While the original Zenfone Zoom didn’t make much headway in the Philippine market, that’s not stopping ASUS from trying again this year with their refreshed Zoom. The ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom has gotten an official local launch date on April 6, 2017, bringing a camera-centric model that amateur smartphone photographers can look forward to.
It’s worth noting that the Zenfone 3 Zoom takes a different approach from last year’s Zoom. While its predecessor merely slapped on a 3x optical zoom lens on its decent but average camera, the ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom follows the trend of using a dual camera setup while still retaining powerful 2.3x optical zoom that few competitors can match.
As a smartphone, you’re not losing out either. The Zenfone 3 Zoom is equipped with a 5.5 inch Full HD Super AMOLED display with a Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor, Adreno 506 GPU, 4GB RAM and anywhere from 32GB to 128GB of internal storage. The Zenfone 3 Zoom is powered by a 5,000mAh battery and will run Marshmallow 6.0 out of the box with a planned update to Nougat 7.0 within the first half of the year.
There’s no word yet on pricing though, but potential ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom buyers can look forward to a free JBL Clip 2 Bluetooth speaker, clear case, and a pair of ASUS ZenEar earphones.
ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom Specs
- 5.5″ Full HD Super AMOLED display (1080 x 1920 resolution, 401ppi), protected by Gorilla Glass 5
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953 SoC
- 2GHz octa-core processor
- Adreno 506 GPU
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 4GB RAM
- 32GB, 64GB, 128GB internal storage, expandable via microSD (hybrid SIM 2 slot)
- 2 x 12mp rear autofocus camera (12mp Sony IMX362 + 12mp Samsung 3M3 sensors) with 2.3x optical zoom (12x digital), PDAF, CDAF, and laser AF
- 13mp front camera
- Up to 4G/LTE
- WiFi b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.2
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDSS
- Fingerprint scanner
- USB Type-C
- 5,000mAh battery
- Price: TBA
