Asus zenfone 3 zoom fast charging

Gadget Reviews

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It's time to consider ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom (ZE553KL) - a smartphone with two main and one front cameras.

Yes, it is the cameras (or rather, their quality, properties and abilities) that are the main feature of the device, making it a real camera phone.

The gadget was also equipped with bright, powerful hardware, a long-lasting 5,000 mAh battery... and other impressive parameters.

• Diagonal : 5.5 inches.
• Screen technology : AMOLED.
• Screen resolution : FHD (1920x1080).
• CPU : Qualcomm Snapdragon 625.
• Number of cores : 8 pcs.
• operating system : Android 6.0 with ASUS ZenUI 3.0.
• RAM : 4 GB.
• Built-in memory : 64GB/128GB+ Google Drive 100GB free space (2 years).
• Memory card support : MicroSD (up to 2 TB) instead of a second SIM.
• SIM quantity : 2 SIM.
• Wireless technologies : 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi direct.
• Net : 2G, 3G (HSPA+, up to 42 Mbps), 4G LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150/50 Mbit/s); LTE-FDD: band 1/2/3/5/7/8/20.
• Main camera : 12 MP, f/1.7 aperture, SONY IMX362 sensor, 4-axis optical image stabilization (4 stops), 3-axis electronic image stabilization for shaky videos. 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) 30 fps video recording. ASUS Exclusive TriTech+ autofocus system with 0.03 instant focus.
• ZOOM camera : 12 MP, 12x total zoom, 2.3x optical zoom, focal length - 59 mm.
• Front camera : 13 MP, SONY IMX214 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, screen flash.
• Navigation : GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDSS.
• Battery : lithium-ion, non-removable, 5,000 mAh. It is possible to charge other devices via an OTG adapter.
• Dimensions : 154.3x77x8 mm.
• Weight : 170 gr.

Scope of delivery

At the top is the name of the device, on the left side and bottom there is nothing, on the top there is the manufacturer’s logo, on the right side there is a sticker showing the color of the gadget.

On the back there are various useful and not so useful barcodes, numbers and other information in Chinese and English languages.

• The smartphone itself.
• Cable for charging and synchronization.
• Network adapter with output current and voltage 5V 2A.
• A key-clip with the brand logo for removing the slot for SIM cards/memory cards.
• Warranty card.
• User's Guide.

In general, it’s always nice when, in addition to the standard set, there are some other useful things. And here there are two of them at once (and both are really necessary), for which we give the manufacturer a like.

Design, materials

Externally highlight the smartphone:

• Two rear cameras with a flash located below, an RGB sensor and , creating the appearance of a minion from a cartoon or some kind of robot.
• Frames separating the plastic inserts for antennas, located on the upper and lower parts of the back side (they look especially beautiful on the other two color schemes - “glacial silver” and “rose gold”, in our case the color is black).
• Fingerprint scanner.
• Branded ribbed keys on the right panel.

All side edges are rounded, as is the protective 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which completely covers the entire front part of the device.

Dimensions - 154.3x77x8 mm. The device is thin... fits perfectly and is located in all standard clothing pockets, and can also be easily removed from there.

The cover is non-removable, the assembly is very good, so there are no squeaks, crunches, chattering or other troubles associated with this.

On the front side there is an LED indicator on the top left, a little to the right - a selfie camera, a little more to the right of it - and, even more to the right - speaker(aka receiver).

Below is a display, under which there are three main functional menu buttons: "Home", " Open Applications" and "Back". They are highlighted with silver paint, so they are clearly visible and do not get lost when using the device.

A little lower in the middle is , and even lower is the brand logo.

Screen

And this is much better than the same IPS, since the image is more contrasty, and the battery charge is “eaten up” much more slowly.

Thanks to excellent color rendition, the image looks very realistic.

By the way, the manufacturer has provided several color modes, even creating your own custom one, where you can choose any color scheme and set the saturation level.

There is also “” to protect your eyes from harmful radiation, as well as “Super Color”, which makes the picture brighter and more saturated, but slightly increases battery consumption.

There is also an automatic setting that adjusts the brightness values ​​depending on various conditions (lighting).

Yes, supports up to 10 touches. This is the maximum result, since we will not be able to type or play with three hands, for example.

But even though this is glass with increased strength, you should not deliberately test it and try to break it.

Applied, which allows you to leave fewer greasy fingerprints on the glass, it is easier to remove dirt, and it is also more comfortable for your fingers to contact the screen (improved gliding).

Cameras

The second also has a resolution of 12 megapixels + optical zoom of 2.3 times for quick acquisition high-quality images close up.

The cameras switch between each other instantly and automatically at 2.3x optical zoom and vice versa. If this is not enough, you can digitally enlarge the object up to 12x size. Obviously, in this case the quality suffers.

The ZenFone 3 Zoom camera is based on a Sony IMX362 sensor with large pixels (1.4 microns) and has a six-element lens. Paired with ASUS SuperPixel technology, which significantly increases light sensitivity, night shots are very decent.

In addition, the camera supports electronic and optical stabilization images, which minimally blurs photos or videos when shooting, and also uses a special color correction sensor to improve color reproduction and make it possible to shoot videos in 4K/Ultra-HD format with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels.

It also features the ASUS TriTech+ triple autofocus system, which includes two-pixel phase detection autofocus, similar to that used in SLR lenses.

In addition, ASUS TriTech+ includes laser autofocus that responds in just 0.03 seconds. and tracking autofocus.

It should be noted the excellent capabilities of the selfie camera, which has a Sony IMX214 sensor, 13 megapixel resolution, ASUS SuperPixel and aperture (f/2.0).

