At the recently held Computex 2016 in Taiwan, ASUS came out winning 16 awards for its various products. Four of these were Best Choice awards and 12 for Design & Innovation. At the event, ASUS also launched and showcased several new products like laptops, desktops, new ZenFones and even a robot. I'll tell you about the cute and helpful robot later. For now, let's look at the new ZenFones.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe:ZenFone 3 Deluxe is world's first Full-Metal Smartphone that has Invisible Antenna Design. It is the latest flagship smartphone of ASUS. It has an aluminum alloy unibody design that has ultra-thin 4.2 mm edge and no antenna lines.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe has a 5.7-inch Full HD (1920 by 1080) Super AMOLED display with over 100% NTSC color space for better viewing experience even in bright sunshine. Thanks to the thin bezel, ZenFone 3 Deluxe has a 79% screen-to-body ratio. That is, a bigger display in a smaller body. It is equipped with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 820 Series processor, Adreno™ 530 GPU, and integrated X12 LTE modem. To keep the performance swift, ZenFone 3 Deluxe has up to 6GB RAM.
The primary camera of ZenFone 3 Deluxe is 23MP with the latest Sony IMX318 image sensor, f/2.0 aperture lens, and 4-axis optical image stabilization. It also has 3-axis electronic image stabilization for better 4K UHD videos. The photo quality is enhanced with the ASUS TriTech autofocus system that automatically selects 2nd generation laser, continuous autofocus or phase detection for better photos with mere 0.03-second focusing and subject tracking. The PixelMaster 3.0 technology also helps in better picture quality in all lighting conditions.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe also has a fingerprint sensor that's positioned at the back cover under the camera lens. That makes it kind of hard to access if the phone is lying on its back.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe is also equipped with the Quick Charge 3.0 technology and is compatible with USB 3.0 Type-C.
For better audio experience, it has five-magnet speaker and NXP smart amplifier. While listening over compatible headphones, users can enjoy Hi-Res Audio (HRA) for better sound quality.
ZenFone 3:ZenFone 3 is the winner of a Computex 2016 D&I (Design & Innovation) Award. It has 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 by 1080) Super IPS+ display capable of up to 500cd/m2 brightness. It too has a narrow bezel that allows it to have 77.3% screen-to-body ratio. The front as well as the rear of ZenFone 3 are protected by scratch-resistant 2.5D Corning® Gorilla® Glass. 2.5D means it has a slight curve near the edges.
ZenFone 3 has 16MP primary camera. The camera is equipped with ASUS TriTech autofocus that can automatically select 2nd generation laser, phase detection and continuous auto focus for more accurate photos in 0.03 seconds.
ZenFone 3 is the first smartphone that is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa‑core processor. This is the first of Snapdragon 600 Series processor with 14nm FinFET process technology. ZenFone 3 also has an integrated X9 LTE. It has upto 4GB RAM and like ZenFone 3 Deluxe, it too has a finger print sensor at the rear.
ZenFone 3 UltraZenFone 3 Ultra won the Computex 2016 Best Choice Golden Award. It is a phablet device with big 6.8-inch Full HD (1920 by 1080) display that has 95% NTSC color gamut for richer images even in bright light. It is also the first smartphone that is equipped with ASUS-exclusive Tru2Life+ Video technology, which harnesses a 4K UHD TV-grade image processor to optimize each pixel in every frame before it is displayed. This enhances the contrast and clarity. For better audio, ZenFone 3 Ultra is equipped with two new five-magnet stereo speakers and a NXP smart amplifier. It too is capable of delivering Hi-Res Audio (HRA) through certified head phones. It claims to be world's first smartphone capable of delivering virtual 7.1-channel surround sound with DTS Headphone:X.
It too has a full-metal unibody chassis with no antenna lines. It has 79% screen-to-body ratio for bigger viewing area in a smaller body. It has 23MP primary camera with ASUS TriTech autofocus system. It is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor, Adreno 510 graphics, and it comes with up to 4GB of RAM. Like ZenFone 3 & ZenFone 3 Deluxe, Ultra too has a fingerprint sensor positioned at the back. It is powered by 4600mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 technology. The smartphone is capable of working as a power bank with 1.5A output
All these three new ZenFones sound impressive. It is interesting to see that in the new ZenFones, ASUS has done away with the Rear Key Design that we found in the second generation ZenFones. That is good because it is not very convenient to use the rear keys in big screen smartphones. However, as the finger print sensor is placed at the back, we might face the same inconvenience in using it. I was happy to know that the ZenFone Deluxe 3 has a superAMOLED display.
The new ZenFones haven't yet arrived in India. I hope that they'd be launched in India soon and at a price that will make them an attractive option for the consumers.
