Asus Zenfone 2 and Zoom Release Date, Specs Review: Asus Zenfone 2 Wins IF Design Award
Asus, the Taiwanese computer and mobile phone manufacturer, unveiled their new flagship phones, the Asus Zenfone 2 and Zenfone Zoom at the CES 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, January of this year. Since its announcement, the phones have been featured in various gadget and technology magazines.
Just recently, the Zenfone 2 won a prestigious International Forum or IF Design award for Product Discipline for 2015. The IF website says of the Zenfone 2: "ASUS Zenfone 2 series is our ideal next generation smartphone series for everyone. With the slim form and new CMF processing application, Zenfone2 provides the new smartphone experience and impressive visual effects."
A March 9 release date in Taiwan has been announced for the Zenfone 2. At the Mobile World Congress 2015, participants had their first hands-on experience with the Zenfone 2.
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According to Phone Arena, the price range for the different variants of the Zenfone 2 is between $199 to $439. The price difference has to do with the screen size and resolution and the processor speed and RAM. It will have a 5-inch display variant which will be the cheapest. At mid-level price is the 5.5 inch variant with a 780 x 1280 resolution, a 1.8GHz processor and 2GB RAM. The highest priced variant will be 5.5 inch also but with a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920 and a 2.3GHz processor and 4GB RAM.
In terms of camera power, the Zenfone 2 has a 13MP rear camera with 3x optical zoom and a 5MP front camera. It operates on the new Android Lollipop with the proprietary Zen UI. Its storage is expandable up to 64GB and has a 3000mAh battery.
Based on initial reviews of the device, it is considered by some as a very affordable smartphone with high-end specifications and performance.
The Zenfone Zoom is called by Asus as "the world's thinnest smartphone to feature a 13-MP camera with 3x optical zoom." It has similar technical specifications as the Zenfone 2 except for the rear camera which has 3x optical zoom but "offers up to 12x zoom-in effect." Built-in storage for the Zoom is a whopping 128GB, which is of course expandable via micro SD. No release date has been announced for this phone, but the company is eyeing the 2nd quarter of 2015. It is said to be priced at $399.
