ASUS’s new laptop, the Zenbook, is all screen and no keyboard. This is a big change for the company, which has been known for its high-quality laptops with traditional keyboards. The Zenbook is available now and starts at $1,499. The Zenbook has a 12.5-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9. It also has a fast Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of memory. The laptop also features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphics card and an Intel HD Graphics 520 camera. The Zenbook’s design is inspired by the company’s own Asus Transformer Book T100 Ultrabook series laptops that are popular in Asia. The T100 series has a 12-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9 that can be used as a tablet or laptop computer.
ASUS revealed the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED today (model UX9702), which the company claims is the world’s first PC with a 17.3-inch folding OLED screen. The hinge in the middle can fold to create two 3:2 1920 x 1280 displays, and is designed to withstand 30,000 open-and-close cycles. ASUS says the screen panel is PANTONE-validated for color accuracy and has a 100% DCI-P3 gamut, but the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz.
The PC is intended to be used in several different modes — as a giant tablet, a laptop with a Bluetooth keyboard, or a laptop with a virtual keyboard on the bottom half. ASUS added a few software features on top of Windows 11 for all that to work, such as the company’s ScreenXpert 3 application for window management. ASUS also includes an ErgoSense keyboard in the box with a built-in touchpad, which can be placed on top of the bottom panel.
ASUS also used high-end components for the internal hardware, including a 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1250U processor, 16 GB RAM, a 1 TB PCIe SSSD, a 75 watt-hour battery (charged with USB Type-C), and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. There is no USB Type-A connector, though, so you’ll have to break out the adapters.
The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED starts at $3,499 and will be available globally in the fourth quarter of 2022. There are a few early reviews — CNET called it “an example of conspicuous consumption, probably best left to free-spending CEOs and social media influencers,” while Windows Central said “it may sound strange on paper, but after unboxing you begin to understand the potential.” Wired has published exclusive photos of design prototypes, if you want to see how ASUS built the laptop.
Source: ASUS
