ASUS has heard the call from users who want high performance and ultra-long battery-powered smartphones! ZenFone 6 takes the flip technology, the boundless experience and the unique charm as the main design concepts and implements the “Defy Ordinary”-thinking to create a new generation of excitement. Not only does ZenFone 6 use flagship Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 mobile platform, but it also has the best battery performance, with a 5000mAh battery, so that ZenFone 6's power is "always more than enough." ZenUI 6 continues ASUS’ optimizations of the user interface, providing more fluid and accurate screen, improving overall performance, and making the user experience both faster and smoother.
ASUS senior project manager W pointed out, "I have not seen the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU and 5000mAh battery in such a small body! In the past, users have to choose between high-power or high-performance smartphones, ZenFone 6 is a major breakthrough in design thinking to put together the huge battery, the all-screen NanoEdge display, and the high-end CPU efficiency that users care about the most."
5000mAh of Amazing Power
In 2015, ASUS launched the ZenFone Max series of high-capacity battery smartphones for the first time, and it has cemented its market position with a huge battery of 5000mAh. Few manufacturers have launched smartphones with 5000mAh batteries, regardless in flagships or entry level, because the technical challenges are ever present.
The battery hardware and software technology that have been continuously improved over the past four years have made the ZenFone Max series smartphones the first choice in the large-battery segment. For many years, it has been described by the media as a "power monster." The ZenFone 6 continues the legacy of 5000mAh and advanced battery technology set from the ZenFone Max series, becoming the first ASUS flagship smartphone with such a high capacity battery.
ASUS Global technical PR, CH said, "The first pain point for users is still the battery life. Users always feel that the battery is inadequate, no matter the price segment - it used to be the more expensive the phone - the smaller the battery. Will my battery last till I get home? The best way is to solve the problem directly!" Therefore, ZenFone 6 is powered by a 5000mAh battery, removing the anxiety around the phone running out of power, and removing the need to bring a power bank. With such a huge battery, charging problems are an issue of the past as it provide over 2 days of nonstop use.
ASUS R&D team, T took himself as an example. When he used ZenFone 5, which was equipped with 3300mAh battery, for a day, the battery level would drop to 20-30% (around 660-990mAh battery). However, when he started to use ZenFone 6 equipped with 5000mAh battery for a day, the battery level would still remain 50% or even more (around 2500mAh). In addition, R&D team continues optimizing the battery-saving function in ZenFone 6. Thus, users will not feel anxious regarding the battery anymore.
After repeated tests by the ASUS team, ZenFone 6 can be used continuously for 2 days without recharging. How long will ZenFone 6 last? 4G standby for at least 22 days, continuously talk on the phone over 3G, for up to 33.3 hours, watch YouTube clips for 17 hours straight, play the popular online game "Lineage 2 Revolutions" for 8.2 hours, or Wi-Fi browsing for 21 hours.
The 5000mAh battery in ZenFone 6 supports 18W fast charging with Quick Charge 4.0. Why not provide even faster charging? ASUS R&D team R pointed out that if the smartphone supports even faster charging, the battery energy density cannot be as large, meaning a battery of the same capacity will increase greatly in size. Considering the internal space of ZenFone 6, if it would support even faster charging, the battery would be limited 4000mAh - this is the current bottleneck of smartphone battery technology. He further pointed out that "Ultra-fast charging is convenient but we have chosen ZenFone 6 to use a huge battery to make the power last longer and directly solve the problem of insufficient power!"
In addition, the fewer the cycles of charges you reach, the longer the battery lifespan will be - the larger the battery, the less you need to charge it! R pointed out that ZenFone 6's battery materials, such as Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) and MOSFET, are better than ZenFone Max Pro (M2), which not only has lower impedance, but also reduces the thermal energy of the battery cell, which can delay battery aging speed.
To make ZenFone 6 so extreme is a full-scale technical challenge the ASUS team painstakingly undertook. In addition to the 6.4” all-screen NanoEdge display, flagship Qualcomm 855 CPU, and the 3.5mm headphone jack, ZenFone 6 is designed to provide the ultimate camera experience with the introduction of the automatic Flip Camera. For the ZenFone 6, with its limited body size, it is undoubtedly a big challenge concerning the interior space design. ZenFone 6 is a great representation of ASUS’ spirit in design - to not choose the easy way.
The Flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU is Even More Powerful
ZenFone 6 uses Qualcomm's flagship processor, the Snapdragon 855, for extreme performance. The Snapdragon 855 features an ARM Cortex-A76-based Kryo 485 CPU architecture with a core design of 1+3+4 triple-cluster architecture, including a 2.84GHz super large core, three 2.42GHz high performance cores and four 1.8 GHz small cores. It is Qualcomm's newest and most efficient CPU.
ASUS R&D team CA said that they chose to adopt Qualcomm's flagship CPU 855 in ZenFone 6 because they want to offer the best performance for power users, ensuring the ZenFone 6 run smoothly and increasing the performance for games.
According to Qualcomm's official data, the CPU performance of the 855 processor is 45% faster compared to the 845 processor used in the ZenFone 5Z. ZenFone 6 scores 360,819 points in the Antutu test, and the result in PCMARK is 9,642 points. Geekbench4's Single-Core Score/Multi-Core Scores are 3508 /11175 respectively!
In addition, ZenFone 6's operating system, ZenUI 6, dynamically adjusts the performance of each app's CPU resources; for example, listening to songs and browsing web pages don't consume too much resources but playing games or certain other apps may need more system resources. Users will feel that the overall performance of the smartphone is smoother It is the perfect choice for long-term endurance and blazing fast performance.
Simple ZenUI 6, Making User Experience Super Smooth
This ZenUI 6 interface design adopts the stock Android style, greatly reduces the preloaded software, and simplifies the function of quick setting menus, making the UI simpler, improving the practicality of operations, and making the user experience faster. ASUS R&D team CM said, "In the past, the system was filled with lots of quick settings. This time, there is only one and a half pages, becoming more streamlined and practical."
The screen of the smartphone is getting taller and taller, but users’ hands remain the same size. In order to make the usage easier and more fluid, ASUS adjusts the user interface slightly. ZenUI 6 provides a user interface design that is more suitable for one-handed operation, where commonly used functions are placed closer to the bottom such as tab in Contacts, Dialer and other commonly used functions and apps. The same goes for the brightness slider and when opening folders on the home screen.
The native "Dark Theme" in Android Pie is limited to the quick setting of background colors and can only be used in applications developed by Google. This time, the ASUS team spent a lot of time and effort to bring a Dark Theme into ZenFone 6. In addition to the notification pane, the ZenUI Apps and the system settings page all support the dark theme. Users can toggle the switch from one place and the system colors and ASUS apps will be changed all together, allowing users to use the phone in the dark without glare and with more comfort.
ASUS R&D team CM pointed out that ZenFone 6 not only saves power and provides speed, but also has all new redesigned animations to achieve a smooth UI flow. The transition effect is designed to be smoother when the screen wakes up, the screen fades out, the screen is unlocked, the desktop is displayed, and when all applications are opened and closed, showing ASUS’s care about the user experience improvement.
OptiFlex engine allows faster app switching
The ASUS R&D team's pursuit of design is also reflected in the smartphone system, ZenUI 6 has become more concise, faster, smoother and power-saving. Why does ASUS not directly adopt Google’s stock Android system, but still works hard to make ZenUI? CM points out, "Because we can make it better. OptiFlex, an engine that manages system resources and performance, is an example!"
"Adaptive Battery" feature in Android Pie developed by Google and DeepMind, optimizes the battery usage of apps based on the most commonly used services and programs. Another feature is "Adaptive Brightness," which learns user habits and automatically adjusts the brightness of the environment based on user reinforced preference. ZenFone 6's OptiFlex engine is built on the Android Pie system with new engines and algorithms.
The native Android Pie system can determine the app classification based on how the user uses the app, limiting the amount of power used. CM pointed out that the OptiFlex resource management engine allows ZenUI 6 to have three major functions:
Function 1. Manage the system resources available to the App and classify the App according to its usage (such as memory and CPU usage).
Function 2: According to the usage history, predict the App that may be used at the next moment, and keep the used App in the memory, so that it loads faster when the user opens it the next time.
Function 3: Clean up background apps - the system will automatically turn off background apps that consume power and are not commonly used by the user - saving both battery and memory.
