Any guesses on the name & specs of the ASUS phone. launching this August?

N

ASUS's ZenFestival is coming to India this August. The rumour is it that they are doing a global launch of a Zenfone (apart from a bunch of other cool stuff) then, in India.

No one knows much about this phone except for the fact that it's got a pretty insane front camera. What do you think the name's gonna be? Would also be interesting to hear your take on the other specs as well!

Nirmal is part of our brand team who works with various brands to give them feedback and the "pulse" of the Digit audience. He and others from the brand team will be here more often from now on, looking for feedback from you guys.

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Ok, welcome to digit Nirmal.

As for Asus' event, I hope they launch their powerbanks if they haven't yet.
And I don't think front cam matters unless the back cam is bad, which coincidently, was the case with Zenfone 2 despite it being a good performer.

So you think these people with front flash and whatnot are wasting their time?

Maybe. Its like one of those "trends" where everybody wants to take selfies (some even with stupid facial expression, typically grills), spending 20k+ on phones with insane 8+ MP front cam while they should get their pics clicked by any 20k camera or even a phone like Oneplus One with very capable back cam at the same price.

yeah, the last time they hyped up with big names like "pixelmaster" camera on their Zenphone 2, directly comparing with Samsung, sony and HTC in specific scenarios but the real world result turned out to be utter crap, the noise and the blurriness in the photos were below average..
maybe they have learnt their lesson for their next launch, only time will tell..

N

Hmmm, okay. Since the phone is pitched to drastically improve the photography experience, it's likely that they might have learnt from their previous outings. What features do you guys think should ASUS incorporate into its devices to make captured photos look great?

B

NirmalKartha92916 said:
What features do you guys think should ASUS incorporate into its devices to make captured photos look great?

Good cameras.

If possible, 10-20x optical zoom (external attachment if it can't be incorporated into phone body). Don't run the megapixel race. And 3000 mAh battery atleast.

T

Asus is supposedly launching these..

Asus to launch Zenfone 2 Deluxe, Selfie and Laser on August 6 - The Times of India

Asus ZenFone Selfie (photos): A quick hands-on with the upcoming selfie phone - IBNLive

Three New Asus Phones To Enter The Indian Market On Aug 6

So they went ahead and included the stupid "selfie" word in the name. -_-

I still don't know why this thread is a sticky. -_-

when most of the people of this world are getting obsessed with the word, they must have thought that is the right thing to do.

N

Is this selfie phenomenon a gimmick or a real trend? Data shows that over a million selfies get clicked everyday. In fact, selfies make up almost 30% of the photos taken by people in the 18-24 age group. As long as there's a degree of narcissism and the desire to "immortalise" ourselves through digitally captured self-portraits, I think this will stay. Releasing a phone explicitly optimised for taking selfies might be just another step in this "trend". What do you guys think?

By "selfie" if it means front camera, sure, it will quickly be used for other things the front camera is good for
there is definitely a demand in the market for a device that this and only this very well
*www.digit.in/forum/buying-advice/192697-cheap-selfy-mobile-under-7k.html

it's not just another "trend", I think it is an important consideration. "Selfies" is just the term used for a need for front camera.

oh and for features, would be good if they just included a mobile lens kit (clip on fish eye, macro, zoom lenses)

"Selfie" is a ''viral'' trend & people think its cooler (it might be convienent but still people do coz it would make them cooler)

I personally don't go with selfies because of image quality ....

One of my friend is obsessed with selfies & wants high quality image from his LG L90, so he learnt to use rear camera for selfies

Defies general trend but efficient

think of it as a phone for taking any kind of photos that are good of sharing on social media

Selfie right now is a "Hot" trend but many other trends it may go "cold" but having two cameras and both of high quality has it's own advantage which may come handy anytime. As for asus phone any taker for the name " Camera Duos "

Your Hip Hop security partner let's you have two back eyes on the head

Selfy is current trend...may not be of just your own but its a personal..think of a scenario when you and your wife/gf went somewhere and want to take a pic togather..rather then searching for someone who will take the shot which is inconvinient and definitely without a personal touch, you take a selfy.

