Asus recently unveiled their ZenFone 3 Zoom, an upgrade from their flagship ZenFone 3. The phone will be available for purchase starting this February and will cost about $536.
The 3 Zoom introduces an AMOLED screen which will provide better quality than its predecessor and is a bit larger. It also packs a dual 12MP camera that rivals but does not entirely surpass the quality of the ZenFone 3.
Aside from this, the phone holds a better 13MP selfie-snapper. Internally and externally, the differences between the standard ZenFone and the Zoom are not many. The latter comes only with 4GB RAM and offers a wider range of storage options.
Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom specs and features
Technologically speaking, the Zoom seems to be nothing more than an upgrade in photographic quality. The handset has the same battery-saving Qualcomm Snapdragon S625 processor, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (also in the lens), and a bigger 5000 mAh battery that can act as a power bank to recharge external devices.
As stated above, it only ditches the 3GB variant for 4GB RAM but keeps the Adreno 506 GPU. The Zoom goes all the way to 128GB of storage, while the regular ZenFone stops at 64GB.
The phone sports Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 and will probably receive Nougat somewhere after its release. The fingerprint reader, the sensors, and all of the premium perks from the older ZenFone remain.
The ZenFone 3 Zoom’s impressive new camera
Even with its slightly heavier weight of 170g and its bulkier 7.99mm thick build, the Zoom has a slick all-metal design and does bring quite a revolution to Asus’ camera technologies.
The dual-lens in the rear has an aperture of f/1.7 for revamped depth-of-field and almost professional results. Users can play with sharpness via an intelligent Portrait Mode that captures the main subject in an image while softly blurring the background.
The latest Sony IMX362 sensor also gives the phone 1.25 times more light reception, which will produce stunning photos even at night hours. Besides, an RGB color correction sensor provides enhanced coloring.
The resulting pictures come with a 1.4µm pixel size. For comparison, the iPhone 7 Plus offers only 1.22µm pixel size. Most phones only go as far as 1.0µm, which means that the Zoom takes photos with 96% more light on them.
Selfie-wise, the front camera brings forth a ‘Beautification mode’ reminiscent of the one found in the latest Xiaomi handsets, the same SuperPixel technology for low-light environments, an astounding Sony IMX214 sensor, and screen flash.
Source: ASUS