There is no flash here, but it is replaced by the smartphone screen itself, which becomes bright white in low light conditions and plays the role of a flash.

There are many different shooting modes, let's highlight the main ones:

1. The simplest and most everyday - auto .
2. HDR Pro . Increases the brightness and color parameters of photos in low light.
3. Portrait enhancement . Smoothes out and hides all unevenness and redness on the face with automatic settings; if you adjust manually, you can powder yourself or add blush, widen or narrow your eyes and the shape of your face.
4. Super resolution . Combines multiple photos to create an image with better detail.
5. Children . Automatically capture a photo of your baby when he stops moving.
6. Depth of field . Shoots an object in the foreground, blurring everything in the background. Bokeh effect.
7. Selfie . You need to indicate the number of faces in the frame, point the smartphone at yourself, after which the camera itself will make an identification and take a photo without pressing the shutter button.

The last two are for creating slow-motion and, conversely, accelerated video.

In general, in a nutshell... cameras and the ability to control them on top level. ASUS focused on this and definitely made the right decision.

We will upload several small-sized photographs below for a general understanding of the quality of the photos; we will upload all the rest, unaltered and uncorrected, to our official group VK (https://vk.com/mob_mobile), you can watch it at the link: https://vk.com/album-33806736_246613150 (not clickable, you need to copy and paste into the browser line), the video is there in the video section.

Battery

This charge lasts for about two weeks in standby mode, about two days of active work (2 hours of talking, 3 hours of browsing websites, 1 hour of gaming) and 20 hours of super-voracious gaming mode or watching videos.

In addition, the manufacturer has provided several different battery modes (for example, “Energy Saving”: networks are temporarily turned off when going into sleep mode; “Ultra Saving”: only phone, SMS and signal functions are active, networks are turned off; “Performance”: works at high brightness and maximizes consumption; “Normal” with automatic adjustment of performance and brightness; “Custom”: allows you to manually specify parameters), as well as automatic switching between these modes (for example, when the charge level drops to 30-10%, you can turn on the “Energy Saving” mode) or “Super Energy Saving”... or do one of these modes during sleep (say from 22.00 pm to 6.00 am) daily).

With the right settings, a smartphone can stay put for a very long time; the manufacturer has done everything for this - equipped the gadget with a powerful battery and added energy-saving modes.

Software

Yes, it’s not the TOP processor at the moment, but you also need to remember about the cost of the gadget... it’s also not the TOP one. For balance, this is what you need.

The smartphone “flies” very quickly, the response is instantaneous. All powerful on basic settings start and use without glitches and brakes, without overheating the device.

- 4 GB, - 64/128 GB (in our case the first option), it is possible to expand up to 2 TB using microSD cards, which can take the place of one of the SIM cards.

Here it’s also worth remembering about the OTG adapter, where you can insert a regular flash drive and, if necessary, quickly dump all the accumulated content onto it.

Android 7.1.1 with proprietary ASUS ZenUI 3.0 shell. It differs from the standard one in almost everything. There are a lot interesting utilities and a bunch of user assistants. Note several noteworthy:

In general, we can talk a lot about the ASUS ZenUI 3.0 shell; we will talk about it in detail a little later in a separate article.

One thing is worth saying - it’s cool, bright and provides a lot of opportunities for the user, although you need to get used to it and get used to it.

A few words about the fingerprint scanner. He's absolutely perfect! It works very quickly and absolutely without misfires. Why ASUS engineers give it a special thumbs up.

The location is controversial and, rather, a matter of habit, but personally we like the placement of this sensor on the back of the device.

Antutu:

No rattling, wheezing or crackling.

I would immediately like to note the convenient location of the speaker - on the bottom end, slightly to the right of the charging and synchronization connector.

They are often placed on the back side, and when the user, during operation, places the device on a standard surface with its back side, the speaker is covered, and “audio complications” arise, significantly reducing the volume of the reproduced sound.

The sound in the original ZenEar stereo headphones provided in the kit is spacious, clear... you can hear good bass. Many music lovers will certainly appreciate it!

There is no own player here, Play Music replaces it.

There is a radio that, when started, immediately finds a huge variety of stations. It only works with headphones used as an antenna.

Those. Depending on the application you are using or your location, you can use one of these modes.

Conclusion

For those who like to take photographs and not carry bulky DSLRs with them, this device will be simply ideal and one of the TOP solutions.

For the pros, there is a manual mode where you can adjust a bunch of different photography parameters, such as exposure value, white balance, ISO level, focal length and shutter speed.

For the average user, the automatic mode is enough to get great pictures and good video content.

Well, this is backed up by a capacious battery with energy saving modes and not bad internal storage with the ability to expand memory up to 2TB.

You just need to have time to take bright pictures without worrying that the device will soon run out of charge or run out of space for photos.

• Great cameras;
• Powerful battery;
• Own Android OS shell - ASUS ZenUI 3.0;
• Loud speaker and DTS Headphone:X 5.1 support;
• Metal body and minimalistic modern design;
• Fingerprint scanner;
• 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with oleophobic coating;
• Expanded package with branded ZenEar stereo headphones and OTG adapter;
• ... and others.

But if you start digging deeper and find something to cling to, it will be the NFC interface, or rather, the lack thereof.

For a price of 30 thousand rubles, it has almost everything that the modern average user and not only needs, and in many respects it outperforms smartphones and camera phones that cost an order of magnitude higher.

And it’s not for nothing that more than 90% of reviews about this gadget online are positive.

To us, the editors website, I would like to highlight it six awards:

1. "Photo Master" - for wonderful cameras that create great photos.
2. "Tireless" - for a powerful battery.
3. "Narcissus" - for the outstanding capabilities of the selfie camera.
4. "Bright shell" - for its own interesting operating system shell.
5. "No overpayments!" - for a gadget that meets the definition of "price-quality".
6. "Guardian of Balance" - for balance.

