ASUS first launched the ZenFone 3 lineup quite a while ago, and first mentioned its new ZenWatch 3 at IFA last month. But it wasn’t until now that we had any information on when any of these devices would launch in the US. It looks like all of the ZenFone 3 variants are now up for pre-order on ASUS’ website (watch assumably coming soon), and should be shipping within the month…
In this week’s top stories: Samsung unveiled new wearables and wireless earbuds this week as hints at the upcoming Galaxy Note 7 surfaced. We also had some more OnePlus 3 announcements and leaks ahead of an official launch, talk of Huawei manufacturing Googles’ next Nexus device, and an interview with Google’s Sundar Pichai discussing Nexus phones and a number of other topics. Head below for the handy links to these and our other top stories from this week.
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Over the past few years, a common trend in the smartphone world saw a myriad of OEMs pushing out a multitude of flagships. As demand for bigger-screened devices arose, so did the request for smaller handsets, often leading to at least two versions of the same device.
Asus is today pushing those boundaries even further, presenting us with not two but three flagship devices, part of the new Zenfone 3 family…
ASUS has announced that it will be hosting a press event on May 30th at Humble House Taipei, where it is expected to reveal the next generation Zenfone, among other Zen-branded devices. Dubbed ‘Zenvolution’, the event will kick off at 2pm local time (6am GMT/1am Eastern/10pm Sunday 29th Pacific). Following the launch, ASUS will have a booth open at the Computex 2016 tradeshow between May 31st and June 4th at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall.
Thanks to product listings on design site Red Dot, the first images of the Asus Zenfone 3 and Zenfone 3 Deluxe have seemingly been revealed. While light tipped on actual specifications, the listings (via Android Police) wax eloquently about the phone’s design and reveal a plethora of device features.
If you’re looking for the specs of the highest-end (and likely most popular) ASUS ZenFone 3, I don’t have anything for you. But a couple new benchmarks appeared on GFXBench recently, and they might be showcasing some specs for two of the upcoming phone’s lower-end variants. The model numbers are ASUS Z010DD and ASUS Z012D, and they seem to be closer to the budget realm rather than being this year’s refresh of the 4GB RAM beast that we saw last year with the ZenFone 2…
ASUS just pushed a maintenance release to the ZenFone 2, according to a thread posted by the company on its ZenTalk forum. The update fixes several issues as you can see below, as well as adds support for Android for Work and a new “Screenshot sound settings” menu.
Here’s the full change log:
1.Fixed video sound issue.
2.Fixed google play stop service .
3.Fixed SD cards issue.
4.Fixed SmartBox not read the phone issue.
5.Fixed can not control the volume of YouTube when using miracast.
6.Fixed the issue of displaying wrong operator name when roaming and searching network.
7.Fixed phone hang-up issue in Russia
8.Fixed PosteMobile NFC issue (ZE551ML only)
9.Support Android for Work
10.Improve ASUS ZenUI Launcher stability
11.Improve Cell Broadcast stability
12.Fix the failure to share Photo Collage picture via Email
13.Several Apps update
14.Improve power usage of Email App# New Features
1.Add Screenshot sound settings
As far as we can tell, the update is still Lollipop, and is only going out to the standard ZenFone 2 at the moment. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you’re already seeing the update—my handy ZenFone 2 is still update-less.
We got our first look at the ZenFone 2 all the way back at CES 2015 (and we recently gave the ZenFone 2E the review treatment), but now it appears (via Lilliputing), that ASUS is offering yet another model of the phone. While its hefty 4 GB of RAM was previously restricted to the higher-capacity models, ASUS is now offering a 16 GB model with the larger memory option for $229.
If you’re in the market to add a ZenFone to your Android arsenal, but you don’t want to pitch the extra cost for the 64 GB model, this is your handset of choice. Previously, the 16 GB model — which started at just $200 — was offered only with 2 GB of RAM, but now you can double the RAM for $30 more. It’s a no brainer, especially considering 2 GB of RAM is a little on the low side for 2015.
You can grab the new variant — in black, silver, gold, or red — on Amazon for $229 shipped.
