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Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Mini Review: Breaking Expectations

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Updated on: 10-Nov-2022 12:36 PM
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It's been years since I've seen them as a concept, but this is the second time I've used a foldable laptop. The ZenBook 17 Fold OLED from Asus allows users to switch between a traditional clamshell notebook and a 17-inch laptop. A foldable laptop that can turn into an all-in-one PC. I put my Razer Blade aside and trust the ZenBook 17 Fold for a few days. Here's how my perception of foldable laptops changed after using the ZenBook Fold as my daily driver.

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WARNING

The first thing you'll see when you unpack the ZenBook Fold is the warning sheet. The device costs Rs 3,29,990 and Asus has some warnings on how to use and care for it. But this also applies to Samsung's foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold. For example, you'll see a warning like this: "do not exert pressure around the hinge area." Let users know how to use the laptop with caution.

DESIGN

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The ZenBook Fold is a great looking device with the impressive build quality. The Fold comes in black only, has a premium look with a faux leather cover, and the body is made entirely out of a magnesium aluminum alloy. It's designed to look like a book when folded and comes with a price tag to match its design and aesthetics. Things are not heavy. At 1.5kg, it is lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro. But attaching keyboard accessories to the Fold adds a lot of weight. But it wasn't too heavy or too light, and I got used to it quickly. That said, if you're carrying it around in a tote or rucksack like I am, you probably won't notice the weight. Only 2 USB-C (up to 40 Gbit/s transfer rate) are included. A webcam is also included, located in the middle left of the bezel around the screen. However, I have concerns about webcams. AIO desktop mode, which we used a lot in our testing, repositioned the webcam so that it would appear sideways in a video call. Proper camera alignment can only be achieved in laptop form factors.

Performance and Battery Life

My main goal with the ZenBook Fold was to see if it outperformed or came close to my Razer Blade. It has served me very well. Equipped with a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 U-series CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, the Fold offers solid specs under the hood. There will always be a portion of users who choose specs and benchmarks. While I'm impressed with it, the ZenBook Fold is more of a lifestyle computer than a device designed as a video editing machine. The ZenBook Fold is a fast machine, though I did not run any benchmarks, during daily use I found the Fold to be as fast as my Blade.

To clarify, there is no dedicated graphics card. Don't expect gaming or professional editing features from this machine. Good news for those concerned about battery life. The ZenBook Fold's battery lasted 6-7 hours on a single charge.

Daily Usage

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From day one, I used the ZenBook Fold as my primary work laptop, not a secondary computing device. So I used the Fold as I did with the Razer Blade. During testing, I had a colleague open and close the Fold a few times, used the touchscreen, and use the device as a tablet. At first, I was a little hesitant about the durability of the device. But I put my fears aside and adapted the ZenBook Fold to my daily life.

After using it for a few days, I was confident about the hinge and general build quality of the laptop. Still, I would recommend not using any sharp objects or fingernails on the display and not putting anything between the display while closing it. The foldable display is not as durable as normal displays so do keep cautious while using it.

The software lets it down

This is amazing for a device with a 17 inch screen. What I didn't like about the ZenBook Fold is the software that runs on this system: Windows 11. And it's not entirely Asus' fault, but Microsoft optimized Windows to adapt to the new form factor. I think we should spend more time making it. That's what's missing for now.

Should you buy it?

For most, the clear answer is no. Even though it is an excellent device and offers an experience I never had, I could not get the fact out of my mind that it is a first generation device. I do think that the foldable form factor in laptops has amazing potential if done right. The major gripe I had with the device was the software experience and I wish Microsoft will take it in mind and make the software more compatible with this form factor in future.

Another gripe I had was the price of the machine, for the same price you can easily get a great gaming/productivity device to take care of processing heavy tasks and get a separate iPad or other tablet and still be left with some money. So till the time foldable laptops come down in price, I can not advise anyone to buy the laptop. Unless you have really deep pockets.

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