ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe gets a last-minute upgrade to the Snapdragon 821

It’s not every day you see a phone announced that then gets a last-minute chipset upgrade on launch day. But that’s exactly what just happened with the high-end version of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe though. Despite being announced at Computex a couple months back with the Snapdragon 820 SoC, ASUS must have decided the ink wasn’t quite dry on that specs sheet.

At launch events in Taiwan and Hong Kong today, the top-shelf version of the three ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe models got a spec upgrade to the just-announced Snapdragon 821. This makes the ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe the first phone to be announced with the latest chipset from Qualcomm. All three versions of the Zenfone 3 Deluxe are Google Daydream VR compatible.

The three versions all have a 5.7-inch Full HD AMOLED display, 23 MP f/2.0 Sony IMX318 sensor with OIS and laser auto-focus, 8 MP f/2.0 camera on the front, fingerprint scanner, 3,000 mAh battery with USB Type-C and USB 3.0. The differences come in the storage and RAM combo: 256 GB/6 GB; 64 GB/6 GB; 32 GB/4 GB.

Only the high-end 256 GB version will utilize the Snapdragon 821 though, with the two lower-specced variants sticking with the Snapdragon 820. The 256 GB version will be priced at the equivalent of $780 and will arrive a little later in the year. The other two versions will be available in Taiwan and Hong Kong next month.

What do you think about this change? Does a last-minute chipset swap concern you at all?