3 reasons we want a 4G ZenFone 7

August 29, 2020 Categories: Opinion, ZenFone 7, ZenFone 7 Pro, ZenFone 8 by 0 Comments

This has been quite a launch for ASUS. The ZenFone 7 comes to market quite a bit later than normal thanks to the pandemic and then ASUS has run into 5G compatibility issues for a number of countries. Does a 4G version of the ZenFone 7 kill two birds with one stone? We say a 4G version kills three birds with one stone!

Let’s consider what a 4G ZenFone 7 version would bring. What problems would it be solving?

First, it would lower the price of the ZenFone 7 which according to our calculations in Taiwan, is 22% higher than the ZenFone 6. ASUS did give fair warning long before the ZenFone 7 launch that price of the next phone would be increased just simply because of the addition of 5G.

Secondly, not having 5G and going with 4G means greater global compatibility. For us, that means a North America release of the ZenFone 7. It would mean a release of the ZenFone 7 in the UK. Other countries with 5G band issues would be resolved in one foul swoop.

Thirdly, and this would create joy for many people out there, but a 4G ZenFone 7 might just have enough space inside for a 3.5mm headphone jack. ASUS has stated for their ROG Phone 3 which also has no headphone jack, there was space issues inside the phone due to the big battery and 5G.

It has been pointed out that other new phones with 5G and big batteries kept their headphone jacks. Sure, but those other phones don’t have a flip camera do they? Those other phones don’t have cooling like the ROG Phone 3 either.

Without much thinking, we’ve been able to come up with three pretty substantial benefits to a 4G version of the ZenFone 7. If you look at what Google has done, they have gone with an early 4G version of their new phone, with a more expensive 5G version coming shortly thereafter. Their decision was based on the North American market and weighed the price/compatibility factors.

For many markets, 5G is creeping ahead slowly. When 5G becomes problematic? It needs to be viewed more as a problem rather than a feature. From our vantage point, the addition of 5G has had more negative results than positive.

If the ZenFone 7 turns out to be too high of a price and doesn’t sell as expected, that may mean too much inventory on hand. Phone components that are in inventory could open the doors for a ZenFone 7 4G. Over the years we’ve seen similar ASUS products that appear to be making use of inventory. ZenFone AR anyone? That came back later as the ZenFone ARES. We seen something similar with the ASUS ZenPad as well.

So please uncle ASUS, consider a 4G  ZenFone 7. It’s very unlikely at this late stage to see something like this happen, but will the ZenFone 8 and 5G hamper the release too? If more people can get the flip camera with a 4G version, we say please consider it next time.

 

List of countries not getting a ZenFone 7 release

August 28, 2020 Categories: Release Date, ZenFone 7, ZenFone 7 Pro, ZS670KS, ZS671KS by 7 Comments

In a strange turn of events, the excitement of the new ZenFone launch comes with a bit of disappointment. It seems the ZenFone 7 is going to be one of the most limited ZenFone releases in years. A true surprise for us as we saw a real uptick in interest thanks to the ZenFone 6 and figured this would result in greater aspirations for the ZenFone 7. Will the expression “less is more” pan out for ASUS?

So we only learned yesterday that North America is officially not getting the ZenFone 7. This came the way of an official statement from ASUS so it’s 100% accurate.

According to a Digitimes story, at the online launch conference ASUS said the ZenFone 7 would become available in Europe and Japan at a later time. With that statement, it would be unwise to assume there is going to be a large number of countries added beyond those mentioned at the launch conference.

We can now add another country to the non-ZenFone 7 release list. We’ve read on Tech Advisor that the UK is not getting a ZenFone 7 release either.

Running tally list of countries not getting the ZenFone 7:

  • US
  • Canada
  • UK
  • (updating as news emerges)

With the US, Canada and now the UK, those are some big tech savvy markets with a big online presence. It will be interesting to see if consumers care or if it’s only the hardcore enthusiasts who care about this. Will there be much in the way of complaints from these markets from being excluded? So far we aren’t see much.

Will those big tech sites bother reviewing a phone that won’t be available to buy in their main market? A lot of reviews and articles are done for affiliate revenue and if you don’t have links to sell the phone, will some websites simply opt out? What’s the point of reviewing a device that isn’t available to buy? Imagine reviews a product while knowing full-well that your main audience won’t be able to buy it. Many readers must question this. It would be like being duped in a way. We’re afraid this is about to get a bit more weird.

We’ve started this post to keep you updated on what countries are actually getting a ZenFone 7 release.

