Asus ZenFone 7 Review: The Selfie Connoisseur’s Choice
Asus ZenFone 7 Pro Review: The Best Selfie Camera You Can Get on a Phone
"Thanks to the motorized flip camera of the ZenFone 7 Pro, the phone has the most versatile selfie camera available."
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The reversing camera is equipped with numerous functions
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The front camera is the best you can get
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Bright, colorful screen
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Long lasting battery
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No water resistance
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Heavy
For the ZenFone 7 Pro, Asus has brought back the motorized flip camera it introduced for the ZenFone 6, but added to its list of capabilities and features to make this phone a dream phone for selfie lovers. Anything you can do with the rear camera – wide angle, 8K video recording, super sharp telephoto – you can do for selfies, and that is what makes it very special indeed.
The rest of the spec has also been improved, and therefore the price has increased over the previous model. So should you still consider the ZenFone 7 Pro if selfies aren't that important to you? Let's find out.
design
Asus wants to build your muscles. The Zenfone 7 Pro weighs 230 grams, significantly more than most large flagship devices. Take this and the 240-gram ROG Phone 3 to step up the intensity of your home workouts. It's 9.6mm thick and you really notice the size and bulk of the Zenfone 7 Pro when you compare it to its closest competitors, the OnePlus 8, LG Velvet, and iPhone 11. The weight is fairly evenly distributed but is definitely biased towards the top of the phone due to the motorized flip camera module.
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The camera module is a significant improvement over the Zenfone 6. It sits flush with your body and doesn't move when you shake the phone around. This largely prevents annoying rattles. It's made of strong and light liquid metal, but it's bigger than the Zenfone 6, but I think that's why it looks better. The engine has been revised compared to the original and is quiet and fast. However, the software often prompts you to perform a recalibration check, especially after the phone has knocked.
The larger flip module isn't the only visual enhancement. The narrower bezels around the screen give the phone a modern look, and moving the fingerprint sensor to the side does the same. The sensor performs various functions, e.g. E.g. a double tap to open the Google Assistant, or it can be programmed to open an app of your choice. Fortunately, adding new features didn't affect the speed or accuracy of the fingerprint sensor and it works very well.
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The back of the Zenfone 7 Pro is made of glass, but it doesn't really feel like it and is so slippery that it feels like it's been greased at the factory. The panel feels warm and is surprisingly flexible. An almost hollow sound is heard when typing. The green, almost blue color is attractive, but the tactility of the panel itself isn't as comfortable as on the OnePlus 8 Pro or LG Velvet, or as comfortable to hold as on the Huawei P40 Pro, and without a lot of grip, the weight sometimes means two hands are required to keep.
The glass back doesn't feel cheap, but I doubt the durability, which is an issue with a phone this size, weight, and smoothness. Asus may know this as it has two sleeves in the box – one sturdy and one transparent. I suggest you use one. The fact that the otherwise perfectly acceptable-looking ZenFone 7 Pro is 40 grams heavier than the ZenFone 6 is an unfortunate misstep and makes life with it harder than it should be.
screen
Bigger, wider, brighter and more colorful sums up the differences between the ZenFone 7 Pro and the ZenFone 6. It's a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 90 Hz and an aspect ratio of 20: 9. Asus even used the special tuning that makes the display of the ROG Phone 3 on the 7 Pro so pretty . Asus isn't wrong about brightness either, it's stunning and even makes the iPhone 11 Pro look a little dark.
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However, it's not that natural to look at. When you watch Carfection's Ferrari F8 Spider review on YouTube, the road isn't as atmospherically gray as it is on the iPhone, and the yellow car pops off the screen with such aggression that you reach for your sunglasses. If you like high-energy AMOLED screens with borderline radioactive colors, the ZenFone 7 Pro won't disappoint. However, watching videos shows the slightly quiet sound from the stereo speakers, and it would have been great to hear the same brilliant Dirac audio from the ROG Phone 3 on the ZenFone 7 Pro.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
It's worth talking about the screen's overall responsiveness here. The 90 Hz refresh rate should be considered standard at this price point, but it is significantly enhanced by a one millisecond response time and a 200 Hz touch sample rate. What does that mean? The ZenFone 7 Pro always feels snappy, responsive and fluid regardless of the app used. Coupled with some software tweaks for speed, the phone always feels modern and powerful.
