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Asus is a brand which is not very evident in the smartphone market. The last phone from the Asus realm was the ROG Phone 2 which was way back in September 2019 that too from the sub-brand ROG. Also no mid-range phones since December 2019. Either Asus does not want to focus on its smartphone business or doesn’t want to take a risk if launched many phones then how the customers and especially people in the tech scene will accept it. There can be tons of other reasons which we can only speculate as of now until and unless Asus themselves reveals.

The Asus Zenfone flagship is long long overdue as the Zenfone 6 came way back in May 2019 and after that no Zenfone has been launched let alone a flagship. I hope you even remember the lost Zenfone 6 aka Asus 6z as it has been rarely mentioned these days. Then Asus Zenfone 6 was pretty much a power packed smartphone with plethora of features which other brands didn’t provide (Especially OnePlus 7, its closest rival) like headphone jack, triple SIM slot, notification LED etc. The showstopper in Asus Zenfone 6 was the Flip-camera mechanism which turned heads of many many people due to its quirk i.e. rear camera quality pictures for the selfies.

Asus Zenfone 7: What we know so far

For the most part of the year, we didn’t even heard the name of any Zenfone in form of leaks or reveals only a couple of weeks ago the Asus Zenfone 7 has started making the rounds with various specs leaks here and there. It seem like if Asus is even gonna launch a next Zenfone or they are done with the smartphone business. Surprisingly, this time it’s said that there’ll be two variants of Zenfone 7 i.e. Zenfone 7 and Zenfone 7 Pro. Now we only have a hint that the Zenfone 7 will have the Snapdragon 865 and well that was even confirmed in an Qualcomm event in which it showcased a list of phones to be equipped with the Snapdragon 865 and on Asus’s behalf there were ROG Phone 3 and Zenfone 7. Also in a Geekbench listing a ‘asus ZF’ surfaced and listed Snapdragon 865 with 16GB RAM.

Two variants this time: Zenfone 7 Pro & Zenfone 7

From different sources it can be said that there will be two variants of the Asus Zenfone 7 this around i.e. Zenfone 7 Pro and Zenfone 7. Asus is going the Zenfone 5z style as it also had 2 variants but with different chipsets. This time it’s said that both will have the same processors, the Snapdragon 865. Surprisingly Asus will retain the flip camera mechanism and not go with the flow like a punch-hole. Take this with a pinch of salt as no major sources have revealed the same. ASUS is one of the only brand who’s smartphones don’t get leaked till the very last moment. That’s just insane in this day and age.

Asus should have just gone with the flow in my opinion as mechanical parts in smartphone are not just the way to go. All major brands have moved on pop-ups and we rarely see these days any phone launch with pop-up cameras (exception Poco F2 Pro/ Redmi K30 Pro). At the same time some Zenfone 6 users have indeed faced problem with flip camera like with long periods of movement like in bike, the camera would come loose then would have to calibrate it and some time to time software issues that it won’t flip and restart was only the fix. But again ASUS will surely work upon that if it does goes the flip camera way and minimise the problems as much as possible. The Flip was innovative indeed but not at the stake of problems. Also you’ll ofcourse get a fullscreen display experience with no cut-outs in the display so atleast that’s a pro of a flip camera. Speaking of display, it’ll most probably have AMOLED/OLED well actually it has to as customers these days prefer AMOLED over LCD anyday especially at high prices. I do believe AMOLED has its cons like screen burn-ins, tints and what not but it is what it is. Also considering these days how bad quality checks have been (OnePlus 8 Pro oof).

The vanilla Zenfone 7 should have a upper mid-range processor like the Snapdragon 700 series or something and the Pro variant with the mighty Snapdragon 865. By this ASUS will be able to capture a good chunk of the market from both the segments.

The Specs of Zenfone 7 we know so far –

1. Display – 6.7″ OLED (90/120Hz)
2. Processor – Snapdragon 865/865+ (plus variant unlikely as reserved for the ROG Phone 3)
3. Cameras – 3 cameras, wide + ultra-wide + telephoto/macro/depth (it would be great if had telephoto)
4. Battery – 5000 with 30W charging

The specs turn out to be a proper 2020 flagship and of course 5G support to round the things off. The Zenfone 7 hype is real and people are really looking forward to it or atleast the tech enthusiasts. If the launch is just around the corner then Asus being Asus won’t promote and hype it. Unnecessary hype is not great but Asus is not even at that level where people recognise their phones. Anyhow, it is what it is the pricing should be lower then the ROG Phone 3 which was the same case with Zenfone 6 and ROG Phone 2 in 2019. The pricing should be around Rs. 40,000 ($533) for the base variant to give a real competition to the OnePlus 8.

Update: Official Launch date

The Zenfone 7 series (yes 2 phones confirmed) is all set be be announced on 26 Aug at 11:30 IST. The event will be live streamed on Asus Taiwan’s YouTube channel. Go set a reminder but the event most likely won’t be in English rather in their native language.

Update: Officially Launched

The Zenfone 7 and Zenfone 7 Pro are now official. It now retains the flip cameras but are upgraded in every other way from the past generation. Like updated camera sensors and a new telephoto 3X lens along with improvements to the flip camera mechanism as whole. Also another interesting thing to not is the finally arrival of the high refresh rate AMOLED display which has been a longing on Zenfones since a long time.

You can get a glimpse of the same here

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