ASUS is now in full swing looking for its “I” in the smartphone market. The company that for a long time was at the forefront of Intel's entry into the world of mobile platforms, is now left to its own devices - and continues to develop the rather nice Zenfone family, which has recently received other “hearts”, Qualcomm. The number of modifications has not decreased because of this: along with the market there is a huge, premium, inexpensive, Zenfone 3 Max with a capacious battery, as well as Zenfone Go - the most budget-friendly of all.

At least with the focus of ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom there are no questions - this is not the first smartphone in the history of the Taiwanese company with optical zoom, but the first - with dual camera. was too bulky, expensive and more like a point-and-shoot camera with smartphone functionality. The new Zoom tried to combine a phone with current characteristics with a capacious battery (5000 mAh) with a very serious camera (dual 12-megapixel module with a 2.3x zoom option). And this time at an affordable price - at the start of sales, Zenfone 3 Zoom is asking 30,000 rubles.

⇡ Technical specifications

⇡ Appearance, ergonomics, software

The third generation of Zenfone turned out to be quite successful overall: the original model with a Snapdragon 625 on board looks very good in its segment “for just twenty thousand rubles.” The rather nice design of the model played a significant role in this. But he nevertheless has one problem that affects the entire family at once. By abandoning the traditional key for the series on the rear panel of the case, ASUS has sharply reduced the recognition of its Zenphones.

Here comes the Zenfone 3 Zoom - on the one hand, it really looks like a regular “three”, but on the other hand, to notice this, you need to look at them side by side and notice the similarities. The series has lost its family features in favor of the classic ergonomics of a modern Android smartphone: an inseparable pair of keys (power and volume control) on the right edge and a fingerprint scanner recessed into the body on the rear panel. To this in Zoom are added the extremely relevant two lenses of the main camera, combined into a block in the upper left corner of the same rear panel. To decorate the Zenfone 3 Zoom, very pleasant colors are used - dim, but also non-standard: along with silver, these are dark blue (like our test) and soft pink.

It’s difficult to say what exactly was the reason for this - the characteristics of the optics or the stabilizer built into the wide-angle lens, but the camera unit protrudes slightly above the body, which is already not too thin (8 mm). There's nothing scary about this - just be careful with your phone when you put it on its back. However, the lenses are still covered with protective glass; they are not easy to scratch.

ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom, rear panel: in the upper left corner there is a block with two lenses protruding above the body, below it there is a dual LED flash and a laser autofocus assistant; below is a fingerprint scanner

The body is made of metal, and the front panel is completely covered with tempered glass Gorilla Glass 5 - more resistant to falls from a height than its predecessors, but absorbs small scratches. Carrying a smartphone in your pocket along with coins and keys is definitely not worth it. The build quality is respectable - everything is smooth and neat.

ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom, bottom edge: mono speaker, microphone, USB port Type-C and mini-jack

ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom weighs 170 grams - quite normal for a device with a 5.5-inch display and a battery of five thousand milliamp-hours. But it doesn’t have ultra-thin bezels around the screen - I couldn’t use the smartphone with one hand; I had to shift it in my hand every now and then.

Slim 5.5-inch device with 5000 mAh battery and dual camera

Taiwanese Asus company continues to expand its main line of Zenfone smartphones with new models. Currently, this family is represented in almost all segments of the mobile market, from budget models to premium-class devices with the highest price, and the total number of Zenfone smartphones sold in Russia has already exceeded 2.5 million. The current series of devices has the third serial number, and almost All Zenfone 3 have already been tested in our test laboratory.

However, just recently another mobile device was officially introduced in Russia, included in the Zenfone 3 line called “Zoom”. From the name it immediately becomes clear that this model focuses on the photographic component, so the presentation of the new smartphone was mostly devoted to its cameras and everything connected with them. We will go into detail in this review, is the new hero as good in terms of photography and video as the company’s representatives present him, and at the same time we’ll find out what else interesting the new product called Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom can demonstrate in addition to its unusual cameras.

Main characteristics of Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom (model ZE553KL)

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, 8 cores Cortex-A53 @2.0 GHz
• GPU Adreno 506 @650 MHz
• Operating system Android 6.0.1
• Touch display AMOLED 5.5″, 1920×1080, 401 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 4 GB, internal memory 32/64/128 GB
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• MicroSD support up to 2 TB
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• Networks LTE Cat.4 (Cat.7) FDD Band 1/2/3/5/7/8/20
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
• USB Type-C, USB OTG
• Main camera 12 + 12 MP, autofocus, f/1.7 + f/2.6, 4K video
• Front camera 13 MP, f/2.0, fixed. focus
• Proximity sensor, lighting, magnetic field, fingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, step counter
• Battery 5000 mAh
• Dimensions 154×77×7.99 mm
• Weight 170 g

Scope of delivery

Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom comes in a stylishly designed matte black box with gold embossing in the form of the company logo - nice and small. The lid is not completely removable, it folds back like a box. The contents are neatly packaged in separate cells and lined with film.

The smartphone comes with a connecting cable USB cable Type-C, standard network adapter with an output current and voltage of 5 V 2 A, wired stereo headphones with in-ear rubber pads, a key for removing cards.

Appearance and ease of use

Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom received a quite typical modern smartphones design, they have now become so similar to each other that it is difficult to distinguish whether the product is Asus or, say, Meizu. All are characterized by literally the same matte metal cases, streamlined sides and rounded corners, and now each has convex 2.5D glass. The artists of the Taiwanese company decided not to bring any individuality, any special noticeable features here, everything is absolutely standard.

