Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Oled test: we tried the foldable screen laptop

2022-09-24 01:36:13 By : Mr. aosite Guangdong

The Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Oled is the latest creation from the Taiwanese manufacturer.Special feature of this model: a foldable 17.3-inch Oled panel!Here is our full test...The Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Oled in laptop mode and virtual keyboard.© The DigitalThe Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Oled in laptop mode and virtual keyboard.Asus has always been a force for innovation, for example with the EEE Pc, the first Netbook, or the Transformer TF101, this tablet equipped with a detachable keyboard which also acts as a second battery.Innovations sometimes marked by misfires, such as the Transformer Book Duet, a tablet with detachable keyboard embedding both Android and Windows, and which attracted the wrath of Google and Microsoft and ultimately never came out.The latest innovation from Asus is therefore the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled.This portable PC with a foldable screen is however less innovative than the Transformer range could be, and its gestation seems more controlled since Asus has relied on its experience.Intel is also acting behind the scenes to push these foldable screen formats and the Taiwanese manufacturer is not the only one working on the subject – Lenovo is in ambush with a second version of its ThinkPad Fold X1 which should arrive in 2023.The ZenBook 17 Fold Oled therefore has free rein to try to convince.Small flat entry: its price is as exclusive as the technology it embeds (3999 €).The ZenBook 17 Fold therefore consists of a large 17.3-inch Oled screen which, unfolded, makes it a large Windows tablet.The screen folds down in the middle until the two ends touch.The hinge does not allow the slab to be folded completely on itself, but it curves it, leaving a hole large enough to slide a Bluetooth keyboard into it.The addition of this keyboard therefore makes it possible to use the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled as a simple 12.5-inch laptop PC with the keyboard placed on the lower part of the slab.Asus has defined no less than 6 uses: laptop PC, laptop PC with virtual keyboard, desktop mode with the screen deployed and held by its crutch with the keyboard just in front, a book mode, a tablet mode and finally a laptop mode with the keyboard in front of the screen to take advantage of the display surface.So much for the concept.The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold Oled folded without its keyboard.© The DigitalThe Asus Zenbook 17 Fold Oled folded without its keyboard.The design mixes glass and imitation leather.The glass on the hood and the faux leather over the hinge, like the cover of a book.The set is well finished, but the assembly with the leatherette cover reveals multiple openings possibly letting dust slip at the hinge.Opening the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled requires both hands and its handling requires a little getting used to to put it in the right direction.The glass part has been particularly worked to obtain its green-blue reflections.© The DigitalThe glass part has been particularly worked to obtain its green-blue reflections.The Bluetooth keyboard provides a comfortable typing with a large key height.However, it lacks the backlight and a cable to be recharged.Asus has not seen fit to provide a USB-C to USB-C cable to charge the keyboard directly to the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled.You have to be satisfied with the only USB-C charger provided to recharge either the ZenBook or the keyboard.A charging system once installed in laptop mode would have been welcome, whether by contact or induction.The touchpad, although a bit small, is also pleasant to use.Windows gestures are fully taken into account, nothing to complain about on this point.In terms of use, the keyboard snaps to the edges of the screen, which are made of a rubbery material.Removing the keyboard automatically extends the display to the disabled part, and installing it instantly shrinks the display to the part not covered by the keyboard.In laptop mode, the lower half of the screen turns off automatically.© The DigitalIn laptop mode, the lower half of the screen turns off automatically.The connection is limited to two Thunderbolt 4 ports which also serve as a charging socket;only one port is therefore available for sedentary use.Asus provides a simple, small USB-C to USB adapter as standard;we would not have said no to a small USB-C hub, which will therefore have to be purchased as an option.Wireless connectivity is provided by the Intel AX211 chip compatible wifi 6E at 2400 Mb/s and Bluetooth 5.2.The keyboard's USB-C port is for charging only.© The DigitalThe keyboard's USB-C port is for charging only.The webcam is equipped with a 5 Mpx sensor whose rendering is much higher than the average for laptops.It also allows you to unlock a session with Windows Hello.However, its orientation does not vary depending on the orientation of the ZenBook.Thus, in tablet or desktop mode, the webcam (sensor on the left) is oriented in landscape mode, while in laptop PC mode (sensor at the top of the screen), the webcam is in portrait orientation.Considering the price of the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled, it would have been wise to include an image rotation system.The ZenBook 17 Fold Oled is equipped with a fan to cool the Core i7.Under the eye of our thermal camera, only the part containing the components heats up.We thus measure 45.1 ° C almost in the center of the screen during our encoding.The temperature is 43.7°C on the back of the hood above the faux leather hinge.The other half of the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled remains at room temperature since it only contains the battery.Noise pollution is very limited due to a fan that only kicks in under heavy load.It therefore remains stationary most of the time.We thus noted 33.7 dB during an encoding of just over 30 minutes.A particularly low value that allows the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled to go unnoticed even in a library.The thermal camera makes it possible to clearly distinguish the part of the laptop that contains the components.