Considering ZenFone 2 was released earlier this year, it's highly anticipated that its successor will emerge in 2016.
It has been confirmed by Asus chairman Jonney Shih that the company is indeed making ZenFone 3, and that it will come with a USB Type-C connector. However, no specific release date was announced yet. If the company follows the timeline of the current model, there's a good chance the new handset may be revealed May 2016.
"I think Type-C is the way to go, frankly speaking," Shih was quoted by CNET as syaing. "You will see the answer when you see the ZenFone 3."
The ZenFone 2 has the distinction of being the first smartphone with a 4GB RAM. It also came with a number of variants. As such, its next iteration will probably also have such variations. Asus chief Jerry Shen had shared that there will be 7 ZenFones out in the market by August next year, although it was not specified whether all will be variations of ZenFone 3.
Not much details have been revealed about the upcoming phone, aside from the fact that it will have USB Type-C - a "rare commodity" among smartphones today.
"Only a handful of devices, such as the OnePlus Two , Xiaomi Mi 4c, Nexus 6P and 5X , are compatible with the high-speed USB format," CNET pointed out. "As well as faster charging and data transfer, Type-C is prized for its conveniently reversible connector."
Further, it's also been rumored that the ZenFone 3 probably won't have premium specs like QHD display or a Snapdragon 820 processor, according to Android Pit.
"Instead it will likely house 'mid-range' specs at a budget price," the site noted. Additionally, Shen had divulged that the upcoming flagship phone may have a fingerprint reader of its own, which appears to be part of the company's move to keep up with the competition, many of which featured fingerprint scanning in their own smartphone iterations.
"Now there are those who may frown upon the possibility of making payments with their smartphone, secure as it might be," GSM Arena observed. "However, other daily tasks can undoubtedly benefit from the tech, like safer and quicker unlocking, securing folders or even logging in websites."
According to Android Pit, it's possible that the next model in the ZenFone line may be sold at prices similar to that of ZenFone 2 ($199 for the 2GB RAM model).
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