Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED: Innovative PC Design

Futuristic folding PCs get big—really big

- MATTHEW BUZZI

Folding smartphones have arguably begun the transition from novelties to real products. Are PCs set for the same path? Following Lenovo’s 13.3-inch ThinkPad X1 Fold from late 2020, Asus has introduced the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, a folding-screen convertible with a built-in kickstand and wireless keyboard. The design delivers versatile mode options for different workflows, and the 17.3-inch display is big enough to divide into two smaller screens that are still large enough to be useful. Like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is painfully expensive, and its Intel Core i7-1250U processor is much weaker than you’d normally get in a laptop at this price, putting it about as far from a value recommendation as possible. Wealthy early adopters may take the plunge, but everyone else will mostly find it an admirable engineering exercise that represents a first step toward making similar technology more accessible in the future.

THIS FOLDING DISPLAY IS A RARE FIRST

While the Asus is the second foldable Windows PC to come across our test bench, the fact that it upsizes basically everything limits direct comparison to the Lenovo X1 Fold. I couldn’t help but feel drawn to the device, after years of laptops that mostly look and behave the same way—it’s an exciting addition to the market, even though its price (and one or two possible kinks) may prevent mass adoption for the time being. The first time you fold the giant screen in two, it feels as though the future has arrived. But I suspect I’d be less enthusiastic if I’d paid for the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED instead of borrowing one for this review.

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