What about India? There is one big market that is very tech savvy and loves their smartphones. The most common question I see online is, “when is the ZenFone 7 coming to India?” Whelp, it may not be a matter or when, but more a matter of “if” it is coming to India. It’s interesting to see that the ASUS India Twitter channel hasn’t posted a mention of the ZenFone 7. It’s eerily quiet in that regard. Perhaps many India consumers made the assumption (as we did) that just like every other year, they would get a release.

For us this is still a bizarre situation. It’s unfolding so this should get interesting in the next couple of weeks.

So, are you ready? If you have been watching and following up to the ZenFone 7 release and live in a country that won’t see a release, we feel your pain. You may have to switch your thinking from ZenFone 7 to ZenFone 8 and hope that ASUS is more generous with release countries next year. Odd to think this way considering the phone just launched!

ASUS says ZenFone 7 not coming to US or Canada

August 27, 2020 Categories: News, Opinion, ZenFone 7, ZenFone 7 Pro, ZS670KS, ZS671KS by 0 Comments

Update Sept 5, 2020: Growing evidence suggests ASUS may now be bringing the ZenFone 7 to the US. That would also mean a release for Canada. Story is emerging but ASUS support staff indicating release for US is coming. Are those fine folks ill informed? New details here.

Here is a bit of a head scratcher for ya. When we first read this today, we dismissed it. But now we’ve seen a second article saying the same thing—the ZenFone 7 is not coming to North America. This is not conjecture. An official statement from ASUS has been issued. There is still part of us that wants to believe that this is not actually true.

Without getting into a full-on rant, let’s look at this.

When it comes to writing, there seems to always be a perfect word to describe a situation. If you think hard enough, there will be a word, a single word, that can summarize many thoughts. It’s a powerful thing! So here is the word that fits for us at least.

FLABBERGASTED

As it stands, ASUS is telling tech news outlets that the ZenFone 7 is not coming to North America. To us, that’s US and Canada. What this means for other similar countries that previously saw ZenFone releases, we cannot say at this time. May you be facing the same fate? Listen up because this may apply to you as well.

Here is the official statement from ASUS which was sent to the Canadian tech news website, Mobile Syrup.

“The ZF7 series do not fit the necessary 5G bands for North American 5G. While the 4G will work, we opted against launching a 5G ready/capable phone, without actual 5G support – as would have been the case for North America.”

We first spotted this suggestion on the Engadget ZenFone 7 Pro article in which the author suggested ASUS decided this year to skip North America due to limitations or compatibility issues regarding 5G bands.

Here is the quote from the Engadget article:

“ASUS has confirmed to Engadget that the ZenFone 7 series won’t be heading to North America, mainly due to the lack of most US 5G bands on the devices.”

Are we disappointed? Of course. Never did we think this would happen and given a majority of our website traffic comes from Canada and the US, this news impacts what we do here. To be completely frank about it, it has us rethinking our future. Bringing you news and information about the ZenFone series is a rewarding experience but when our core audience can’t buy the product?

Every ZenFone release has come to the US and Canadian markets. In fact it’s hard to think of any ASUS device aside from Zenbo and a some less mainstream and experimental products like the Eee Reader or Eee Note. Exclusion from a mainstream ASUS product was never a thought.

Maybe we should have seen this coming. Typically the North American market would be one of the last markets to get a ZenFone release. Thinking back, at times it was almost October by the time some ZenFone models got to the US or Canada. To put that into perspective, some markets would have the ZenFone models available to buy in the summer or late spring. ASUS had made it known in a subtle way that the North American market was not strong when it came to ZenFone sales. The strongest markets for ASUS get availability first, and with what we just mentioned previously, North America is the opposite of a priority.

We’ve plugged along here especially since the ZenFone 3 Series launch. To our delight, when it looked like ASUS was ready to pack it in and give up on their phone business, they come out with a hero, the ZenFone 6. Based on inventory woes, clearly this was an unexpected success for ASUS as they didn’t have production in place to deal with the demand.

Circling back to North America being a weak phone market for ASUS for a moment. There were rave reviews from everyone who bought a ZenFone 6 in North America. Not a negative word was said by reviewers from top tech websites in the US and Canada.

But of course without inventory, you can’t make sales. And without sales, how can you gauge consumer demand or interest? ASUS can’t rely on YouTube views or retweets to gauge interest. It was clear from our vantage point that if they had the inventory, they would have sold them all in the US and Canada. Nothing speaks louder than sales. It would seem from our vantage point that ASUS missed out on a lot of ZenFone 6 sales and could have flourished with a ZenFone 7 release that was in-stock more often than not.

