ASUS welcomes its Zenfone 8 Series in the Philippines, priced

ASUS Philippines has announced the return of the Zenfone series, with the all-new Zenfone 8 series – the most powerful generation to date. Fans of this beloved mobile brand can now reserve one for their own. Details are found at the pre-order microsite.

The new series is powered by the latest flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform, featuring the fastest possible 5G speeds. High-capacity batteries — 4000 mAh in Zenfone 8 and 5000 mAh in Zenfone 8 Flip — deliver outstanding battery life for non-stop lifestyles.

Both Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip feature gorgeous Samsung AMOLED displays with Delta-E <1 color accuracy, offering a superbly immersive visual experience with ultra-vivid colors. Additionally, Zenfone 8’s display has an ultrafast up to 120 Hz refresh rate. The displays also include in-display fingerprint sensors for convenient security.

Flagship Sony camera sensors add superb photo and video capabilities to both phones. Zenfone 8 has a fixed rear dual-camera system, while Zenfone 8 Flip features the innovative triple-camera Flip Camera, a motorized flip-up module that enables the same high-resolution photos and videos at both front and rear.

Zenfone 8 has a sleek all-new design, with dimensions specifically chosen to allow easy pocketability and effortless one-handed operation. A 3D-curved back with a new frosted glass finish for a more secure grip. Zenfone 8 is additionally the recipient of a 2021 Red Dot Product Design Award, awarded by an international jury in recognition of its outstanding design.

Flagship performance

Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip use the latest flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform, built using a 5-nanometer process technology. This processor offers up to 25% faster CPU performance and up to 35% faster graphics rendering compared to the previous generation.

Outstanding battery life for non-stop lifestyles is ensured by high-capacity batteries — 4000 mAh in Zenfone 8 and 5000 mAh in Zenfone 8 Flip.

Advanced battery-care systems maximize battery lifespan, and the new System Mode in the ZenUI 8 operating system has a variety of automatic power-management modes that users can easily switch between depending on their needs, ranging from maximum performance to maximum battery life.

Advanced manual configuration of power-saving parameters is also possible.

Experience visual perfection

Both Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip are equipped with bright, ultra-responsive Samsung AMOLED displays. Tuned in collaboration with industry-leading visual processing company Pixelworks, the superb visual experience is enhanced with Delta-E <1 color accuracy and DC Dimming technology.

The displays are also HDR10+ certified to bring out the detail in even the darkest scenes. In-display fingerprint sensors make unlocking the phones simple and intuitive.

Zenfone 8 has a 120 Hz Samsung AMOLED display with a 1 ms response time for silky-smooth scrolling and blur-free visuals. The cinema-grade 112% DCI-P3 color gamut brings videos and images to life, and the 1000-nits brightness allows easy outdoor readability. And to keep it looking great for longer, the display’s protected by the latest and toughest-ever Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

Zenfone 8 Flip has an all-screen, 100% notch-free 90 Hz Samsung AMOLED NanoEdge display with vivid colors and smooth responsiveness.

Pro-grade photography

Photographers of any level are amply catered for by the advanced professional-grade camera systems in the Zenfone 8 series, which feature all-Sony sensors.

The rear dual-camera system on Zenfone 8 captures every precious moment with superb-quality photos under any conditions. The 64 MP Sony IMX686 main camera delivers unprecedented resolution, dual-pixel autofocus, optical image stabilization and a high level of light sensitivity, for perfect photos day and night.

The ultrawide 12 MP Sony IMX363 camera allows even more freedom for composition and it can also take incredible macro shots with close-up details. At the front, a 12 MP Sony IMX663 punch-hole camera with dual-pixel autofocus delivers crystal-clear selfie shots and videos.

First Zenfone Flip in the Philippines

The renowned Zenfone Flip will be making its way to the Philippines through the 8th generation of Zenfones. The Zenfone 8 Flip features the groundbreaking Flip Camera that is a motorized flip-up module with an evolved triple-camera system, which offers the same high-resolution photo and video capabilities whether the module is front-facing or rear-facing.

The main camera is a Sony IMX686 64 MP high-resolution wide-angle camera with dual-pixel phase-detection autofocus for maintaining an ultrasharp focus on subjects. There is also the Quad Bayer technology and enhanced light sensitivity for stunning photos — day or night.

A secondary ultrawide-angle camera is powered by a Sony IMX363 sensor, and this camera supports up to 4 cm macro photography for incredibly detailed close-up shots. The third camera is a telephoto camera, which enables 3X optical zoom, up to 12X total zoom, and seamless transitions between cameras while recording.

The Zenfone 8 Flip camera also features additional shooting modes utilizing the unique motorized flip mechanism – Motion Tracking which automatically tracks a subject using the motorized camera, Free Angle Shooting which allows you to set the camera in unique perspectives and angles and Auto Panorama which allows you to capture incredible vistas automatically with the flipping motion.

Irrestistable design

Zenfone 8 redefines portable design to deliver the ultimate performance, with none of the weight or bulk. It is designed to be easy to use and easy to carry, everywhere, and built to impress with its irresistible looks and premium feel. A key design goal was to make Zenfone 8 exceptionally easy to use, even with just one hand.

The all-new One-handed Mode gives users full and comfortable control using just their thumb. The 3D-curved back perfectly fits the palm, and the brand-new frosted glass coating gives Zenfone 8 a clean and sleek look, all the time, while making it even easier to grip.

Zenfone 8 Flip has been redesigned to allow a better grip while still packing a large battery. The 3D curved back has been carefully reshaped for optimum grip.

