ASUS Zenfone 7 Pro Hands-on: Perfecting the flip-camera By Engadget

2020 is the year of punch, hole cameras on smartphones, but one company is sticking to flip cameras, which are obviously great for taking selfies according to ASUS people, really like the flip camera on last year's before 6, so much that it decided to keep this unique feature for its new 5g flagship model, the before 7 pro. Well, let's take a closer look from afar. The before 7 pro is undeniably a direct descendant of the before 6, but it's obviously bigger thanks to its 6.67-inch screen. It also feels heavier at 230 grams, which is about the same as the iPhone 11 Pro max. You've probably noticed that the flip camera module has gained a third camera. This is actually an 8 megapixel telephoto camera, which does three times zoom with optical image. Stabilization ASUS has also upgraded the main camera with a more sensitive 64 megapixel sensor, with up to 8k video recording.

If you want to go that far, and it finally has optical stabilization as well. Meanwhile, the ultra-wide camera now uses a 12 megapixel chip with bigger pixels and dual pixel autofocus, which should boost image quality significantly. Sadly, we're not allowed to share sample photos or videos until the final camera firmware is released, so we'll just have to take aces word for it. We'll update our article with some sample content in early September so feel free to check it out. Then another notable but less obvious upgrade on the flip camera is its moving mechanism.

The new stepper motor is 40 smaller, yet it outputs over twice as much torque. It also has a new gearbox and a new angle sensor to allow more precise movement with each 2 degree, step reduced to just 0.5 degrees. The new motor is also twice as durable. It can handle 200 000 continuous slips, which equates to over 5 years of usage, even if you flip 100 times per day and like before. If you drop the phone while taking a selfie, the flip camera will automatically retract during the fall just make sure you don't drop the phone into water because it's not waterproof due to its flip camera design.

The before 7 pro comes with some enhanced camera features as well. You can now control the focus point and exposure point independently, just long press. The viewfinder area to toggle this feature much like the pro camera mode. There's now a pro video mode as well, which lets you tinker with things like ISO, white balance, manual, focus, shutter, speed and exposure compensation. You can even play with directional audio capture or audio zoom thanks to the new third microphone.

The flip camera functions have also been upgraded. The motion tracking feature is now able to digitally zoom into your subject as it moves around all away from the phone, so you get more flexibility on top of the 180-degree rotation. As for the auto panorama mode, the general quality is apparently much better than before, and you can now select the ultra-wide camera as well for wider panorama. Shots another notable feature on this before 7 pro is the new all in one smart key. This combines the fingerprint reader the power button and the old dedicated smart key into a single physical key.

I think this is quite cunning, as it finally gives us the option to unlock the phone and launch any app simultaneously with just a double tap very convenient. Indeed, as you might have guessed, the before 7 pro is powered by Qualcomm's, powerful, snapdragon, 865 plus processor, and it comes with 8 gigabytes of ram, 256, gigabytes of storage, micros expansion and dual sim slots. The full HD plus screen is now of AMOLED nature instead of LCD, and it has a slicker 90hz refresh rate, which, to be honest, should be the bare minimum on a 2020 flashing phone. As for the battery, it's still a 5 000 William hour cell, which is plentiful and with the new 30 watt adapter, you get a 60 charge in just 34 minutes. The before 7 pro is already available for pre-ordering in Taiwan, starting from around 950 there's also a cheaper before 7, which is almost identical, except for its earlier snapdragon 865, processor, smaller ram and storage and the missing optical stabilization on its cameras.

This starts from around 750 dollars, so it's 200, cheaper. Unfortunately, ASUS has already confirmed that this before 7 series won't be heading to North America simply because the phones lack most of the US 5g bands. But if you happen to be in Europe, stay tuned for a local launch as early as September. The 1st do you think ASUS is doing the right thing by sticking to the flip camera. Let us know in the comments and as always hit subscribe to hear more about these funky smartphones from the east.

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Source : Engadget