Asus ZenFone Zoom has the world’s thinnest optical zoom camera

ZenFone Zoom has a trick up its sleeve... or in its back. Photo: Asus

ZenFone Zoom has a trick up its sleeve… or in its back. Photo: Asus

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage Asus’ ZenFone lineup just got a new member, and it’s one you’re going to want to take note of if you’re a smartphone photography buff. It’s called the ZenFone Zoom, and it’s packing the world’s thinnest optical zoom camera.

Asus actually brought the ZenFone Zoom to CES last year, but we’ve heard very little about it since then. Now the Taiwanese company is bringing it to this year’s trade show, and this time it’s actually ready for its prime time debut.

Surrounded by curved aluminum and flanked by a leather back, and ZenFone Zoom looks high-end… until you get to the hump. That giant plastic disc you see below is what houses the 3x optical zoom lens, 13-megapixel camera with f/2.7-f/2.8 aperture, laser autofocus, and dual-tone flash.

Here's where the magic lies. Photo: Asus

Here’s where the magic lies. Photo: Asus

Under the hood, the ZenFone Zoom is rocking an Intel Atom Z3590 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage as standard, a microSD card slot, and a 3,000mAh battery. It also offers a 5.5-inch Full HD display protected by Gorilla Glass 4.

“For those who care about image quality, it doesn’t get much better than optical zoom,” Asus says.

“When you’re zooming in digitally, resolution begins to take a huge hit, and that make a good picture go bad quickly. The ZenFone Zoom really takes our smartphone family to the next level in terms of build quality and innovation.”

ZenFone Zoom will finally go on sale February 1 through B&H Photo, and we expect it to reach other retailers and other markets after that.