Asus Announces Zenfone Zoom Smartphone w/ 3X Optical Zoom 13MP Camera

[dgstorm]

It looks like Asus is wanting to take the camera optics of smartphones to a whole new level. They just unveiled their latest creation at CES 2015, and this smartphone has a monster camera! It's called the Zenfone Zoom and it includes a 13MP camera that also has a built-in 3x Optical Zoom lens. Here's the scoop on all of the specs:

• 13MP shooter with 3X optical zoom (and 12X digital zoom) - with laser auto focus and optical image stabilization
• 5MP front facing camera
• 5.5-inch (1080×1920 resolution) IPS display on Gorilla Glass 3
• Android 5.0 Lollipop and Asus's Zen UI enhancements
• 802.11 ac WiFi compatibility and storage options ranging up to 128GB
• At its thinnest point, the Zenfone Zoom measures at just 11.95mm
• Full dimensions complete at 158.9 x 78.84 x 11.95 mm and weighs in at 185 grams
• LTE
• 3,000mAh battery

Asus claims this is the world's thinnest smartphone with a 3x Optical Zoom Lens. That's probably true, since you can probably count on one hand the other smartphones with lenses of that size, and none of them were very thin.

The phone will officially launch in Q2 2015 with prices starting at $399 and up. No specific region availability has been revealed. What do you guys think? Could Asus have found a winner for folks who want the camera in their smartphone to stand out?

For more discussions, check out our dedicated Asus Zenfone Zoom section here: ASUS Zenfone ZOOM Android Forum at DroidForums.net

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Hmm...Solid offering by the looks of it. I know that's just a render, but the camera housing doesn't seem to stick out ridiculously far, given that it's actually got "real" zoom functionality built in.

 

[Gremlin]

Still looks nice.. however the case mike make it look it wierd in the back..

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Still looks nice.. however the case mike make it look it wierd in the back..

I think this is less weird than the Nokia lumia or whatever the one is that they always show in bright banana yellow, but that's what I was getting at. If the difference in thickness between the case & the camera bump isn't any bigger than it looks here, I'd say this has the potential to be the best phone with this functionality thus far.

Sent from my Note 4 via Tapatalk

 

[kodiak799]

Too bad it's HUGE. Still, glad to see someone push the envelope a bit on specs often ignored (ram and camera).

Camera bump could actually appear flush with a case.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Anybody see the camera that just happens to work as a phone that Panasonic just announced?

Now that thing has a HUGE camera bump. Like... Wow...

Sent from my Note 4 via Tapatalk