The ZenFone 6 brought a whole new level of exposure for ASUS. People took notice, but not having units available to buy meant the demand could not be fully understood. We’re on the ground here. We see the indicators. We read what’s going on. How could a small  website know anything about consumer wants and needs?

From our years of experience, there was simply no comparison to other ZenFone releases. You could have added up all the page views and positive comments from the previous generations of ZenFone releases and it wouldn’t have topped what we saw and read from people regarding the ZenFone 6. We aren’t a big player but we have insight.

If the ZenFone 7 is not coming to North America, then why did the ASUS North America twitter channel tweet out the ZenFone 7 release? Ouch for us! Read the replies to that tweet. We aren’t the only ones feeling slighted by this.

It’s quite likely that many consumers in the US and Canada who couldn’t buy a ZenFone 6 due to no inventory were waiting for the ZenFone 7. It does rub a bit of salt in the wound knowing that inventory and availability for the ZenFone 7 will not be a concern this time around yet people who missed out on the ZenFone 6 won’t get that opportunity to buy a ZenFone 7.

When we first read of this decision by ASUS, we held out some hope. The ROG Phone 3 has the same processor as the ZenFone 7 Pro. The ROG Phone 3 has 5G as does the ZenFone 7 Pro. Because the ROG Phone 3 is coming to North America it made perfect sense to us that the ZenFone 7 would be here as well. For reasons we can’t understand, ASUS managed to get 5G for North America into their ROG Phone 3 but not in the ZenFone 7. That’s a head scratcher for us. Admittedly, 5G bands are not our specialty so we might be thinking too simplistically on this.

Are there options? ASUS says that the 4G would be fine in North America so there’s that. This may open the door for buying out of country but we know for a lot of you this is not an ideal scenario. Are you willing to dismiss potential warranty issues?

Here is another thought. Is this the end of the ZenFone brand for North America? ZenFone 6 is discontinued and unavailable. No ZenFone 7 this year. Who is to say anything changes with the ZenFone 8? It’s doubtful we will be optimistic about the ZenFone 8 and beyond landing in North America after this.

Maybe it’s ROG Phone only for North America?

At this juncture, this news is going to require a rethink for us and what we do with this website. Yes, it’s a dramatic development for us. As we say, we’re 100% ZenFone content. Perhaps not the brightest business model? Since we don’t run ads to generate revenue we rely on loyal site visitors. As mentioned previously, a large majority of visitors are from the North American market. Covering a product that consumers in the US and Canada can’t buy is a defeating proposition. It’s not sustainable.

So what are your thoughts on this? Disbelief? Are you going to buy one online from a different country and have it shipped to you in the US or Canada? Do you still hold out hope that this is just a bad dream and isn’t actually true? Please share your comment below.

[source 1, source 2]

 

ZenFone 7 Image Gallery (ZS670KS and ZS671KS)

August 26, 2020 Categories: Images, ZenFone 7, ZenFone 7 Pro, ZS670KS, ZS671KS by 0 Comments

Here is a quick look at the two colors of the ZenFone 7 and ZenFone 7 Pro. No difference in look between the pro and non-pro model. Both look the same. High resolution images will be added soon!

A closer look at the new ZenFone 7 flip camera

August 26, 2020 Categories: News, ZenFone 7, ZenFone 7 Pro, ZS670KS, ZS671KS by 0 Comments

The secret is officially out! ASUS has brought back the flip camera and it’s better than ever. Let’s have a closer look! We will start with photos, then follow-up with a breakdown on what’s new and improved!

Aside from adding in a new camera to the flip camera, there is plenty ASUS has done to improve what was, and is, an incredible innovation.

With a larger module to house the extra camera, ASUS modified the stepper motor to make it smaller, yet faster than before. We will post a video to give you some perspective but it’s very snappy in comparison to the original ZenFone 6 flip camera.

So the ZenFone 7 flip camera not only flips faster, but it’s also more subtle. As in, you can get finer adjustments on your angle. In technical terms, you now get to adjust the camera module angle in 0.5-degree steps rather than 2-degree steps that the ZenFone 6 offered. This means a better user experience when looking for the right angle to capture your video or photo. In fact, it also means smoother panoramic videos.

Durability was the biggest question mark for consumers when it came to this innovation with the ZenFone 6. No question that ASUS did a stellar job in the design because nowhere  will you find complaints about the ZenFone 6 flip camera failing or breaking. The design is a proven winner.

We mention durability because ASUS is touting the improved durability of the ZenFone 7 flip camera. You can now enjoy 200,000 flips according to ASUS which is for most people going to outlast the phones useful lifespan.

A neat added feature this year allows you to save three different angles that you most commonly use. This can be a time saver and added convenience!

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