Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL in the Philippines : Why I Can't Wait For Its Local Launch

On January 5 at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA, Taiwanese electronics company Asus formally unveiled the sterling follow-up to the handsome ZenFone Zoom from last year.

Clad in anodized aluminum, the Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom features a Dual Optics camera module that gives it the ability to zoom 2.3X into the subject without losing clarity.

This camera set-up incorporates two 12 MegaPixel optics, one - the SuperPixel camera - having a wide-angle 1/2.5" lens with f/1.7 aperture and Sony's IMX362 sensor while the other seemingly has a telephoto lens similar to that of the iPhone 7 Plus.

On top of that, both optics feature 1.4nm pixel size, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), EIS, 4K video capture support, and Tri-Tech autofocus, which all work together to make it one of the best cameraphones in its price echelon.

As for other technical specifications and features, Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom sports a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display protected by 2.5D Curved Gorilla Glass 5 touchscreen panel, 13 MegaPixel front facing camera for selfies, USB Type C port, Dual SIM Dual Standby capability (nano + hybrid), 4G LTE Cat4 support, and a whopping 5,000 mAh battery pack, which give the handset extended uptime with regular use all while allowing it to work like a powerbank.

Underneath its sleek shell, this smartphone runs its Zen-UI-skinned Android Marshmallow OS with its 64-Bit Octa-Core 2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 and Adreno 506 based Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, has 4GB of RAM, and comes with 32/64/128GB of expandable storage options

Now, let me tell you why I'm over the moon for this handset.

I'm excited for its local launch because Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom appears to have all the things that I'm currently looking for in a daily driver. No compromises.

1. Svelte real metal shell
2. Clear display
3. Good internal hardware
4. More than reliable dual-optics main camera with optical zoom capability + Good selfie cam
5. Unusually big battery pack

Sure, there are already smartphones out in the market that has 3 or 4 of those features that I'm looking for -- but I'm struggling to think of one that has all 5 at the same time. In fact, too often, these devices fall short in terms of battery size, which is really odd. I mean, what good is a powerful cameraphone if it doesn't have enough juice to last the whole day away from a power source?

It's clear that Asus has pushed all the right buttons in crafting this model. However, they still need to do one thing correctly to make the ZenFone 3 Zoom fly off the shelves once it becomes available: They have to give it a very competitive price. We'll be waiting.