The device will launch today and will be available at almost all major offline and online retailers.
It’s only sometimes that we see innovation in the tech world and get to experience it first hand. The recent ‘trend’ that the tech industry seems to be following is foldable devices, which started with Samsung’s Galaxy Fold in 2019. Until recently, the trend was only limited to smaller screens, but it is slowly spreading to larger screens as well. Last month ASUS announced the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702). A 17.3-inch foldable screen that can be used whenever it is convenient for the user. I’ve had two weeks to get to know the device and here’s what I think of it. The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED features a 17.3-inch touchscreen with 2K resolution and two 12.5-inch FHD displays when folded. It is powered by Intel’s 12th generation i7 processor with 16GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB storage. It also comes with ASUS ErgoSense Bluetooth, which clips right onto the bottom half of the screen when folded up like a laptop. The size is just perfect for people who are always on the go. Apart from that, you can also unfold the screen and use it in all its glory and use the keyboard, giving you the feeling of a large screen desktop. The monitor weighs around 1.5kg without the keyboard and 1.8kg with it. In both cases, it is light and portable. What good is a screen without its screen? And in this case, it’s something of a dream show. The colors are intense and bright. The OLED panel makes the viewing experience worthwhile. I honestly have never felt so good looking at an Excel sheet. ASUS said it developed the foldable OLED panel with BOE, and boy! He has delivered. To prevent screen burn-in, which can happen when OLED panels sit still for too long, ASUS has also added features like Pixel Shift technology, default dark mode sending, unique screensavers, and more. The design of the device is also very smart. The dual hinges not only provide a crease-free experience, but also provide screen stability. It’s well-built and military-grade MIL-STD 810H rated for durability. It also comes with a built-in stand which is useful when using the display as a monitor. It’s impossible not to credit ASUS with how much thought the company has put into making a large screen portable without a lot of fuss. Even the 5.5mm keyboard is designed to fit right in the crease and becomes part of the laptop when you want to carry it around. While it’s practical and I had no problem working on the keyboard day-to-day, the key travel might be an issue for someone with larger fingers. The arrow keys are tiny, and that’s where I struggled, especially if I was playing games. That said, you can always pair the screen with a keyboard of your choice. It could limit you in terms of not being able to use the display as a laptop, and it can make portability an issue, but compromises have to be made somewhere. The other commendable feature of the Zenbook 17 Fold is its sound coming out of the quad speaker system. Usually, with laptops, sound becomes secondary and pairing a speaker becomes a muscle reflex if you’re consuming content. The Zenbook 17 Fold (brands should start coming up with nicknames for these devices) has sound from Harman/Kardon and Dolby vision atmos. It has one of the cleanest and most powerful sounds on a laptop — if you want to call it that. The speakers are placed on the sides of the panel, making them face forward, which adds to the audio experience. Once fully charged, my device lasted nearly a nine-hour shift at work, with a smooth, heat-free, sound-free experience. The Bluetooth keyboard is also rechargeable and has a USB-Type C port. Once charged, it can last you a week, depending on usage. The device also has two USB-Type C ports, the only I/O ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack (gotta love that). While the overall experience was smooth for me, I encountered a few lags and glitches here and there. At times, the screen would struggle to understand which orientation it was used in — whether from landscape to portrait or when folding and unfolding. He would get stuck, and sometimes, he would take his time and figure it out. Other times, I had to try the old “disable and re-enable” trick. This could be a buffer for gamers because they can’t use such a large screen, but it is what it is. Without a dedicated graphics card, the Zenbook 17 Fold simply isn’t built for heavy gaming. Light gaming runs smoothly on the device. I tried running Witcher 2, Grad Theft Auto IV and Asphalt 8 and the latter ran smoothly with zero issues. The other two, extremely huge and heavy games, saw delays when performing simple tasks like walking or driving. In conclusion, the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is a success for a first generation product. ASUS wanted to develop a functional display that could fold in half and make large displays portable, and they did. This is not a product that should reflect perfection. it is a product that reflects promise. Will I pay Rs 3,29,990 for it? No. But for someone who’s always on the go and needs a portable larger screen, something like this could be a good investment. The device will launch today and will be available at almost all major offline and online retailers.
