Hands-on review: Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe


Introduction, design and display

Update: The Zenfone 3 release date is expected to be in two weeks, meaning we’ll be able to test out the 6GB of RAM and other specs in full. Here’s how it performs so far.

Zenfone 3 Deluxe represents a major upgrade to Asus’ spelling-challenged smartphone series with a component design and specs you won’t find on any other Android today.

The phone is making a name for itself with 6GB of RAM, when all but one of the best phones in 2016 so far top out at 4GB of RAM. You should be able to open more apps on its 5.7-inch display without slowdown.

Yes, the ZTE Axon 7 was just announced to have a 6GB of RAM variant, but it wasn’t shown off at its Beijing launch event next to its still-very-promising 4GB version. I could test the Asus Zenfone 3 at Computex 2016.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

It also includes the latest Snapdragon processor, starts with 64GB of internal storage and includes a 23MP camera, all of which are impressive numbers on paper. It’ll just miss Android Nougat, but does run Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

But do these Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe specs compute into anything meaningful? The Taiwanese release date is set for mid-July, while the US release date isn’t for several weeks, according to Asus. So I went hands on with the forthcoming phone while in Taipei, Taiwan to determine more in the meantime.

Design

The Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe is being touted as the world’s first full-metal unibody phone with an invisible antenna design, and that’s technically true.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

It beats Apple’s iPhone 7, rumored to be anti-antenna lines too, by three months, and the new LG G5 has a gap meant for modular add-ons; it isn’t really unibody. Samsung Galaxy S7 is made of glass.

That leaves the Zenfone 3 Deluxe to steal some thunder with a sleek look of its own. I like the full-metal body and the seamless unibody design, and the invisible antenna lines are a nice perk.

What’s more important to me than any of that, though, is the fact that the phone does away with the plastic that made last year’s Zenfone 2 design downright unlikable. I dug the specs and the software customization, but it felt cheap. Like, not even good plastic. This new design begins to right that wrong.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

It measures 156.4 x 77.4 x 7.5 mm, which doesn’t make it as thin as the Nexus 6P (7.3mm thin), but it’s close and, when testing it, it felt better than the thicker, non-Deluxe Zenfone 3 (7.7mm thin).

The power button and volume rocker are now on the right side (instead on of the back), but there’s an oddly shaped rectangular fingerprint sensor on back. You don’t actually press it in. There’s still capacitive soft buttons for home, back and recent on the front, going against the trend of using purely on-screen buttons. I tend to like my buttons always being at the ready like this and not sometimes vanishing at the worst possible moments.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

I had a big problem with Zenfone 2’s top-mounted power button, which I described as “squishy.” I’m happy to report than while the Zenfone 3 Deluxe side-mounted buttons feel a bit shallow, they’re at least clicky. This is all the more important now because the Deluxe camera can be launched by hitting the volume down button twice when the phone is asleep.

Like a lot of phones in 2016, it pivots to USB Type-C, sticks with one speaker (but of course promises stellar audio, according to the company’s marketing efforts) and comes in three colors: Titanium Gray, Glacier Silver and Sand Gold.

Display

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe has a spacious 5.7-inch screen that competes with the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 in size. Even more relevant, I fully expect the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to be the same size, too.

Its large Super AMOLED panel takes on a 79% screen-to-body ratio. That means less bezel on the sides and more screen space to work with. The capacitive buttons on the bottom do eat into significant screen space.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

Under the Computex lighting, it also appears to be brighter, fixing be biggest issue I had with the Zenfone 2. Taking last year’s phone outside snap photos was a headache due to its dull screen; I couldn’t see what I was shooting and just hoping the photos turned out okay (they didn’t, last year’s camera was also mediocre).

I’ll have to test it outdoors in a full Zenfone 3 review soon, but the brightness seems to have been ratchet up thanks to the new AMOLED display.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

What remains, though, is the same is 1080p resolution. You won’t find a pixel-dense quad HD (aka 2K) panel like the Android rivals that Asus is trying its best to mimic.

I’m okay with Full HD 1080p displays on phones of this size, but the company does appear to be working on an Asus VR headset.

