Since I broke the camera glass of my SGS5 at the end of last year, I have been looking for a new phone.
One of the features I've been waiting for since a long time was optical zoom. Of course there's the new IPhone, but as a free software guy that's not for me.
So I was hyped to find out ASUS was going to release a new Zenfone Zoom. Some may remember their first one, which had a big clunky camera module in the center of the back. Luckily that's not necessary any more, dual lenses ftw!
The first release announcement was for february, but it got delayed to Q2. Since a week or two it's now available in the US, starting at an amazing $329 for the 32GB version. To get it in europe I had to buy from an importeur, paid some more, but it's got 64GB and I waited so long that I just had to get it now.
And boy am I happy. I've never cared about brands much, but I feel like I'm becoming an ASUS fanboy. For my travels I already got the GL502VS notebook, which I love beyond measure, and now all my devices are from that brand. The build quality of both items is awesome, and no problems with software so far.
The phone comes with a 5.5" AMOLED 1080p screen (which means no VR, but I'm not a mobile gamer anyway) protected with GorillaGlass 5 on a 154.3 x 77 x 8 mm body and weights only 170g. It takes 2 nano sims, where one can be replaced by a MicroSD up to 2TB. It's shipped with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, an update to 7 is announced.
Of course there's the common sensors - accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, rear mounted fingerprint - which all work fine. For connectivity it comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, an FM Radio and USB type C (2.0).
It's equipped with a gigantic (non removable) 5000mAh battery, and features an energy saving processor, which easily allows to use it for 2 days without charging.
Besides that, the main feature are the cameras. There's two lenses on the back (25mm, f/1.7, OIS (4-axis)& 59mm, f/2.8), which provide a 2.3x zoom. Using lasers, the autofocus is so fast that I first didn't realize the picture's already taken. And it comes with a huge amount of different modes for the camera (Auto, Manual, HDR Pro, Beautification, Super Resolution, Children, QR code, Night, Depth of field, Effect, Selfie, GIF, Panorama, Miniature, Time Rewind, Smart Remove, All Smiles, Slow motion, Time lapse). I never owned a DSLR, so I still have to learn how they all work. You'll be able to see my progresses (hopefully) if you follow me ;-)
The front camera has an amazing quality too, a few less modes, but still more than enough.
I'm also amazed by the sound. It's loud and clear, and the headset (good old 3.5mm jack) it comes with is the best in-ear I ever used (which doesn't mean much, but still).
Besides the Navy Black one I got, it's also available in Glacier Silver and Rose Gold.
I won't give an overall rating because I'm absolutely happy with it, but that's just because it's exactly what I want from a phone. Opinions surely differ.
Finally, here's my first few tries with photos, more coming over the next months!
Auto mode at night
Same setting with night mode
Another night mode
Optical zoom
Full zoom comparison (was a comment first, but makes sense to include here)
1x
2.3x (optical)
5x (digital)
12x
And a (auto) selfie :)
By popular request, full zoom comparison. The digital zoom is top notch, the pic with max zoom is a bit brighter than the 2.3x zoomed in on the PC (Linux/KDE/Okular), I didn't see a big difference in quality besides that! The stabilisation is psychedelic, I didn't expect a good result because it was swimming with every little movement...surprise!
1x
2.3x (optical)
5x (digital)
12x
Hi, happy day, I love reading your article, I learned a lot, I congratulate you, it's an excellent team, I wish you a great success with enjoying it to the fullest. The quality in its technical improvements will make your life a little more relaxing.
wow, I need to experiment with mine a bit still, but I'm pretty sure your 12x zoom beats my 10x zoom by a landslide.
this place looks familiar
but which piazza is it
I can't remember .. aging hahha
btw .. looking good w/o the Jesus .. you know what am writing about eh?
EDIT: is that Asus phone pricey?
why not Samsung? - honest question
The price is mentioned in the post. 329$
Samsung made quite decent phones a while ago, but their UI and the price are both shit.
busted for not reading
hmmm.. don't know about the UI but the price ..
don't know about how much they cost where you are but here it's quite reasonable IMHO
Release price of the S8 was 720$ in the US.
