Asus’ latest foray is into the budget flagship category with their new Zenfone Zoom. The Zenfone Zoom packs an optical zoom up to 3x paired with 13MP main camera. We put the Asus Zenfone Zoom into an in-depth comparison and comprehensive camera review versus the Samsung Galaxy S6 to find out if it will emerge better in major categories.
The Zenfone Zoom is one of the most solid devices we’ve used. It has a metal frame and genuine leather back cover. The front resembles a lot like of Zenfone 2 and Deluxe, but the metal camera hump like on the Nokia Lumia 1020 behind gives a distinctive form to the Zoom.
Putting side-by-side against the Galaxy S6, the Zenfone Zoom felt thick and heavy in hands. The Galaxy S6 is made of metal frame and glass body.
The Zenfone Zoom lacks fingerprint scanner but this was redeemed by the dedicated shutter key and recording video button.
Rocking a 5.5-inch 1080p FHD IPS LCD, the picture looks crisp and colors remain accurate on Zenfone Zoom. The Super AMOLED screen of Galaxy S6 is sharper, more vivid, brighter. Both displays are Gorilla Glass 4 certified.
The biggest camera advantage of the Zenfone Zoom over the Galaxy S6 is the 3x optical zoom. Detail preservation is top-notch on the Zoom despite shot with 3x zoomed in at the subject.
On non-zoomed shots, the details of both shooters remain close. The Galaxy S6 has a bit brighter, pale shot while colors on Zenfone Zoom is a bit warmer.
Night shooting on both cameras are really good with the Zoom edging out the S6 in low light light mode.
Unfortunately, there’s no 4K UHD video on the Zoom.
Selfie shots from both 5MP front-facing snappers are sharp and well-exposed.
Powered by the Intel 3590 quad-core chip, the Zenfone Zoom beats the Galaxy S6 in graphic-intensive tasks such video playback and photo editing. However, the Exynos 7420 + 3GB RAM on Galaxy S6 trumps the Zoom in benchmark scores. Completing the specs of Zenfone Zoom is a 4GB RAM, 32GB internal storage.
Asus Zenfone Zoom benchmark rating
Samsung Galaxy S6 benchmark rating
Under the hood in Zenfone Zoom is 3000 mAH battery, it is non-removable and supports fast charging. Battery life on Zenfone Zoom is average but more efficient than the internal 2550mAh on Galaxy S6.
PC Mark Work Battery Life
The rear-facing single speaker of the Zoom has great audio output. Bass and vocals are balanced and clear. In loudness, however, the bottom-facing speaker of Galaxy S6 is louder and has stronger bass.
The Asus Zenfone Zoom retails for P26,990 in the Philippines which is quite a steep asking price. But still we highly recommend the Zoom for people who take a lot of pictures, play games and watch videos.
On the other hand, the Galaxy S6 is still expensive with P35,990 price from Samsung Philippines.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjHcCoWuitY]
| Specs, PH Price | Asus Zenfone Zoom | Samsung Galaxy S6 |
| Display | 5.5-inch 1080p Full HD IPS LCD, 401 ppi, Gorilla Glass 4 | 5.1-inch 1440p QHD Super AMOLED, 577 ppi, Gorilla Glass 4 |
| Size | 12m thick, 185g weight | 6.8mm thick, 138g weight |
| Design | Metal frame + leather | Metal frame + glass |
| Colors | Leather brown, white | Gold, Grey, Black, Blue |
| Chipset & CPU | Intel Atom 3590 quad-core | Exynos 7420 octa-core |
| Graphics | Power VR6430 | Mali T768MP8 |
| Memory | 4GB RAM, 32/64/128GB internal, microSD up to 64GB | 3GB RAM, 32/64/128GB internal, no microSD card |
| Camera | 13MP, 1080p video, dual LED flash, 3x optical zoom, laser focus | 16MP, 2160p 4K UHD video, LED flash, Color Spectrum Sensor, Phase detection |
| Selfie | 5MP selfie front-facing | 5MP selfie front-facing |
| Connectivity | 4G LTE micro SIM, WiFi ac, 4G LTE, Bt 4.1, GPS | 4G LTE nano SIM, WiFi ac, 4G LTE, Bt 4.1, GPS |
| Software | Android 5.0 Lollipop, Zen UI | Android 5.1 Lollipop,TouchWiz |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 2550mAh |
| Ports, quick charge | microUSB | microUSB |
| Release date | January 2016, available in Philippines | September 2015, available online from Sony Philippines |
| Price | Php 26,990 PH Price for 128GB | Php 35,990 PH Price 32GB variant |
ManilaShaker is a tech media producing insightful and helpful content for our local and growing international audience. Our goal is to create a premier Philippine digital consumer electronics resource that provides the most objective reviews and comparisons globally.
ohmyohmy says:
A little advice: You don’t made judgement on the quality of a camera by comparing an optical zoom vs digital zoom. it’s pointless. Like compare a normal person with a handicap person born without leg. Your judgement on the night performance of both camera is absolutely wrong! Do you know how to evaluate a good picture shoot in low light?? The Zenfone Zoom’s image all lack of detail and in some case, underexposed! It’s not even close to the quality of S6 image….how the hell it can even edged it LOL
Hi says:
Hi