Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus is finally getting ready to unveil its new flagship phone – Asus 8Z in India. To recall, the phone was expected to launch a couple of months earlier in May. But due to the deadly impact of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the company chose to defer the launch.
Dinesh Sharma, Asus’s Business Head, Commercial PC and Smartphones in India took to Twitter to announce that the team is working hard to prepare for the launch. Though he did not reveal the actual launch date yet, he shared the link to a microsite on Asus’s official website which has both - Asus 8Z and 8Z Flip listed. Going by his tweet, the phone is expected to be unveiled later this month.
To all Fans asking me about our new smartphone’s India launch – the answer is yes. Team is relentlessly working towards the same and we will announce the launch date soon. Deeply appreciate your enthusiasm. Watch this space for more info https://t.co/wpOPJQ0wdmJuly 8, 2021
The Zenfone 8 series was unveiled globally in May and comprises a couple of phones. Unlike the Zenfone 7 series, which didn’t even launch in India, the Zenfone 8 will be announced in the country but with a different name. Due to a legal issue with feature phone maker Zen mobiles, Asus will be launching the phone as Asus 8Z.
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That said, this would be Asus’s first smartphone launch after a huge gap. Its budget phone ZenFone Max Pro M2 was launched in December 2018 and the company followed it up with the launch of Asus 6Z in June 2019.
Successors of both the devices never made it to the Indian shores. Though the company has regularly updated the ROG phone lineup in the country, that is a very niche product catering primarily to mobile gamers.
Asus 8Z specifications
Thanks to the difference in the global launch and the Indian availability, we are aware of the specification of the devices and going by the microsite, no changes are expected in both the phones.
The vanilla Asus 8z is a compact flagship, on the line of iPhone 12 Mini, and comes with a 5.9-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 888, IP68 rating to keep the phone safe from accidental water and dust exposure, up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, dual stereo speakers, dual rear camera setup with 64MP primary and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 4,000mAh battery.
The global pricing of Zenfone 8 starts at USD 629 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128 GB of internal storage while the 8GB+256 GB variant was launched at $699 in the US. Both the variants were available at a slightly discounted price right after the launch hence we can expect that the company would price the phone aggressively in India.
The microsite also shows the Zenfone 8 Flip, however, it seems that the company might just launch the 8Z in India. Aside, the company collaborated with Qualcomm for “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders” to co-produce, market and sell the phone. Though the phone is quite similar to the 8Z, it will also be available in India soon.
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