The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, a laptop with a foldable screen introduced by the Taiwanese company Asus, is priced at £3,000.
The ‘futuristic device’ was introduced at IFA Berlin on Wednesday and features a foldable 17.3-inch OLED touchscreen with a hinge in the middle.
The touchscreen, according to Asus, can be folded down to a compact 12.5-inch size, making it easier to carry than a sheet of photocopier paper.
The device will be rolled out globally during the fourth quarter (the last three months of the year), but it will not come cheap, with prices beginning at an eye-popping $3,499 (£3,000).
Zenbook 17 Fold OLED provides users with two sizes of OLED display in a single device: a large 17.3-inch 2.5K touchscreen that folds in the middle, and a smaller 13.3-inch display.
It is a compact and portable 12.5-inch device that is smaller than a sheet of photocopier paper when completely folded.
Asus claims that it folds along a hinge that has been tested to withstand over 30,000 open-and-close cycles.
When the screen is unfolded, users can also divide it into segments that display different applications, such as Excel, Outlook, and Google Chrome.
The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED includes a Bluetooth keyboard in addition to a virtual keyboard that occupies one of the screen’s segments.
Asus claims the device can be used as a tablet (when the screen is fully unfolded), a laptop (when the screen is partially folded while using the keyboard), and an e-book (held open like a book).
Asus unveiled the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED for the first time in January at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, but the device was officially released today at IFA Berlin.
IFA, or Internationale Funkausstellung, is one of the world’s premier consumer electronics and home appliance trade exhibitions, held annually in Berlin.
Due to the Covid epidemic in 2020 and 2021, this year’s IFA, which takes place from September 2 to 6, is the first large-scale in-person event in three years.
More than 1,000 exhibitors from over 30 countries, including Samsung, LG, Huawei, and Nokia, will present their products to retailers, buyers, and industry professionals.
