The Asus Zenfone Zoom is priced at Rs. 37,999 and boasts of a premium build and a state of the art 13MP camera. The smartphone comes with 128GB built-in storage, 4GB RAM and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop.
Asus has announced the launch of the Zenfone Zoom in India. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 37,999 for the phone alone, and Rs. 39,999 bundled with a tripod and the Asus Zenflash accessory. Coming to the specifications of the smartphone, the Asus Zenfone Zoom houses a 5.5-inch 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The phone is powered by the Intel Atom Z3590 SoC and has 4GB of RAM along with 128GB built-in storage. It also supports expandable storage upto an additional 128GB via a micro-SD card. Panasonic has designed the 13MP rear camera sensor and the 10-element lens system is made by Hoya glass, which is a Pentax-owned lens maker. The device is a single SIM smartphone and a 3000mAh battery powers the entire package. It weighs 185 grams and feels relatively light in one’s hands. The Zenfone Zoom runs on Asus’ ZenUI layered on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. The UI is the same that we have seen on other Asus smartphones. The Zenfone Zoom will be available in two colours – Black and White.
The emphasis is of course on the camera of the Zenfone Zoom and this isn’t the first time that we have seen a smartphone maker pay special attention to the camera. We have seen devices like the Nokia PureView 808, Lumia 1020, Lenovo VIbe Shot, Samsung Galaxy K Zoom and more put special efforts towards the camera on a smartphone. The unique thing about the Zenfone Zoom (as the name suggests) is that it supports 3x optical zoom. It’s the first phone to support this feature and in the demo that Asus gave us, it looks quite impressive too. Asus also claims that this is the world’s thinnest smartphone to support optical zoom. Asus claims that the camera on the smartphone will give users a DSLR-like experience but we will reserve that judgment for our final review. Apart from OIS and 3x optical zoom, the Zenfone Zoom also comes with laser auto-focus and Real Tone flash along with a suite of shooting modes and manual controls.
Moving to the design and build of the smartphone, Asus has really put in a lot of effort to make the device feel premium in the user’s hands. The front of the smartphone is what you’d expect from Asus. It’s the same as any Zenfone with the signature three capacitive buttons below the display. It’s when you turn the Zenfone Zoom around that you will see the craftsmanship. The rear of the smartphone has a leather finish and gives a great handling experience. The rear panel is still plastic, but it’s the premium leather finish that looks very attractive. The camera housing is very reminiscent of what we’ve seen on the Lumia 1020 but the bulge isn’t as big as the Lumia. It’s a lot flatter; almost as flat as the rest of the rear panel and that’s a plus when it comes to the design. The Asus Zenfone Zoom is built from a single block of Aluminum and the smartphone has a metal frame giving it a sturdy build. The smartphone also has rounded edges making it comfortable to hold.
The right of the smartphone has the volume rocker, which also doubles up for zoom controls for the smartphone. The right panel also houses the power button, a dedicated shutter button and a record button to capture videos. The top has the 3.5mm headphones jack and the bottom has the micro-USB port.
In the time we spent with the Asus Zenfone Zoom, the experience was reminiscent of using the Zenfone 2 (4GB RAM variant) with a very advanced camera at the back along with a premium build. Stay tuned, as we will bring you our in-depth review of the device soon.
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Sameer Mitha
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels. View Full Profile