The body here is not entirely metal; the upper and lower ends are made of plastic. Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say. But the fact that for such a price it was quite possible to make a smartphone in an all-metal case is proven by the example of Meizu M5 Note. AND Meizu smartphone, by the way, due to its all-metal “trough” it has clearly stronger ends and stiffeners.

Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom is thin, but quite wide and not very light. The matte metal can be quite slippery in dry palms, and the heavy and large body, streamlined on all sides, only contributes to this - the device clearly needs a case. The surfaces of the case are not easily soiled - fingerprints are practically invisible on the matte metal.

And yet, even despite the lack of any individuality in the design and the absolutely typical design of the case, the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom is still pleasant to pick up, and from the outside the device also looks quite presentable. There are no complaints about the assembly and the quality of materials: all the parts fit neatly together, there are no cracks or inconsistencies, no sagging or squeaks. There were no scratches on the front glass of Gorilla Glass 5 during testing.

Under the glass of the front panel there are usually sensors, a front camera peephole without its own flash, and LED indicator events. U touch buttons There is no backlight under the screen, and this is sad - in semi-darkness they are no longer visible at all.

On the back side, the dual camera module protrudes beyond the surface, but the smartphone does not wobble when you touch the screen and lies stable on the table. The flash is very bright, consists of two multi-colored diodes and has an SOS flashing mode.

Just below the block with cameras, flashes and a laser pointer for autofocus is located fingerprint sensor. The scanner platform, on the contrary, is slightly recessed, so it is easier to feel it blindly.

The side buttons protrude noticeably beyond the surface; they are not very large, but have a rough texture of ring-shaped notches, so they are easy to touch. Perhaps they are too rigid, and it is not clear why they needed to be made so rigid.

The card slot slides are made conveniently: they have a supporting tray, rather than through openings, so that the cards in the adapters are stacked and inserted easily. The card slot here is hybrid: one of the slots is designed for a Nano-SIM format SIM card, the other can be used to install a second Nano-SIM or card microSD memory, all three cards cannot be installed at the same time. Hot swap supported.

At the bottom end there is a 3.5 mm headphone output and a USB Type-C connector with USB OTG support. You can also charge other devices using the USB connector. The main speaker is located at the same end. The smartphone sounds loud and rich; standard for the Zenfone 3 series, they used an improved speaker design with 5 magnets, a new resonant chamber and a Smart Amp amplifier. In general, the device is quite good in terms of sound capabilities.

The smartphone is available in three colors: dark blue, silver (“glacial silver”) and pink (“rose gold”). The front panel is painted in the same color as the body.

Screen

Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom is equipped with AMOLED display with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with sloping edges. The physical dimensions are 68x121 mm with a diagonal of 5.5 inches (there is also an option with a screen diagonal of 5.2 inches). The resolution is 1920×1080, the pixel density is 401 ppi. The frame around the screen looks quite wide: it is approximately 4 mm wide on the sides, and 16 mm wide at the top and bottom.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually or set automatic settings, based on the operation of the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multi-touch touches. Glove operation mode is supported. It is possible to manually adjust the color tone and contrast, and you can also use the “blue light filter” mode.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (below, simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom is a little brighter (brightness according to photographs is 125 versus 114 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

At manual control brightness and when displaying a white field full screen maximum value The brightness was approximately 370 cd/m², which increases to 460 cd/m² with a black field on half the screen. Minimum brightness is 7 cd/m². The maximum brightness is high, and you also need to take into account the good anti-glare properties of the screen. As a result, readability during the day in the sun should be at an acceptable level. Reduced brightness allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. Eat automatic adjustment brightness by the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). IN automatic mode When external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If the brightness slider is set to maximum, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 12 cd/m² (normal), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 215 cd/m² (just right), in very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight- 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 515 cd/m² (even higher than with manual adjustment). If the brightness slider is at half scale, then the screen brightness for the three conditions above is as follows: 9, 115 and 515 cd/m² (suitable values). If the brightness control is set to minimum - 7, 62, 300 cd/m² (all values ​​are too low). In general, the automatic brightness adjustment function works more or less adequately and allows the user to to some extent adjust their work to individual requirements.

At almost any brightness level there is significant modulation with a frequency of 237 Hz. The figure below shows the dependence of brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis) for several brightness values:

At maximum brightness, the modulation is not very large, so flickering is not visible to the eye. But as the brightness decreases, the amplitude increases, and the presence of modulation can already be seen in a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses an AMOLED matrix - active matrix organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B) in equal numbers. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above you can count 24 subpixels of all three colors, and by repeating this fragment, you can lay out the entire screen without tears or overlap. This fragment corresponds to an 8x8 pixel area, which gives 64 pixels, and there are only 24 color triads, so the color resolution of this screen is much lower than 1920 by 1080. Black and white worlds also cannot be displayed at the specified resolution. However, there are still a lot of (sub)pixels, and there is no visual lack of resolution.

The screen has excellent viewing angles. Is it true, white when deviated even at small angles, it acquires a slight blue-green tint, and at some angles it turns a little pink, but the black color remains just black at any angle. It is so black that the contrast setting is simply not applicable in this case. For comparison, here are photographs in which the screens of Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom and the second comparison participant display identical images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera was forced to switch to 6500 K.

There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture (profile Standard):

According to visual assessment, the colors of the tested screen are more or less natural, and the color balance of the screens is slightly different. Recall that photography can't serve as a reliable source of information about color quality and are provided for illustrative purposes only. The photo above was taken after selecting a profile Standard in the screen settings, there are four of them:

When choosing the first one, Superbloom, which is installed by default, color rendering becomes noticeably worse, colors are very oversaturated and unnatural:

Profile Blue filter provides the opportunity to reduce the intensity of the blue component by a specified amount, and in the profile Custom Hue and saturation can be adjusted.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen (let’s leave the profile Superbloom).

