Insane price of world’s first touchscreen foldable laptop

The world’s first foldable laptop has landed and it’s a crazy design – but the price is the thing that really hits hard.

REVIEW

This week I’ve had a hands-on with the mind boggling ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. This is the world’s first 17-inch foldable OLED laptop. You might be thinking, foldable laptop? All laptops fold!

Well, this time it’s the touchscreen display that folds, so it’s a bit like the folding phones we’re seeing but on a much larger scale – and it’s running Windows 11 Pro.

Elly Awesome and the world’s first foldable laptop, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. Picture: Elly Awesome

Unboxing

The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED comes in a really interesting box. It opens out to reveal a bunch of other boxes, each containing different accessories, and the laptop itself (yeah, to avoid confusion, I’m just going to call it alaptop).

It comes with an AC Adaptor (charger), USB to USB-C adaptor and full size, ultra-slim keyboard.

When folded closed it looks like you’re carrying a premium leather business folio. Picture: Elly Awesome

Specs

For a foldable laptop that’s basically a giant flexy touchscreen, it’s surprisingly lightweight at 1.5kg. And when folded closed it looks like you’re carrying a premium leather business folio. Yet, this is a fully fledged Windows 11computerwith a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of LPDDR5 ram.

I see this being used as a desktop computer as well as a laptop, tablet, and even a reader. Picture: Elly Awesome

And if you use the in-built ScreenXpert software, you can have one, two or three windows displayed at once. I see this being used as a desktop computer as well as a laptop, tablet, and even a reader when it’s held or rested in a book form factor.

Importantly, the hinge that allows the Zenbook to fold feels strong and is tested to 30,000 cycles, so I’m not concerned about the device’s longevity.

You can magnetically attach the keyboard to the bottom half of the laptop. Picture: Elly Awesome

Display

The OLED display looks fantastic by the way. When it’s fully opened out the 17.3-inch display it has a resolutionof 2560 by 1920.

What’s even more exciting is that you can magnetically attach the keyboard to the bottom half of the laptop to get the standard touchscreen laptop experience.

When attached, the keyboard connects instantly and sits securely over the bottom half of the screen, turning the device into a 12.5-inch 1920 by 1280 display.

And don’t forget the display then remains a touchscreen, which gives you plenty of options for navigation and interaction. I wonder if this is the ultimate computer for digital artists, considering how many different ways you can use it.

I wonder if this is the ultimate computer for digital artists. Picture: Elly Awesome

Should you buy this?

I could see this becoming a very popular product – if the price wasn’t so insane. It would be so handy for those who want to streamline their workstation, especially if they often travel with a laptop or tablet or both.

With the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED you have the power of a seriously awesome computer with the option of a laptop form factor or a giant tablet.

Currently, this kind of futuristic tech is rumoured to set you back a whopping $6999 when it’s launched in Australia at the end of the month. So for now, unless the company credit card is paying, this will remain just a dream for most of us.

I look forward to seeing how others receive the Zenbook and I do think there’s room for this style of computer in the market once the price is right.

Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawesometech | YouTube