After launching the Tango-enabled ZenFone AR smartphone in the Indian market last month, Taiwanese PC and Tablet manufacturer Asus on Thursday expanded its Zenfone series smartphone portfolio with the launch of a new camera-centric smartphone, called the “Zenfone Zoom S” in the Indian tech market. Carried a price tag of Rs. 26,999, the new Asus Zenfone Zoom S is now already made available for purchase in India exclusively via e-commerce website Flipkart.com in Navy Black and Glacier Silver colour options. To recall, the Asus Zenfone Zoom S (as Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom) was first announced at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 in Las Vegas along with company’s first 8GB RAM-powered Zenfone AR, which has already made its debut on the Indian tech market a couple of days ago and the phone is now retailing in India with a price tag of Rs. 49,999. The main highlights of the smartphone are its dual 12MP rear camera setup, Hi-Resolution audio setup and a mammoth 5,000mAh battery.
Commenting on the launch of the Asus Zenfone Zoom S, Mr. Peter Chang, Regional Head, South Asia & Country Head, System Business Group – ASUS India, said, “On the onset of World Photography Day, ASUS India wishes to rejuvenate the passion and commitment of photography enthusiast by launching ZenFone Zoom S. We at ASUS have maintained a resolute and enduring commitment to championing mobile photography and ZenFone 3 – ‘Built for Photography’ launched in 2016 is testimony of the same fact. Today, we reinstate our commitment to help consumers catch the beauty of every moment with the ZenFone Zoom S. An incredible device that combines a dual-lens camera system with an unbeatable battery – ZenFone Zoom S will set new bar for mobile photography.”
As far as specifications are concerned, the Asus Zenfone Zoom S flaunts a 5.5-inch full-HD Super AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and a scratch resistance Corning Gorilla Glass 5 coating on top. Further, the company’s Tru2Life Video technology provides 150% sharper visuals delivering better contrast and clarity. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor coupled with an Adreno 506 GPU to handle the graphics. In terms of memory, the Asus Zenfone Zoom S is backed up by a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 2TB via a microSD card. Talking about its software fronts, the device runs company’s proprietary Zen 3.0 custom UI skin, based on Google’s Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. The device also features a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for biometric security.
For photography, the Asus Zenfone Zoom S sports a dual rear camera setup that comes combined with two 12-megapixel Sony sensors. Among these two camera sensors, the main camera sports a 12-megapixel sensor with Sony IMX362 sensor, an f/1.7 aperture, 25mm wide-angle lens, while the secondary camera comes with a 12-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and a 59mm lens. The camera features also include 4-axis optical image stabilisation (OIS), electronic image stabilisation (EIS), 1.4μm pixel size, PDAF, 3X optical zoom, RGB sensor for colour correction, and dual-tone LED flash. The main camera also supports TriTech autofocus system that includes dual-PDAF, laser autofocus, and continuous focus. The smartphone also comes with Asus SuperPixel camera technology which allows users to focus subject quickly and capture clear photos at night or in low-light conditions. According to the Taiwanese brand, “The SuperPixel Camera comes combined with advanced hardware and software enhancement by ASUS SuperPixel technology and let users achieve a light sensitivity that is 2.5 times (2.5X) greater than that of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus, and 10X that of an average smartphone.” On the front, the smartphone features a 13-megapixel front-facing shooter with an f/2.0 aperture, Sony IMX214 sensor and 5P Largan lens for capturing selfies and making video calls.
In terms of connectivity, the Asus Zenfone Zoom S supports dual-SIM dual standby using the Hybrid Dual SIM configuration (micro+nano/microSD). That means you can either use this as a dual-SIM phone without memory card option or single-SIM phone with memory card option. Apart from this, the smartphone also offers various connectivity options including 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, hotspot, GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/A-GPS, USB OTG, FM Radio, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB Type-C port for superfast charging and data transfer. On the battery front, the Asus Zenfone Zoom S comes packed with a powerful 5,000mAh battery that is rated to deliver up to 48 hours of talk time on 3G network, up to 6 hours of video playback time, up to 25 hours of web browsing and up to 42 hours of standby time. Sensors on the smartphone include an Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Ambient light sensor, E-Compass and a rear-mounted Fingerprint sensor. Dimensionally, the handset measures 154.3 x 77.0 x 7.99 mm and weighs 170 grams.
