The camera experience on the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL offers a main camera that's built around a 23 megapixels image sensor and a whole series of impressive hardware specs which we've already talked about earlier in this review.

We were expecting that all those specs would mean that the camera will shoot extraordinary pictures. Unfortunately, the truth was different: although some photos that we made looked really good, like the landscapes we've photographed outdoors in good lighting conditions, other photos, especially those that we shot inside or during the night, were often unclear and grainy, and the colors were rather washed out and dull. Maybe it's just a software issue that will get better in future updates of the Camera app, but for now, this is not the photo quality you would expect to see in a flagship. In the gallery below you can see some sample photos that we shot, photos taken both outdoors and indoors, in bright light conditions and in dim environments. There are landscapes, people, close-ups, panoramas and even some selfies included, made with the front camera.

If video is more your thing, you will be happy to hear that the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL can record videos using the 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels), in 1080p FullHD at 60 or 30fps, in 720p HD at 30 frames per second, or in the "old" TV standard of 640 x 480 pixels. In all cases, you can use 3-axis electronic image stabilization for video recording.

The video below is a sample in which you can see how the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL handles videos which involve a lot of movement. As you can see, the image stabilization technology does a good job.

In the next video you can watch a static panorama which I recorded by moving the smartphone while standing still. This is an example of a video that has only a bit of movement.

And, because the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL can also record videos in slow motion, here's a sample of this feature:

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL is a great smartphone, but its camera is not the best you can get at this price point. It does have some impressive hardware specs, like the huge 23 megapixel image sensor, a fast laser autofocus sensor or the advanced image stabilization but, in the end, the quality of its photography is only average to high.

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, ASUS ZenUI 3.0 and bundled apps

ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL comes preinstalled with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. That's a bit unfortunate, because Android 7 Nougat was released before ASUS began selling this smartphone. Hopefully though, the Taiwanese company will release a system update sooner rather than later and bring their flagship up to date.

ASUS installed their proprietary ZenUI user interface skin, which is now on version 3.0. We like this customized user interface, because it provides a whole lot more personalization options than the default user interface you get in stock Android. The ZenUI 3.0 user interface offers you an abundance of themes that you can download and install on your smartphone, and all it takes to do that is make a few taps. You can change almost everything on your ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe, from wallpapers to fonts, to icon sets. And the best part is that most of the themes are free, although there are also a few that cost some small amounts of money.

However, what we don't like in any of ASUS' smartphones, and the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL is no exception, is the amount of bloatware installed. If you buy this smartphone, besides the default Google apps you get with Android, you will also get this long list of apps:

• Amazon Kindle - an ebook reader app which you can use to shop and read ebooks from Amazon.
• AudioWizard - a settings app that lets you customize the sound on your smartphone.
• Backup - an app that apparently got left behind, as the only thing it can do for you is tell you to open Android's "Settings > Backup & reset" options to backup your data.
• Do It Later - helps you create and organize daily tasks, as well as set reminders, notes and other things like that.
• File Manager - an app which you can use to see and manage the files found on your smartphone. Everybody has to have a file manager on their smartphone, so this is a good a choice as any other.
• Flashlight - lights up your smartphone's flash or screen.
• FM Radio - use it to listen to FM radio stations. You will have to connect your headphones as they also work as a radio antenna.
• Gallery - an app that lets you browse and open the photos and videos you take with your smartphone.
• Instagram - the mobile app of the popular photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service.
• Laser Ruler - you can use it to measure distances. It relies on the camera's sensors to work and the results you get are precise and fast. However, it only appears to work for distances shorter than 60 inches or 150cm.
• MiniMovie - useful if you want to create movies or slideshows using the photos that are saved on your smartphone.
• Mobile Manager - acts as a central point for various system maintenance tasks. It gives you a quick overview of your battery and memory use, as well as quick access to the Power Saver battery modes, to the details of your data usage, the apps are allowed to show push notifications and so on.
• MyASUS Service Center - offers you access to 24/7 support from ASUS.
• PhotoCollage - lets you create photo collages. If you're into that, you might find this app rather interesting.
• Puffin - a web browser that, unlike the default Google Chrome browser, also supports Adobe Flash. It might be a good idea to keep it installed if you visit websites that use the old Flash technology.
• Quick Memo - a very simple app for taking quick and simple notes.
• Share Link - an app that will help you transfer files between your smartphone and a computer on your local network. You don't have to have a working mobile connection and you don't need a USB cable to do the transfer.
• Sound Recorder - a simple app that uses the smartphone's microphone to record sound.
• Splendid - lets you personalize the settings of your smartphone's display.
• Themes - a portal where you can see, download, install and apply various system themes for the ZenUI user interface.
• Weather - an app that shows you weather forecasts based on Accuweather's reports.
• WebStorage - the cloud storage service from ASUS that offers you 5GB of free storage space.
• ZenCircle - a social network that works by sharing photos and videos made with ASUS smartphones.
• ZenFone Care - a customer service app that provides you with in-device assistance, using FAQs, user feedback, and public forums.
• ZenTalk - a forum dedicated to all owners of ZenFone smartphones, which can prove quite useful.
• TripAdvisor - an app developed by the popular TripAdvisor travel website, which lets you plan and book your entire vacation.

