Asus ZenFone 3 crams plenty of great features into a new glass-clad chassis (hands-on)
The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer drops the plastic of its previous models in favor of more premium materials.
With the new ZenFone 3, Asus has come a long way in handset design. Where previous models sported plastic bodies, the newly revamped ZenFone 3 series of phones -- which also includes the high-end ZenFone Deluxe and big screen ZenFone Ultra -- comes packing premium materials such as glass and aluminum.
In particular, the midrange ZenFone 3 has a beautiful glass design that's reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S7, especially the rear camera, while sporting curves that are somewhat similar to the iPhone 6S. If anything, it seems that Asus has taken the best of both designs and combined them into what should be a relatively affordable device.
The Asus ZenFone 3 will have a starting price of $249 (around £170 or AU$350) for the 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage model. It seems very competitively priced and will be launched globally in Q3, so expect to see the phones in July or later.
Brand new hardware
The ZenFone 3 is the first device to sport Qualcomm's new 14 nanometer Snapdragon 625 octa-core chip, and the one thing you need to know about this new chip is that it is a lot more power-efficient than the previous model, Asus says -- by up to 35 percent due to a new manufacturing process.
That's a good thing, and seeing how the previous Snapdragon 600 range of processors have usually held up well in terms of performance, the new 625 should do well too.
The ZenFone 3 doesn't skimp on the other aspects of the hardware, either. It packs a full-HD 5.5-inch IPS display (1,920x1,080 pixels), up to 4GB and 64GB of onboard storage, a fingerprint sensor on the back and USB Type-C support.
The 16-megapixel rear camera of the ZenFone 3 sits just above the rear fingerprint sensor.
Shooting capabilities
Midrange devices usually chuck in a pretty good camera and leave it at just that, but Asus couldn't help but up the ante. The ZenFone 3 adds four-axis optical image stabilization to its 16-megapixel rear camera and it's rare to see such a feature in this price category. It means that photos will be more in focus when there's motion, like jittery hands or a strong breeze. On the front, you get an 8-megapixel shooter for selfies.
Key specs
- 5.5-inch display, full HD resolution (1,920x1,080 pixels)
- 3,000mAh battery
- Dual-SIM 4G support
- New Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor
- Five magnet speaker and NXT amp
- Four colors: Gold, Blue, Black and White
Asus has done a very good job in revamping its ZenFone line. From the looks of it, we won't be plagued by a wide range of similar devices with just minor spec changes like with the ZenFone 2 lineup.
Instead, Asus told me that it will keep such variation low by injecting the higher-end Deluxe and larger Ultra. It'll be interesting to see how these pricier phones will affect Asus' marketshare in emerging markets hungry for cheaper handsets.
I can't wait to get my hands on a review unit. I'm impressed with the ZenFone 3's promise, and this new phone reassures me that Asus still has plenty of room to grow in the future.
Check out the rest of CNET's Computex 2016 coverage here.
The new Asus ZenFone 3 packs impressive features into its beautiful new glass body.