That thread which is posted by anorion was started by me..and my mobiles back cam is really good...I have canon S90 and a D7000 as well. but all this cant take a pic when me and my gf are alone...whats the use?

zoom on selfy mobile is useless...i would rather want a 20mm wide and having image stabilisation on front cam.

In all honesty, I really think branding Selfie as the main feature of the phone is really a gimmick aimed mainly at tricking customers. Regular Phones coming with 5mp front camera are more than enough to take self pictures and having video conferences, anything above than that is really IMO useless....

Even if people say they have they have wonderful DSLRs and still cant take pic of themselves, they are still forgetting the concept of tripod, which i am sure many people from this forum only have bought.... If you talk about taking self pictures fast, there are limitations like only few people can be there in the selfie for eg if 43 or more people are there you won't be able to include everyone in picture unless you have very long hands....

To summarize the ability to take self picture without asking others help or selfie while being a good added feature shouldn't be the main selling point of any device......

K

Asus should launch a selfie stick as an accessory for the,lol, selfie phone :lol:

K

or an inbuilt selfie stick :lol:

gagan_kumar said:
To summarize the ability to take self picture without asking others help or selfie while being a good added feature shouldn't be the main selling point of any device......

then that means there should be one device and no one optimized for any thing

KayKashyap said:
Asus should launch a selfie stick as an accessory for the,lol, selfie phone

Agreed.

Every phone launching with "selfie" moniker should have a stick as a freebie.

K

bit off topic but I recently had a proper hands on with a Zenfone 2 and 5
One of my friends bought a Zenfone 2 in a haste because she lost her old phone
I had the chance to compare it with my other friends Zenfone 5

While I felt the 2 's camera is overhyped and not upto the mark, its level of detail was certainly better than the 5 but seriously underperforms in terms of challenging conditions such as low light where I find the Lumia 720/730's cameras are unmatched despite the slightly grainy pics at times

I was shocked to see the 2's "selfie" camera though.
not only was it not wide enough but it also failed in front of even my iPad 2's front camera which was honestly a very poor camera even for its time
the 5 has decent shooters on both sides

I dont think this trend along with "snapchat" etc are gonna last very long
these things come and go faster than a Mumbai Local :lol:

Just look at BBM and BB in general
they just became unpopular so fast,its surprising
despite their awesome phones even today,no one seems to be willing to even look at one sadly even though they had alot of features which android and ios lacked until their more recent updates

same way,I feel snapchat and the "selfie" trend are on their way out soon enough
nothing lasts very long in the tech world

Insane front camera? ..Full frame sensor? lol

K

Needless to say, the Zenfone Selfie is aimed at everyone looking for a good front camera. It comes with a 13-megapixel front and rear cameras, and the back has a Laser autofocus as well. Zenfone Selfie also features ZenMotion gestures, real time beautification modes and dual color tone LED on front and back cameras. The macro mode will let you shoot from 6cm with Super resolution mode.

On the specs front, one can expect a larger 5.5inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC coupled with 3GB RAM. The company may launch 2G RAM version too. A 3000 mAh battery completes the package for the dual SIM, 4G LTE supporting device. The Zenfone Selfie will hit stores for a price starting at Rs 15,999.

Anorion said:
then that means there should be one device and no one optimized for any thing

what do you mean "no one optimized for anything"??

I agree that selfy cant be the alone selling point of a mobile...nor the gaming nor the back cam nor the screen...all features are unique and required for specific people.
I liked what Sony is going to release in its Sony C5 ultra and specially Sony xperia M5 ...I will wait for that.

Selfie is nowadays become a party toy. You can people taking self portraits everywhere all the time. College students mostly waste their time specially girls in taking 20-30 even 50 selfies daily. I know a lot of colleges who asked me they need a phone with biggest megapixel front facing lens. They are even ready to get Gionee phones over Nexus because of 8 MP front lens on papers.

If one wants a Truly best front cam, they should buy one of those phones, where there is only once camera but which can be rotated.
No need of two cams. Just have one cam and make it rotatable. It might be a patented idea though.

