The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is now on sale for $3,499.99, according to the company. As of this writing only Newegg seems to have the laptop available for immediate shipping, with B&H listing it as "coming soon." When we reviewed the laptop in August, the target date was Q4.
Monica Chin points out that the first such device that starts to deliver on the promise of this new form factor is the Zenbook 17 fold. You can either use the laptop with a full screen or with a keyboard and trackpad. You can bend the screen to get the displays. The lower display can be used as a touchscreen keyboard or covered with a keyboard that is magnetically attached.
It was folded with and without its keyboard. The photo was taken by Monica Chin.
The laptop is not flawless. Monica found a few hardware and software bugs in her Zenbook 17 fold, which is not acceptable on a laptop at this price. Even though it has an Intel i7-1250U processor, 16GB of RAM, 1 terabytes of storage, and a 75Wh battery, it still struggles with even moderately intensive applications. It is rated to be opened and closed 30,000 times, but it is not known how durable it will be once it is exposed to real-world conditions.
As a proof of concept, the Asus device is more promising than previous attempts at the form-factor such as the ThinkPad X1 Fold, which was released in 2020 for $2,499. Monica said in August that it was difficult for her to recommend it as a daily driver because of the problems she had encountered and the high price.
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