CES 2015: Asus launches 4GB RAM housing Zenfone 2 and 3x optical zoom sporting Zenfone Zoom

Asus announced two new Zenfones at CES today, namely the Zenfone 2 and Zenfone Zoom . Unlike the previous Zenfone announcement, Asus is targetting the higher end of the spectrum with the second generation Zenfones. Asus Zenfone 2 Asus Zenfone 2 sports a 5.5-inch full HD display and thanks to the thin bezels, the Zenfone 2 has a 72 per cent scree-to-body ratio. The rear side of the Zenfone 2 is rounded in a way that it is thin around the edges and is at its thickest in the center region on the rear side. The rear cover comes with a brush metal finish. There is a power button located at the top and the volume rocker button located on the rear side because of which the edges are as thin as 3.9mm. It is powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom processor codenamed Z3580 which is clocked at 2.3GHz. The Zenfone 2 comes with a whopping 4GB of RAM -  a first on a smartphone. It comes in 16GB / 32GB and 64GB variants and has an option to expand the memory via a microSD card slot. Apart from this, you get 5GB of free Asus WebStorage. The Zenfone 2 comes with a new version of the ZenUI which is built atop Android 5.0 Lollipop. On the camera front, it sports a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and 5MP front facing camera. It features Real-Tone Flash to ensure warm skin tones and accurate colours. It will come with a 3,000 mAh Li-polymer battery with fast charging technology. The phone will come in five colours and will start selling from $199 onwards or approx Rs 12,700 from March this year. Asus Zenfone Zoom The other phone announced today was the Asus Zenfone Zoom. A first look at the phone will remind you of yesteryear Nokia Lumia 1020, thanks to the circular section on the rear side which houses the camera element. As the name implies, the Zenfone Zoom is the only camera to sport a 3x optical zoom lens on a smartphone. The lens comprises 10 elements and it uses laser auto-focus. It provides Manual Mode for professional control which means you get access to White Balance, Exposure value, ISO, Shutter speed and Focal point. Just like the Zenfone 2 it has a 13MP rear and 5MP front camera. At 11.95mm thickness, it is the thinnest smartphone with an optical zoom lens. Zenfone Zoom also sports a 5.5-inch full HD display and comes with the same 3,000 mAh Li-polumer battery. On the connectivity front it supports 2G/3G/LTE 4G along with 802.11ac, Wi-fi Direct and Bluetooth 4.0. It will also come with ZenUI built on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. The rest of the specifications are similar to the Zenfone 2. The Zenfone Zoom, as expected is priced at a premium. It will cost $399 or approx Rs 25,400 and will start selling from the second quarter of 2015