Vyom said:
If one wants a Truly best front cam, they should buy one of those phones, where there is only once camera but which can be rotated.
No need of two cams. Just have one cam and make it rotatable. It might be a patented idea though.

Oppo launched a phone recently with revolving camera. Other companies should do the same for this market.

One plus one or OPPO ?

Gionee have that rotating cam stuff from last year..its good actually

Raaabo said:
So you think these people with front flash and whatnot are wasting their time?

nobody wants a flash in front of their face, just for taking selfie or something. adjust the led as the suitable light source, so that one can view their own face in the dusk, is way better option.

K

Front flash is really not a good idea, especially with current trend of clicking selfies everywhere, AFAIK,it is harmful for infants & sensitive eyes. :razz:

*www.asus.com/Phone/ZenFone_Selfie_ZD551KL/

N

Might be off-topic but what do you guys think about the 'relevance' of point-and-shoot cameras now? If we consider how commonplace smartphones with decent cameras in the equivalent price brackets of good point-and-shoot cameras have become, does it still make sense for the point-and-shoot camera to exist?

yes. just look at instagram.
battery operated 5mp cams, pocketable, really fun to use, does not drain your mobile, HAS ZOOOM, you can hold it in dangerous positions without worrying for your life...

Re: Any guesses on the name & specs of the ASUS phone. launching this August?

point-and-shoot cameras has lost relevance for many. that reminds me about an old incident when a colleague asked me about the camera on my phone (Nokia N73-ME bought a week before) in December 2006. when i told her its a 3MP camera, she was shocked and said to a male and a female colleague - his cell phone is same as our cameras (1 Nikon & 2 cannons).
we have similar situation since long. megapixel count goes on. people jump at it without realizing / understanding / knowing whether it is good for them or not. hardcore photographers / enthusiasts still use them and many use dslrs.

- - - Updated - - -

regarding selfies and selfie cameras, that is just a new gimmick though i strongly doubt it will die down soon given the narcissistic tendency of the people world over.

i almost bought zenphone 2 when it came out but decided against it when saw poor camera performance review.

NirmalKartha92916 said:
Might be off-topic but what do you guys think about the 'relevance' of point-and-shoot cameras now? If we consider how commonplace smartphones with decent cameras in the equivalent price brackets of good point-and-shoot cameras have become, does it still make sense for the point-and-shoot camera to exist?

10k PnS takes better pics than a 30k+ "selfie" phone or even a 60k+ iphone.

Reason: Optical zoom and better sensor, not to mention no useless gimmicks.

GoPro

Im totally with hating narcissistic tendencies of people the world over, but don't hate the tech, seen selfie sticks being used to take photos of snakes without disturbing them. What if people want to take the photos, but not share with anyone, but keep it for themselves.
And even if totally narcisstic, it's kind of cute to document every event with a selfie as a memory... little funny, little sad.

Now you are all so angry and excited about hating, that you have not considered the alternative. look at all the selfies, and imagine them without the people. So empty. Imagine pictures of adventure sports... mountain climbing, rafting, skydiving, without the people.
Now I like to photograph brick walls, cement walls, walls with paint peeling off them, dilapidated walls with creepers growing all over them. But Im desperate to find someone, anyone, to look and smile for the camera in front of these walls, because it adds context and a reference point. No one is going to look at pictures of walls, otherwise.

Oh also, the tactile feedback on the shutter button, as against a tap, feels like it gives more control, especially because you can control exposure and focus with a half click on that button itself, instead of tapping all around the screen to get what you want, which might change by the time you get to tapping the click button after adjusting the exposure and focus

Regarding relevence of P&S ...I would say the day mobile cams have 1 inch sensor like RX100 the day I will stop using P&S and shift completely on mobile for random occasions.

Right now mobile cams does not produce much detailed pics..they are no doubt good for web sharing but useless for editing or low light shoots. I remember samsung releasing a camera which had a mirror on front to take self pics. or some sony cam saying that the screen can be rotated to take self pics..I would say selfy with P&S is cumbersome, although I even took selfy with D7000

Due to soo many type of photographic needs now I have a advance P&S S90 which takes awesome pics on random occasions, a DSLR for planned trips and occasions, a sony XZL mobile with 13mp cam when no other cam is available and its front selfy cam

K

sujoyp said:
Regarding relevence of P&S ...I would say the day mobile cams have 1 inch sensor like RX100 the day I will stop using P&S and shift completely on mobile for random occasions.

