ASUS Unveils ZenFone 3 Deluxe With New Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, AMOLED Display, 6GB Of RAM

With its ZenFone 2 series, ASUS really seemed to hit the ball out of a digital park. For $200 USD, what the phone offered was ridiculously compelling, from its large 5.5-inch 1080p screen to its dual SIM slots to its beautiful aesthetic. While it wasn't the most powerful phone out there at the time, its price still made the phone feel like a great deal.

In addition to the regular ZenFone 2, ASUS also offered a 'Deluxe' model, and it'll be doing the same thing with the ZenFone 3 series. In fact, it appears that the ZenFone 3 Deluxe will be the first ZF3 phone out on the market, and as expected, it's an absolute beaut. It also has the hardware underpinnings to match.

Under the hood of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is Qualcomm's top-end Snapdragon processor, the 821, running at up to 2.4GHz, as well as 6GB of memory - matching the recently-released OnePlus 3. While it's hard to imagine that anyone right now could take advantage of such a large amount of memory, we guess it could be argued that, "at least it's there if it's needed."

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe is a large phone, at 5.7-inch, and sports a 1080p resolution with a 79% screen-to-body ratio. The smallest flash density offered is 64GB, with 128GB and 256GB models to become available. As with the ZF2, the ZF3 includes a microSD slot allowing for the expansion of storage up to 128GB.

As for other notable features, the phone retains the dual-SIM capabilities (perfect for travelers or those with work and personal numbers), and includes an 8 megapixel camera at the front, a 23 megapixel camera at the back (with TriTech auto-focus, and capable of recording at 4K), 802.11ac Wi-Fi, as well as NFC.

While hardware and features are important for any ZenFone, ASUS takes great pride in making sure its customers will be proud to show their phones off. To that end, the Deluxe has a completely invisible antenna, and comes in at 4.2mm thick with a 0.14 diamond-cut bevel. The phone will also come in three colors, although the variance is almost unexpectedly minimal - tan, gold, and gray.

Pricing of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe starts at $499, and as an unlocked model, it should be popping up at places like Amazon in the very near future.