ASUS ZenFone 6 Now Available Starting at $499 Unlocked

Snapdragon 855 and 48MP Flip Camera Headline Specs

Announced in May, the ZenFone 6 from ASUS has begun pre-order sales in the U.S. at the surprisingly low starting price of $499. For a premium handset the phone sits well below the cost of flagships from Samsung, Apple, etc., yet offers some flagship-level specs: Snapdragon 855, 6GB or 8GB memory, and a 48MP Sony IMX586 main camera sensor. Its 6.4-inch display is IPS rather than OLED and FHD+ rather than QHD+, which may help explain how ASUS has kept pricing low.

The most talked-about aspect of the ZenFone 6 has to be the Flip Camera, with both primary sensors located on the rear of the device – until you need a front-facing camera, that is.

“ZenFone 6 introduces the groundbreaking Flip Camera, a motorized flip-up dual-camera module that serves as both front and rear cameras. This innovative solution means that there is no need for a camera notch to mar the display, and also means that Flip Camera offers the same high-resolution photos and shooting capabilities whether it’s used as a front camera or a rear one.”

Thanks to the Flip Camera the ZenFone 6 has the highest-ever DxOMark Selfie score (98), and the motorized transition from rear to front-facing is one way to avoid camera notches from a nearly bezel-less design like this. From some of the early looks we’ve had of the phone it does seem to work quite well.

If $699 – $999 (or more) for a new phone seems high this may very well be the answer, and even if you don’t take a lot of selfies and won’t end up using the flip around camera (when you aren’t showing the feature off) a 48MP Sony sensor is pretty serious for a $499 phone.