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom at an angle is noticeably higher (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed for shots at an angle is increased compared to the previous two photographs).

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens decreased noticeably, but in the case of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom screen visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since the screen mobile device often you have to look at least from a slight angle.

Switching the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the turn-on (and less often off) edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to the screen refresh rate). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing moving objects, but in normal use these artifacts are difficult to see. Quite the contrary - dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage either in the shadows or in the highlights. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.07, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve deviates little from the power dependence:

Color gamut in the case of a profile Superbloom very wide:

When selecting a profile Standard the coverage is compressed to the sRGB boundaries:

Without correction (profile Superbloom) the spectra of the components (that is, the spectra of pure red, green and blue colors) are very well separated:

In case of profile Standard the color components are already mixed with each other:

The grayscale balance is good. The color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) remains below 3-4 units over most of the gray scale, which is considered an excellent indicator for a consumer device. At the same time color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue (except for the darkest) - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the measurement error color characteristics at low brightness it is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the tint warmer-cooler (not available when selecting a profile Blue filter).

The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr.— data obtained after shifting the point to the position indicated in the image above. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature has approached the standard value and ΔE has changed slightly. However, it doesn’t make much sense to make the correction. Note that this function implemented in the variant rather for show, since there is no numerical display of the correction value.

Let's summarize. The screen has a high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device without special problems Can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works more or less adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, good color balance and closeness to sRGB coverage after selecting the desired profile. At the same time, let's remind you about general advantages OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), good uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than LCD, drop in image brightness when viewed at an angle. The disadvantages include screen flickering, which appears at low brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. However, overall the screen quality is high.

Camera

The front camera with a fast five-lens Lagran lens (f/2.0), built on the Sony IMX214 sensor, has one of the highest resolutions for selfie cameras among modern smartphones - 13 megapixels. Support for SuperPixel technology further improves light sensitivity. The smartphone does not have a front flash, its role is played by bright backlight the screen itself at the time of shooting. Portrait enhancement mode includes a variety of different retouching tools, from skin toning to changing the size of eyes and lips. And yet, the front camera does not impress with its special quality, and the promised increased light sensitivity did not allow us to work well in the darkest areas in the shadows. At the same time, the detail is quite high, and there are no complaints about the sharpness in the center of the frame.

Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom was equipped with two rear cameras. The main camera is built on a 12-megapixel Sony IMX362 matrix with large pixels (1.4 microns), has a wide-angle lens with an equivalent focal length of 25 mm and an f/1.7 aperture. It is designed for shooting everyday scenes, including low light, as well as macro photography with a minimum focusing distance of 10 cm.

The second camera has the same matrix resolution of 12 megapixels (the matrix itself, apparently, is installed differently here) and a telephoto lens with an equivalent focal length of 59 mm and an optical zoom of 2.3 times. It is used for taking close-up photographs. Switching between cameras is carried out instantly by pressing a virtual button on the viewfinder.

Like other top-end devices in the Zenfone 3 series, it uses the proprietary TriTech triple tracking autofocus system, an optical and electronic image stabilization system, and also uses a color correction sensor and proprietary PixelMaster 3.0 technology. It is possible to take 4 pictures at once with a resolution of 12 megapixels, and then combine them into one photo, the clarity of which will be equivalent to a 48 megapixel image. The SuperPixel hardware and software complex is responsible for intelligently selecting ISO values ​​during shooting, as well as eliminating noise during post-processing.

As usual, in manual mode settings for photosensitivity, shutter speed (from 1/16000 second to 32 seconds), white balance, exposure compensation and focus point selection appear. It is possible to save pictures in RAW (DNG) format. Using the Camera2 API you can transfer camera control third party applications without restrictions, and also save pictures in RAW.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of 4K, there is a Full HD shooting mode at 60 fps, regular Full HD @ 30 fps, as well as a slow motion mode. There is a video stabilization function, and it works in all modes. The camera copes well with video shooting at any resolution: sharpness, color rendition and detail are normal, although the brightness is not enough for all smartphones in the series, not only the Zenfone 3 Zoom. At the same time, sound recording is also carried out quite efficiently, the noise reduction system copes with its tasks adequately.

• Video No. 1 (61 MB, 3840×2160@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 2 (49 MB, 1920×1080@60 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 3 (48 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)

	The camera does well when shooting indoors.
	Sometimes the camera clearly overdoes the noise reduction.
	The sharpness in the field of the frame and in the plans of the TV camera is not bad.
	The photo is 46 megapixels in size. The detail is not bad, but at the level of 12 megapixel images.
	The text is well done.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	Another example of good camera sharpness.
	The wide-angle camera occasionally encounters areas of blur.

We also tested the camera on a laboratory bench using our method.

JPEG	RAW
Lighting ≈3200 lux.
Lighting ≈1400 lux.
Lighting ≈130 lux.
Lighting ≈130 lux, flash.
Lighting<1 люкс, вспышка.

The camera wasn't outstanding. Both rear modules themselves are not bad, but the program often spoils the image. In addition, in the pictures you can find noticeable areas of blur, which is completely unacceptable for a flagship.

The laboratory test confirms the observations: even in good lighting, the camera produces resolution that is hardly at the level of modern flagships, and in the absence of light it drops significantly. However, it is saved by RAW, which at least guarantees good resolution both in the center and at the edge of the frame. You might even be able to get something out of it.