© The DigitalThe thermal camera makes it possible to clearly distinguish the part of the laptop that contains the components.The ZenBook 17 Fold Oled does not seem to be removable by ordinary mortals.So we didn't tempt the devil.However, we were able to take photos of the interior of the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled during its presentation;be aware that only the SSD is removable.Asus nevertheless declares a repairability index of 5.9/10.The ZenBook 17 Fold Oled is equipped with an Intel Core i7-1250U processor accompanied by 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of SSD.This Intel processor is specially designed for ultra-thin computers.It has a thermal envelope of 9 watts operated by 2 so-called high-performance hyperthreaded cores and 8 so-called efficient cores.Performance index (the bigger the better).© The DigitalPerformance index (the bigger the better).After running all of our tests, the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled reaches a performance index of 88. This puts it far ahead of the Core i5-1130G7 of Huawei's MateBook E (56) and not far from the Core i7- 1260P of the LG Gram (93) — whose processor is restricted by the limited thermal envelope.Honorable performance therefore for the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled, especially since it is intended mainly for office automation.He will therefore be able to perform all office tasks, and occasionally some creative tasks such as photo editing or a little encoding.Good performance which is explained by the behavior of the Core i7-1250U.It thus maintains its P-cores at a frequency of 2 GHz and its E-cores at 1.5 GHz.The power envelope is also maintained at 13.2 watts, as allowed by Intel.The SSD is a Samsung P9MA1, a version of the 980 Pro reserved for integrators.Here it reaches 6.87 GB / s in reading and 5.16 GB / s in writing, that is to say high performance.The Oled panel used by Asus comes from the Chinese supplier BOE.It measures 17.3 inches and displays 2560x1920 px, a 4/3 ratio.Once folded, in laptop mode, it displays 1920x1280 px in 3/2 format.Asus was careful in the integration, both in terms of curvature – since the borders do not fold completely on themselves – and in terms of the thickness of the borders (greater than a centimeter).The borders are relatively thick.© The DigitalThe borders are relatively thick.Under our probe, the colorimetry is very accurate.We thus measured a Delta E of 1.8, well below the threshold of 3 from which the colorimetric drifts are visible to the eye.The color temperature is 6772 K, which is very slightly above the video standard (6500 K).Nothing to complain about the contrast: thanks to OLED technology, the blacks are perfect;just like the persistence, almost non-existent.Peak brightness is 338 cd/m², with HDR peaking at 402 cd/m².These values ​​are in the middle and do not compensate for the reflections of the panel (reflectance of 50.2%).They are also particularly disabling in use, especially since the curvature of the screen does not facilitate the search for the best position to limit reflections.The sound system of the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled is entrusted to 4 speakers distributed on the edge of the screen.A positioning that avoids the risk of obstruction.The perforations for the speakers are clearly visible on the edge.© The DigitalThe perforations for the speakers are clearly visible on the edge.Listening, the sound volume is correct, but it will not be enough to surround a room during an evening.Despite the Dolby Atmos certification, the rendering is typical of laptop PCs, that is to say focused on the mids, with a lack of low mids and bass.The headphone output offers excellent dynamics and limited distortion.The crosstalk is average and therefore offers decent stereophony.On the other hand, the output level is a little low, the use of headphones with high impedance is therefore to be avoided.The bulk is the downside of this ZenBook 17 Fold Oled.Asus does not show too many photos of the folded machine and does not communicate on its dimensions in laptop mode.On the official sheet, you have to settle for 37.8 x 28.7 cm in tablet mode for 1.29 cm thick with the non-slip pads.Once folded with its keyboard between the screen, the ZenBook 17 Fold Oled measures 28.7 x 18.9 cm for a thickness of 3.4 cm.The 3.4 cm thickness surprises on the first folding.© The DigitalThe 3.4 cm thickness surprises on the first folding.The weight is also confusing: 1.5 kg without its keyboard;in other words, in tablet or book mode, the weight is very quickly felt at arm's length.To transport it, it will take an additional 300 g for the keyboard and 227 g for the 65-watt charger.Asus only provides one charger for the keyboard and the ZenBook.© The DigitalAsus only provides one charger for the keyboard and the ZenBook.The good surprise comes from autonomy.We measured 9 h 30 min in laptop mode and 9 h 20 min in tablet mode (screen at 200 cd/m² when reading a Netflix series in the Chrome browser).An honorable result made possible by the low appetite of the Intel Core i7-1250U processor and the large battery capacity (75 Wh).Asus announces an autonomy of 24 hours for the keyboard, which we could not measure precisely, but the estimate seems fair to us according to our use.The Asus ZenBook 17 Fold can run for 9h 30min in laptop mode.© The DigitalThe Asus ZenBook 17 Fold can run for 9h 30min in laptop mode.The Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Oled offers an interesting modularity (laptop and desktop PC modes) and its flexible screen makes it eye-catching, but the reflections of the slab coating added to those in the curvature spoil the pleasure of the eyes .If the performance and autonomy are acceptable, the lack of connectivity and the size once folded tarnish the whole.Passionate about new technologies, especially PCs and their components.This worshiper of test procedures tracks noise and heat using his sound level meter and infrared camera.Just like the sales or Black Friday, the French Days are an opportunity to 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