Asus has officially announced plans to launch and sell its Zenfone 2 Intel-powered Android smartphone directly in the US, beginning tomorrow May 19th, starting at $199.99 through Amazon.com, Newegg, Groupon, and B&H as well as its own above linked US sales page.
The phone features a 5.5-inch 1080p HD display and features the Intel Atom Z3580 chipset as well as dual-SIM support. The US version of the phone will be compatible with AT&T’s network. The Intel chipset also includes support for Cat 4 LTE-Advanced network access with Carrier Aggregation for compatibility with the fastest LTE networks available.
The version being sold for $299.99 features a four core processor clocked at 2.3 GHz paired with a 533 MHz GPU, and features 4 GB of dual-channel RAM with 64GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for further expansion. Asus has also announced a less expensive version of the Zenfone 2 with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 1.8GHz version of the Intel chipset for $199.99.
The Zenfone 2 also includes a 13-megapixel camera with an aperture of f/2.0, Toshiba imaging sensor, Super HDR capability, and dual-tone LED flash. Asus also claims its fast-charging mode can power the 3,000mAh battery to 60% capacity in 39 minutes. The phone runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with the Asus ZenUI and will also include support for optional interchangeable rear covers which owners can purchase to personalize the phone. Asus is also offering 100 GB of Google Drive storage to buyers of the phone for one year.