Only a bit more than twice of this one - and it does not have optical zoom, just an old plain camera
they lost much from the S7 malfunction and exploding cases I guess
boo.. that's too damn expensive
mine takes great pics
its even small and I only got it for 100+ euro
can't remember the plus :P
Thanks for the advices!!
Im like a beast of phones I wanna try them all
and this zenfone is kind of woth bying specially for a photographer like me sometimes a good phone helps us when our camera battery dies
I've read many of your posts.
I am amazed with your posts .
you receive a lot of upvote.
it's great
i never get 1 sbd too
lol.
I am amazed at you.
I really want to use high quality mobile phones.
such as asus and so on.
but I do not have money yet.
i still use 3g network handphon.
I am very unfortunate.
probably because of this my post is not good.
Reasonable people do not upvote my post.
hopefully I can buy asus one day handphone.
I am very impressed.
you are very cool (y).
I will follow you @pharesim
Nice phone and good review.
upvoted and followed!
"I never owned a DSLR, so I still have to learn"
Even as I do hold a DSLR pretty often, this is exactly why I appreciate good camera functions in an easier-to-carry format just the way you mentioned in your post. Those extra settings this one is said to have are just great for a wide range of real-life occasions.
Thanks for sharing @pharesim -- becoming a big fanboy of ASUS myself. It all started with my Notebook (and the fact that ASUS are different from now-Chinese Lenovo, from Dell's shenanigans, let alone nowadays HP which is rubbish and got nothing to do with the olden times when tat was an impressive manufacturer of great laboratory, computing and other gear -- who needs printers that still cannot do proper paper feeding...?)
So this left me pretty much with only a choice between Samsung or ASUS, and I am glad I went for the latter. Love the ASUS notebook despite a soemwhat flimsy trackpad on which I never can do a proper leftclick -- but maybe that was just a case of "bad luck" with the individual item I bought, and as I prefer using a cheap USB mouse with it, this isn't much of a turnoff for me).
And did I mention ASUS notebooks are very competitively priced :)
I might have to get one of these.... My current phone sucks, but I paid next to nothing for it of course.
Now that I'm on my phone a lot with the eSteem app though, I will need something a little quicker and more stable.
I've owned a couple Zenfones, including the very first model. Asus really knows how get the price down, whilst still producing a phone you can be proud to own.
For me, battery life and a bright screen are at the top of my spec list.
Looks cool. Not much of a photographer, but these look sharp.
Indeed, an excellent camera on this smartphone!))
Please @pharesim, add a photo without zoom and with zoom, so we could compare the relation, like you did comparing auto mode and night mode.
I will add that soon!
Thank you
Done :)
Well done @pharesim. “Digital zoom” is just a little better deception than average “digital zoom” deceptions 😊
And if I may suggest again – you can edit your post and include those photos you send as a comment.
You're right, it's useful to include in the post. I thought more about those that visited the post already when I added it as a comment.
That's perfect. Thank you.
the photos are amazing. I am a photographer, Check my work it too.Ur is outstanding.
Nice work.
I want this phone :)
Buy online, will be cheaper. :D I bought one. Check out some of my pictures too.
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following category:Congratulations @pharesim!
This phone looks awesome!
good quality :)
Xiaomi nite 4x
Nice post my friend .......! You are very popular and I really want to be a cousin of you please teach me to be like you, please upvote and follow me back, thanks for the share
Nice post ! Gracias @pharesim por compartir
A great zoom function...and many settings at night mode.great..interesting post.I'm looking forward to more.
Upvote and resteemed
Wow, Thanks, I think I just my new phone.
Seems, that you have some clue about it. What do you think about the moto series with the mod function? Are there mod-application that have great advantage in use compared to other phones? I bought one, but camera in the phone seems even better then the mod one.
No, sorry, I didn't look into those.
Ok, thanks for reply!
Wow those night shots are really good! What I love about it most however is the battery. Charging a battery everyday (sometimes several times) is much less convenient than every two days. I've also found that batteries retain charge and last longer if you don't charge them too often!
With the Type C connector it can even be used as a power bank for other devices! I'll still keep my 20k battery pack, but will probably need it a lot less now.
check some of my pictures. Phones are rocking up the world.
great zoom
Awesome post brother! 🙌
The battery alone is worth it! :D
How is the case quality? My only complaints about ASUS has been the quality of the cases of their products. My ASUS laptop isn't all that old but is already falling apart.
