Zenbook 17 Fold Zenbook 17 Fold

First Look

Vibe Check: ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED

This one’s different

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We haven’t seen anything quite like this before. The ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (which we’ll just call the Zenbook 17 Fold for brevity) is the first of its kind at its size.

Foldables aren’t new, especially to those who constantly follow tech news. Samsung has lorded over the foldable smartphone segment with its two device types – the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip. They are finally getting some competition in 2023 with the likes of OPPO, Xiaomi, and HONOR all gearing up to globally launch their own foldables. 

But that’s smartphones. In the laptop category, the closest thing we’ve seen to this is the ThinkPad X1 Fold. And while that’s promising, it still needs a few more iterations to be a really attractive option. 

The same is pretty much true with the Zenbook 17 Fold. At least, that’s the impression we got after spending a good hour with it. And that hour wasn’t even the full experience. The unit we had was an early engineering unit, so we can only really tell you so much from that brief experience.

Four modes

ASUS went out of their way to showcase how the Zenbook 17 Fold. While you can probably get more creative with it, here are four modes that are actually software supported. 

PC

Zenbook 17 Fold

In this mode, you prop up the Zenbook 17 Fold on a desk, table, or what-have-you, and use it with the accompanying bluetooth keyboard detached. It’s kind of like the tablet top mode of the Nintendo Switch but for an oversized foldable PC. 

Book

Zenbook 17 Fold

This one’s pretty straightforward. You can hold it horizontally and fold it mimicking the folding feeling of an actual book. I gotta say, at 1.50 kg (3.31 lbs) it’s got a bit of a heft to it so maybe holding it for a prolonged period of time isn’t advisable.

Laptop

Zenbook 17 Fold

In laptop mode, you only get to use half of the screen. What happens is you fold it halfway as if you’re using a laptop. And then you slap on the included keyboard on the bottom half. This gives you a generally smaller device – kind of like the netbooks from a decade ago. It’s a little cramped but is nice for working in tighter spaces.

Tablet

Zenbook 17 Fold

This one should be self explanatory as well. You simply open it up wide and use it as a true-blue oversized tablet. This is particularly great for media consumption. Can say we definitely enjoyed watching LOONA’s “Flip That” on this thing. 

Zenbook 17 Fold

And just look at LOONA Heejin occupying that much space on the FOLED (Foldable OLED) screen. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. 

Zenbook 17 Fold

It’s also worth noting that in landscape mode, the device will offer multiple split screen options for your multitasking needs.

What’s it packing?

 

We didn’t get to test it much, since, as mentioned earlier, it is an engineering unit. But here’s what the Zenbook 17 Fold is packing on paper to give you an idea. 

Operating System: 

  • Windows 11 Pro – ASUS recommends Windows 11 Pro for business
  • Windows 11 Home – ASUS recommends Windows 11 Pro for business

Processor: 

  • Intel® Core™ i7-1250U Processor 1.1 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 2P+8E cores)

Graphics:

  • Intel® Iris Xe Graphics

Display: 

  • 17.3-inch, 2560 x 1920 FOLED 4:3 aspect ratio, 0.2ms response time, 500nits HDR peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 1,000,000:1, VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 500, 1.07 billion colors, PANTONE Validated, Glossy display, 70% less harmful blue light, Touch screen, Screen-to-body ratio: 87%
  • 17.3-inch, 2560 x 1920 FOLED 4:3 aspect ratio, 0.2ms response time, 60Hz refresh rate, 500nits HDR peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 1,000,000:1, VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 500, 1.07 billion colors, PANTONE Validated, Glossy display, 70% less harmful blue light, Touch screen, Screen-to-body ratio: 87%

Memory: 

  • 16GB LPDDR5 on board, Total system memory upgradeable to:16GB

Storage:

  • 1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 Performance SSD

I/O Ports:

  • 2x Thunderbolt™ 4 supports display / power delivery
  • 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack

Keyboard and Touchpad:

  • Soft Keyboard, 1.4mm Key-travel, Touchpad

Camera:

  • 5.0M camera with IR function

Audio:

  • Smart Amp Technology
  • Built-in speaker
  • Built-in array microphone
  • harman/kardon (Premium)
  • with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support

Network:

  • Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth 5

Battery and Power Supply:

  • 75WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion
  • TYPE-C, 65W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 3.25A, 65W, Input: 100-240V AC 50/60GHz universal

Microsoft Office: 

  • 1-month trial for new Microsoft 365 customers. Credit card required.
  • Office Home and Student 2021 included
  • Microsoft 365 Personal 1-year included.*
  • *Activation required with 6-months of Windows activation date.
  • Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021

Pricing and availability details to follow.

Accessories

Jackery Explorer 300D: Power and portability in one

Uninterrupted workflows for digital nomads, freelance creatives, more

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For digital nomads, freelance creatives, and even work-from-home professionals, staying productive on the move means carrying around multiple gadgets, cords, adapters, and power banks to survive the day.