Despite the cheaper module, the TV camera is not that much inferior to the wide-angle camera in terms of resolution. And I want to believe that the updates will fix the crazy software processing. In this case, the camera can be used for any subjects, and it will cope well with documentary filming even now.

Telephone and communications

The communication capabilities of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom vary markedly depending on the sales region. For the Asian market, the Taiwanese have prepared a version with faster modules supporting LTE Cat6/7, while the Europeans have left the slowest version of LTE Cat4.

• LTE Cat7: UL 100 / DL 300 Mbps (CN version)
• LTE Cat6: UL 50 / DL 300 Mbps (TW/JP/HK/SG/PH versions)
• LTE Cat4: UL 50 / DL 150 Mbps (WW/US/BR/IN/ID versions)

The WW version of the model has support for seven LTE FDD bands, including three bands of interest to us: Band 3, 7, 20. In the urban areas of the Moscow region, the device behaves confidently, the reception quality and registration speed in wireless networks do not cause any particular complaints, although It was not possible to achieve maximum speeds via LTE in the usual test locations. The complete list of frequency bands supported by the model depending on the region is as follows:

The smartphone supports only one Wi-Fi band (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth 4.2, no NFC. Frankly speaking, the set of communication capabilities is far from top-notch.

The navigation module works with both GPS (with A-GPS) and the domestic Glonass. It seems that support for the Chinese Beidou was also announced, but the test program did not see its satellites in the Moscow sky. During a cold start, the first satellites are detected within a minute. The smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the digital compass of navigation programs usually operates.

In conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor remains recognizable, there is no extraneous noise, the sound is natural. It is possible to record telephone conversations from the line at the touch of a button or in automatic mode. The ringing signal is quite loud, enough for any environment. The strength of the vibration alert can be adjusted; at maximum power, the vibration alert is above the average level and is quite noticeable.

The smartphone supports active standby mode for two SIM cards in 3G/4G simultaneously. In this case, for example, the SIM card of the Tele2 operator, which in Moscow does not work in 2G, will continue to be actively waiting in the 3G network for voice communication, even if the card is assigned to transfer data in 4G in a different slot. The interface allows you to select a specific card for each function in advance or directly during the connection. The cards operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode, that is, there is only one radio modem.

Software and multimedia

As a software platform, Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom uses Android OS version 6.0.1 with its own proprietary ZenUI 3.0 shell. A quick update to Android 7.0 is promised. The interface here is exactly the same as that of the representatives of the large Zenfone 3 family that we tested earlier. The interface is bright, clumsy, extremely rich, somewhat reminiscent of LG and Lenovo’s own shells.

Among the more useful specifics: it is possible to work with a smartphone with one hand, when the entire working area of ​​the screen is reduced in size; Wide support for gestures has been implemented: by double tapping the screen is activated and put to sleep, by drawing symbols you can move to certain programs, by holding it to your ear you can immediately activate a telephone conversation, etc., the list is wide. There are also a lot of installed applications, from social network clients to a set of own programs for processing photos and videos (PhotoCollage, ZenCircle, MiniMovie) and even organizing online broadcasts of gameplay through YouTube or Twitch services. The standard keyboard supports Swype-type stroke input.

To listen to music, only the standard Google Music player is used here, but there is a DTS Headphone X sound system with its own equalizer settings and sound profiles (“movies”, “games”, “music”, “street”, etc.). There is a voice recorder, it has good sensitivity and a high-quality noise reduction system; you can rely on it for recording lectures and interviews. The smartphone also has an FM radio; it cannot record broadcast programs and only works with headphones.

Performance

The Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom hardware platform is based on a single-chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 system made using 14-nanometer technology. This SoC includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 2.0 GHz; the Adreno 506 video accelerator with a core frequency of up to 650 MHz is responsible for graphics processing. The amount of RAM is 4 GB, and the built-in flash memory can be 32, 64 or 128 GB, depending on the modification. Less than 50 GB is actually available in the case of the 64 GB version, and a maximum of 2.2 GB of RAM is free after clearing the memory and closing all applications.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 is a chip designed for low/mid price smartphones. It is much lower in level and capabilities than the Snapdragon 652, not to mention the flagship 800 series. It was quite strange to find a completely inappropriate hardware platform in such a pretentious device as the Zenfone 3 Zoom worth 30 thousand rubles. By the way, the base model of the series, Asus Zenfone 3, operates on exactly the same platform.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

AndroBench memory speed test results:

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

It can be seen that the heating is higher at the top of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 36 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is relatively little.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

According to the test results, the test subject, as most often happens, was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed to fully play most of the most common multimedia files on the network, in this case, audio files. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it is also necessary to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 sound format.

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We were unable to check support for adapters for outputting images to an external device due to the lack of an adapter option that connects to the USB Type-C port. Therefore, we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) 1080/24p Red marks indicate possible problems associated with the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames - with the exception of files with 60 fps, in in which case one frame per second is usually skipped. The reason for this is the atypically low screen refresh rate of approximately 59 Hz. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, conditionally in the original resolution. On test worlds, features of the location and actual number of subpixels appear: the vertical and horizontal worlds look strange through a pixel. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: in the shadows up to six shades merge with black, but in the highlights all gradations are displayed.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom has a huge capacity of 5000 mAh, even by modern standards. Accordingly, Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom with an undemanding hardware platform and such a battery capacity showed battery life results that were not only decent, but much higher than most modern smartphones. This is a level close to a record; few devices can compete with it in terms of operating time on a single charge. The unusually long operating time in video viewing mode is especially surprising: the device works in this scenario almost as long as in continuous e-book reading mode. Repeated testing confirmed that Zenfone 3 Zoom is indeed capable of playing YouTube videos in 720p resolution over a Wi-Fi network for a record-breaking time, almost 20 hours.