As I experienced with the Huawei VR headset, 1080p can be problematic when the screen is sitting two inches from your face.

Specs, camera and battery life

The specs behind the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe, not the screen, is what really pops. On paper, it matches and exceeds almost all of the phones I’ve tested – again, on paper.

Its 6GB of RAM is supposed to give you more breathing room to open apps and multitask without slowdown. Whether or not that happens is going to depend on how efficient it is at running the Asus-themed Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system and the Android Nougat update, whenever that comes about.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

The Zenfone 3 is also future-proofed with the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and embedded Adreno 530 graphics chip that’s in almost every major Android phone right now (LG G5, HTC 10 and the US version of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge).

Running a quick GeekBench 3 benchmark test at Computex, before getting shooed away and told this is just a prototype, the phone was able to hit a multi-core score of 5,420, beating the US Samsung Galaxy S7 (5,398) score I logged when it first came out.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

That’s still slower than the international Galaxy S7 (6,500) that is equipped with Samsung’s Exynos processor, but there’s a chance Asus can make those numbers better by the time the Zenfone 3 Deluxe launches.

I should note that the performance of the other new Zenfones won’t be better. Both the Zenfone 3 and massively sized Zenfone 3 Ultra have Snapdragon 600 series CPUs.

Camera

Asus is paying more attention to the camera with its two larger Zenfone 3 phones.

It cranks up the megapixels with a 23MP Sony IMX318 sensor for a camera that it dubs “PixelMaster 3.0.” Sounds more like a bad 90s screen name for a pompous camera guru.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

That translates to a f/2.0 lens that takes 0.03 seconds to autofocus. There’s optical image stabilization onboard for shaky hands and a dual tone LED flash for night shots.

Don’t let the high megapixel count fool you. The Samsung Galaxy S7 camera is the best in the biz right now and it’s only 12MP. It’s all about the quality of the sensor and post-processing, especially when it comes to low-light photos.

The Zenfone 3 can surely top the average murky-looking photos out of the Zenfone 2, and I can’t wait to see if it belongs in the 2016 class of really great Android phone cameras that beat the iPhone. I’ll be sure to give it a full photo test outside of Computex soon.

Battery life

It’ll be interesting to see how the better specs of the Zenfone 3 affect the battery life when we get this phone in for a full review.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

Right now, we know that the battery capacity is 3,000mAh and utilizes Quick Charge 3.0 for faster recharging.

Like megapixels, the battery life number can be deceiving, so it’ll take a few days of testing to see whether or not it meets the needs of power users over a full day’s time.

It doesn’t match the 4,600mAh battery of the 6.8-inch Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra, or have its reverse charging feature to power your other accessories with juice, but that phone is just a ridiculous monster that not everyone can manage. Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe the faster performing, more reasonably sized variant.

Early verdict

The Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe is the grown up version of the cheap Zenfone 2 I reviewed and easily broke a year ago. It’s now ready to play with the adults at the best Android phones table occupied by Samsung, LG and HTC.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review

It’s a complete turnaround on the design, with an antenna-less full metal unibody, better feeling buttons and good bezel to screen ratio. The 5.7-inch AMOLED display looks bright, at least at Computex indoors.

There’s still a lot to test when it comes to the Zenfone 3. Does the 6GB really make a difference? Does this help or hurt its battery life? And how do the display brightness and camera hold up outside?

All of your burning Zenfone 3 questions will be answered closer to the phone launch date, when the hardware is finalized and testing it with Geekbeck 3 benchmarks won’t get you shooed away from the Asus booth.

Source: techradar.com

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18 Comments
  1. Reply Bo Corkery July 3, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    Those are things that are carrier dependent. You'll have to wait to find out.

  2. Reply Dustin Rau July 3, 2016 at 1:30 pm

    The RAM positive and negative makes no sense. If it is unclear how the 6GB are used, then how on earth is it a positive, if we can't see any beneficial effects.