Right now mobile cams does not produce much detailed pics..they are no doubt good for web sharing but useless for editing or low light shoots.

Pureview,Carl Zeiss and Sony Exmor!!! I think they are good enough to replace P & S (not high zoom,RX100 types but better than regular ones imho)

N

If I am to understand, it *could* be just a matter of time (and specifications) till P&S cameras get cannibalised by smartphones (or whatever they will be called, in the future).

If you are a smartphone giant and believe that the concept of taking selfies is the real deal, how will you conceptualise the perfect selfie-taking phone? Stuff like making the device as light as possible without compromising on processor and battery etc. Are there any smartphones (like the ASUS Zenfone Selfie) out there that does justice to this thinking?

while you are right about cameras embedded in things to get drastically better
enthusiasts still use film. It is not a matter of time and specifications, it is about sharing resources (battery, memory, cost of the device) among many functions (Smartphone) as against dedicating it to one purpose (p&s). So it is possible that people will chose a P&S in some situations, even if the phone counterparts are better.

for a perfect selfie taking phone.
one thing you can do is have a large sensor.
wide angle lense or option. Good for getting background, and good for groups
give good battery life, yes
Have a good front camera, guess HTC Desire Eye made this mistake with their selfie phone
get technology from established camera brands, or from those known for making good tech for smartphones... Sony, Carl Zeiss, Nikon, Leica maybe
sub 5 inch screen - to operate with one hand

N

Okay. If you look at what, say ASUS, launched this ZenFestival which happened this August 6th, they talked a lot about the imaging capabilities of the Zenfone Laser and the Selfie. It's not the first time that Laser Focus has been implemented in a phone, but ASUS managed to pack that technology into an under-10K phone, which I think is pretty good.

What do you think about ASUS's move, in terms of the Indian market and the expectations that had been mentioned along the thread? Plus, if you guys had to pick a favourite between the Zenfone Selfie (name withstanding) and the Zenfone Laser - which one would be it, in terms of the expected photography experience?

In case you haven't attended/watched it, here's the youtube link to ZenFestival.

then just beat it on the specifications. Any other features are an extra and if it is not the best specced phone in the price range, it is just a "waste of money". At the very least ditch the name "selfie"

like the phone, esp the dual tone flash

absolutely agree with what anorion said, +1

get technology from established camera brands, or from those known for making good tech for smartphones... Sony, Carl Zeiss, Nikon, Leica maybe

especially this !

Get technology from established camera brands, or from those known for making good tech for smartphones... Sony, Carl Zeiss, Nikon, Leica maybe

Idea world scenario. Not going to happen methinks. Camera guys aren't making lenses and sensors with phones in mind. Their R&D isn't that field, and thus for them to attempt to do so, a phone might have to fund an R&D team for a camera brand... that's unlikely.

I wish the world worked collaboratively, and maybe some brands will come together and prove me wrong, but I think the probability is low, sadly. Interestingly, Sony, for example, has their hands in both pies, so perhaps it would actually be beneficial for competitors in both segments to team up against it...

What I really wish even one company would do is to be motivated by something other than greed...

P

"get technology from established camera brands, or from those known for making good tech for smartphones... Sony, Carl Zeiss, Nikon, Leica maybe"

I agree with this. Nokia did it with Carl Zeiss, Xiaomi is doing it with Sony. Also, are there any Canon components used in mobile phones? Surprising if there aren't!

Earlier people used to look for display, size and powerful internal hardware. But these are reaching a saturation point with every year of progress. Now every one is looking for a camera which can if not completely replace their P&S atleast can compensate for it's non availiblity at times. I was pumped at the Zf2 launch but the camera review it got were too bad and later on when i tested the camera after the so called update it wasn't up to the mark. So getting a higher pixel count is one thing and getting a perfect combination of powerful software with a tested camera sensor should be a top priority.

