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ASUS Zenfone 6 has a flip camera and huge battery (Update: US pre-orders open)
Update, August 5, 2019 (09:06 AM ET): The ASUS Zenfone 6 can now be pre-ordered in the U.S. for an asking price of $499. While we’re still waiting on a proper rollout, B&H Photo has listings for both the 64 and 128GB variants of ASUS’ innovative flagship killer.
The phone comes factory unlocked and is fully compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile (but not CDMA providers like Sprint and Verizon). You can grab either the Midnight Black and Twilight Silver colors for an identical price, though understandably you’ll have to put up an extra $50 for the 128GB model, taking the price to $549.
Unfortunately, there’s no firm release date so there’s no telling how long you’ll be waiting to get your hands on the phone. For more on whether it’s worth the wait, be sure to check out our ASUS Zenfone 6 review for all the specs, features, and our final verdict.
Original article, May 16, 2019 (14:30 PM ET): ASUS has announced the Zenfone 6 at an event in Valencia, Spain. The new handset comes with a premium spec sheet, as well as some interesting characteristics that set it apart from the rest of the Android pack.
The Zenfone 6 features a 6.4-inch, FHD+ LCD display with 92 percent screen-to-body ratio, Snapdragon 855 chipset, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of on-board storage.
ASUS has also managed to cram in a 5,000mAh battery, which should help towards the higher end of the smartphone battery life table. It supports Quick Charge 4.0, and ASUS says it has up to two-day battery life in normal usage. The only downside in this regard is that it’s 18-watt fast charging, which is slower than HUAWEI and Xiaomi’s high-end phones.
The standout Zenfone 6 feature is its camera system. This cute-as-heck motorized flip camera comes with a 48MP sensor (Sony IMX 586) and an ultra-wide 13MP sensor. This means you can take the same high-quality photos whether shooting forward or backward, while also enabling group selfies. Samsung’s Galaxy A80 works in a similar way; it’s a novel approach you don’t see on many manufacturers attempt.
Don’t miss: ASUS Zenfone 6 hands-on | ASUS Zenfone 6 specs
ASUS has also implemented a couple of other flip camera features here. For starters, the company says you can adjust the flip camera’s movement with an on-screen slider. This means you can bring the flip camera to a 90-degree angle, then place the phone on a table to record stable video clips.
The ASUS Zenfone 6 flip camera can also be used for panoramas, allowing users to take a panorama without moving their phone. We’ve already seen this on the similarly equipped OPPO N3, but it certainly seems like an interesting use-case nonetheless.
After the Zenfone 6 launches, ASUS tells us it will add native Google Lens integration to the camera app, as well as a 2x toggle for easier switching to 2x lossless crops using the 48MP camera. ASUS says it’s also planning to add Night Mode to the front-facing camera mode.
The ASUS Zenfone 6 starts at $499/499 euro with 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM. Upping that to 128GB of storage will cost you 559 euro, and the 8GB of RAM/256GB of storage model will cost 599 euro. Thoughts? Let us know in the comments.