In doing so, it will speed up the app launch response, reduce app restarts and reduce standby power consumption, dramatically addressing the pain points of the user experience, making ZenFone 6 faster, smoother, and more power efficient.
Smart Key - Customized Smart Shortcuts
ASUS adds a Smart Key on the right side of ZenFone 6 and you can call up the Google Assistant simply by clicking it. "It allows the user to less awkwardly start Assistant and use the voice to operate the phone!" CM pointed out that the Google Assistant can execute self-timer on the camera and set daily useful functions such as reminders/alarms or phone calls.
Different from competing products with a physical key that can only be used with Google Assistant, the Smart Key developed by ASUS R&D team is a physical shortcut that can be customized. "One button can be used as a three-buttons!" CM described, users are allowed to choose different functions based on different key actions such as single-press, double-press and long-press. Currently available commands range from calling up the Google Assistant, Turn on Flashlight, Camera Shutter, Do Not Disturb Mode, Auto Rotate, Flash, Screenshot, Open Selfie Camera, Open Rear Camera. The Smart Key can be used even when the screen is locked.
Smart Volume Adjustment Saves You from Embarrassment
Last year, ZenFone 5 introduced AI Ringtone, which automatically increased the volume of incoming calls in noisy environments and automatically lowered the volume in quiet environments.
This time, ZenFone 6 is upgraded to "Smart Volume 2.0", which supports third-party calling applications, including LINE, FB Messenger, WeChat, QQ, etc., to control the incoming call volume of the communication software. It is also possible to further adjust the “Smart volume”. In addition to the incoming call, the media playback volume can also be adjusted by “Smart Volume”. For example, if the user plays music or watches videos online in a quiet environment, it will automatically briefly mute and then set a lower volume when it is first turned on, and it will amplify the music in a noisy environment.
Not only that, ZenFone 6 also introduces the "Private Listening" function. When the user forgets to bring headphones, by raising ZenFone 6 to the ear, the user can use the receiver to listen to private recordings to protect the personal privacy. The private listening feature also supports Google Assistant so when the assistant responds with private information, that information can be relayed through the earpiece instead.
ZenFone 6 offers top-of-the-line specifications from all-screen NanoEdge display, 5000mAh battery, flagship Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 CPU, and the automatic Flip Camera. From ASUS craftsmanship technology a true flagship is created. ZenFone 6 is blazingly fast, equipped with almost limitless power, and provides a truly great user experience.
ASUS senior project manager W pointed out, "I have not seen the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU and 5000mAh battery in such a small body! In the past, users have to choose between high-power or high-performance smartphones, ZenFone 6 is a major breakthrough in design thinking to put together the huge battery, the all-screen NanoEdge display, and the high-end CPU efficiency that users care about the most."
5000mAh of Amazing Power
In 2015, ASUS launched the ZenFone Max series of high-capacity battery smartphones for the first time, and it has cemented its market position with a huge battery of 5000mAh. Few manufacturers have launched smartphones with 5000mAh batteries, regardless in flagships or entry level, because the technical challenges are ever present.
The battery hardware and software technology that have been continuously improved over the past four years have made the ZenFone Max series smartphones the first choice in the large-battery segment. For many years, it has been described by the media as a "power monster." The ZenFone 6 continues the legacy of 5000mAh and advanced battery technology set from the ZenFone Max series, becoming the first ASUS flagship smartphone with such a high capacity battery.
ASUS Global technical PR, CH said, "The first pain point for users is still the battery life. Users always feel that the battery is inadequate, no matter the price segment - it used to be the more expensive the phone - the smaller the battery. Will my battery last till I get home? The best way is to solve the problem directly!" Therefore, ZenFone 6 is powered by a 5000mAh battery, removing the anxiety around the phone running out of power, and removing the need to bring a power bank. With such a huge battery, charging problems are an issue of the past as it provide over 2 days of nonstop use.
ASUS R&D team, T took himself as an example. When he used ZenFone 5, which was equipped with 3300mAh battery, for a day, the battery level would drop to 20-30% (around 660-990mAh battery). However, when he started to use ZenFone 6 equipped with 5000mAh battery for a day, the battery level would still remain 50% or even more (around 2500mAh). In addition, R&D team continues optimizing the battery-saving function in ZenFone 6. Thus, users will not feel anxious regarding the battery anymore.
