Release date for Zenfone 3 Zoom gets delayed until Q2 according to Asus North America Facebook post

Originally the Zenfone 3 Zoom was slated for a February release in the US and most markets, but a recent reply by Asus North America indicates it’s delayed until Q2. Let’s be clear here. It’s currently available in Taiwan but the larger rollout of this phone appears to be delayed. Here is the reply from Asus North America to a customer question about the Zenfone 3 Zoom and when it’s going to be released:

Unfortunately, the ZenFone 3 Zoom has been delayed until Q2. We’re reworking it with better specs so you and many others can have an awesome smartphone to use.

Q2 means April 2017.

So what they mean by “reworking it with better specs” is interesting. This could indicate that Asus is working Android 7.0 Nougat onto the Zenfone 3 Zoom which currently has Android 6.0. Perhaps their camera team is tweaking. We can only speculate at this point.

Whenever you hear about better specs it makes me think about price. Will the $399 USD remain or will improved specs mean a higher price? We will update with news as it becomes available.

[source: Asus North America Facebook]

Welcome the Zenfone Live (ZB501KL) – It’s not Go

Well Asus has thrown a curve ball here. It’s not a new Zenfone Go phone, rather it’s a Zenfone Live phone. This is the first from this new “Live” series which is focused on live streaming excellence. It’s going to be price friendly like the Zenfone Go series, but Asus decided to go with a newly named line-up for this design.

This is the first time we’ve spotted ZenUI 3.5 so we will dig into what’s new. Overall the ZB501KL is a budget spec phone which will like be a limited release.

 

ZB501KL Spec Sheet:

[source: Krispitech]

 

 

Asus has a Zenfone camera team of 70 to 80 people

According to Asus CEO Jerry Shen who spoke at the recent investors conference, the company has 70 to 80 people working on the Zenfone camera technology. Many of them are senior engineers with PhDs according to Shen.

There is a lot of challenges with smartphone cameras and the fact Asus is putting together such a large and diverse team says they are serious. It would make sense that with the Zenfone 4, the fruits of their labor should be realized.

It’s interesting in our long running poll on this site that the result indicate that people are far more interested in price.

The Zenfone 3 Zoom should be a hint on where Asus is progressing in terms of their photo taking prowess. With the Zenfone 3 Deluxe having the newest Sony camera sensor, the phone didn’t get top reviews in terms of video quality. The good news is that with the current Zenfone 3 models, Asus has continued to roll out software updates which list camera improvements. Clearly the company cares.

When you think smartphone photo quality, it’s usually Samsung at the top followed by Google Pixel phones. For Asus to continue pushing into the higher end smartphone market, their photo technology needs to compete. Let’s hope that the Zenfone 4 really shines!

New Zenfone 3 Go (ZB501KL) excels at live streaming

Asus has just made some news with details about the new Zenfone 3 Go (ZB501KL) smartphone. The Go series is entry level price and at this point the price and launch countries are unknown.

What we can tell you is that Asus is touting the Zenfone 3 Go live streaming capability. Think of this as an enhancement technology that will make you look more beautiful. There is also quality microphones onboard to help with the live streaming quality. If you are familiar with technical details, the Zenfone 3 Go has dual MEMS microphones which make for a clearer chat with less noise.

The Zenfone 3 Go has a soft LED flash for brighter selfies. Based on photos of the phone, we don’t see a fingerprint sensor.

The tag line for the Zenfone 3 Go is “Livestream beautifully”.

Details are emerging so we will have some update specs and information very soon.

Asus CEO Jerry Shen shares a few Zenfone 4 details

With a recent launch event in Taiwan for the Zenfone 3 Zoom, an interview by ePrice with Asus CEO Jerry Shen has uncovered a few Zenfone 4 details. We are dealing with translations here, but we can at least share in general terms what Jerry Shen has said.

First, it appears that some of the top end Zenfone 4 models will not have the 3.5mm headphone jack. According to Shen, there would need to be a design or performance reason for removing it. Removing the headphone jack for the sake of removing the headphone jack doesn’t seem to be something Asus is contemplating. It seems quite clear though that most of the mid range and lower Zenfone 4 models will have the headphone jack. Water resistance or water proofing might be one justification for the headphone jack removal in our opinion.

Next, Shen indicates that Asus will have some premium priced Zenfone 4 models with top-end specs. This should be along the lines of what the Zenfone 3 Deluxe established in terms of pricing. With the move from Zenfone 2 to Zenfone 3 Asus has already raised their pricing and the Zenfone 4 series appears to have a similar pricing strategy. Based on what Shen is saying, expect the Zenfone 4 series to be even more premium overall than the Zenfone 3 series.

[source: ePrice]