I first took a look at the ZenFone 2 when it was announced back at CES, and I remember standing at the ASUS press conference actually very impressed with what ASUS managed to do here. While many that I talked to immediately discounted the device — because, well, it is another ASUS ZenFone — I stood behind it as someone who had actually tried it out first-hand. The phone packs some great hardware, and while it was assumed that this was just going to be another underwhelming mid-range handset to clutter the 2015 lineup, I thought this one actually deserved a second look.
Four months after the phone’s announcement in January, it finally went up for sale for North American customers on Amazon. There are two variants here, the first being a lower-end model that costs just $200 and sports 16 GB of storage, and the second is the 64 GB model, coming in at $300. We’re going to be taking a look at the higher-end model in this review, and that’s worth noting because storage space isn’t the only differentiator between these two devices. The high-end $300 model also sports a better processor, as well as that record-breaking 4 GB of RAM…
We got a chance to go hands-on this morning with the Asus Zenfone 2 at CES in Las Vegas, and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that this is one of the most notable smartphones to ever come from the Taiwanese company. Forget the fact that this device is the first smartphone in the world to come with 4 GB of RAM and consider this: At $199, this device, even without its headlining feature (which the base model is notably lacking anyway), is now by far the best $199-level phone on the market.
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In addition to announcing the Zenfone 2 at CES today, Asus used the Consumer Electronics Show to unveil its new Zenfone Zoom Android smartphone. Similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom line, Asus claims its Zenfone Zoom is the world’s thinnest smartphone with a 3X optical zoom camera.
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Earlier this month, ASUS posted a video to its Facebook account, teasing a new model of the ZenFone that the company will announce at CES 2015. Using the tagline “See what others can’t see,” ASUS hinted that the device will be camera-focused in some way, and gave a brief look at a shadowed and dark silhouette of the mysterious phone. Now the company is teasing us again…
We told you yesterday about a new phone that ASUS is teasing, and the company made it look like it had some kind of interesting tricks up its sleeve (dual back cameras?) for the upcoming ZenFone refresh. But while the next ZenFone is definitely expected to be announced at the upcoming CES 2015, new specs have shown up in documents submitted to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (via Android Police) for a phone dubbed the “ZC451CG,” and they aren’t all that spectacular.
ASUS released the first devices part of the ZenFone line at CES in 2014, introducing some Intel-powered smartphones that had a decent amount of horsepower at a reasonable price. This year it looks like the company is ready to refresh its line of phones, and there’s a new video recently posted on the ASUS Facebook page teasing what one of them might look like.
We can’t see much, but there are a few seconds where we can see the light shine through and get a decent look at the back of the device:
In addition to a quick peek at the back, the video shows off what looks to be a dual-camera set up. While it doesn’t look exactly like what appears to be on the back of the device above, there must be a reason that the company let this little image show up in the video for a fraction of a second:
Sadly, besides these couple of images, we don’t really have much to go off. The rest of the video just sports the tagline “See what others can’t see” spread across the screen, followed by the ASUS logo. If you want to see the video for yourself and come to your own conclusions about what ASUS might have in store for us, head over to the company’s Facebook page.
It was up in the air whether or not the LG G2 would be getting the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop, but LG has now taken to Facebook to confirm that the device will be at some point getting the update. The company also made note of the G3, which will supposedly be getting the update faster than most. Asus, yet another manufacturer of Android phones, has also announced some of the devices that it is currently planning to grace with Lollipop, with the ZenFone and PadFoneS making the list.
Just a few minutes after announcing the hybrid Transformer Book Duet, Asus has unveiled an entirely new line of Android devices dubbed ZenFone. Asus hasn’t had much luck in the Android phone market, due in large part to its odd choice to only release phones that dock in tablets. The company hopes that these ZenFone devices will bring it some commercial success, though.
The ZenFone devices will come in three sizes, 4-inches, 5-inches, and 6-inches. All models will be powered by a dual-core Intel Atom processor and be available in a wide-variety of colors. The devices will ship with Android 4.3 on board, but don’t get too excited, as Asus has decided to overlay its ZenUI on top of the operating system. Asus promises that ZenUI will be simply, beautiful, and easy to use. One feature Asus is heavily promoting is a What’s Next feature that keeps track of your daily schedules.
