Last updated on December 8th, 2022 at 02:24 pm
ASUS unveils Zenfone 7: triple PTZ camera, 90Hz OLED, large battery and fast charging
Just over a year after launching the Zenfone 6 with a PTZ camera, ASUS is back with the Zenfone 7 and Zenfone 7 Pro. Both devices still have rotating camera arrays like last year’s model, as well as massive 5000mAh batteries. But this year there are many new features, including an optional telephoto camera module and a new OLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz.
ASUS said the phones are slated to launch in select European markets on September 1st. Prices will be announced on the same day. The device will go on sale in Taiwan today. In this country, the Zenfone 7 starts at T $ 21,990 (about $ 749) and the Zenfone 7 Pro starts at T $ 27,990 ($ 950).
The rotating array of cameras still attracts attention. At the push of a button, the three camera sensors swivel from back to front, meaning no screen cutouts are required. And in addition, the user gets the full power of three rear cameras for self-portraits.
The camera system includes a 64-megapixel wide-angle module, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle with a 113-degree field of view, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. This means that the user gets both a useful ultra-wide-angle camera for self-portraits (handy for group photos) and a zoom, which is unlikely to be convenient for selfies, but it will come in handy in other scenarios. In the Zenfone 7 Pro, the wide-angle and telephoto lenses are equipped with optical image stabilization, but the regular Zenfone 7 does not.
ASUS said it has not only increased the number and resolution of sensors but also redesigned the mechanism for rotating the module. In particular, it is now designed to withstand up to 200,000 flips, up from the 100,000 flips of the Zenfone 6. ASUS estimates that it will take up to 100 flips a day for five years to wear out. It also became possible to manually select certain angles to which the cameras can be rotated. ASUS promises that the overall mechanism is faster and smoother.
ASUS has made some notable screen updates to the Zenfone 7. First, the display now uses a 90Hz OLED panel versus a 60Hz LCD screen last year. In addition, the brightness of the screen can now be up to 700 cd / m 2, which facilitates the use of the device in sunlight. The 6.67-inch screen has a resolution of 1080p.
The huge 5,000 mAh battery migrated from last year’s phone, but this year has gotten support for high-speed 30-W charging. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging: ASUS has said it wants to prioritize the larger battery rather than making room for excess hardware.
There’s also no rear fingerprint sensor this time around either. Instead, it’s built into the side power button. Unlike the Zenfone 6, the new Zenfone 7 lacks a headphone jack and is not IP rated for water and dust resistance (probably hampered by the large array of PTZ cameras). Both new phones are available in white or black colors.
The Zenfone 7 and 7 Pro have slightly different specs. The 7 Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 865+ processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Meanwhile, Zenfone 7 received a slightly simpler Snapdragon 865 chip, supplemented by 6/128 GB of memory. Both devices can operate in 5G networks at frequencies below 6 GHz (there is no support for millimeter waves), and also allow the use of microSD cards with a capacity of up to 2 TB.