No complaints here. My laptop had quite a hard time in my backpack and is still fine (except a few blank pixels on the screen, didn't have a protection on the keyboard and it's been packed really tight).
The phone seems perfect, can't fit my fingernail in any slits. Won't fall apart anyway, as it's a unibody :D
The self picture is clean and doesn't even look like it was taken with a smartphone. OMG! I am going to get one too. Not sure if we have it in the market here in Nigeria, I will be glad if I can get one for my steemit posts.
Resteemed and Upvoted!
I'm curious as to how they make it so cheap - since it doesn't sound like they've cut any corners?
It's a bit short on RAM (3GB), and the CPU isn't the fastest (therefor energy saving).
I'm still amazed by the price too, seems like they don't need margins as big as the others...
Yes it is still great value. I think this shows just how much competition there is in the smartphone market even with the dominance of Apple and Samsung.
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Wow, was that the max zoom? I like how sharp it still is.
Max optical (2.3x) - digital zoom is something I ignore usually. I'll add a comparison of different zoom stages (1x-12x) later today.
Now I'm even more impressed :D
Tell me more. :p
Thank you for the review. I will be looking for that phone hopefully they will be selling it in my neck of the woods soon.
Wow such a great quality !! Didnt expect that from asus !
Good quality photos!
i've always really liked ASUS kit. looks pretty good.
Camera looks pretty good. A fine review. :)
Great zoom and night functions!
BRO those pictures are crisp af @pharesim
the camera on this looks great. cool review!
Ooooooooooo I have the same phone))))
Great choice! ;)
Thank you!
I am in search of a new phone; thanks for the review
I take pictures of my recipes on my phone.
https://steemit.com/food/@kleryk200/home-chefs-7-creative-omelette-with-champignons-food-creative-photoshoot https://steemit.com/food/@kleryk200/home-chefs-6-hot-and-fragrant-khachapuri-food-creative-photoshoot
I was looking for a new phone happy to see the 5000mha battery.
I looked at the camera Pro setting and seems to have good option too.
However, running Android Marshmallow was a disappointment so I decided to give it a miss. I think Android Nougat is supposed to bring better battery life overall.
The update to Nougat already started being rolled out, Japanese are the lucky ones who got it first.
I really hope it'll arrive here soon, as it will bring RAW support and the bokeh/portrait mode.
Thanks for the information. That's good to know.
Photos are great, especially those in low light. I had never considered the Zenphone but may do so now...especially since I use the Samsung S8+ which has the most annoying dedicated hardware button that launches the Bixby virtual assistant.
This is good to know. I previously had an Asus laptop and it compared with other brands much more expensive in cost.
I want this phone.. I hate that some of my app's are not compatible :(
Nice, Asus has come out with some great products in the last few years, they also make some pretty nice computers the Zen aio is definitely on my radar.
@pharesim Excellent information. My daughter and I do not buy a professional camera, we use smartphones - cameras. Thank you my friend, for this article, learned a lot for myself. Thank you very much, my friend is a success.
Tell you the truth as I was scrolling down from the "selfie" I was expecting dreadlocks
I think that the selfie is the best one ahahah Joking at part it seems to be a great phone! I have never had asus and as an Idiot I bought a mac air in the past. Regarding the camera seems to be very nice and the night mode is much better than the auto one.
5kmAh is crazy good.... think that only now samsung and iPhone are increasing up to 3k but 2 days to last is a very good reason to buy it.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Looking forward to see more photos
Good Review.
Night photos are super !!!
I have a new Zenphone 3 too, and I'm also loving it.
I've also just got an Osmo gimble for it, to take rock solid video.
The biggest problem I've had so far is - I haven't had enough time off work to play with my new toys!
But I'm on holiday next week, so a good chance to check out all the features on the camera and see what it can do. So far, like you, I am really impressed with it.
Never heard of this phone but battery and camera are very impressive!
By the way, thanks for upvoting my post, Perfect afternoon.
I'm following you now so will be very interested to see your pictures as they come in.