Asus is gearing up to put up a good showing at the upcoming MWC 2018. The Taiwanese manufacturer recently sent out an invite on Twitter confirming that it will be launching the Zenfone 5 series, which will be succeeding last year's Zenfone 4 (selfie) series.
Now, the choice of name baffles us as much as it does you since it is the same as the original ZenFone 5 series which helped Asus establish itself in the smartphone space. Considering that the invite reads "Back to 5," we guess Asus will be hoping to repeat the same kind of success with the upcoming ZenFone 5 series.
Reportedly, Asus is expected to launch a couple of smartphones in the Zenfone 5 series at the event, namely, the Zenfone 5 and Zenfone 5 Lite. The design details of the ZenFone 5 had been leaked earlier, suggesting that it will boast of an 18:9 display and four cameras among other things. And now, its smaller sibling ZenFone 5 Lite seems eager to hog in some of that limelight too.
Prominent tipster Evan Blass recently confirmed the existence of the Zenfone 5 Lite by tweeting a render of the device. The render showed the smartphone's front and back profile in White color. Blass later leaked the ZenFone 5 Lite in Midnight Black, Moonlight White, and Rouge Red.
...in (from left to right) Midnight Black, Moonlight White, and Rouge Red pic.twitter.com/yPVqnidM7g
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 10, 2018
Now, an Instagram user, who goes by the name Marcel Campos, has uploaded a rather interesting-looking photo of an unannounced Asus smartphone in Black. The image conforms to Blass' description of the ZenFone 5 Lite.
The photo uploaded on Marcel's Instagram profile shows the glass back of the device, revealing the dual rear camera setup and the fingerprint sensor below. The overall design and vertical camera alignment match the description of the ZenFone 5 Lite.
Sadly, the shot does not reveal anything else about the device. All we can make out is that the phone will feature a glass back panel, a vertically arranged dual rear camera setup with rear-mounted fingerprint sensor below it and what looks like a single LED flash next to the camera setup. The frame is probably made out of metal and has bottom-firing speaker grilles. The oval shape of the bottom USB charging port suggests that ZenFone 5 Lite could feature USB Type-C connectivity.
Asus Zenfone 5 Lite - quad cam (2 x 20MP selfie + 2 x 16MP rear) FHD+ pic.twitter.com/819mlsLJm7
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 9, 2018
From Blass' tweet, we already know some of the key specs of the Zenfone 5 Lite – the device will sport a FHD+ resolution (2160x1080) display, which means it will have 18:9 panel. The screen size could be somewhere between 5.7 and 5.99 inches. Blass also mentions a quad camera setup with 20MP + 20MP selfie cameras and 16MP + 16MP rear cameras.
Meanwhile, Asus has scheduled an event for February 27 at MWC 2018 in Barcelona, where it could launch the Zenfone 5 Lite alongside the Zenfone 5. Early rumors also suggest a ZenFone 5 Max variant that will be packing a massive battery. However, that phone has not been spotted in the wild yet.
