At Computex in Taipei, Asus has taken the wraps of the latest phones in their Zenfone series with a series of three Snapdragon powered handsets. The Asus Zenfone 3 also has an Ultra and Deluxe Model coming to market alongside and though they have different specs, are all pretty well high end.
The Zenfone series are all powered by Qualcomm processors, though the higher end models come with more powerful processors the phones all come with similar specs in terms of screen resolution, but there’s differences in the screen sizes. The type of panel is also different with both AMOLED and LCD being used in the three phones.
Cameras are reportedly powered by Sony’s 16MP IMX298 sensor on the Zenfone 3 while the Ultra and Deluxe models get an update to the 23MP IMX318 sensor. Both of the rear camera sensors used on the range come with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS). The Zenfone 3 and the Zenfone Deluxe also list a Sapphire Lens so no scratches on those bad boys. All three also come with Laser phase detection for almost instant auto-focus.
| Zenfone 3 | Zenfone 3 Ultra | Zenfone 3 Deluxe | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | 5.5″ FullHD (1920×1080) | 6.8″ FullHD (1920×1080) IPS Display | 5.7″ FullHD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED |
| Processor | 64-bit Qualcomm® Octa-Core ProcessorSnapdragon™ 625 @2.0Ghz | 64-bit Qualcomm® Quad-Core ProcessorSnapdragon™ 652 @1.8Ghz | 64-bit Qualcomm® Quad-Core ProcessorSnapdragon™ 820 @2.15Ghz |
| GPU | Adreno™ 506 | Adreno™ 510 | Adreno™ 530 624 MHz with OpenGL 3.0 support |
| RAM | 3GB / 4GB LPDDR3 | 8GB | |
| Storage | eMCP32GB/ 64GB / 128GB with microSD Card slot | eMMC32GB/ 64GB / 128GB with microSD Card slot | UFS64GB/ 128GB / 256GB with microSD Card slot |
| Rear Camera | 16MP IMX298 sensor with OIS & EIS f/2.0 aperture Dual-LED real tone flash |
23MP IMX318 sensor with OIS and EIS f/2.0 aperture Dual-LED real tone flash |
|
| Front Camera | 8MP Camera , f/2.0 aperture | 8MP Camera , f/2.0 aperture 85˚ wide-viewing angle | |
| Wireless | 802.11ac Bluetooth V 4.2 Wi-Fi direct GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth V 4.2 +A2DP +EDR GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/BDSS |
|
| Radios |
2G: 850/900/1800/1900 3G: WCDMA: WW version Band: 1/2/5/8 IN/ID version Band: 1/5/8 TW/JP/HK version Band: 1/2/5/6/8/19 TD-SCDMA: CN version Band: 34/39 CDMA: CN version BC0 4G (LTE): FDD: WW version Band: 1/2/3/5/7/8/20 IN/ID version Band: 1/3/5/8 TW/JP/HK version Band: 1/2/3/5/7/8/18/19/26/28 US/BR version Band: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/17/28 CN version Band: 1/2/3/5/7/8 TD: IN/ID version Band: TW/JP/HK version Band: 38/39/40/41 CN version Band: 38/39/40/41 |
2G: 850/900/1800/1900 3G: WCDMA: WW version Band: 1/2/5/6/8/19 TD-SCDMA: CN version Band: 34/39 4G (LTE): FDD: WW version Band: 1/3/5/7/8/18/19/20/26/28 TD: WW version Band: 38/40/41 |
2G: 850/900/1800/1900 3G: WCDMA: WW version Band: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19 TD-SCDMA: WW version Band: 34/39 CDMA: WW version BC0 4G (LTE): FDD: WW version Band: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/26/28/29/30 TD: WW version Band: 38/39/40/41 CDMA: WW version BC0 |
| Battery | 3,000mAh | 4,100mAh | 3,000mAh |
| Android | Android™ 6.0 with brand-new ASUS ZenUI | ||
| Colours | Sapphire Black/Moonlight White/Shimmer Gold | Glacier Silver/Titanium Gray/Metallic Pink | Glacier Silver/Titanium Gray/Shimmer Gold |
| Pricing: | $249USD | $479USD | $499USD |
The Zenfone 3 has a dual glass front and back design, while the Ultra and Deluxe models come with an aluminium unibody design.
All three Zenfone 3 models come with USB Type C connections with support for Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 – but no you won’t find wireless charging here.
No word on a release date for any of the three phones. We’ve yet to see the Zenfone series reach Australia officially, despite Asus Australia last year telling us the initial Zenfone series would launch here. We’ve again reached out to Asus Australia for any information on an Australian launch and we’ll update as soon as they have anything to say.
Any more word on if and when the zen phone 3 will come to australia ???
Don’t hold your breath. Asus barely release tablets here anymore. They announced the Zenfone 2 series was coming and then nothing happened.
Yeah, it’ll never happen. Your best bet is to purchase from an online seller. Many of us use qd_au on eBay, as they’re reliable and they also have a Sydney address for returns under warranty (they’re based in Taiwan though). Unfortunately, the cheapest price is $A499 for the 5.5″ model, which I think is $100 too much, given its specs. However, early reviews suggest the camera is excellent (and perhaps superior to the OnePlus 3).
That’s a shame , it’s looking like they have some good gear for 2016 .
No NFC?
256GB model: Let’s see if we get enough interest/advance orders before we manufacture it…
nice hardware especially the deluxe. BUT how’s the software update history? 🙂
Looks interesting indeed!
Holy cow! 8 rams for the deluxe version?? Talk about an overkill!
Edit: thanks to Pumpino, it’s 6 rams but still….
I found a mistake. The Deluxe has 6GB, not 8GB. 🙂
Thanks for posting so quickly. I’m quite excited about the ZF3, and I’m impressed that the different screen sizes and processors should cater for a lot of people. Availability is in the third quarter, so July-September. 🙁