The ASUS ZenFone Selfie is a mid-range selfie phone featuring a front-facing 13MP camera

ASUS had a new phone to flaunt at their Computex 2015 showing. Dubbed ZenFone Selfie, this mid-range darling takes its design cues from the ASUS ZenFone 2, but adds a 13 megapixel front-facing camera that has its own dedicated dual-tone flash. The lens is f/2.2 aperture and features a wide angle field of view to make sure you can fit you (and anyone else) into the shot with ease.

Beyond that, it’s pretty much a run of the mill smartphone, including a 5.5-inch 1080p display and Qualcomm’s octa-core 64-bit Snapdragon 615 chipset (which is interesting considering they went all-in with Intel for the launch of the ZenFone 2).

Unfortunately we don’t get many details on the other specs. The company didn’t even bother to mention the rear camera, though we’re betting it’s at least as good as the front-facing variant. They also showed off the “Selfie Swing,” a detachable bumper that can help you extend the phone in front of you to get more in your shot.

It also seemingly doubles as a kickstand, a feature that isn’t on nearly enough smartphones in today’s age. You can see a GIF of the Selfie Swing attachment below, courtesy of Engadget.

 

No pricing and availability yet, but we don’t doubt ASUS we will tell us when they know for sure.

Samsung’s first phones with front-facing camera flashes arrive

Samsung has quietly announced two new smartphones for their J lineup. It’s the Samsung Galaxy J5 and J7, and these wouldn’t be immediately noteworthy on their own without one fact: they’re Samsung’s first phones to equip front-facing flash units.

We’re hoping that design choice is a sign of things to come as having a flash on the front-facing camera is becoming increasingly as important (if not more) as having it on the rear. But for now, that little perk is limited to these two devices.

They do have legs to stand with on their own, though. The Galaxy J5 and J7 share much of the same specs, including 1.5GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel front camera, a 13 megapixel rear camera, 16GB of internal storage, dual-SIM, microSD and Android 5.1 Lollipop.

They differ in display and chipset. The Galaxy J5 will boast a 5-inch 720p display, a 2,600mAh battery and the 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410. Meanwhile, the bumps things up to 5.5 inches, 3,000mAh battery and a 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615.

Both are on the affordable side at 5 and 9 for the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, respectively. The idea is to appeal to the growing market of folks who seek phones with superior front-facing camera support, which apparently is all the rage over in Asia right now. Don’t expect to see these things trot too far out of that region, but importing is always a nice option if you just have to have one for whatever reason.

[Samsung 1|2 via SamMobile]