3 color space completely. It also boasts a brightness of up to 350 cd/m² on the surface; even 500 cd/m² are possible at certain points. When the display is folded, two individual displays are created, each of which is 12.5 inches in size, has a 3:2 format and a resolution of 1920 × 1280 pixels.

Besides the use as a classic notebook and a classic tablet, a third mode is available. In this mode, the device can be used like a classic PC. It is placed upright, which is possible thanks to the kickstand function, and operated with the keyboard in front of the screen. The keyboard can be connected to the device via Bluetooth.

The device can be stored in a space-saving way when folded. There is a free space between the two screen parts where the keyboard can be placed. The folding hinge, which provides a slight thickening at one point, has been tested by Asus in 30,000 folding cycles – and should be correspondingly durable.

10-core Intel Core i7-1250U processor

The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is powered by the Intel Core i7-1250U processor, which has two performance and eight efficiency cores. In addition, there is an integrated Xe graphics unit with 96 execution units. The processor, which consumes nine watts in normal mode and up to 29 watts in startup phases, is supported by 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 1 TB PCI Express 4.0 SSD. The Windows 11 Home operating system is preinstalled.

Rounding out the Zenbook’s features are two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and a jack port. It should be noted that one of the USB ports is occupied during charging. Thus, when the 75 Wh battery is charged, only one USB port is available for other purposes.

Price and availability

The new Zenbook will be available from the fourth quarter of the current year. Asus is calling for a price of 3,699 euros. This makes it considerably more expensive than the latest Zenbook laptops Zenbook Pro 15 Flip OLED and Zenbook Pro 17.