Having to carry such weight, quite literally, is vital for maintaining workflow continuity.

For a more seamless experience and to have just one extra portable device to power all working parts, there’s the Jackery Explorer 300D.

Launched just last month, this grab-and-go offering from Jackery is designed for the modern lifestyle.

It moves away from Jackery’s traditional aesthetic with a sleek, speaker-like form factor. It weighs just 2.5 kilograms and is 64% smaller than standard 300W units in the market.

This ultra-compact size was made possible by a smart engineering choice of swapping bulky traditional AC wall outlets for highly efficient DC-only and USB-C ports —  which also helps eliminate idle power loss.

With a 288Wh capacity, the Jackery Explorer 300D holds enough juice for up to nine power banks.

It can keep a Type-C fast-charging laptop for up to three to four full cycles, a Wi-Fi router alive for hours, and recharge cameras or drone batteries up to five times for a lengthy production day.

For smaller gadgets like smartphones and portable fans, the power station can juice them up for up to 22 times.

It can even charge five devices simultaneously with a total of three USB-C ports, a USB-A port, and a DC 12V car charger port.

All these ensure users are never disconnected, wherever they may set up their mobile office.

Another brilliant touch is the two-in-one shoulder strap that easily unclips to double as a heavy-duty 140W USB-C charging cable.

The everyday carry is available via Lazada and Shopee, and at the official Jackery kiosk in SM Fairview, as well as other partner stores.

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Features

Match Pulse: Passport-sized foldables

What each one gets right

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There’s a passport-sized revolution upon us, and we’re here for it.

After the HUAWEI Pura X Max and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, September 2026 showed us two more joining the fray: the Xiaomi 18 Fold and the much-awaited and plenty-rumored iPhone Duo.

While all four share a similar form factor, they don’t exactly all share the same approach to it. And while we’ve yet to spend significant time with most of them, we’re gonna go ahead and jump the gun and list what we think each one did right.

Think of this as more of a collective first impression or Match Pulse.

Samsung gets the weight right

Samsung being a foldie veteran shows up here.

When I first held the Galaxy Z Fold8, I was pleasantly surprised by how light it was. At 201g, it’s the lightest of these four by a pretty significant margin. The Xiaomi 18 Fold comes in at 219g, the HUAWEI Pura X Max at 229g, and the iPhone Duo at 254g.

That’s thoughtful design, and definitely a result of Samsung having at it for years.

This is one of those things that doesn’t necessarily jump out on a spec sheet. But it matters when you actually have the phone in your hand. A passport-sized foldable is supposed to give you more screen without feeling like you’re carrying around a tiny tablet.

Samsung seems to understand that balance particularly well.

Xiaomi gets the cameras right

XIaomi 18 Fold

We’re not gonna talk about camera performance here. Just the cameras present and how they’re laid out.

In that regard, the Xiaomi 18 Fold is a runaway winner for me.

It has a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide, and a 50-megapixel 3.5x periscope telephoto. All three are part of Xiaomi’s Leica camera system.

That telephoto alone makes the setup feel much more complete than what some of the other passport-sized foldables are offering.

Then there’s the physical layout. Xiaomi puts the three cameras in a horizontal arrangement across the upper portion of the rear panel. It looks clean, but more importantly, it should help keep the phone from rocking around as much when you put it down on a flat surface.

That’s the kind of small design decision I appreciate.

You’re not just getting a foldable with cameras slapped onto the back. You’re getting a flagship-style camera system that also happens to fold.

Android gets the big screen right

This is where Android still has Apple beat.

The whole point of opening a passport-sized foldable is getting more screen. Android has spent years figuring out what to actually do with all that extra real estate.

On Samsung, you can run apps side by side, resize windows, use pop-up windows, save app pairs, and take advantage of Samsung’s broader Multi Window and DeX features. Huawei has also built out its own split-screen and floating-window tools.

Apple is finally entering that conversation with the iPhone Duo. Its iOS 27 implementation allows two apps to run side by side (you just can’t resize them like you can on Android), two windows of the same app, quick app swapping, and saved app pairs.

That’s actually a pretty big deal. But Android has been doing this for years.

The passport-sized foldable isn’t just a bigger screen. It should let you do more things at once. Android understands that part of the assignment.

Apple gets the transition right

 

@gadgetmatchiPhone Duo maxxing 😮‍💨♬ original sound – GadgetMatch

This might be Apple’s biggest contribution to the passport-sized foldable.

The iPhone Duo doesn’t simply take iOS and stretch it across a bigger display. Apple has reworked the experience around the fact that the phone can physically change shape.

Both displays share the same aspect ratio, which means content can move between the outer and inner screens without feeling like you’re jumping between two completely different phones. iOS 27 also moves controls to the side when the Duo is open, adjusts app layouts for the wider canvas, and introduces Split View for the first time on iPhone.

There’s also the rather clever StandBy implementation. Put the Duo down in a tent orientation and it can turn into a little smart display, even without being plugged in.

