ASUS may not be as popular as Samsung or Apple, but the company has established a reputation among mid-range customers for offering pretty good value for the money you pay for its ZenFone smartphones. Now, ASUS has just unveiled three new smartphones in the ZenFone 3 series and the three devices are targeted at different customers based on the specs and features they want.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe
First up is the powerful ZenFone 3 Deluxe. The company claims this is the first all-metal smartphone with invisible antenna lines. So, no ugly black bars on the back panel, which means, the phone is great too look at. The ZenFone 3 Deluxe is really the pick of the three smartphones announced today, coming with cutting edge specs and beautiful metal design to please the top-end market.
The phone features a 5.7-inch 1080p AMOLED display with 100% NTSC color gamut. The company has kept the bezels to a bare minimum, increasing the screen to body ratio to an impressive 79 percent. Under the hood, you get none other than the powerful Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with Adreno 530 GPU. Further, the company is going to offer up to 6GB RAM inside this new model, which means performance will be top-notch. Further, for connectivity, you get the X12 LTE model, which means fast data speeds.
In the camera department as well, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is no slouch. It comes with a powerful Sony IMX318 23MP rear sensor with f/2.0 aperture lens and 4-axis OIS. You also get 3-axis EIS on the device for steady 4K video recording. The company claims that the phone’s camera setup can focus in just 0.03 seconds, thanks to the presence of 2nd gen Laser Focus, contrast detect focus and PDAF. As for the other features, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe model comes with a rear placed fingerprint sensor, Quick Charge 3.0 supported battery, USB Type-C, His-Res Audio support and powerful five-magnet speakers.
This particular model is truly a powerhouse and can be yours for a competitive price tag of $499.
ZenFone 3 Ultra
If you are looking for something big, I mean really massive, look no further than the ZenFone 3 Ultra. The phone features a massive 6.8-inch 1080p display with ASUS-exclusive Tru2Life+ video technology that reportedly uses 4K UHD TV grade processor to deliver stellar video playback. The Ultra is basically a tablet with phone functions targeted at users who will primarily use this device for entertainment. It comes with 2 x five magnet stereo speakers and NXP smart amplifier. Other entertainment boosting features include Hi-Res audio support and virtual 7.1 Channel surround sound with DTS Headphone:X.
The ZenFone 3 Ultra continues the no antenna design with metal body as the Deluxe model. The screen to body ratio is 79 percent which will make the massive 6.8-inch display look amazing. At the back, you get the same 23MP setup as the Deluxe model. Inside, you have an octa-core Snapdragon 652 chip with Adreno 510 and 4GB of RAM. You also get a fingerprint sensor, but it is located up front, below the display. You get a large 4600mAh body with Quick Charge 3.0. You can also charge other devices using the Ultra’s inbuilt battery at 1.5V.
The ZenFone 3 Ultra is priced at $479.
ZenFone 3
Coming to the least powerful, budget-friendly, yet competitive ZenFone 3, it sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display with 77.3 percent screen to body ratio and 2.5D glass with gorilla glass protection. At the back, you get a slightly downgraded 16MP camera sensor, but rest of the features like Laser Focus, PDAF etc are the same as the other two models.
ZenFone 3 is also the first smartphone in the world to feature the new Snapdragon 625 chipset, which is the successor to the popular Snapdragon 617 chip. The highlight of this chip is that it is manufactured on a 14nm FinFet process, which is a first for a mid-range processor. This really shows that Qualcomm is trying to take things to a new level in the mid-range segment with this new chipset. You get 4GB of RAM on board as well as a rear placed fingerprint sensor.
Pricing is expected to be $249, which is great for a device with these specs. It would be a real tough competitor to the existing Moto G4 Plus handset.
Still no word on the availability of these three handsets.
