The ASUS ZenFone Zoom in action at Sinulog 2016

Just a couple of weeks after it’s CES debut, the ASUS ZenFone Zoom made its appearance in the country in the hands of some members of the media and bloggers from around the country. We got to try it out during one of the biggest festivals in the Philippines—Sinulog Festival held in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño.

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I got my hands on the unit late in the afternoon when we tried to visit Magellan’s Cross and Pavilion as well as Santo Niño de Cebu Basilica. It gave me a chance to see the camera’s mettle in less than ideal lighting conditions. These photos have not been edited. They have just been resized to be more upload friendly.

As you’ve probably seen on the various local tech blogs and news sites, the ZenFone Zoom’s been priced at P26,995. It was announced at the previous CES but ASUS made refinements to it before releasing it to the market.

This camera-centric smartphone features a leather back cover we’ve seen in other premium smartphones and gives it solid feel in hand. You can also attach a strap to it as you would to an old point-and-shoot camera, which is helps provide security while shooting with the phone. It adds a feel of security even while walking through the throngs of people.

ASUS boasts of the thinness of the ZenFone Zoom at just 5mm metallic unibody and true enough it doesn’t feel too hefty to hold. As an ASUS unit you get a PixelMaster rear camera paired with a high-resolution Panasonic SmartFSI sensor with innovative optics. ASUS promises DSLR-like optical image stabilization and laser auto-focus, which makes it easier to shoot continuously with.

One of the key features of the device is its 3x optical zoom and the new 10-element lens created by Japanese optics expert HOYA. The two companies created a new aspheric, molded glass lens system with the use of a technique called “D-cut.” They’ve combined this with dual-high precision stepper motors and arranged in an “innovative periscope arrangement.” What this is supposed to do is maximize as much of the incoming light as possible and boost photo quality. It should also allow 3x optical-zoom for close-up clarity as little as two inches away.

ASUS also integrated a Super Resolution feature in this camera. This mode captures and combines four 13-megapixel shots designed to create one image with what ASUS promises to be four times as clear, giving you more detail and less noise. You can see some photos shot in Super Resolution in the photos above.

In terms of specs, the ZenFone Zoom isn’t a slouch either. It’s powered by an Intel Atom Z3590 SoC with quad 64-bit cores built on energy-efficient 22nm technology and has 4GB of RAM. You can see what you’re shooting through the 5.5″ IPS Full HD touchscreen. It also packs in 128GB of internal storage, which you can expand further up to 128GB via microSD, and a 3,000mAh battery with BoostMaster technology that promises you’ll get from 0-60 percent in under 40 minutes.

We’re waiting to get more hands-on time to determine the performance of the ZenFone Zoom. So far, it seems to be quite capable as a shooter.