Availability and pricing

ASUS Zenfone 8 series will be available for pre-orders starting May 14, 2021 at official ASUS Concept Stores, accredited online and offline shops. Successful pre-order registrants will receive a free Rhinoshield Solidsuit Hardcase and a JBL Go 3 alongside the model of choice, to complete the Zenfone experience. For further details on the mechanics and the participating shops, visit this link.

PRODUCTSPECIFICATIONSSRPETAPRE-ORDER PERIODOUT OF BOX PRE-ORDER FREEBIES
Zenfone 8 Flip6.67″ AMOLED/S888/8G LPDDR5/256G UFS3.1/5000mAh

Galactic Black/Glacier Silver

PhP 39,995June 2021May 14-June 10, 2021RHINOSHIELD SOLIDSUIT HARDCASE,

JBL GO 3

 

Zenfone 85.9″ AMOLED/S888/16G LPDDR5/256G UFS3.1/4000mAh

Obsidian Black

PhP 39,995May 2021May 14-25, 2021
Zenfone 85.9″ AMOLED/S888/8G LPDDR5/128G UFS 3.1/4000mAh

Obsidian Black/Horizon Silver

PhP 34,995May

2021

May 14-25, 2021

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How to unleash your camera phone’s full potential

06/17/2020

About 10 years ago, no professional photographer would have probably thought that a camera phone could replace a professional DSLR in quality and usability.

Camera phones were far too basic in features and it lacked the imaging power compared to DSLRs. But with the most recent technologies in phone photography, I would say it is now very possible or even true that camera phones are slowly replacing those heavy and bulky cameras.

Shot with my mid-range smartphone and processed in Adobe Lightroom

I have been a photographer by profession and I also have been teaching photography in several universities in the country for the past 11 years. My DSLR was my main tool, but that changed last year when I bought a midrange phone and used its RAW feature for shooting.

For this article, we’ll check out some ways to maximize your phone’s camera settings and turn ordinary snaps to upload-worthy photographs.

Flexible settings

If you ask any photographer, a DSLR is the ideal tool for different reasons. First is for its full manual control, next is its capability to interchange lenses, and third is its RAW shooting format.

Pro mode is pretty common for smartphones these days

So how can phones replace DSLRs? A lot of smartphones today — even budget phones — have DSLR-like full manual control in Pro mode that lets you control ISO, White Balance, Focus, Metering, and Shutter Speed from up to 30 seconds – 1/4000 of a second.

You also have several focal length options that vary from ultra-wide, bokeh (prime lens), macro, and a telephoto (zoom) lens. You can pick and choose from these lenses depending on what the situation calls for.

If you find yourself traveling in a foreign land and you want to capture the landscape, an ultra-wide-angle lens would prove useful. If you want to focus on one subject up close, go for macro. When you need to zoom in on something, the telephoto would prevent loss of detail, and so on.

A sample of a phone’s multi-camera setup

Remember, knowing specifically which and when to use your camera phone’s features is one of the ingredients to achieving a great shot.

Although important, those are a bit given. But a feature most people are not aware of is that a lot of mid-range and most (if not all) flagship phones now have RAW format!

RAW format

So what is RAW format? A quick Google search tells us it’s basically an unprocessed and uncompressed data of a photo that can be compared to the unprocessed film negative. If your phone supports this, it can be found on the settings page when you open your camera app.

For the sake of comparison, a normal JPEG (common method of lossy compression for digital images) photo has 8-bit of data per pixel or 256 shades of color. Meanwhile, RAW contains 12-14 bit per pixel or 4,096 shades of color and makes up to 68.7 billion colors.

In other words, shooting in RAW offers a tremendous amount of exposure and color detail greatly beneficial for tweaking its settings on a photo-editing software. Color correcting and color grading a RAW file will not reduce the quality of a photo — something that JPEG formats are notorious for doing.

Here are a couple of samples I shot on RAW vs after editing them:

Dynamic Range

When shooting landscape, you probably experienced ending up frustrated when you see the skies just blown-out and simply plain white, while shadows are totally dark with no details.

This is where dynamic range (or contrast ratio) will come into play. Most camera phones now have an HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature that uses AI to pull out details from contrasting parts of the photo.

But did you know shooting in RAW format will naturally capture details in both the light and dark areas of up to roughly 12 stops of exposure? And with the use of RAW processing apps like Adobe Lightroom, Snapseed, and VSCO, you now have the ability to pull out those details directly from your phone.

This will give you the power to create stunning landscape photos full of detail and color. This is not the same story when you shoot in 8-bit HDR JPEGS as attempting to pull out details from a jpeg will end up messing up your color and texture.

Know when to use RAW format

RAW format is not recommended in every single photo you take with your phone. You have to keep in mind that the RAW format will eat up a lot of your precious memory as a single photo can use up to 50mb depending on the pixel count of your phone’s cameras.

RAW format also requires processing. You cannot simply just shoot and upload. It is only recommended to use this format if you plan to correct exposure, correct color, and color grade on photo-editing apps like mentioned earlier.

Protip: Landscape and travel photography is where you will find this most useful!

Conclusion

Now that these features are available on a phone using just one hand, I found myself using it for a number of my shoots.

Yes, a DSLR is still more powerful given its sensor size and a dedicated lens still produces better photos. But in some scenarios, it is simply a huge convenience to carry your photography tools in such a small package that fits in your pocket.

Plus it’s a convenient alternative to shoot in places where DSLRs require permits to use. The quality is already there and it continues to improve with every succeeding model. With these in mind, I truly am excited about the future of phone photography.

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