Asus 8Z India launch nears as Zenfone 8 gets certified

The Asus 8Z will launch in India in the coming weeks. It just cleared another major hurdle before going on sale in the form of BIS certification.

The Asus 8Z is the Indian counterpart of the Zenfone 8 — Asus’ new compact flagship smartphone. It was unveiled in Europe on May 12, but the Indian release was delayed due to factors such as the lockdown and unavailability of eCommerce partners. It seems like those issues will not bother the company very long as it is getting ready for the market.

As spotted by Mukul Sharma aka Stufflistings, an Asus smartphone with the model number I006D has been certified for launch in India. In a Google Play Console listing, that model number corresponded to the Asus Zenfone 8 and the Asus 8Z. Having achieved this approval means that its launch and sale should not be too far now.

Asus does not own the trademark to use the term ‘Zenfone’ in India, which is why it has to bring its phone with a different name to the country. A similar rebadging was done for the Asus 6Z. The Asus 8Z should be available by June or July.

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Asus 8Z specs

In terms of hardware, it should be quite similar to the Zenfone 8, with a 5.9-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ capabilities and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus — allowing it to have a rather compact form factor that is just 68.5mm wide and 169g heavy. 

Internal specifications are top-notch too with Snapdragon 888, up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s also IP65 and IP68 rated for water resistance. On the back are two cameras: a 64MP primary sensor and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. The battery has a capacity of 4,000mAh.

Other expected features of the Asus 8Z are dual stereo speakers, a headphone jack, Android 11 and more.

• Asus 8Z price in India, launch date and availability
• Asus Zenfone 8 review
• Upcoming smartphones in India for 2021

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