ASUS goes dual
ASUS ZenFone Zoom S
While the ASUS ZenFone 3 was stylized like a Sony Xperia device, the ZenFone Zoom S shares the same design language with the likes of the Huawei P10 and the Xiaomi Mi 6. The front features a 2.5D glass with contoured edges, and it’s nished with a coat of Gorilla Glass 5.
On this device, you’ll nd a 5.5-inch AMOLED display rated at Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) resolution. Like most typical AMOLED displays, the Zoom S exhibited a warm color temperature. It’s also vibrant and bright, and it has no issues rendering minute details, such as highlights and mild di erences in hues.
As a camera-centric smartphone, the ZenFone Zoom S comes with a dual rear camera setup – a rst for ASUS. They are both rated at 12-megapixels with very di erent purposes – the main one packs a Sony IMX362 sensor, and it’s further assisted by 4-axis OIS (optical image stabilization). The accompanying Zoom Camera has a xed 59mm focal length (35mm equivalent), providing the necessary 2.3x optical zoom.
The image quality on the Main Camera indicates that the ZenFone Zoom S might be ASUS’s best attempt at creating a camera-centric smartphone thus far. Color temperature might be a little warm, but it is good (for a phone camera) with detail, contrast handling, noise handling, and overall sharpness. The Zoom Camera on the other hand, leaves much to be desired, though functional with adequate color handling. It also lacks the OIS found on the main camera, and it’s not as bright since it doesn’t have the Main Camera’s wide f/1.7 aperture as well. As a result, images shot here su er from much noise.
The ASUS ZenFone Zoom S has a massive 5,000mAh battery capacity that seems impressive on paper. But, it’s hard to believe that with nearly 70% more battery capacity than the older ZenFone 3, it only manages to meet the latter’s battery-uptime. The problem is likely related to the phone’s optimization with components in the device, so hopefully, it may get better with rmware updates.
In the end, a newer phone with more features supposedly justifies the higher price tag over the ZenFone 3, yet those are the exact features that fall short of expectations.
The one where added features don’t meet expectations, the ZenFone 3 is still the one to beat.