ASUS ZenFone 4 Release Date, Specs Rumors: Next-Gen Flagship Device Spotted Before Touted Launch in May?

ASUS attained success when it released the ZenFone 2 devices in 2015 and the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has continued its impressive streak with the release of the third-generation lineup last year. As such, there is a lot of anticipation for what the company has in store for consumers this 2017 via the ZenFone 4. Before it's rumored release later this year, it's possible than a recently leaked benchmark listing has given a glimpse of the upcoming flagship device.

A device that many believed was the upcoming ZenFone 4 was recently spotted on GFXBench. According to the listing, the smartphone features a 5.7-inch display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. It is powered by a quad-core 2.1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and the Adreno 530 graphics processing unit (GPU) with 6 GB of random-access memory (RAM) and 64 GB of built-in storage.

Other notable features include a 21-megapixel (MP) rear camera, an 8-MP front shooter and the Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.

Unfortunately, follow-up reports have suggested that the said device is not the ZenFone 4 but the ZenFone 3 Deluxe with the latest Android OS installed.

Though the sneak peek at the upcoming device has been debunked, the ZenFone 4 is still expected to arrive in the next few months, specifically in May — the same month when ASUS introduced the third-generation ZenFone lineup last year.

This particular release window was echoed by Digitimes' sources from Taiwan's handset supply chain. They also revealed that the next-generation smartphones will "come with hardware specifications higher than those of its prevailing Zenfone 3 products."

With this in mind, it isn't actually surprising that the device recently spotted online did not turn out to be the ZenFone 4, because if so, it would be shipping with outmoded components especially with the Snapdragon 835 processor expected to be used by most flagship devices in 2017.

ASUS has not officially announced the Zenfone 4 lineup so rumors and speculations regarding the upcoming family of devices should be taken with a grain of salt.