After repeated tests by the ASUS team, ZenFone 6 can be used continuously for 2 days without recharging. How long will ZenFone 6 last? 4G standby for at least 22 days, continuously talk on the phone over 3G, for up to 33.3 hours, watch YouTube clips for 17 hours straight, play the popular online game "Lineage 2 Revolutions" for 8.2 hours, or Wi-Fi browsing for 21 hours.
The 5000mAh battery in ZenFone 6 supports 18W fast charging with Quick Charge 4.0. Why not provide even faster charging? ASUS R&D team R pointed out that if the smartphone supports even faster charging, the battery energy density cannot be as large, meaning a battery of the same capacity will increase greatly in size. Considering the internal space of ZenFone 6, if it would support even faster charging, the battery would be limited 4000mAh - this is the current bottleneck of smartphone battery technology. He further pointed out that "Ultra-fast charging is convenient but we have chosen ZenFone 6 to use a huge battery to make the power last longer and directly solve the problem of insufficient power!"
In addition, the fewer the cycles of charges you reach, the longer the battery lifespan will be - the larger the battery, the less you need to charge it! R pointed out that ZenFone 6's battery materials, such as Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) and MOSFET, are better than ZenFone Max Pro (M2), which not only has lower impedance, but also reduces the thermal energy of the battery cell, which can delay battery aging speed.
To make ZenFone 6 so extreme is a full-scale technical challenge the ASUS team painstakingly undertook. In addition to the 6.4” all-screen NanoEdge display, flagship Qualcomm 855 CPU, and the 3.5mm headphone jack, ZenFone 6 is designed to provide the ultimate camera experience with the introduction of the automatic Flip Camera. For the ZenFone 6, with its limited body size, it is undoubtedly a big challenge concerning the interior space design. ZenFone 6 is a great representation of ASUS’ spirit in design - to not choose the easy way.
The Flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU is Even More Powerful
ZenFone 6 uses Qualcomm's flagship processor, the Snapdragon 855, for extreme performance. The Snapdragon 855 features an ARM Cortex-A76-based Kryo 485 CPU architecture with a core design of 1+3+4 triple-cluster architecture, including a 2.84GHz super large core, three 2.42GHz high performance cores and four 1.8 GHz small cores. It is Qualcomm's newest and most efficient CPU.
ASUS R&D team CA said that they chose to adopt Qualcomm's flagship CPU 855 in ZenFone 6 because they want to offer the best performance for power users, ensuring the ZenFone 6 run smoothly and increasing the performance for games.
According to Qualcomm's official data, the CPU performance of the 855 processor is 45% faster compared to the 845 processor used in the ZenFone 5Z. ZenFone 6 scores 360,819 points in the Antutu test, and the result in PCMARK is 9,642 points. Geekbench4's Single-Core Score/Multi-Core Scores are 3508 /11175 respectively!
In addition, ZenFone 6's operating system, ZenUI 6, dynamically adjusts the performance of each app's CPU resources; for example, listening to songs and browsing web pages don't consume too much resources but playing games or certain other apps may need more system resources. Users will feel that the overall performance of the smartphone is smoother It is the perfect choice for long-term endurance and blazing fast performance.
Simple ZenUI 6, Making User Experience Super Smooth
This ZenUI 6 interface design adopts the stock Android style, greatly reduces the preloaded software, and simplifies the function of quick setting menus, making the UI simpler, improving the practicality of operations, and making the user experience faster. ASUS R&D team CM said, "In the past, the system was filled with lots of quick settings. This time, there is only one and a half pages, becoming more streamlined and practical."
The screen of the smartphone is getting taller and taller, but users’ hands remain the same size. In order to make the usage easier and more fluid, ASUS adjusts the user interface slightly. ZenUI 6 provides a user interface design that is more suitable for one-handed operation, where commonly used functions are placed closer to the bottom such as tab in Contacts, Dialer and other commonly used functions and apps. The same goes for the brightness slider and when opening folders on the home screen.
The native "Dark Theme" in Android Pie is limited to the quick setting of background colors and can only be used in applications developed by Google. This time, the ASUS team spent a lot of time and effort to bring a Dark Theme into ZenFone 6. In addition to the notification pane, the ZenUI Apps and the system settings page all support the dark theme. Users can toggle the switch from one place and the system colors and ASUS apps will be changed all together, allowing users to use the phone in the dark without glare and with more comfort.
