Asus ZenFone Zoom 3X Lossless Optical Zoom Feature Showcased in Full-Res Sample Photos

Asus ZenFone Zoom is the best imaging-centric smartphone that the Taiwanese electronics company has launched to date. It is Asus' landmark attempt at combining the ease-of-use and svelte form factor of a full touchscreen Android handset and the great imaging capabilities of a point-and-shoot digicam -- and in many ways, they have succeeded in this stellar effort.

Asus ZenFone Zoom

Flaunting a gorgeous body made using real metal and genuine Italian leather, ZenFone Zoom is the world’s thinnest smartphone with a 13 MP PixelMaster rear camera and an innovative 10-element digital eye, created by the optics experts at Hoya. Made of glass as well synthetic and prismatic lenses, Zoom's camera module is meticulously configured in a dual-prism periscope arrangement to maximize incoming light and capture the best possible photo quality.

Asus ZenFone Zoom Camera

But perhaps the most talked-about imaging feature of this device is its three-times lossless optical zoom replete with optical image stabilization. Since Nokia's decline, very few handset companies have dedicated their resources to crafting a cameraphone having these unique and complicated hardware capabilities. Given that, I want to commend Asus for being daring enough to try their hands on it.

For those who've been asking me how well the three-times optical zoom feature of my Asus ZenFone Zoom works, here are some full frame and center-zoomed sample shots that I've taken using the device. I'll let the quality of each photo speak for itself. Kindly click on the images for full-resolution view:

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All of these raw images were taken using automatic settings on the Asus ZenFone Zoom.

What do you think about these photos, guys? Let me know your thoughts via our comments section below. As I've said, the ZenFone Zoom is Asus' maiden effort in this specific category so I'm sure that the company can learn a lot from consumer feedback in crafting follow-up devices.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name Asus Zenfone Zoom Philippines
Type Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen), Phablet
Price Category High-end
Dimensions158.9 x 78.8 x 12 mm
Weight 185 grams
Available Colors Black (Italian Leather, Aluminum Frame)
Operating System Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI
Display 5.5 inches (~403 ppi pixel density), 1080 x 1920 pixels, IPS+, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, Gorilla Glass 4
Processor Quad Core 64-bit 2.5 GHz Intel Atom Z3590 chipset with PowerVR G6430 GPU
RAM 4 GB of RAM
Internal Storage 128 GB of ROM, expandable via microSD card slot
Camera Main: 13 MegaPixels, 4208 x 3120 pixels, autofocus, Dual Tone LED flash
Front: 5 MegaPixels
Video Capture Full HD 1080p 30 frames per second for main camera, HD for front camera (TBC)
Audio and Video Playback MP3, WAV, eAAC+, FLAC, MP4, H.264
Ports microUSB v2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, 3G HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, HSPA+; LTE Cat4, NFC
GPS Yes, with GLONASS and A-GPS
FM Radio Yes
Sensors Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity Gyroscope
Network 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 and SIM 2, 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G LTE 700 / 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 28, 29), TD-LTE 1900 / 2300 / 2500 / 2600 (Bands 38, 39, 40, 41)
SIM Card Type Single microSIM
Battery Non-removable 3,000 mAh Li-Po battery
Uptime TBD
Value-Added Features Zen UI, PixelMaster camera, Optical Zoom, OIS, Fast Charging
Announcement Philippines, January 16, 2016 ~ ZenFestival 2016, Cebu City
Availability January 2016
Price Official SRP: Php 26,995