- Kyle Chua
CES 2022: Asus Announces Zenbook 2022 Series
Following its gaming-focused Republic of Gamers (ROG) presentation, Asus is back to announce the new Zenbook 2022 series of lightweight, productivity laptops. Let’s take a look at each of the announcements.
Zenbook 14 OLED
Promising both power and elegance, Asus continues to expand its OLED laptop offerings with the new Zenbook 14 OLED. Of course, the highlight here is the stunning 14-inch OLED panel, which features a 16:10 aspect ratio, a 2880x1800 resolution and a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut. The display also touts a 90Hz refresh rate with a 0.2ms response time.
Asus will be releasing two variants of the laptop: one powered by an Intel processor and another powered by AMD. The Intel variant ships with up to the latest CPU with Iris Xe integrated graphics. The AMD variant, meanwhile, comes with up to a Ryzen 5000 Series 7 CPU with Radeon integrated graphics. Both variants house a 75Wh battery pack, 1TB of PCIe Gen4 SSD storage and up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM.
The ZenBook 14 retains the lightweight form factor that the series is known for, with it being 16.9mm thin and weighing only 1.39kg. It’ll also feature the line’s 180-degree ErgoLift hinge which adds a lot of flexibility to the design.
For ports, it’ll include a MicroSD card slot, an audio jack, HDMI 2.0, USB 3.2 and Thunderbolt 4. Other key features include Wi-Fi 6E support, fingerprint login, ErgoSense keyboard and smart amplifier.
Asus has yet to announce local pricing and availability.
Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition
The Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition – from its name – is essentially a variant of the recently launched 14X OLED. It retains a lot of the internals of the original, including up to the latest Intel CPU, up to 1TB of SSD storage and a 14-inch 4K OLED display, among others.
The big change here comes in the laptop’s design, which now features morse code accents and a new Zero-G Titanium colour. It’ll also come equipped with a new 3.5-inch OLED ZenVision screen that can display customised texts, personal identity tags and the time and battery. Asus says the screen provides a window to space.
Some of its other key features include dual-fan cooling, a 63Wh battery capacity, fingerprint login, ErgoSense keyboard and smart amplifier.
No word yet on local pricing and availability.
Zenbook 17 Fold OLED
Arguably the most eye-catching announcement, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is what Asus hails as a first of its kind laptop-tablet hybrid. The display boasts 17.3 inches of screen real estate unfolded and 12.5 inches folded. When unfolded, the panel features a 4:3 aspect ratio with a 2560x1920 resolution. Meanwhile, when folded, it has a 3:2 aspect ratio with a 1920x1280 resolution. And with the screen being OLED, it touts ultra-vivid colours with a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut.
Asus says there are several ways you can use the device depending on your needs or mood. You can, for instance, have the screen unfolded and use it as a laptop with the on-screen keyboard. At the same time, you can use it in the traditional sense by connecting a wireless keyboard. There’s also PC mode, where you completely unfold the screen, using it as a monitor of sorts with the included keyboard.
The device also comes equipped with a quad-speaker system that supports Dolby Vision and Atmos. It also has artificial intelligence-powered noise cancellation technology.
Under the hood, it houses up to an Intel Core i7 CPU with Iris Xe integrated graphics, along with 16GB of RAM and Wi-Fi 6E support. It additionally has a 5MP front-facing webcam for video calls as well as a colour sensor and an HD IR camera. The device also has a Thunderbolt 4 port and supports ScreenXpert 2 & Mode Switcher, allowing you to seamless change the orientation of your device.
Asus has yet to announce local pricing and availability.