Asus scored a big win with its high-end but relatively inexpensive Zenfone 2 design. It looks like the Taiwanese manufacturer is hoping to leverage that into a larger series of handsets, very much as Samsung has done with the Galaxy S. In fact, that's not the only thing the next Zenfone will have in common with the Galaxy S series. Red Dot 21, a a sort of product design showcase organized by the same people behind the Red Dot design awards, has new profiles for the as-yet unseen Zenfone 3 and Zenfone 3 Deluxe. (Note that this isn't an actual award, it just means that someone - presumably Asus itself - posted the profile pages.)

According to Red Dot 21, the Zenfone 3 (above) will use "2.5D" glass on both the front and rear of the device with an aluminum frame. The phone's full specifications aren't on the site, but the description includes a USB Type C charging port, a fingerprint sensor, laser autofocus, and front and rear LED flash modules. The single photo shows a relatively safe design, with a single rear button (probably the fingerprint sensor) and capacitive buttons on the front. Gold, silver/white, and black colors are shown. Similarities to Samsung's design are hard to deny.

"Zenfone 3 Deluxe," left, last year's Zenfone 2, right

The Zenfone 3 Deluxe has almost nothing written about its technical details, except for the fact that it uses a full-metal body. Asus (or whoever is writing the copy on Red Dot) claims that its design gets around the need for plastic seams as seen on full-metal designs from the likes of HTC and Apple. This phone looks even more Samsung-like thanks to a centered physical home button, which may or may not include a fingerprint reader.

Asus has previously stated that it intends to announce the Zenfone 3 at Computex 2016, which takes place in Taipei at the end of May and beginning of June.