Apple Pencil support is coming later this year, too, and it works on both displays.

This is very Apple.

The hardware is new, but the software is doing a lot of the work to make the new thing feel familiar.

Samsung gets the overall shape right

Galaxy Z Fold8

This one is completely subjective.

Personally, I prefer the square-ish, sharp-edge look of the Galaxy Z Fold8. I’ve seen plenty of people praising the D-like shape of the Duo — was that deliberate or just a happy coincidence? — and the more rounded look of the Pura X Max and Xiaomi 18 Fold.

But looks-wise, the Galaxy Z Fold8 just stands out to me.

There’s something about the balance and more symmetrical look of the Fold8 that seems more user-friendly compared to the no-love-for-lefties approach of the Duo, especially software-wise.

iPhone Duo

That’s obviously a personal preference. But that’s kind of the point.

We’re now at a stage where these devices aren’t all trying to look like the same thing.

The passport-sized foldable is becoming a design language of its own.

Android gets customization right

 

@rodneil Galaxy Z Fold8 – 3 different wallpapers: Folded, Landscape unfolded, Portrait unfolded #GalaxyZFold8 ♬ Kitty (MOMO) – MISAMO


Much has been said about the unfolding animation of the iPhone Duo. That’s cool for sure.

But if you’re after making a passport foldie truly feel like yours, Android is still the playground.

With Samsung specifically, Good Lock is your customization best friend.

You can tweak the interface, the lock screen, gestures, multitasking behavior, and plenty of little things that make a Galaxy feel less like the phone Samsung shipped and more like the phone you set up.

It’s not necessarily the sexiest feature to put on a spec sheet.

But after you’ve lived with a foldable for a while, those little things add up.

Samsung dropped the ball on the stylus

This is a weird one.

Samsung had S Pen support on the Galaxy Z Fold3, Fold4, Fold5, and Fold6. Then it dropped support with the Fold7. The Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra doesn’t support the S Pen either.

That’s a pretty significant omission for a device that unfolds into something approaching tablet territory.

The S Pen had plenty of fans. And you can absolutely argue that a stylus makes even more sense on a foldable because you suddenly have a much larger canvas for writing, drawing, editing, and annotating.

Apple, meanwhile, has promised Apple Pencil support for the iPhone Duo later this year.

Now, they’ve broken (or at least delayed) some promises before, so this is still a wait and see.

But it’s funny seeing Apple move toward a feature Samsung had already established on its Fold line.

The battery race is getting interesting

Xiaomi 18 Fold

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

We still can’t fully compare this usage-wise. We haven’t spent enough time with all four devices to make any meaningful real-world battery call.

So we’re just gonna give you the numbers on paper.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is the battery monster here with a 6,000mAh cell, alongside 67W wired and 50W wireless charging. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 has a 4,800mAh battery with 45W wired charging.

Apple doesn’t publish the iPhone Duo’s battery capacity in the same way, so we’ll leave the mAh comparison there rather than pretending the numbers are directly comparable.

This is one area where Xiaomi’s approach is particularly interesting.It has managed to put a 6,000mAh battery into a device that weighs 219g. That’s a pretty compelling combination on paper.

And then there’s performance

Same refrain as the battery here.

We’re not going to pretend that chipset names alone tell us which phone is going to be faster in actual use. Especially with four different platforms, operating systems, thermal designs, and software stacks involved.

But the hardware underneath is certainly no joke.

The Galaxy Z Fold8 runs on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. The Xiaomi 18 Fold introduces Xiaomi’s own XRING O3 processor. And the iPhone Duo gets Apple’s A20 Pro, the same chip family used in the iPhone 18 Pro models.

The interesting part isn’t really which one wins the benchmark race. It’s that none of these companies seem to be treating the passport-sized foldable as a compromise device.

They’re putting flagship-class silicon, serious cameras, big batteries, and increasingly sophisticated software into this format.

And that’s probably the biggest thing to get right.

The passport foldable is becoming a thing

Exciting times are unfolding for the passport-sized foldable.

What’s interesting isn’t that these four phones are similar. It’s that they’re different.

Samsung has spent years figuring out how to make a big foldable thinner and lighter. Xiaomi is going all-in on cameras and battery. Huawei has its own interpretation of the compact, wide form factor. And Apple has arrived with a completely new take on how iOS should behave when the screen itself changes shape.

Between the Galaxy Z Fold8 being a big hit and the buzz generated by the iPhone Duo, it’s not far-fetched to think other brands will throw their own take at the form factor pretty soon.

And we’re totally here for it.

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First Look

First Look: Apple iPhone Duo

The foldable we’ve been waiting for!

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Apple’s first ever foldable is finally here! Say hello to the iPhone Duo.

In this video, THE Michael Josh shares his first impressions.

Those include the design, display, cameras, performance, and what it’s actually like to use Apple’s latest iPhone.

Is the iPhone Duo the future of the iPhone or just an interesting experiment?

We take a closer look and share everything that stood out during our hands-on experience.

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