ASUS announces ZenFone5 available to pre-order for £349

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ASUS has announced that its ZenFone 5 will be available to pre-order from today (June 26th, 2018) on the ASUS eShop. With a recommended price of £349.99, those pre-ordering from ASUS eStore will receive £50 off until the 8th July 2018 with stock shipping from 9th July.

The ZenFone 5 is a 6.2-inch dual-camera smartphone and the first ever ZenFone to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI).

Powered by the latest Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 636 Mobile Platform, the  ZenFone 5 has an intelligent dual-camera system comprising Sony® IMX363 sensor, 120° wide-angle secondary camera and AI- enhanced camera features — including AI Scene Detection, real-time portrait effects, AI Photo Learning and real-time beautification mode (see features box below for full details). 

The manufacturer claims the ZenFone 5 has a strikingly beautiful ultraslim-bezel, all- screen design with a 90% screen-to-body ratio in a glass-covered body that’s as small and compact as most standard 5.5-inch phones.

To deliver maximum on-the-go stamina, ZenFone 5 also boasts a high-capacity 3300mAh battery with ASUS BoostMaster fast-charge technology. ZenFone 5 also introduces AI Charging to maximise the battery lifespan and provide total protection. AI Charging dynamically adjusts the charging rate by monitoring the user’s charging habits, slowing down the battery’s ageing process.

For maximum flexibility and superb call quality, ZenFone 5 supports dual 4G LTE SIMs with Dual SIM, Dual VoLTE (DSDV) capabilities. This allows both SIMs to be on active standby, and also supports enhanced HD voice calls over 4G LTE on both SIMs.

Furthermore, ZenFone 5 has two five-magnet stereo speakers that deliver deep, rich and expansive stereo sound. These are driven by dual smart amplifiers that ensure maximum volume while intelligently protecting them from damage.

ZenFone 5 also supports Hi-Res Audio files encoded at up to 24-bit/192KHz sample rates — 4X better than CD quality. For an enhanced listening experience right out of the box, ZenFone 5 is supplied with a set of premium Hi-Res Audio-capable earbuds. ZenFone 5 also supports DTS Headphone:XTM for 7.1-channel virtual surround-sound over headphones.

The ASUS ZenFone 5 (ZE620KL) will be available pre-order on ASUS eShop from 26th June 2018. Pre-orders before 8th July will receive a £50 discount.

Key photo features

  • AI Scene Detection: AI Scene Detection takes the guesswork out of photography. ZenFone 5 uses the power of AI to rapidly analyse the subject and match it to one of its 16 scene types, optimising the camera settings for almost any kind of shot from sunsets to pet pics. The result is effortlessly perfect photos, anytime and anywhere. ZenFone 5 uses advanced big-data analysis to constantly enhance the scene-detection AI algorithms, for ever-smarter photography.
  • AI Photo Learning: AI Photo Learning lets users teach ZenFone 5 how they like your photos to look. It then automatically adjusts the camera settings for future shots — so photos will always reflect the user’s unique style preferences.
  • Real-time Portrait: ZenFone 5 lets users take professional-looking close-up shots of people or objects, without the hassle. Real-time Portrait with AI technology ensures that the main subject stays pin-sharp, while the background is given a sense of depth with a graduated bokeh effect — created using depth information intelligently analyzed from the subject — for a beautifully artistic photo. Real-time Portrait uses both cameras simultaneously to capture gorgeous portraits and close-ups that make the subject stand out with a real sense of depth, rivaling those taken with high-end DSLR cameras.
  • Real-time Beautification: ZenFone 5 gives users their own personal beauty consultant in their pocket. AI Beautification intelligently reads 365 facial points and applies personalised beautification based on an analysis of over two million possible enhancements. It works in real time with any face — regardless of age, shape, skin tone or gender — and produces amazing natural-looking results. It works perfectly in live-streaming video, too.
  • Pro mode: ZenFone 5 includes the powerful Pro mode that gives users full control of all the camera settings, including white balance, exposure, focus, ISO, and an impressive range of shutter speeds from 1/10000 to 32 seconds. With its support for unprocessed RAW files, ZenFone 5 is also the ideal choice for users who prefer to fine-tune their images using photo- editing software.

 

 

Chris Price
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