Asus has unveiled a new laptop that has a foldable OLED screen, becoming one of the most exciting reveals of CES 2022 so far.
When folded down flat, the ZenBook Fold looks like a standard 17-inch tablet. But the foldable OLED panel allows you to bend it upright into the shape of an open book. A bundled Bluetooth keyboard can then sit on top, allowing you to use it like a more conventional clamshell laptop.
We’ve seen foldable devices like this before, but usually as a concept. But the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is the real deal, with Asus revealing that it will launch as soon as Q2 2022.
The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED packs a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 U-Series processor, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It also has a 2560 x 1920 screen resolution, and a large 75Wh battery.
The main attraction of this device is obviously its versatility, as you can use it as both a large tablet or a standard laptop. Asus also suggested that it’s a good option for gaming, as you can prop up the display on a table by bending it slightly, and then load up cloud streaming services such as Xbox Game Pass. But of course, it’s lacking a discrete GPU so don’t expect it to offer a powerful gaming performance natively.
One big stumbling block for foldable laptops so far has been the operating system, as Windows 10 wasn’t well suited to the foldable design. But Asus has said Windows 11 has seen numerous improvements on this front. We’ll have to wait until we can test it for ourselves before making our own verdict.
Asus hasn’t revealed any pricing details just yet, but the company did clarify that it will be around the same price as a gaming laptop, so it’s possible it could cost around £2000 or even more. But with Q2 2022 launch window, we probably won’t have to wait long to find out the exact price.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