ASUS R&D team CM pointed out that ZenFone 6 not only saves power and provides speed, but also has all new redesigned animations to achieve a smooth UI flow. The transition effect is designed to be smoother when the screen wakes up, the screen fades out, the screen is unlocked, the desktop is displayed, and when all applications are opened and closed, showing ASUS’s care about the user experience improvement.
OptiFlex engine allows faster app switching
The ASUS R&D team's pursuit of design is also reflected in the smartphone system, ZenUI 6 has become more concise, faster, smoother and power-saving. Why does ASUS not directly adopt Google’s stock Android system, but still works hard to make ZenUI? CM points out, "Because we can make it better. OptiFlex, an engine that manages system resources and performance, is an example!"
"Adaptive Battery" feature in Android Pie developed by Google and DeepMind, optimizes the battery usage of apps based on the most commonly used services and programs. Another feature is "Adaptive Brightness," which learns user habits and automatically adjusts the brightness of the environment based on user reinforced preference. ZenFone 6's OptiFlex engine is built on the Android Pie system with new engines and algorithms.
The native Android Pie system can determine the app classification based on how the user uses the app, limiting the amount of power used. CM pointed out that the OptiFlex resource management engine allows ZenUI 6 to have three major functions:
Function 1. Manage the system resources available to the App and classify the App according to its usage (such as memory and CPU usage).
Function 2: According to the usage history, predict the App that may be used at the next moment, and keep the used App in the memory, so that it loads faster when the user opens it the next time.
Function 3: Clean up background apps - the system will automatically turn off background apps that consume power and are not commonly used by the user - saving both battery and memory.
In doing so, it will speed up the app launch response, reduce app restarts and reduce standby power consumption, dramatically addressing the pain points of the user experience, making ZenFone 6 faster, smoother, and more power efficient.
Smart Key - Customized Smart Shortcuts
ASUS adds a Smart Key on the right side of ZenFone 6 and you can call up the Google Assistant simply by clicking it. "It allows the user to less awkwardly start Assistant and use the voice to operate the phone!" CM pointed out that the Google Assistant can execute self-timer on the camera and set daily useful functions such as reminders/alarms or phone calls.
Different from competing products with a physical key that can only be used with Google Assistant, the Smart Key developed by ASUS R&D team is a physical shortcut that can be customized. "One button can be used as a three-buttons!" CM described, users are allowed to choose different functions based on different key actions such as single-press, double-press and long-press. Currently available commands range from calling up the Google Assistant, Turn on Flashlight, Camera Shutter, Do Not Disturb Mode, Auto Rotate, Flash, Screenshot, Open Selfie Camera, Open Rear Camera. The Smart Key can be used even when the screen is locked.
Smart Volume Adjustment Saves You from Embarrassment
Last year, ZenFone 5 introduced AI Ringtone, which automatically increased the volume of incoming calls in noisy environments and automatically lowered the volume in quiet environments.
This time, ZenFone 6 is upgraded to "Smart Volume 2.0", which supports third-party calling applications, including LINE, FB Messenger, WeChat, QQ, etc., to control the incoming call volume of the communication software. It is also possible to further adjust the “Smart volume”. In addition to the incoming call, the media playback volume can also be adjusted by “Smart Volume”. For example, if the user plays music or watches videos online in a quiet environment, it will automatically briefly mute and then set a lower volume when it is first turned on, and it will amplify the music in a noisy environment.
Not only that, ZenFone 6 also introduces the "Private Listening" function. When the user forgets to bring headphones, by raising ZenFone 6 to the ear, the user can use the receiver to listen to private recordings to protect the personal privacy. The private listening feature also supports Google Assistant so when the assistant responds with private information, that information can be relayed through the earpiece instead.
ZenFone 6 offers top-of-the-line specifications from all-screen NanoEdge display, 5000mAh battery, flagship Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 CPU, and the automatic Flip Camera. From ASUS craftsmanship technology a true flagship is created. ZenFone 6 is blazingly fast, equipped with almost limitless power, and provides a truly great user experience.
