ASUS is set to change the “view” for Filipinos as the much-awaited ZenFone Zoom finally makes its way to Philippine shores.
Setting a new global benchmark as the world’s thinnest 3X optical-zoom smartphone, the ZenFone Zoom ups the game by elevating the user’s visual and photography experience with a 3X Hoya lens in an innovative 10-element lens arrangement for exceptional clarity and close-ups with up to 12X total magnification features that allow you to see the world up close by enjoying a DSLR experience in the palm of your hand.
“We are thrilled to finally bring the ZenFone Zoom to Filipinos,” said ASUS Philippines Marketing Lead Jamie Zaldivar. “The ZenFone Zoom revolutionizes smartphone photography in a way that cannot be matched by any other smartphone currently in the market. It puts professional, DSLR-quality photography within easier reach so that Filipinos can all the more enjoy and indulge in the experience of taking photos with their mobile phones.
Inviting Filipinos to immerse themselves in the exciting promise of the ZenFone Zoom firsthand, ASUS launched its latest high-end smartphone during one of the country’s most-attended and colorful festivals: the annual Sinulog Festival in Cebu.
Dubbed ZenFestival2016, the event amplified the vibrant spectrum of colors and scenes that the festival is known for through the ZenFone Zoom’s superb and one-of-a-kind photography specs, enabling guests to #SeeSinulogUpClose.
“We couldn’t think of a more perfect platform than the Sinulog Festival to present the ZenFone Zoom because of the undeniably unique visual experience it offers,” Zaldivar points out. “It’s an eye-catching medley of vibrant colors, music, and movements, which creates an overall multi-sensory experience that makes it a haven for amateur and professional photographers alike. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Cebu, which is in itself a top city and beach destination, the festival presents a plethora of photography possibilities to explore and play around with.”
During the festivities, some of the Philippines’ top media, bloggers, and personalities were spotted enjoying first dibs on exploring the ZenFone Zoom making them the first Filipinos to personally experience its features following an impressive technical walk-through of the smartphone led by ASUS Philippines Country Manager for System Business Group George Su, Product Manager for Smartphone Lenny Lin, and PR Head Eason de Guzman.
They then had the opportunity to put their newly-acquired ZenFone Zoom skills to the test through an outdoor photography challenge by ASUS, where they were challenged in groups to capture some of the signature scenes at Sinulog during its well-attended fireworks competition, street party, and parade, which the judges viewed using hashtags #SeeSinulogUpClose and #ZenFoneZoom.
Zaldivar concluded, “If there is any culture that matches the heart and soul of the ZenFone Zoom, it’s ours. We are such a colorful people in terms of our personalities, lifestyle, and traditions and capturing scenes and moments that are special to us is a big part of our lives. With this new smartphone breakthrough, we can expect to be even more enthralled with what our country and the rest the world has to offer.”
See the world up close: 3X optical zoom and OIS, 10-element lens, Real Tone flash and laser focus
ZenFone Zoom is the world’s thinnest smartphone optical-zoom smartphone, with a 13MP PixelMaster rear camera and 3X lens in a body that measures just 5mm at the edges. It features an innovative 10-element digital eye created by the optics experts at Hoya, with glass, synthetic and prismatic lenses are meticulously configured in a dual-prism periscope arrangement to maximize incoming light and capture the best possible photo quality. Built-in optical image stabilization (OIS) ensures sharper, steadier shots every time even at maximum 3X optical magnification.
The rear camera benefits from dual-LED Real Tone flash to create the most natural illumination for indoor portraits to capture lifelike colors and skin tons. ZenFone Zoom’s rear lens also has laser auto-focus to point and shoot with total clarity in just 0.2 seconds.
Pocket-sized DSLR experience: Periscopic design, pro results and premium finish
ASUS engineers have rotated ZenFone Zoom’s lens mechanism to create a compact, intricately-calibrated periscope-style layout. Coupled with a Panasonic SmartFSI® image sensor, ZenFone Zoom captures more light and more color revealing detail and beauty in both natural and low-light compositions that other smartphone cameras will never see.
ZenFone Zoom’s design takes its cue from the look and feel of professional DSLR cameras, with dedicated buttons for shooting, recording and telephoto operations. Its strong unibody frame is precision-crafted to a metallic finish that’s cool and smooth to the touch, with a choice of premium Pure Black or sleek Ceramic White on the rear and diamond-cut to create four stunning patterns across the back and sides. ZenFone Zoom even has an integrated a safety loop and many stylish strap options, for confident shooting from any angle.
The intuitive ZenUI Camera app makes it a cinch to capture professional-quality photographs. ASUS-exclusive Super Resolution mode applies multi-frame-fusion technology to create incredibly-detailed photos. Four high-resolution 13MP shots are fused to create a single image of with clarity that’s four times (4X) greater than a single shot. Night or day, ZenFone Zone captures more detail and less noise and Super Resolution shots of up to 52MP.
ZenFone Zoom excels at macro photography, enabling extreme close-ups as near as 5cm (2in) to reveal new and unseen worlds of detail, and is ready to turn pro with one tap with Manual mode allowing instant adjustment of shutter speed, exposure value, white balance, ISO and a host of other professional-grade settings.
Monster performance: 64-bit quad-core power, 4GB RAM, 250Mbit/s LTE and Full HD IPS display
ZenFone Zoom’s 64-bit quad-core Intel Atom processor carefully balances brilliant performance and superb power efficiency, empowered by Intel’s sophisticated 22nm Silvermont architecture. Intel’s new Tri-Gate transistors have three times (3X) more surface area than planar transistors, enabling the flow of more electrons to increase computing performance and reduce power leakage. ZenFone Zoom also has a huge 4GB of fast dual-channel DDR3 RAM, and up to 128GB of storage as an option.
Featuring LTE Category 4+ for download speeds up to 250Mbit/s, and a 60ms touch-response time, ZenFone Zoom delivers fast, fluid experience anywhere; and with a high-capacity 3000mAh battery, users are able to work and play from dawn to dusk and beyond. ZenFone Zoom also benefits from exclusive ASUS BoostMaster technology for turbo-speed charging that takes the battery from zero to 60% in just 39 minutes.
ZenFone Zoom’s expansive 5.5-inch 1920×1080 Full HD IPS display offers wide 178-degree viewing angles, and a fantastic 403ppi pixel density to render every image in eye-popping detail. The display includes exclusive ASUS TruVivid technology, which seamlessly transforms the conventional four-layer design into an innovative two-layer construction with full lamination. Fusing the cover-glass and touch-panel layers eliminates the air gap, bringing everything closer to the user’s touch.
The Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 display offers twice (2X) the drop-damage resistance of its predecessor, a 2.5X increase in retained strength and is 85% less likely to break in daily use making it safer and stronger than ever before.”
The 18W BoostMaster adapter is included only with the 2.3GHz/4GB ZenFone Zoom model.