#CoverUp 63 with ASUS ZenFone Zoom #ASUSxNaina

I’ve had this lovely device with me for slightly over two weeks. The ASUS ZenFone Zoom was launched in India on 22nd January. It is the brand’s most premium devices so far and for good reason. The way the camera is built and integrated into the smartphone.  One would think that a 13 MP camera on a mobile phone would be kind of pointless. This device proves that thought wrong. The number of “Wow!”s I’ve said since I laid hands on this device, I’ve lost count of. It does take great photos. I’ve stopped carrying my small FujiFilm X100 DSLR. I’m not saying it’s an exact replacement but it works for me especially when I’m going around the city for events and covering those on my blog without having to bother with my Nikon D810’s bulk and lenses. The ASUS takes better photos than the previous smartphones I’ve experienced earlier – technology’s moving way too fast for me to keep up!

The device did not have selfie video capability when I got it but that was corrected a couple of days ago in a software upgrade. The quality of the selfie video is grainy and with colored artefacts so I won’t be using it to record my YouTube videos. ( I use the HTC One M8 to record those and that’s not changing yet. ) The ASUS is quite decent in low-light situations but the results are grainy too. The native camera on the phone comes with multiple settings – the creepiest was the selfie mode where it increases the size of your eyes as well! I’ve turned it off as well as the “face thinning” one but I’ve left the skin-corrector for selfies. It does that well without making the photo muddy. I like that.

The camera lens is slightly embedded on the back so I end up fingerprinting it a lot less than those smartphones where the lens is flush with the back surface. Decent flash capability as well. One of the nice features is that the longest exposure is 32 seconds! This is fabulous if you’re planning to shoot something manually – especially night skies.

Some other technical details about the camera : They’re saying it is the world’s thinnest 5mm smartphone with a 3x optical zoom lens and a 10-element HOYA lens for up to 12x total zoom. The device is powered by a 64-bit 2.5GHz Super Quad-Core Intel® Atom™ Z3590 processor with 4GB RAM. It comes with 128GB of internal memory and you can add another 128GB of external memory, which I’ve done – guess who’s not running out of space anytime soon! I’m sick of uninstalling apps and removing photos from my phone to make more space and THIS IS AWESOME!

( The device is available for purchase on Flipkart. )

Some images below have been shot on the ASUS ZenFone Zoom and I’ve pointed that out. At the end of this blog story, I’m also sharing links to the blog stories I’ve done with photographs shot exclusively on the device. ( All images processed in Lightroom. )

The photograph below is what the ASUS ZenFone Zoom produced when the above shot was taken.

The photograph below is what the ASUS ZenFone Zoom produced when the above shot was taken.

The photograph below is what the ASUS ZenFone Zoom produced when the above shot was taken.

Photo of the lunch setting shot on the ASUS ZenFone Zoom below.

Previous blog stories I’ve shot on the ASUS ZenFone Zoom :

India Art Festival

GoodEarth Latitude Khan Market

Dastkar Delhi Design Fair

Republic Day at Select City Walk

You will need a Micro SIM card to use this smart phone ( I had to stick my Nano SIM card into a cutout to make it work instantly. )

I am expecting that ASUS will add RAW support for the images. I also don’t like that the 13MP option is only available for a 4:3 image ratio. I’d like it on the 16:9 image ratio too, which is the largest size possible and I like shooting wide. Image file sizes currently go up to a maximum of 3MP per JPG, usually smaller. I find that quite crazy! I’d expect a 13MP image to be at least double of that if not more.

The UI of the smartphone took some getting used to because this is my first ASUS device – for example, twice now, I’ve cut a call instead of answering it. I like the bluelight filter to use at night when I’m in bed and updating social media. Charge on the phone lasts slightly over a day for someone like me – I’m a very heavy user. I shoot a lot of images and am constantly checking email, social media networks and posting to them. The physical buttons on the edge of the device for recording video and taking pictures, make life slightly easier and the 3x zoom is OPTICAL – so the quality of the image does not deteriorate. Most other smartphones have digital zoom and the quality of the images is usually quite pixellated.

The leather detailing on the back is lovely, I like it. But it was really hard to open to reach the SIM card and external memory card slots. I checked out a few videos to understand how to open it without breaking the back cover.

CREDITS

Wool Jacket and Corduroy Trousers by American Apparel, leather boots were a gift, leather gloves non-brand, skin colored skivvy belongs to Mom from the 70’s, Arzoo necklace by Maharani Baug, photographs by Bharat.

Location : Greenhouse at JW Marriott Walnut Grove Resort & Spa at Mussoorie.

Smartphone : ASUS Zenfone Zoom

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