The flip camera eliminates the need for a notch or hole punch and improves film viewing. If you notice the notch or hate the punch, the ZenFone 7 Pro's pretty, uninterrupted screen is just what you want.
camera
The Asus Zenfone 7 Pro has the best selfie camera in the business. With selfies filling your gallery app, this phone gives you plenty of opportunities to get creative, with a variety of features, modes, and general capabilities than any other selfie camera you've used before. How is that possible? It is Asus' decision to use the motorized flip module to turn the rear view camera into a front camera.
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You get a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 main camera sensor with an aperture of f / 1.8, 8K video recording and optical image stabilization, as well as a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with optical image stabilization and a 3x optical zoom. Features include 4K time-lapse video recording, slow motion video at 4K and 120 frames per second, and special features like auto panorama and motion tracking.
To make this clear, all of these features are available in the selfie camera and the results are dramatic. The colors are vivid, the exposure is just right, the edge detection in portrait orientation is excellent. When was the last time you took 8K video with a selfie camera or took a sprawling 113-degree selfie with an extremely wide frame? With the ZenFone 7 Pro, you can do all of this and more.
The flip module itself has been redesigned and redesigned to be more robust, faster and more powerful. It requires regular calibrations, but according to Asus, the endurance tests are good for 100 flips a day for five years, which makes it twice as powerful as the ZenFone 6 module. It's also adjustable. You can move the module from flat to completely upside down in 0.5 degree increments, which is very fluid.
From a technical standpoint, it's a work of art and enables some fun features. The automatic panorama function is excellent, with very effective seams and a really large scale. It is not immediately clear how to best take advantage of the module's adjustable angle. However, if you start experimenting, you will find that often it is not about the photos you can take, but rather the benefits of holding the screen at an angle that you can properly frame different shots, such as picture taking. B. from below without guessing the frame or lying on the floor.
ZenFone 7 Pro wide angle Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
ZenFone 7 Pro Standard Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
ZenFone 7 Pro 3x zoom Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
I'm also impressed with the consistency between the standard and wide-angle camera, where shots from both appear similarly dynamic, although photos can be a bit boring at 3x optical zoom. It also repeatedly warns that you are too close to a subject and may move back for better focus when taking close-ups, even though the final photo is properly focused.
Overall, though, I had a lot of fun using the ZenFone 7 Pro's camera and figuring out how best to use the fun motorized module. I also don't feel like I've scratched the surface of what it can do, and that's a good feeling. It's unfortunate that the flip module adds to some of the phone's drawbacks – weight and lack of water resistance, for example – but the ZenFone 7 Pro is the phone of choice for selfie aficionados.
Software and performance
The Zenfone 7 Pro uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Here's how it works in some benchmark tests, but the phone didn't complete a Vulkan test on 3DMark and crashed halfway. The same problem occurred with the ROG Phone 3.
Geekbench 5: 3125 multi core / 980 single core
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 7,706 (OpenGL)
These values are slightly lower on the Asus ROG Phone 3, but it has less RAM, similar to the OnePlus 8. I played Asphalt 9 Legends and Hill Climb Racer without any problems and the phone didn't get hot either. However, it feels warm during extended periods of time where a number of apps are used and calls are made.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The side-mounted fingerprint sensor has programmable linking functions Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Two cases come with the Asus ZenFone 7 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Asus is stuck when it comes to 5G. If it wasn't added, the phone would be cheaper, but its long-term appeal could suffer, while the addition leads to the price increase being accepted. Unfortunately, the only way to get it was to include it and so the price went up. 5G is for the future and currently offers few benefits to regular consumers, even if there is no 5G connectivity in an area where you live.
