The ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom has officially been announced today. Packing a dual rear camera setup, the midrange Zenfone 3 Zoom is geared towards photo enthusiasts and comes in different RAM and storage models.
Vivo’s recently released V5 is the self-proclaimed Selfie King of local phones. With a powerful 20-megapixel front snapper, the V5 is a popular, midrange choice for selfie-lovers out there.
Read: Vivo V5 Review Coming for the Selfie Throne
Let’s take a comparative look-see between the two, middle-of-the-pack, photography-oriented handsets and see which comes up top.
ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom specs
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor
- 3GB/4GB of RAM
- 5.5-inch, full HD Super AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 32GB/64GB expandable storage
- Twin 12-megapixel rear cameras, Sony IMX362 image sensor, f/1.7 aperture, 1x, 2.3x optical zoom, laser AF, PDAF, EIS, OIS, 4K video recording
- 13-megapixel front camera, Sony IMX214, f/2.0 aperture
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, Fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C
- 5000mAh battery
- Android 6 Marshmallow, ZenUI
Vivo V5
- 1.5GHz MediaTek 6750 octa-core processor
- ARM Mali-T860 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 5.5-inch HD IPS display, 1280 x 720 resolution
- 32GB expandable storage, via microSD
- 13-megapixel rear camera, LED flash, phase detection AF
- 20-megapixel front camera, f/2.0 aperture
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
- Fingerprint scanner
- 3000mAh Battery
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow (FunTouch UI)
- Php 12,990
No doubt, The Zenfone 3 Zoom’s Snapdragon 625 chipset trumps Vivo’s SoC in both CPU and GPU categories. RAM and storage-wise, the Zoom has plenty of options to choose from, while the V5 is fixed with only one config.
In the display department, the Zoom’s AMOLED panel and higher HD resolution beat the V5’s sub-FHD IPS display.
Here’s where it gets tricky, and user-preferential – the cameras.
The Zoom is obviously geared for rear camera shooters with its dual snapper setup. The Zoom’s front cam is no slouch either, rated at a higher-than-average 13-megapixels, though in-depth testing needs to be done with it to see its real-world performance.
Meanwhile, the Vivo V5 shines through its 20-megapixel selfie snapper with a f/2.0 aperture rating. This allows the front cam to shoot reliably even in low-light conditions. The V5’s rear cam is decent as well, coming in at 13-megapixels with PDAF assistance.
As for staying power, the Zoom’s large battery capacity, paired with Quick Charge 3.0 tech, is obviously the clear winner when compared to the V5’s smaller, non-fast-charging juice pack.
Design-wise, both devices pack metallic chassis and still follow the same-old, industry-standard facade we’ve been seeing on a majority of smartphones for the past few years now. No big surprises on this end.
We’ll have to wait for ASUS’s announcement on the Zenfone 3 Zoom’s pricing to fully evaluate which of the two will be a worthier phone to spend on. Not counting the price points, the Zenfone 3 Zoom looks like a better daily driver due to better internals and longer battery life. It’s also the superior choice for rear camera shooters. The Vivo V5 has a more niche purpose, specialized for selfies with its powerful 20-megapixel front camera.