ASUS took the wraps off the latest generation of ZenFone handsets at its Computex 2016 press conference in Taipei.
The ZenFone 3 series with three phones is positioned with a variety of price points and form factors.
At the mid-level, there's the regular ZenFone 3. At the high-end, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe features the latest specs while the larger ZenFone 3 Ultra packs a large display, Android Central reported.
The ZenFone 3 series mixes things up in terms of materials and design language. The vanilla ZenFone 3 sports a glass-backed design not unlike some of Samsung's recent phones, with a metal trim punctuated by plastic antenna lines.
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe steps things up to a full aluminum unibody, with unique "invisible" antenna lines around the sides designed to blend into the overall design. The metal unibody also carries over to the Ultra, which sports a more traditional flat profile with rounded sides.
The ZenFone 3 is powered by Qualcomm's latest mainstream chip, the octa-core Snapdragon 625, along with 4GB of RAM.
The super-sized ZenFone 3 Ultra steps this up to a Snapdragon 652 for a little extra horsepower, again with 4GB of RAM. And the ZenFone 3 Deluxe carries the latest Snapdragon 820-series chip, with 8 GB of RAM.
All three devices use 1080p displays—the ZenFone 3 and Deluxe at 5.5 and 5.7 inches respectively, and the Ultra at an enormous 6.8 inches. And the Ultra is powered by a suitably hefty internal battery too—a 4,600 mAh cell, as opposed to the 3,000 mAh of the other two models.
Zen Book
According to Endgadget, the new ZenBook 3, was also announced at Computex, which some have referred to as the MacBook killer.
At just 2 pounds and 11.9 mm (0.46-inches) thick. In comparison, the ZenBook 3 just barely edges out Apple's svelte MacBook, which weighs 2.03 lbs and is 13.2 mm (0.52-inches) thick, all the while packing in a larger 12.5-inch display.
The ZenBook 3 will start at $999 (34.9 million rials) with a Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD.
The company is also taking on Microsoft's latest Surface's tablets with its Transformer 3 and Transformer 3 Pro, a new generation of 2-in-1 devices, announced at Computex.
ASUS Transformer 3 Pro is a direct competitor for Microsoft's Surface Pro 4, and will be purchasable with an Intel i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB solid state drive. The device is a hybrid laptop and tablet, but ASUS is emphasizing the device's power, describing it as "the world's most versatile PC", and detailing an array of ports to make the Transformer 3 Pro simpler to connect to other devices.
According to The Verge, the standard Transformer 3 won't have the same specifications as the Pro, with ASUS' Jonney Shih saying only that it would feature a seventh generation Intel CPU, but it will be $200 cheaper than the other model.
The ASUS Transformer 3 will be available from $799 (27 million rials) when it hits the market, while the Transformer 3 Pro will start at $999 (34.9 million rials).
ASUS also made a surprise home robot announcement at its "Zenvolution" press conference. The Zenbo is a cute, family-friendly household assistant robot with a huge range of announced features.
It can move independently around the house, recognize faces, play games with kids, read stories, search the web and assist with recipes. It is controlled by voice command and can take photos, place phone calls, run home security and offer smart home solutions.
No release date was announced, but it will be priced at $599 (approx. 20 million rials).
