Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom unveiled

[dizmo]

Asus has released an updated version of their ZenFone Zoom, the ZenFone 3 Zoom (ZE553KL).

 

The phone has the specs of a solid mid-range device, with a Snapdragon S625, 4GB* of RAM, and up to 128GB of internal expandable storage. It features a finger print sensor on the rear of the device, capacitive keys on the front, and an aluminium unibody construction. A 5.5" AMOLED screen adorns the front, featuring Gorilla Glass, which boasts a 1.7x stronger drop resistance over Gorilla Glass 4. It features a 5000 mAh battery that's able to double as a battery bank. Similar devices with this SoC have turned in outstanding battery life with batteries significantly smaller, so this phone should be an absolute beast when it come to endurance. There's a new speaker that's supposed to be 20% louder with almost 50% less distortion, and it supports HiRes audio. The last ZenFone Zoom had a massive hump on the back, and was quite large. This phone manages to shrink in every dimension, bringing it much closer to most other 5.5" devices, and the thinnest device with a 5000 mAh battery.

 

Where the phone really shines, of course, is the camera. The rear features 2 12MP sensors, which are switchable between 25mm and 59mm focal points. The F1.7 aperture lets in 38% more light than an F2.0 aperture, and the increased pixel size increases it even further, beating the iPhone 7 by 41%. The camera should be excellent in low light situations. RAW format is also supported.

There are other features that also aid the camera. The Dual Pixel PDAF uses 95% more pixels for light detection than a basic PDAF system, and the second generation laser auto-focus system has three times the range of the previous iteration. It also has subject tracking auto-focus. This results in a claimed auto-focus time of 0.003 seconds.

It can record UHD video, of course, and features an RGB correction sensor for accurate color representation.

 

The phone should be available around the end of February to coincide with MWC.

Should be interesting to see what the reviews are like, as it sounds pretty compelling on paper.

 

 

Yes, before the flood of comments comes in it, it looks a little like an iPhone. There's only so many ways you can place two camera sensors on a phone.

Additional pics

Spoiler

Quick Spec

• 5.5" AMOLED FHD screen with Gorilla Glass 5
• Qualcomm SD 625
• "Up to 4GB RAM"
• 32GB/64GB/128GB storage options, expandable with MicroSD
• 5000 mAh battery
• 154mm x 77mm x 8mm, 170g
• Black, Silver or Pink colors

Cameras

• 12 MP rear facing cameras
• Sony IMX 362 sensor
• F1.7 aperture
• 1.4um pixel size
• 2.3x optical zoom, for a total of 12x zoom
• OIS
• EIS
• Laser AF
• Dual Pixel PDAF

 

• 12 MP front facing camera
• Sony IMX 214 sensor
• F2.0 aperture

 

It's impressive to see how far cameras have come in the past few years, let alone Asus, who only a couple of years ago gave us the Zenfone 2, an at best decent mid-range handset.

I think this phone looks like a great device for those that love to take pictures. What really excites me is what this means for the future of Asus's phone line.

I hope we see more solid devices like this in the future, and I can only imagine what their high end Zenfone this year will bring to the table.

The only real con I can see in this device is the lack of UFS storage, but that'd require a higher end SoC and increased price.

ZenFone Zoom Pro? Yes please!

 

Source:

https://www.asus.com/us/Phone/ZenFone-3-Zoom-ZE553KL/Features/

[Nowak]

It looks like a fucking iPhone 7+.

[FakeNSA]

2 minutes ago, Daring said:

It looks like a fucking iPhone 7+.

But that headphone jack!

[suicidalfranco]

why would i want a phone that looks like an iPhone

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, Daring said:

It looks like a fucking iPhone 7+.

They have a fingerprint sensor on the back, and capacitive buttons on the front? Interesting!

[Nowak]

1 minute ago, Aelar_Nailo said:

But that headphone jack!

iPhone 7 if Apple had brains and didn't eliminate the headphone jack because moving forward.

[FakeNSA]

1 minute ago, Daring said:

iPhone 7 if Apple had brains and didn't eliminate the headphone jack because moving forward.

Good point. However, I think it looks pretty clean, besides the unfortunate resemblance...

[SCHISCHKA]

price?

[MageTank]

Do they have a version of this phone without all the camera gimmicks, but still retaining that 5000mAh battery? I'd be down for one of those. 

[Guest Kloaked]

35 minutes ago, Daring said:

It looks like a fucking iPhone 7+.

It looks like a phone.

[dizmo]

25 minutes ago, MageTank said:

Do they have a version of this phone without all the camera gimmicks, but still retaining that 5000mAh battery? I'd be down for one of those. 

I wouldn't really call them gimmicks.

[Orangeator]

I don't understand why people are saying that this phone looks like an iPhone 7... It honestly doesn't at all in my opinion.

[rattacko123]

.5" too big  

[MageTank]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I wouldn't really call them gimmicks.

For us ugly folks, a 13mp selfie camera is a gimmick, lol. 

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, rattacko123 said:

.5" too big  

I can't stand 5" phones

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, MageTank said:

For us ugly folks, a 13mp selfie camera is a gimmick, lol. 

Hahaha, not gonna lie I said pretty much the same thing to my buddy when I saw the release.

"I love the rear camera...but...I don't wanna be seen in that many pixels."

[rattacko123]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

I can't stand 5" phones

5.5" doesn't fit in my pocket

EDIT: and at least 5" is better than 4" (my iphone 5)  

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, rattacko123 said:

5.5" doesn't fit in my pocket

....you must have a tiny, tiny waist. I wear skinny jeans and I had no problems with my cased Note5.

[atrash]

That black border on the white version display tho.. Also why not use on screen button instead of capacitive one? Thought more android phones are moving towards this? 

[corsairian]

I want one. 5000mah battery, sd 625, 1080p screen. This will get great battery life. Depending on the price I may pick this up and sell my S7... or a Note 8..

[dizmo]

13 minutes ago, atrash said:

That black border on the white version display tho.. Also why not use on screen button instead of capacitive one? Thought more android phones are moving towards this? 

It's a touchy subject, you'll have people crying either way. Some complain that they lose screen real estate, some complain that they capacitive ones can't be changed.

6 minutes ago, corsairian said:

I want one. 5000mah battery, sd 625, 1080p screen. This will get great battery life. Depending on the price I may pick this up and sell my S7... or a Note 8..

Right? Should get well over 130h on GSMArenas battery test. Finally, something beastly that doesn't skimp in too many ways.

Note8 should be excellent. I might pick this up until the Note8, and keep it around for traveling.

[atrash]

13 minutes ago, dizmo said:

It's a touchy subject, you'll have people crying either way. Some complain that they lose screen real estate, some complain that they capacitive ones can't be changed.

Right? Should get well over 130h on GSMArenas battery test. Finally, something beastly that doesn't skimp in too many ways.

Note8 should be excellent. I might pick this up until the Note8, and keep it around for traveling.

I prefer the touch screen button myself. So much customisation (i.e left of right hand use) Also wouldn't make the front look odd with the funny icons when it's dimmed or lighted up. 

[Matu20]

Does anyone have info on pricing?

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, Matu20 said:

Does anyone have info on pricing?

Hasn't been released yet but it's usually upper mid range for the Zoom.

[Matu20]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Hasn't been released yet but it's usually upper mid range for the Zoom.

I love everything about it, except I don't care about the camera. Basically I'm fucked