In July, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 821 system-on-a-chip (SoC), an upgraded version of the Snapdragon 820, promising a 10% performance boost over its predecessor. Two days later, ASUS unveiled the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, and its flagship model became the first to be announced with Qualcomm"s new range-topping chip.
Now, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe with Snapdragon 821 has officially gone on sale, starting in ASUS" home market of Taiwan.
The handset is priced at NT$24,990 (just under $800 USD), with deliveries of the Glacier Silver model beginning on September 12, and those of the Shimmer Gold variant shipping on September 23.
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe has an aluminum alloy unibody, and its key specs include:
5.7-inch Super AMOLED with Full HD (1920x1080px) resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC
6GB RAM
256GB storage (plus microSD card support up to 256GB)
23MP rear camera (Sony IMX318 sensor) with laser and phase detection autofocus, dual LED flash, optical image stabilization, and 4K video recording at 30fps
8MP front-facing camera with 1080p video recording
4G LTE connectivity with dual-SIM support
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.2
NFC support
Fingerprint sensor
USB 3.0 with Type-C connector
Non-removable 3000mAh battery
156.4 x 77.4 x 7.5mm; 170g
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe will also be offered in two more affordable configurations, both with a Snapdragon 820 SoC: a version with 4GB of RAM and 32GB storage will be priced at NT$15,990 ($500 USD); and if you want it with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, that"ll set you back NT$17,990 ($570 USD).
Details of pricing and availability in other markets have not yet been announced.
