Asus took the centre stage at MWC a few months ago to launch the ZenFone 5 series - the ZenFone 5Z, ZenFone 5, and ZenFone 5 Lite. The smartphones all offer AI-enabled features, "all-screen" 18:9 displays that deliver a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio, and dual camera systems. Also new are ZeniMoji, the company's own take at Apple's Animoji. The ZenFone 5 Lite made it to the markets in March, the ZenFone 5 next in April, and the flagship ZenFone 5Z is now launching in Japan on June 15.
This confirmation comes from none other than the company itself, and Asus Japan rolled out a tweet confirming the Asus ZenFone 5Z's arrival in the Japanese market on June 15. The smartphone is available to pre-order on the Asus website, and it comes in two colour options - Space Silver and Shiny Black. The Asus ZenFone 5Z is priced in Japan at JPY 75,384 (roughly Rs. 46,100), and only the 6GB RAM/128GB storage option has been listed for now.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Asus ZenFone 5Z runs Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box with the new ZenUI 5.0, and sports a 6.2-inch full-HD (1080x2246 pixels) display with a 18.7:9 aspect ratio - making it even taller than the 18.5:9 ratio seen on the Galaxy S-Series, but not as tall as the iPhone X's 19.5:9. This gives it a screen-to-body ratio of 90 percent. The display also supports the DCI-P3 colour gamut, and comes with Asus' Blue-light eye care filter, seen on previous handsets. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with the AIE (Artificial Intelligence Engine) and Adreno 630 GPU. It has 4GB RAM and 64GB storage in the base model, a middle of the line model with 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, going all the way up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage in the top model.
The Asus ZenFone 5Z sports a dual rear camera setup, with the primary camera sporting a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 sensor coupled with an f/1.8 aperture, 83-degree field of view, 24mm equivalent focal length in 35mm film camera, and a Softlight LED flash. The secondary camera on the rear is coupled with 8-megapixel sensor, a 120-degree wide-angle lens, an f/2.2 aperture, and a 12mm equivalent focal length in a 35mm film camera. The front camera bears an 8-megapixel resolution, with an f/2.0 aperture, 84-degree field of view, and a 24mm equivalent focal length in a 35mm film camera. There is 3-axis EIS available for both the front and rear cameras, as well as a Face Unlock feature, and real-time beautification features.
As for storage, the Asus ZenFone 5Z sports 64GB of storage in the base model, with a middle-of-the-line 128GB inbuilt storage model, and going all the way up to 256GB in the top model. This is expandable via microSD card (up to 2TB), which has its own dedicated card slot. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, NFC, GPS/ A-GPS, FM radio, USB Type-C, and 3.5mm headphone jack. It bears a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel that's capable of detecting damp fingerprints and unlocks the phone in as little 0.3 seconds. It runs on a 3300mAh battery that supports AI Charging tech. The ZenFone 5Z weighs 155 grams. Asus is also touting audio features on the smartphone, including dual 5-magnet speakers with dual NXP smart amplifiers, a PMIC internal dual amplifier, triple internal microphones with noise reduction, Hi-Res Audio (192KHz/ 24-bit standard audio output on HRA certified earbuds) support, as well as DTS Headphone: X support.
Will Asus Zenfone 5Z force OnePlus to slash the price of the OnePlus 6? We discussed that on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
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