Asus debuts iPhone 7 Plus-style dual cameras in lower cost ZenFone 4s
The ZenFone 4 Pro, with a blended metal-glass body, is at the top of the new lineup.
Asus clearly doesn't believe that the dual camera on the iPhone 7 Plus and OnePlus 5 should only be available on premium smartphones.
The company has taken the wraps off six new 5.5-inch display handsets, from entry level to premium, each with a rear dual phone camera.
All rely on photography to stand out among peers, but only the top-end phone is equipped to create an iPhone 7 Plus-like 'bokeh' blurred background effect, while the others offer improved wide-angle or low-lighting shots.
At the top of the lineup is the ZenFone 4 Pro with a blended metal-glass body, Qualcomm's premium-end Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB RAM, and up to 128GB storage. The phone has an HD AMOLED display with a front-facing eight-megapixel (MP) camera. The dual rear cameras are 12MP and 16MP with 2x zoom.
The full-HD ZenFone 4 runs on Snapdragon 660. However, its 12MP and 8MP dual cameras on the rear are designed to deliver 120-degree wide-angle shots. It has an 8MP front camera, up to 6GB RAM, and up to 64GB storage.
The ZenFone 4 Pro could be seen as a more powerful cousin to the ZenFone 3 Zoom, while the ZenFone 4 updates the affordable ZenFone 3.
For selfie-lovers, Asus has two dual front-facing camera phones with a sensor larger than many rear cameras. The ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro has a 24MP main selfie-shooter with a 5MP wide-angle lens, and a 16MP lens on the rear. It runs on a Snapdragon 625, and comes with 3GB or 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage.
A step down from that is the ZenFone 4 Selfie, with a 20MP front camera and an 8MP wide-angle lens, with a rear 16MP lens. It has a Snapdragon 430, HD display, 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage.
Asus also launched the ZenFone 4 Max and ZenFone 4 Max Pro with Snapdragon 430 processors.
The phones don't follow the recent trend for full screen displays and leave space at the bottom for a physical home button with fingerprint reader between capacitive navigation keys.
The ZenFone 4 will start at $399 and the Pro model will cost $599.