Asus made a Zenbook that looks like a foldable phone, blown up to laptop size

This story is part of CES, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon.

Folding display telephones are an fascinating area of interest market that not less than has a few flagship merchandise, just like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. Folding display laptops are way more conceptual. So far, solely a pair have gone on sale, just like the Lenovo X1 Fold. A lot of the others, like Dell’s Ori concept, are nonetheless simply prototypes. 

Asus diving proper into the deep finish of the pool at CES 2022, not with an iPad-like 13-inch display, however an enormous 17-inch folding OLED show, known as the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold. Asus calls it “the world’s first 17.3-inch foldable OLED laptop computer,” which I consider, as I feel I would have seen one thing related. 

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Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED revealed

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This 2,560×1,920, 4:3 aspect ratio touchscreen can be propped up behind a bluetooth keyboard for something that feels like a 17-inch all-in-one desktop. Or, it can fold in half and become a 12.5-inch clamshell laptop with an on-screen keyboard on its lower half. There’s a custom software package for deciding which half of the folded display different apps should appear on, as Windows is not very savvy at that yet. 

The system will be powered by 12th-gen Intel processors and have to 16GB RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, along with WiFi 6 and a 75Wh battery. It’s about 3.75lbs, not counting the bluetooth keyboard, which seems reasonable. A 16-inch MacBook Pro is about 4.8 pounds for comparison. My main concern looking at the spec sheet is that it has only a single Thunderbolt port. 

This is one of the devices I really regret not getting a chance to see in person at CES 2022. There’s no price yet, but Asus says it’s coming “mid-year” in 2022.