I was about to upgrade from my 6A to a 7 Pro for that sweet sweet camera but the 6A is the absolute limit of what I can put up with re-size. I need that phone to fit into all sorts of packs and pockets and any bigger just doesn't work for me. If I have to, I'll just start not using a phone as much anymore.
These tech companies are pushing me to use tech less, not spend more...
For the most part they use stock android on their Zenfones. Their camera software, I have no experience with, but the pixel phones are typically the best quality photos out there because of Google's machine learning and tensor chips, so any competition is going to have a hard time catching up to the pixel in terms of photo quality.
I generally buy cameras with phones attached to them that run Android. I'd be hype about the Asus if it had a bonded-carrier radio and a decent camera but I think it lacks both.