In terms of software, things could be a lot better for ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe. We like a lot the ZenUI user interface and its customization options. However, we don't like the fact that the smartphone comes with Android 6 instead of the new Android 7, and we absolutely disagree with the large number of apps that are bundled by ASUS.

Performance in benchmarks

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL is definitely a flagship and we already know that it looks and works great. But what about some raw performance numbers? Everybody loves benchmarks and so do we. That's why, we've also put it to test in some of the most popular benchmark apps in the Google Play Store. Here's what we've found:

We started by running Vellamo, which is a benchmark app that measures the performance of the processor. The first tests we ran are called Multicore and they evaluate the processor performance when it has to handle multiple threads at the same time, like when running multiple apps simultaneously. The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL got a huge score of 3460 points, which puts it on the very top of the ranking ladder. It's literally the highest score we've seen and the only other device that managed to get exactly same score in this test was the Samsung Galaxy S7.

The next benchmark test we ran is meant to check the processor performance in single thread tasks, when only one processor core is used. ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL obtained a score of 3163 points, which is only 3% less than the Samsung Galaxy S7's score in the same test.

Then we started the gaming tests, which are very important if you like to play games on your smartphone. To measure the performance offered by the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL, we used the GFXBench GL Benchmark. We recorded only the results we got in the 1080p Car Chase Offscreen, 1080p Manhattan 3.1 Offscreen and 1080p T-Rex Offscreen tests. That's because the resolutions are standardized at 1080p and thus offer results that are more relevant if you want to compare various smartphones with different display resolutions.

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL rendered 1085 frames in the 1080p Car Chase Offscreen test, which is very impressive, and very close to what you'd get from a Samsung Galaxy S7.

In the 1080p Manhattan 3.1 Offscreen, the smartphone managed to draw 1956 frames, which is a similar performance to that of an Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

In the 1080p T-Rex Offscreen test, which is an older and less stressful benchmark, the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL rendered a whopping 5160 frames. That's almost the same you'd get from an Apple iPhone 7, and it's 12% more than the Samsung Galaxy S7 managed to render. Impressive!

Moving on to real-world performance, we measured one the most important features of a smartphone, which is how fast it is at browsing the web. Vellamo helped in this matter with its Explore test, which not only renders all kinds of content in the web browser, but it also measures zooming and scrolling performance, which are things you do all the time when you surf the internet. Using Google Chrome, the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL received a score of 5104 points, which makes it the first of the pack. It's better even than the Samsung Galaxy S7.

The final benchmark we ran was PCMark's Work 2.0 battery life test, which measures the battery life during regular activities. The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL managed to keep on going for 7 hours and 42 minutes. It's an average result that doesn't impress, but that was to be expected from a smartphone this powerful.

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL offers 4G LTE support and, because we were curious about its data transfer performance, we measured with Ookla's Speedtest.net Android app. During our tests we used the Digi Mobil Romania mobile network and measured a maximum download speed of 28.82 Mbps. The fact that the upload speed is very low is not a problem caused by this smartphone. It's a network problem in our area, that manifests itself on every other smartphone.

Before we ran the benchmarks above, we knew that the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL is a high-end smartphone, but we really didn't expect it be so powerful. It's a true flagship and it stands alone when compared to flagships from other companies, including Samsung Galaxy S7.

Pros and cons

Here are a few of the most important positive aspects of the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL:

• Beautiful invisible-antenna design that will be enjoyed by anyone
• It's built from premium materials with very good build quality
• A large and beautiful display with a high brightness, high contrast and vivid colors
• A good camera with some impressive specs (23 megapixel image sensor)
• You can buy it with one of two of the most powerful mobile processors available today (Qualcomm Snapdragon Quad-Core 821)
• It's a Dual SIM smartphone
• You can easily extend the available storage space
• It's available in versions with plenty of RAM and storage space

There are also a few not so positive aspects about this smartphone:

• Although the photos and videos you shoot with it are good, they aren't great
• There's a lot of bloatware preinstalled on it
• It comes with Android 6 Marshmallow installed instead of the new Android 7 Nougat
• The price is not for everyone

Verdict

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL is a great smartphone that manages to meet even the most demanding expectations you might have. It looks stunning, it has a beautiful screen, and it offers some of the strongest and fastest hardware you could get in an Android smartphone. The only things that could keep you away from buying the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe is its price, which is higher than what you might have to pay for the Samsung Galaxy S7, for instance, and the fact that the photos you'll shoot with its camera aren't jaw dropping, although they aren't bad either. However, if you are looking for an Android flagship, then you're probably ready to pay a top price for a top product. In the end, we found only a few things about this smartphone that we didn't like, and a lot of things that we liked, so we will recommend it to anyone who want a big, gorgeous, and very powerful Android smartphone.