  3. Reply Josue Okuneva DDS July 3, 2016 at 2:47 pm

    The problem I have with a manufacturer like Asus making premium phones is that their record of support and their previous products lifespans have been terrible. Who'd want to invest that much money in a brand with a trust pilot rating of poor. Look at the debacle of their Nexus tablets Google won't work with them anymore due to the record of failing units from both their 2012 and 2013 versions. Look at this article if you want further proof. androidpolicedotcom/2015/04/19/reports-suggest-2013-nexus-7-units-are-failing-at-an-alarming-rate-not-likely-a-result-of-firmware-updates. Yes by the law of averages your last Asus product might but have been Ok but who wants to make that gamble with that much cash when they don't care about their customerrs.

  4. Reply Ms. Pasquale Cole Sr. July 3, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    I just need to know when that Axon 7 is coming to the US and can I buy the 6gb/128gb version.

  5. Reply Ottis Carter July 3, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    The thing I will need to know is will it support CDMA carriers like Verizon, support HD calling, and WIFI calling. These are very important features to me right now

  6. Reply Francesca Lind Sr. July 3, 2016 at 2:55 pm

    the real question is: why is it a negative? you have it and it's future proofing the phone, even if most people don't use it, it can't be a negative LOL

  7. Reply Tania Armstrong July 3, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    I'll check on that once their US plans get situated.

  8. Reply Vickie Pollich July 3, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    Agreed – I had a major problem with one their transformer tablets and the support I received while still under warranty was appalling. Never again will I buy Asus. Buyer beware …..

  9. Reply Dr. Claire Hayes July 3, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    Gun ownership theory: Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

  10. Reply Prof. Tyrique Bosco IV July 3, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    July 4th is the speculation day.

  11. Reply Miss Melissa Grimes Sr. July 3, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    Amen to that!! Battery Battery and Battery!!!

  12. Reply Prof. Devin Kunze July 3, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    Yeah. Basically if it has the same memory leakage problem like the ZF2, then the 6GBs of RAM won't make much of a difference.

  13. Reply Meghan Kling July 3, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    The memory leakage issue was a result of the ZenUI interface, I have a the Z551ML w/4GB RAM running CM13 Nightlies and have had no issues with memory leakage

  14. Reply Daren Shanahan July 3, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    man one look of that custom UI makes me feel glad I bought a moto.

  15. Reply Prof. Theresa Fay July 3, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    @RoboBonobo *THIS.* It can be a negative. Also, if you include it and it does absolutely nothing to help the phone (i.e. if it ends up having the same performance as a 4GB of RAM Snapdragon 820-equipped S7 Edge), then I'd also consider that a negative. It has to DO something.

  16. Reply Mrs. Vita Schuster July 3, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    I honestly can't help but think it's for poorly managed multitasking. I am saying this out of a degree of bitterness. I've had a number of Asus tablets running android, the first my purchase, the rest wins in raffles (I have good luck in raffles)

    While they all start out okay, I've found all of them quickly have software issues as they're bogged down by an onslaught of ASUS bloatware which you cannot remove. Often I find this bloatware stalls otherwise good hardware to a virtual stop often because of the memory footprint. Can't help but think instead of fixing their crappy software they've just thrown more RAM at it.

    I've also had issues in the past with ASUS and their ability to keep their devices up to date. Brand new tablets months old, losing all support the moment the next tablet release comes, with some devices so heavily locked down I can't even root them without having to jump through an extra hurdle or two. My current tablet (admitadly with an atom CPU) I have to do a force reboot every time it goes into hibernate, and even if turned off it still continues to burn the battery for some reason. Can't root at all because atom (my previous fix for every ASUS tablet I've owned)

    Then again, I think ASUS just hates me, I had 3x asus Motherboards all DOA, as well as an ASUS graphics card which died within 3 months, and another ASUS mobo which died after 13 months. Since the graphics card death I've refused to purchase any ASUS products myself, (although luck still saddles me with them)

  17. Reply Dock Gislason July 4, 2016 at 3:26 am

    It depends on how it manages the ram.
    If it has 6GB of RAM but it manages it poorly and the multitasking is the same as other phones that have 3GB of RAM, that's a negative mark against it.

  18. Reply Mr. Santos Stiedemann July 4, 2016 at 8:53 am

    3GB File needs 6GB memory to COPY. + your eyes don't need screen 300+ pix!!! all we need is BATTERY LIFE!!!!

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