In real use scenarios, however, even the most durable smartphone may not last until the evening charge, but under normal average operating conditions, our hero is quite capable of easily holding out without recharging for more than two full days. Testing has traditionally been done at normal power consumption levels without using power-saving features.

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted until the battery was completely discharged for more than a day, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with The device operates for almost 20 hours at the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can work for as long as 11 hours.

Apparently, the smartphone does not support BoostMaster or QuickCharge fast charging; the supplied AC adapter fully charges the battery with a current of 1.9 A at a voltage of 5 V for 3 hours. The smartphone also does not support wireless charging.

Bottom line

The price for Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom is set at 30 thousand rubles, and this is a sufficient reason to doubt the adequacy of using a hardware platform of the Snapdragon 625 level for such, frankly speaking, an expensive product. Choosing at least Snapdragon 652 would be much more justified, and then everything would fall into place. And so there is a certain imbalance between the hardware filling and the price that the end user is offered to pay for this filling. Such limitations include, with regret, support for LTE Cat6, which the European and Russian versions, unlike models for the Asian market, did not receive, limiting themselves to the slowest LTE Cat4.

In terms of other parameters, the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom turned out to be a completely balanced device, with high-quality cameras, screen and sound, and the level of autonomy allows us to call this device one of the longest-lasting smartphones in its segment (of course, the relatively weak SoC has a positive effect here). And you won’t understand what to put more emphasis on when describing: the capabilities of the cameras, after which the model got its name, or the battery life, which, in fact, was the most striking moment when getting acquainted with the Zenfone 3 Zoom and, accordingly, its biggest advantage. At the same time, record autonomy is not at all declared by Asus representatives as the main feature, although this particular model currently has the highest level of autonomy among the entire range of Asus Zenfone models.

An interesting model recently appeared in the 3rd generation of the Zenfone smartphone line from the famous Taiwanese brand Asus. The Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom smartphone differs from the previous generation by the presence of a dual rear camera module with 2.3x optical zoom and a 12x digital zoom option. Read more in the review of Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom.

The Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom smartphone in the Zenfone family received the code designation ZE553KL. Its core computing architecture is identical to the standard Zenfone 3 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset with Adreno 506 GPU and 4GB of RAM), but some technical parameters differ. The main differences are shown in the table.

Design solutions and equipment

Externally, the relatively new device looks practical, neat and impressive. Buyers of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom are offered three color options: pink, gray, black.

The Asus Zenfon 3 Zoom smartphone is for sale in a laconic cardboard box with the model name logo on the lid. Packed inside the box along with the gadget are:

• charging block 5 V, 2 A, 10 W;
• USB – interface for connecting with charging or PC;
• ASUS ZenEar headphones;
• OTG cable;
• pin for extending the SIM card tray;
• manual brochure.

The case of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom ZE553KL smartphone model under review corresponds to the style chosen by the company: comfortable, slightly sloping edges, smoothed corners, high-quality materials that are pleasant to the touch. The dimensions and weight of the gadget are shown in the figure.

It also displays the location of structural elements important in the operation of the device. On the front side under the protective glass, in addition to the 5.5-inch screen, there are 3 touch control buttons with specific actions “Back”, “Home” and “Recent applications” (located at the bottom under the screen in the form of intuitive icons). On the frame above the screen there is a selfie camera eye, a speaker slot, and light/proximity sensors.

The lower end side of the device is where the connectors and ports for connecting a USB cable and wired headset are located. There are also holes for the built-in speaker and microphone. On the right side of the case there are physical buttons “Power” and “Volume control”.

The highlight of the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom smartphone is dual camera module, as well as fingerprint and RGB sensors, and an LED flash are located on the back of the case. The back panel of the model is made of aluminum.

On the left side of the device there is a retractable tray with slots for SIM cards/memory cards.

Hardware and functionality

Asus engineers have supplemented the advantages of the basic 3rd generation Zenfone smartphone (which is a productive 8-core computing platform with low power consumption and wide functionality) with new features. To ensure that the tandem of the Snapdragon 625 SoC and the Adreno 506 coprocessor copes better with graphics processing and other tasks, RAM was increased to 4 GB.

The developers have worked on improving the sound capabilities of the device. In customer reviews, there are no complaints about the sound quality of the ZOOM modification. The multimedia speaker of the gadget produces surround, high-quality sound with a high volume level. Hardware support for Hi-Res Audio allows you to get clear, perfectly detailed sound when using a headset.

Improved autonomy

As indicated in the technical review of the specifications of the model in question, the device is equipped with a non-removable battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh. This amount of energy reserve provides up to 13 hours of operation in HD video viewing mode and up to 28 hours in surfing and reading mode. The gadget can work under active load in talk mode for up to 2 days, and in standby mode for up to 42 days. With such battery life indicators, the model surpasses not only smartphones in its segment, but also many flagship devices from other brands. The time to fully recharge the battery is about 3 hours.

Note! ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom can be used as an external 1A battery for another phone if necessary. The package includes a special USB C adapter. The charger output current is 5 V, 2 A, 10 W.

Cameras and shooting quality

As the main shooting tool, the model is equipped with a tandem of two cameras. The aperture of the paired camera is f/1.7, SONY IMX362 sensors and both are 12 megapixels. Camera lenses are different. You can switch between them or use them in combination.

First lens - widescreen with focal length 25 mm, 6-element, with a viewing angle of 82 degrees, supports electronic and optical stabilization, ASUS TriTech+ triple autofocus technology (operates in 0.03 seconds) and a color correction sensor. The main lens is activated by default, used for panoramic and landscape photography.

