Select Asus ZenFone Variants Will Sport Snapdragon 615 SoC, Says CEO

Shen at the side-lines of the Asus ZenFone 2 launch in Jakarta revealed that future ZenFone-series smartphone will use Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipsets. Shen, talking to Yugatech, however clarified that this won't mean Asus will end its partnership with Intel as the top-end models will still feature chipsets from Intel.

He stressed that the Snapdragon chipsets will be used in the "middle to high-end" and "mainstream" ZenFone smartphones. Shen even went to suggest that the usage of the Snapdragon 615 SoC will be because it supports broader LTE bands.

On being asked about naming convention of the ZenFone 2 series, Shen explained that Asus will follow Apple's naming convention for its smartphone range - citing the iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and iPhone 6. This may mean the next ZenFone smartphones will be launched under ZenFone 3 series, though we are unsure why Shen decided not to mention the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5s.

While speaking to NDTV Gadgets recently, Shen confirmed that Asus has no plans to bring its first generation ZenWatch to India. Sharing details about the successor of its ZenWatch, Shen revealed that the next smartwatch, believed to dubbed Asus ZenWatch 2, will see the light of day only next year. He added it will arrive in two variants - one for men and one for women.

The Taiwanese handset maker last week launched three variants of the ZenFone 2 lineup in India (four including storage variants), priced between Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 22,999. All the Asus ZenFone 2 series models will be available to buy via Flipkart.