The ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom is much improved over its original ZenFone Zoom. Announced at CES 2017, the new photography-centric device is thinner, sleeker and it packs a large 5,000mAh battery. If this is a device you’re looking for, it isn’t as expensive as you think.
When it was announced locally in Taiwan, ASUS as mentioned that the top of the line ZenFone 3 Zoom with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage will be priced at 3,699CNY for the Chinese market. That’s about RM2,388 in our current currency. As a comparison, the previous Intel-based ZenFone Zoom was priced at RM2,099 and that also comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage. It is believed that ASUS will be introducing cheaper models with smaller 32GB and 64GB storage capacities.
To recap, the ZenFone 3 Zoom ditches its previous periscope 3X Optical mechanism for a dual-camera lens system similar to the iPhone 7 Plus. Both cameras use Sony’s 12MP IMX362 sensor and the secondary shooter has 59mm lens for 2.3X Optical Zoom. With digital zoom combined, this gives you up to 12X Zoom. Focusing is made quicker with Dual-Pixel PDAF and it is also assisted with Optical Image Stabilisation. For selfies, it gets a 13MP camera upfront.
The ZenFone 3 Zoom retains a 5.5″ Full HD display and underneath it runs on a Snapdragon 625 processor similar to its baseline ZenFone 3. Keeping the lights on is a huge 5,000mAh battery and surprisingly the ZenFone 3 Zoom is only 7.99mm thin. It charges via USB Type-C and the back also features a fingerprint sensor that unlocks on a single tap. The ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom will be available starting from February 2017. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check out the ZenFone 3 Zoom announcement post.
