From folding phones to folding laptops, it seems like the demand for futuristic devices that can morph in size and shape isn’t dissipating anytime soon. ASUS has announced their Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702), the world’s first 17.3-inch foldable OLED laptop, will roll out globally from Q4 2022 and will be priced from US$3,499.
ASUS says that with Intel, they have developed industry-first solutions to advance innovation in the foldables category, which includes collaborations between domain experts and an ecosystem partnership.
Whether or not foldable laptops are a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist as yet, ASUS believes that the device is a “response to users’ desires to achieve the ideal balance between mobility and productivity in their modern 24/7 lifestyles.” The company says that it eliminates the need to compromise when working in different environments — in the office, at home, while traveling or when relaxing — by elegantly incorporating two screen sizes and multiple usage modes into one highly portable device.
This Intel Evo-certified foldable laptop offers two sizes of OLED display in one device: a large 4:3 17.3-inch 2.5K touchscreen that folds in the middle to create two seamless 3:2 12.5-inch 1920 by 1280 displays. When folded fully closed along the 180° hinge — which ASUS says has been tested to withstand over 30,000 open-and-close cycles (significantly less than the 200 000 folds Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 is rated for) — it’s an ultra-compact and portable 12.5-inch device smaller than a sheet of photocopier paper. Multiple versatile usage modes — Desktop, Laptop (with Bluetooth keyboard), Laptop (with virtual keyboard), Tablet, Reader and Extended — are enabled by the folding design in conjunction with the full-size ASUS ErgoSense Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad, and each screen can additionally be split into multiple windows and the contents arranged, using the intelligent window-management feature in the ASUS ScreenXpert 3 and exclusive Mode Switcher apps. Despite its versatility and large screen size, the device weighs just 1.5 kg without the keyboard or 1.8 kg with it.
The foldable OLED touchscreen — which has a 0.2 ms response time and a 60 Hz refresh rate — is accompanied by a quad-speaker Harman Kardon-certified Dolby Atmos sound system and is Dolby Vision-certified with a 100% DCI-P3 gamut and is also PANTONE Validated for color accuracy and TÜV Rheinland-certified for reducing harmful blue light.
Zenbook 17 Fold OLED includes several AI-powered features, including user-presence detection using an HD IR camera; an integrated color sensor for automatic adjustment of screen brightness and color temperature; and a 5 MP AI webcam with ASUS 3D Noise Reduction (3DNR) technology for clearer video calls.
Powering the device is the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1250U processor, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16 GB RAM and a fast 1 TB PCIe SSD. In terms of I/O, there are two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, which support fast charging of the long-lasting 75 Wh battery, and connections to external displays. The new ASUS ErgoSense keyboard and touchpad ensures comfortable, accurate typing, with a desktop-grade 19.05 mm key pitch and a long 1.4 mm travel on the dished mechanical keys.
ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702) will retail for R69,999 in South Africa. It will be available from Incredible Connection and online via the ASUS online store. Local availability is expected in early Q4, but this is subject to change.
Specs:
| CPU | 12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-1250U Processor |
| Display | [Unfolded] 17.3” Foldable OLED 2.5K (2560 x 1920), 4:3 aspect ratio, LED-backlit 350 nits, touchscreen [Folded] 2 x 12.5” (1920 x 1280), 3:2 aspect ratio |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Pro / Home |
| Graphics | Intel® Iris® Xe |
| Main memory | 16 GB LPDDR5 onboard |
| Storage | 1 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe® 4.0 SSD |
| Connectivity | Intel® WiFi 6E, Bluetooth® 5.2 |
| Camera | 5 MP AI camera with 3D Noise Reduction HD camera with IR function and Intel® Visual Sensing Controller Colour sensor for automatic colour temperature and brightness control |
| I/O ports | 2 x Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C® (up to 40 Gbps) 1 x audio combo jack |
| Touchpad | Yes |
| Audio | Harman Kardon-certified Dolby Atmos® with built-in quad-speakers Built-in array microphone with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support |
| Battery | 75 Wh Up to 9.5 hours (12.5” Laptop mode); up to 8.5 hours (17.3” Desktop mode) |
| AC adapter | Type-C®, 65 W AC Adapter, Output: 20 V DC, 3.25 A, 65 W, Input: 100-240 V AC 50 / 60 Hz universal |
| Dimensions | Unfolded display: 378.5 x 287.6 x 8.7~12.9 mm Folded display: 287.6 x 189.3 x 17.4~34.4 mm ASUS ErgoSense Bluetooth® keyboard and touchpad: 285 x 182 x 5.5 mm |
| Weight | Without ASUS ErgoSense Bluetooth® keyboard and touchpad: 1.5 kg With ASUS ErgoSense Bluetooth® keyboard and touchpad: 1.8 kg |
