ASUS 6Z India launch set for June 19th amid battle over ZenFone moniker

ASUS has announced that it will launch the 6Z smartphone in India on June 19th. This will, of course, be the rebranded version of the recently-unveiled ZenFone 6 (first impressions), the world’s first smartphone with a flip camera module that takes photos from both the front and the back. The company has been forced to drop the ZenFone moniker from the handset’s name over a trademark battle with Zen Mobile. To recall, the Delhi High Court earlier this week blocked ASUS from selling smartphones with ZenFone branding after a petition by India-based Zen Mobile promoter Telecare Network claimed that the Taiwanese company’s branding is tantamount to trademark infringement.

The ZenFone 6, or just ASUS 6Z in India, will rival the new OnePlus 7 (review) as well as the upcoming Redmi K20 Pro smartphones. The ASUS 6Z price in India should be quite aggressive in India to compete with these two in mind; in Europe, it has been announced with a starting price tag of €499 (about Rs 39,000) though. For context, the ZenFone 5Z (review) smartphone was launched last year at a starting price of Rs 29,999 despite having the flagship-class Snapdragon 845 processor and a UK price tag of £500 (about Rs 44,000).

ASUS 6Z specifications include a 6.4-inch full-HD+ IPS NanoEdge display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and Gorilla Glass 6. It has the 2.84GHz octa-core Snapdragon 855 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB onboard storage, and microSD card support. It has a beefy 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast-charging tech, Android 9 Pie-based Zen UI, USB Type-C port, and a customisable smart key.

The dual camera sensors in the unique flip setup works on the rear as well as the front. It includes a 48-megapixel primary sensor and a 13-megapixel wide-angle sensor with 125-degree field-of-view. There is a Super Night mode that is claimed to capture enhanced lowlight photos, similar to what we have seen on Google’s Night Sight mode. It has previously been confirmed that ASUS 6Z will be launched via Flipkart in India.