Asus Zenfone 3 rumors: specs to pack Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC?

Asus was able to make waves by announcing one of the very first smartphones that were running 4 GB of RAM; the company's Zenfone 2. In addition to 4 GB of RAM, Asus had tapped Intel to incorporate its Atom SoC in the firm's handsets. However, it appears that the largest motherboard maker Asus might be taking a new strategy because according to Yugatech, Chief Executive Jerry Shen has stated that instead of Intel's chipsets, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 SoC will be preferred for the next Zenfone smartphone lineup.

While that might sound puzzling, seeing as how Intel's Atom chipsets are superior to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 in performance terms, Asus might have left out little details in stating that the chips would be incorporated in to the company's lower performing Zenfone models. After the release of Zenfone 2, Asus is currently working on Zenfone 3, which is expected to feature an impressive fingerprint scanner, along with powerful hardware specifications.

While the company has not confirmed the following, Asus might stick to Intel's 'system on a chip' when its higher performing Zenfone 3 lineup is concerned. Currently, the highest performing Zenfone 2 features Intel's Atom Z3580, which is running a 64 bit capable quad-core processor at 2.3 GHz. Additionally, the smartphone is also running 4 GB of RAM and a lithium polymer 3,000 mAh battery, which is able to hold its charge for more cycles compared to traditional lithium ion batteries. Currently, Shen has not given word on when the company plans on releasing its Zenfone 3.

Since a flurry of Zenfone 2 models have flooded the market, it is highly unlikely that the successor of latter smartphone will be released in 2015. However, seeing at the level of pace mobile chipset makers are running at to roll out faster and energy efficient SoCs, consumers will be rewarded for waiting that long.