Important! To eliminate noise in photos when shooting in low light conditions, the ASUS Super Pixel function is used. At the software level, it simulates an increase in the sensitivity of the matrix to light by 2.5 times.

Second sensor – telephoto lens with focal length 59 mm, 5-element, with a fixed optical magnification of 2.3 times. The camera is also equipped with a 12x digital zoom function. Recommended for close-up photography of distant objects. True, the quality of such shooting may suffer.

Front 13 MP camera Powered by ASUS SuperPixel technology. The matrix here is Sony IMX214 with an aperture of ƒ/2.0. There is an on-screen flash and a panoramic selfie shooting mode (140 degree viewing angle). For photography enthusiasts, manual adjustment of parameters is provided: white balance, exposure, ISO level, image focus and shutter speed. Video recording is carried out in 4K format.

Important! During video shooting, switching between lenses of a paired module is not provided, so you need to select the appropriate lens in advance: main or ZOOM.

Examples of pictures from the ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom phone:

Camera review of Asus Zenfon 3 Zoom makes it clear that this element is the main advantage of the smartphone.

Final conclusions: to buy or not

The approximate price for the model in question is 30,000 rubles. For a smartphone without support for the NFC function, which is popular in modern realities, and with far from top performance, it costs a lot. Those who like to catch wonderful moments every hour, and at the same time always be in touch, may want to buy a gadget with an ergonomic design, a good camera and a powerful battery.

Knowing about its camera modes will come in handy, including a very rare manual mode for smartphones.

HDR Rro

In HDR Pro mode, the camera is able to analyze photos and create the ideal exposure by reducing the brightness in the highlighted areas and increasing the brightness in the dark areas by up to 400%. The result is a photograph with high detail. This mode is suitable for taking photos with very contrasting lighting, such as when shooting a subject in the shadows against a bright background. Unlike the HDR mode of other smartphones, ZenFone 3 Zoom's HDR photo results are displayed in real time on the display as you frame the shot, so you can see what you'll get from the shot.

Portrait enhancement

For users who like to take selfies and portraits, the beautify mode allows you to enhance your subject's face with makeup effects that include skin softening and brightening, blush and color correction, eye enhancement, and cheek reduction. Effects can be adjusted in intensity and previewed in real time before saving the selfie photo.

Super resolution

With ZenFone 3 Zoom's Super Resolution mode, users can create 48-megapixel super-resolution photos. This is achieved using special image processing techniques: capturing and combining four 12-megapixel photos to create a single large image with more detail and less noise. This high-resolution photo has the advantage of being displayed more clearly on high-resolution monitors or when printed in large format A4 size or larger.

Child mode

Designed for photographing young children, this mode allows you to play sound effects from your phone to get their attention. This mode also has an automatic face detection feature that can focus on children's faces.

QR code

Automatically recognizes QR codes and redirects users to the sites they link to or displays the content encoded within them.

Night mode

In very low light conditions, ZenFone 3 Zoom's high light sensitivity is further enhanced when using Night mode. This mode automatically increases ISO sensitivity and uses slow shutter speeds to capture very low-light night scenes that would be impossible to capture in automatic mode.

Depth of field mode

Great for macro scenes or portraits of people, this mode deliberately enhances background blur using intelligent processing software to bring out the main subject. The effect here can also be varied.

Effects mode

This fun mode allows users to apply effects, similar to Instagram filters, to recolor their photos or give them different textures to present them in different moods and artistic styles.

Gif animation

Animated gifs are simple animations consisting of a repeating cycle of sequential images. They are very easy and fun to create using the gif animation mode. Simply shoot your subject in this mode and the camera will sequence the photos into an animated GIF.

Panorama

Ideal for landscapes, Panorama mode allows users to move the camera from one side of the landscape to the other, and the camera automatically captures individual frames and stitches them together into a wide panoramic photo.

Miniature

Miniature mode, a truly whimsical and fun setting, can make objects look like diramama toy models. In this mode, the camera allows you to select a horizontal or vertical stripe to apply a miniaturization effect to your subjects.

Rewind time

In time rewind mode, the camera captures a quick series of sequential frames over two seconds, after which it allows the user to select frames from an interactive timeline to save later. This mode is ideal for fast moving subjects such as children, animals or athletes in motion.

Smart Delete

Smart Distance mode is ideal for shooting subjects in busy environments where people or other objects constantly pass between the camera and the subject. This mode takes a series of photos, automatically detects moving objects, and gives the user the option to save the photo with or without the detected moving objects.

"Definition of Smiles"

The smile detection mode is a bit like the time rewind mode because it also takes multiple frames in quick succession. But instead of a two-second time limit, the “smile detection” mode takes five frames from which you can choose the best ones to save.

Manual mode

The scene can be interpreted in different ways, and the phone's automatic or preset settings may not always produce the desired result. To achieve this, ZenFone 3 Zoom offers users the most comprehensive set of manual controls. Among these settings, it is worth noting a slow 32-second shutter (the longest on the smartphone market) and the ability to choose between wide angle and zoom camera. These manual settings make ZenFone 3 Zoom a powerful tool for teaching basic photography skills while also giving users the ability to creatively capture a scene in a variety of interpretations.

Slow shutter

The most impressive feature of the ZenFone 3 Zoom's manual settings is the "slow shutter" mode, which allows you to take photos at a shutter speed of 32 seconds. Among the few smartphones that offer a slow shutter mode, none offer such a long exposure time. Slow shutter mode is ideal for shooting night landscapes, capturing streaks of light from passing cars, or capturing still subjects in low-light conditions without harsh flash light. This mode requires a stable position of the smartphone when shooting, and it is best to use the self-timer, since pressing the shutter button causes shaking and leads to blurriness of the resulting photo.