P

It will be ASUS zenfone pegasus 2 plus

P

Asus is all set with a global product launch in India via grand ZenFestival 2015 in end of August. i think it is going to be Asus Zenfone Selfie, with great specifications- 5.5" scree, Octa-core processor, 2GB/3GB RAM, 13 MP front-facing camera. It will definitely be a great buy if it will be reasionably priced.
and Asus Zenfone Zoom will be for photographers with awesome specs and features like 4 GB RAM, 13 MP rear camera with autofocus & 3x optical zoom. It is being commercially promoted with a tagline "ultimate design, performance & photography experience”.
One more Asus smartphone to be launched will be Asus ZenFone Go ZC500TG which will be a budget smartphone.

Finally a review from GSMArena.

Asus Zenfone Selfie review: Vanity light - GSMArena.com

(Still hoping Asus drops the stupid "selfie" moniker from the phone's name)

I would like to add some thing too.

People dont want "great" front cameras... they want front cameras that MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD. Its should be renamed as "Vanity Cam"
People dont want front cameras that IS SO CLEAR that it shows their wrinkles, acnes, scars... they want front cameras that make them look like a super model. Majority, including me, use "beautify" effect on default because i dont wanna look like an ogre. Reality suxx, i wanna look better than what i do in reality XD XD

This is the reason why most selfies are taken using third part apps like Youcam,Beautycam,..etc etc and other 100s of other cam software made by Chinese software devs.

Here are some areas where Asus should focus on:
1) Good software package. Get all those awesome rear cam features to the front camera. If you can add even 50% of the features offered by rear cam, people will start using Asus's front cam software more.
2) Huge Camera sensors. Now you all may be calling me noob for this but it admit it, from marketing point of view it makes sense. HTC One M series have awesome 4mpx UltraPixel at the front.,,better than 99.99% of smartphones out there when it comes to selfies... But if girls want to buy a phone for great Instagram selfies, they will go for the ones with 8-13mpx count, not the HTC One M series (cant blame them)
3) At least f2.2 aparture lens on selfie cam.. and make it AS WIDE ANGLE AS POSSIBLE
4) Boke' effect on selfie cam (sorry if i spelt that wrong), preferably with Live preview of the effect.
5) Please go easy on phone size and weight. Taking selfies, specially group selfies using a HUGE PHONE IS A PAIN, specially for the weaker sex with thin and frail hands

. Taking picture with the new Zenfone Selfie is an effort in itself due to its bulkiness
6) Market your phones separately for girls and guys. If you blast your smartphone ads with terms like "SUPER SELFIE" "SUPERB FRONT CAM" etc etc you are gonna alienate a vast majority of male buyers (specially the Moto/Nexus crowd who dont want to be part of the superficial crowd). Make Zenfone 3 Selfie appealing to girls (with Snapdragon 410, 5 inch screen, ultra thin, low battery, 120-130gms and super duper front cam) and Zenfone 3 Pro for guys (with Snapdragon 810,5+inch screen, thick with big battery, 150+gms , small sensor but high pixel size rear camera with TONS of Manual modes)
7) Please no 4K. Its useless. Quality is worse than 1080p...phone gets burning hot, you cant take videos for long and modern phones done have external memory expansion, sharing your videos with ur friends via bluetooth takes an entire day

. Taking a 4k video of a basketball match= internal memory full!! The current standard of video encoding is poor and inefficient. Please, no 4k please. How many of you even take videos at 4k? Probably once or twice when you first bought your phone... after that you probably never touched 4k.

Asus Zenphone 2 limited 69 edition much wow plus duos

thats gonna be the next Zenphone

2 Questions!!

1) Why was this thread stickied??

2) Why is this still in sticky??

ariftwister said:
2 Questions!!

1) Why was this thread stickied??

2) Why is this still in sticky??

1. No idea
2. Removed from sticky. There's no need for it.

Vyom said:
1. No idea
2. Removed from sticky. There's no need for it.

But it is still sticky

sling-shot said:
But it is still sticky

Are you sure?

It was Tapatalk playing tricks with me. Now it is gone.