Asus Zenfone 8 Flip leak pairs flipping cameras with Snapdragon 888

Asus’s successor to last year’s Zenfone 7 has leaked online, pointing to a return for the phones’ flipping camera array on May 12th. Specs and images of two upcoming devices — the Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip — have been published by 91Mobiles, based on information provided by leaker Ishan Agarwal. As its name suggests, the 8 Flip has three cameras built into a mechanical flipping mechanism that rotates them over the top edge of the display to take selfies, while the 8 has two rear cameras in a more standard rectangular camera bump.

From the leaks, the Zenfone 8 Flip appears to be a comparatively minor spec bump compared to last year’s Zenfone 7 Pro. It’s got a Snapdragon 888 processor rather than a Snapdragon 865 Plus, but the new model has the same massive 5,000mAH battery, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage. The 1080p OLED display is still notchless thanks to the flipping cameras, still 6.67-inches in size, and still 90Hz, according to the leak. It also reportedly weighs the same at 230 grams, which could mean another heavy device.

The cameras also appear similar, with one key difference. While last year’s Zenfone 7 Pro had a 64 megapixel main camera paired with a 8 megapixel telephoto and 12 megapixel ultrawide, the new 8 Flip will apparently swap out the ultrawide for a 12 megapixel macro. We generally find ultrawide cameras much more useful than macro cameras on phones, making this an unfortunate change if accurate.

Image: 91Mobiles

Meanwhile, the standard Zenfone 8 is a much more traditional device, according to the leak. It’ll apparently have a smaller 5.92-inch 1080p display, but internally there’s the same Snapdragon 888 processor, and 8GB of RAM, albeit with a smaller 4,000 mAh battery and 128GB of internal storage. It’ll also reportedly come with one less rear-facing camera since it lacks the telephoto of the 8 Flip. That said, it should have the same number of cameras overall thanks to its separate hole-punch selfie camera on the front. It’s also fitted with an increasingly rare headphone jack.

No details were given on the phones’ pricing or release dates, but with a launch event reportedly coming next week, we won’t have long to wait for official information.