There's no such mystery to the software, as Asus continues to build ZenUI into a neat, easy-to-use, and relatively bloat-free version of Android, as we've seen with the ROG Phone 3 and ZenFone 6. There are a number of improvements here that increase speed, such as: B. Cut the phone startup time to 13 seconds and speed up everything from loading thumbnails to unlocking the phone with the fingerprint sensor. It's clean and tidy and I have no problems with it.
battery
Asus talks a lot about extending the battery life, not really daily, but about the life of the phone. It includes graphs and data on how overnight charging, wireless charging, mega-fast wired charging, and other bad habits of the battery (at least according to Asus) reduce the cell's capacity to hold a charge for years. Measures have been taken for the ZenFone 7 Pro to reduce long-term battery degradation and to keep its capacity longer.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The cornerstone of this battery care system is a slow charge option, where the battery is 80% charged when you first plug it in at night and the last 20% is zapped just before the scheduled wake-up time. You can set this to only charge the battery at set times or not to fully charge it to protect it over time. If you dive even deeper, you can shut down apps, prevent them from starting automatically, and limit background activity as well.
ZenFone 7 Pro battery mode options Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Wireless charging isn't on board due to concerns about Asus' battery and one such feature that takes up even more space in the already large phone. That didn't stop the ZenFone 7 Pro from coming with a quick wired charger, however. The zipper is 60% in 35 minutes and 100% in 90 minutes. The useful life is good, but not incredible. With moderate usage, I've spent two days on the ZenFone 7 Pro's battery, but with heavy usage with camera, games, and video calls it's really difficult, and around 11pm on those days. The battery had dropped to 5%.
Make no mistake, you are not scared of a day here but don't expect it to be two full days if you use it hard.
Price and availability
Asus has announced the Taiwanese and European price for the ZenFone 7 Pro, but has not yet confirmed the US price. It costs 799 euros, which is the equivalent of $ 950. Based on how Asus has converted prices in the past, the ZenFone 7 Pro could cost around $ 799.
The final release date has not yet been confirmed, but Asus acknowledges that it has been difficult to find a ZenFone 6 for sale and has announced that the ZenFone 7 Pro will have a bigger range on offer. We'll update here as we learn more about availability in the US.
Our opinion
The ZenFone 7 Pro's flip camera makes it the absolute best selfie smartphone you can buy. Coupled with the great software, pretty 90Hz screen, and thoughtful features like battery saving technology and 8K video recording, the ZenFone 7 Pro is a good value even at a higher price point than the ZenFone 6. However, if selfies aren't yours, the phone's size and weight are too heavy compared to others in its class.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes. The biggest downside to the ZenFone 7 Pro is the overall size and weight of the device. If you are concerned about this, there are several much slimmer and lighter phones available for roughly the same price. The $ 700 OnePlus 8 is a great everyday phone with reliable software and a good camera wrapped in a 180 gram case. The $ 600 LG Velvet also weighs 180 grams and looks even better than the OnePlus 8, is waterproof, and has a great screen.
Alternatively, the iPhone 11 is still priced at $ 700, though a replacement is in sight, with plenty of power, good battery life, and a powerful camera. Do you want something else? Check out the $ 700 Motorola Moto Edge with its stunning screen, great battery life, and unusual design.
How long it will take?
The ZenFone 7 Pro isn't waterproof, but it does come with a decent, sturdy case that should protect it from too much damage. The phone's specs are good, and Asus promises that two major Android software updates will be available for the ZenFone 7 Pro, including the Android 11 update that will be released by Google later this year. However, the time frames for these updates vary. Coupled with Asus' efforts to ensure that the battery stays fresh over time, it means the phone will last at least several years depending on your needs.
Should you buy it?
Yes. For selfies, there's no other phone that comes close to the ZenFone 7 Pro, and luckily the rest of the phone is impressive too.
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