At the end of last month, Asus said that it would be revealing a ZenFone 4 of some description on August 19th (in two days time) in the Philipines. Earlier in July, the ZenFone 4 Max was quietly launched in Russia. Fast forward to the present day, and Asus has just announced four phones: the ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4 Selfie/Selfie Pro, some of which were accidentally leaked by the company itself a week ago. Confused? So are we, but let's try to pick through the pertinent information.
We can assume (without any certainty whatsoever) that the ZenFone 4 Max and (and Max Pro) will be officially revealed on the 19th as per the teaser since that phone isn't mentioned in today's announcement at all. Let's leave that to one side for now and concentrate on what was on show today at Asus' We Love Photo event in Taiwan. The emphasis for the ZenFone 4 series is very much on imaging, as you can see from the promotional video below.
ZenFone 4
The regular ZenFone 4 has a large 5.5" Super IPS+ display and is equipped with a mid-range Snapdragon 660 chip. Corning Gorilla Glass can be found front and back, and the display has a pleasing curved edge. It's got a dual camera setup that on paper sounds as though it should take decent snaps, and the base model has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which should be plenty for most people. It'll be available in 3 colors: Midnight Black, Moonlight White, and Mint Green. Take a look at the other specs and images, plus an introductory video, below.
SPECS
OS |
Android 7.0 with ASUS ZenUI 4.0 |
Display |
5.5" Super IPS+, 2.5D curved glass, Corning Gorilla Glass |
Weight |
165g |
CPU |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 |
RAM/ROM |
4GB / 64GB or 6GB / 64GB |
Battery |
3300mAh |
Main Rear Camera |
12MP Sony IMX362 image sensor, 1/2.55" sensor size, 1.4μm pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, OIS, LED flash |
Second Rear Camera |
8MP, 120-degree wide-angle lens, 200% wider view |
Front Camera |
8MP, F/2.0 aperture, 84° field of view |
Video Recording |
4K UHD at 30 fps video recording with EIS |
Wireless |
802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® 5.0, Wi-Fi direct |
Connectivity |
USB-C 3.1 Gen 1, Front fingerprint sensor |
Other |
Dual SIM and MicroSD card slot, Dual Speakers, Hi-Res Audio 192kHz/24-bit |
ZenFone 4 Pro
As the name suggests, the ZenFone 4 Pro is a more premium version of the model above and will come in either Pure Black or Moonlight White. The form factor is practically the same, but improvements have been made in several areas. It has an AMOLED display, a high-end Snapdragon 835 SoC, and 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage. The battery is slightly larger at 3,600mAh, and the Pro is also equipped with NFC. The main rear camera is all but identical, except for a slight bump in aperture to f/1.6 and laser autofocus. The second rear camera is rather different, however, as it's not a wide-angle lens but one capable of greater zoom – 2x optical and 10x total. The front camera is listed as a Sony sensor, unlike on its sibling, and there's also an FM radio on board. More specs, images, and a video can be found below.
SPECS
OS |
Android 7.1 with ASUS ZenUI 4.0 |
Display |
5.5" AMOLED, 2.5D curved glass, Corning Gorilla Glass |
Weight |
175g |
CPU |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 |
RAM/ROM |
6GB RAM / 128GB ROM |
Battery |
3600mAh |
Main Rear Camera |
12MP Sony IMX362 image sensor, 1/2.55" sensor size, 1.4μm pixel size, f/1.7 aperture, OIS, Laser autofocus, LED flash |
Second Rear Camera |
16MP Sony IMX351 image sensor, 2X optical zoom, 10X total zoom |
Front Camera |
8MP Sony IMX319 image sensor, F/1.9 aperture, 87.4-degree field of view |
Video Recording |
4K UHD at 30 fps video recording with EIS |
Wireless |
802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® 5.0, Wi-Fi direct, NFC |
Connectivity |
USB-C 2.0, Front fingerprint sensor |
Other |
Dual SIM and MicroSD card slot, Dual Speakers, Hi-Res Audio 192kHz/24-bit, FM radio |
ZenFone 4 Selfie
The ZenFone 4 Selfie is, you've guessed it, geared towards taking better selfies. It also has a dual camera setup, but this time on the front, and it also comes with a front-facing flash. The main front camera has a 20MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.0, while the secondary lens is of the 120-degree wide-angle variety. The phone is powered by a budget Snapdragon 430 processor, but at least it has 4GB of RAM. It will be available in 4 colors: Deepsea Black, Mint Green, Rose Pink, Sunlight Gold. Scroll for more specs, images, and a promo video.
SPECS
OS |
Android 7.0 with ASUS ZenUI 4.0 |
Display |
5.5" IPS display, 2.5D curved glass |
Weight |
144g |
CPU |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 |
GPU |
Qualcomm Adreno™505 |
RAM/ROM |
4GB RAM / 64GB ROM |
Battery |
3000mAh |
Main Selfie Camera |
20MP, f/2.0 aperture, Softlight LED Flash |
Second Selfie Camera |
120-degree super wide-angle camera, 200% wider view |
Rear Camera |
16MP, LED real tone flash, Phase-detection autofocus |
Video Recording |
Full HD at 30 fps video recording with EIS |
Wireless |
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® 4.2, Wi-Fi direct |
Connectivity |
Micro USB 2.0 |
Other |
Dual SIM and MicroSD card slot, Hi-Res Audio 192kHz/24-bit |
ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro
The Selfie Pro is much like its sibling, aside from a few spec bumps and a more premium metal build. The display on the Selfie Pro is a Full HD AMOLED at the same 5.5" size. Curiously, screen resolution isn't mentioned for any of the other 3 phones in the announcement. This device has Gorilla Glass unlike the regular Selfie, and a slightly more serviceable Snapdragon 625. The main cameras on the front and back have Sony sensors, so should produce better images than the lower-end model. Color-wise, you'll be able to choose from Rouge Red, Sunlight Gold, or Deepsea Black.
SPECS
OS |
Android 7.0 with ASUS ZenUI 4.0 |
Display |
5.5" Full HD AMOLED, 2.5D curved glass, Corning Gorilla Glass |
Weight |
147g |
CPU |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 |
GPU |
Qualcomm Adreno™506 |
RAM/ROM |
4GB RAM / 64GB ROM |
Battery |
3000mAh with fast charging |
Main Selfie Camera |
24MP DuoPixel™ camera technology, Sony flagship IMX362 12MP dual pixel image sensor - 1/2.55" large sensor size, 1.4 µm large pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, 4K UHD (3840 by 2160) selfie video, Softlight LED Flash, 2X light sensitivity low light photos |
Second Selfie Camera |
120° super wide-angle camera, 200% wider view |
Rear Camera |
16MP Sony image sensor, LED real tone flash, Phase-detection autofocus |
Video Recording |
4K UHD at 30 fps, HD at 60 fps, with EIS |
Wireless |
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® 4.2, Wi-Fi direct |
Connectivity |
Micro USB 2.0, Front fingerprint sensor |
Other |
Dual SIM and MicroSD card slot |
There's no mention of release dates or pricing for any of the Asus ZenFone 4 family of phones, but we'll update you on that when we learn more. In the meantime, we'll probably get more official information about the ZenFone 4 Max in a couple of days, so look out for that.
Source: ASUS