HP Spectre Fold vs Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED: Foldable laptops compared

HP recently announced its first foray into the foldable computing market, joining Asus and Lenovo. The HP Spectre Fold looks to be a luxury take on the formula, but how does it compare with the already-launched Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED?

Unlike foldable phones, foldable computers are very much a nascent technology. Lenovo was first out the gates with its ThinkPad X1 Fold then Asus arrived with its 17-inch rival before Lenovo swiftly announced the second generation of its foldable. In 2023, things have slowed down, with Lenovo’s next model headed to market in stuttering fashion with it having been a long time since it was originally announced.

HP is set to capitalise with what looks like it could be the most accomplished and fully-fledged foldable yet, but it is a first-generation product so thorough testing will be needed. And, there’s also the matter of an eye-watering price. Let’s dive into the hey HP versus Asus foldable comparisons.

The HP Spectre Fold will cost you five grand

This one had to be gotten out of the way first as it is the major talking point coming from the HP Spectre Fold announcement. Many will have recoiled in horror at the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED launched at £3,299/$3,999. Well, HP says hold my beer.

The Spectre Fold is set to launch at £4,999/$4,999. Admittedly, the Spectre Fold looks like it may be a more refined bit of kit, just from the images, but it largely dons similar specifications to the Asus. That’s from its CPU to its 17-inch OLED display. As such, it’ll be interesting to see what aspects of the design and features warrant this massive increase in price from a device that was already viewed as stunningly expensive.

HP’s foldable is thinner and lighter

Part of the jump in cost may well be down to these key factors, HP is calling the Spectre Fold the “world’s thinnest 17-inch foldable”. Given that there is only one other machine in this category, the Asus, then it is clear who is winning this one. The Spectre Fold comes in at 8.5mm when unfolded, compared with a 12.5mm thinness for the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED.

It’s lighter too, at 1.3kg compared with the 1.5kg of the Asus. Regardless, these are both larger devices but are backed up in the portability realm by their eye-catching folding nature.

The Spectre Fold has a bigger battery

One of the key criticisms we have of the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is our review was poor battery life. It was to be expected, with such a new and unique form factor not seeming like it would accommodate a large battery, especially given the amount of internal parts to be accommodated. And, that’s before you consider the large 17-inch bright OLED display. It came in at around 6 hours of use.

Well, HP has sussed it. The Spectre Fold offers a 96Whr battery, compared to a 75Whr on the Asus. We’ll have to see how this plays out in testing but given the similar components, we’d expect the HP to have a solid lead in this area.

Display, processor, RAM and storage specs are all the same

We’ve mentioned it numerous times in this comparison, the HP Spectre Fold and Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED have several identical components. But, what are they?

More specifically, both offer a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1250U processor, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage. Then there’s the display, the Asus has a 17.3-inch foldable OLED panel with a 2560 x 1920 resolution that becomes a 12.5-inch screen space when folded into a laptop-like mode. The HP comes with a 17-inch screen with the same 2560 x 1920 resolution, converting to a 12.3-inch panel.

Given the similarities, these specs aren’t likely to be a big differentiating factor in your purchasing decision, that’ll be left down to the lower real estate of the HP and the price difference.