Asus ZenFone 2 – The Metrognome

Not much has changed from the Zenfone’s last outing. It has an improved design at the back, but little else.

by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

We reviewed the ASUS Zenfone 2 a few weeks back, and came away quite impressed with what the company offered under Rs 25,000. Now, there’s a slightly newer version of the device’s high-end model – the Zenfone 2 Deluxe. Let me put it this way, the only change here is its rear cover and storage options.

If you glanced at the Zenfone 2 Deluxe, you couldn’t tell it apart from the original Zenfone 2. With its blockish build and physical buttons, Power/Lock key at the top, brushed aluminium chin, rear-facing volume keys, there really isn’t much changed here. What is definitely different is the multi-face prism-like rear cover (see image below). The back feels really nice and is the standout feature in the phone.

Prism like back elevation on the phone

In fact, this multi-reflecting (Blue and Green) White back was the only thing people asked me about when I was using the device. The Zenfone 2 Deluxe weighs about 170 grams, but isn’t slippery, though certainly not a compact phone.

Let me tell what’s better in the Zenfone 2 Deluxe over the Zenfone 2, as there isn’t much changed here, and if you want complete lowdown in the device, you should check our full Zenfione 2 review.

Screen. The screen is the same 5.5-inch full HD panel, but this one seems a little brighter with same colour sharpness and accuracy. It’s good and works well for images and videos. For the loudspeaker on the back, it still has the same average output that does an okay job for videos and games.

Features. Basic features on this dual SIM (4G/ 3G + 2G and dual active) device like call quality network reception, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB OTG worked fine.

Camera. The camera performance, too, is a lot like the Zenfone 2 Deluxe – detailed, colours are quite sharp, but lags behind in low-light and macro shots. Though I did find the camera app to be a little quicker to take a shot in case of the Zenfone 2, the difference isn’t much. The device has a 13 MP rear camera, and here are a few sample images.

Battery. The battery performance was slightly short of the Zenfone 2 with the average being 14 to 15 hours. There’s a 2A charger bundled with the phone that charges it up in a little under two hours (0-50% in about 40 minutes).

Software and performance. There’s an Intel Z3580 chispet in place(2.3 GHz quad-core processor, PowerVR G6430 GPU) coupled with 4 GB of RAM. It runs on Android 5.0 with ZenUI on top. The overall performance on the phone is satisfactory. It handled games like FF Legacy and Real Racing 3 quite well, as there weren’t any frame drops or stuttering during playing. The phone does warm up a little near the dual tone flash, but not to an alarming extent.

Extensive customization options – icons packs, themes, icon text colour, double tap to wake and lock – are present here. Plus, four dozen ASUS apps are also present, something that really needs to be cleaned up ASAP. The only place it seemed to struggle a little was the recent apps list where scrolling isn’t as smooth and sometimes the selected app would take a while to load up, a known Android Lollipop issue.

All in all, it can perform most tasks well and hardly lagged during my usage. I used the 64 GB model that had about 54 GB of available space, which you can further expand using a microSD card. There’s also a 128 GB model priced a bit higher (and 256 GB in select markets).

It’s clear that ASUS really had one thing in mind for the Zenfone 2 Deluxe – the same content, but new packaging. It would be fair to say ASUS has done well with it. If you want a phone with a rear that is rather not boring, you should consider this phone that has a similar performance and experience as the original Zenfone 2.

(Pictures courtesy Manik Kakra)

Review: ASUS ZenFone 2

Priced at Rs 24,000, the phone has some great features and some minor quibbles, but is a good device overall.

by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

ASUS has been slowly and steadily climbing up the smartphone ladder in the Indian market. The tech company got rave reviews with the original ZenFone. Continuing the trend after the ZenFone 5 and 6 is now the ZenFone 2 that has a lot of things going for it – 4 GB RAM, 5.5-inch full HD screen, 3,000 mAh battery, among others. Let’s find out if this Intel-powered device can hold its own in its price segment.

The looks. The ASUS ZenFone 2’s (ZE551ML) unique design is not massively different from the Zenfone, but is sufficiently different. The phone has volume rockers (similar to those on LG G3 and now the G4) on the back right next to the camera sensor and dual tone LED flash; other than the loudspeaker and ASUS, Intel and ZenFone logo complete the rear. The back has a nice brushed (almost faux aluminum) plastic material.

The phone’s back has a noticeable curve and with the smooth dual shade plastic sides and curved edges, it is comfortable to hold and carry. Having said that, its sheer size, bezel and weight (about 170 grams) will be a bit too much for some. On the front, the phone has a nice brushed aluminium chin just below the three capacitive touch keys — Back, Home and recent Apps key.

Right above the screen, other than the ASUS logo (second one) you have LED notification light, ear-speaker and 5 MP front-facing camera. The microUSB port and primary mic are placed right at the bottom. Plus, those slim volume keys are not the most tactile ones, but you will get used to them. The Power/Lock key is at the top along with the 3.5mm headset jack and secondary mic. The Power button placed, at the top right, located in the middle, is also hard to press.

Display. The phone features a 5.5-inch full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS LCD. On paper, it is on par with most other smartphones in this price category today. The screen looks sharp and, while it is not the most pixel-dense display, does a good job for most tasks. I thought the phone performed well with videos and images. You can change the screen’s colour calibration using the inbuilt colour temperature app.

Battery. The phone has a 3,000 mAh battery unit. On most occasions it lasted me over 20 hours on a single charge (with a little over three hours of screen on-time). The usage included one SIM card inserted, two Email Accounts on sync, about half an hour or HD YouTube videos and music playback each. The phone takes a little under two hours to get fully charged from zero using the bundled charger. The battery is a solid point for the ZenFone 2; it hardly drained more than usual.

Audio. The loudspeaker on the back (designed to look longer than the speaker actually) isn’t very punchy for videos and games output and you would often have to use your hand to cup the speaker and get better sound. I didn’t any bundled headsets, so I can’t about in-ear sound. Call quality and in-ear sound were on par, and there were no problems with voice or sound during calls. One SIM card slot has 3G and 4G LTE supports, while the other has just 2G. Basics like WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and network data didn’t require any troubleshooting.

Camera. The ZenFone 2 boasts a 13 MP rear camera with dual tone LED flash. Here are a few sample images.

The camera can take detailed, sharp photos, especially in broad daylight. The camera app has loads of options, in particular HDR and Depth mode work well and can be pretty useful at times. In low-light, the camera gives noisy photos and you may want to opt for low resolution photos. Having said that, it usually gave bright coloured shots better than most smartphones in this price range. There’s also a software feature called Super Resolution that lets you take 50 MP photos – by combining four shots and stitching them together.

Software and performance. The ZenFone 2 comes with an Intel Z3580 chipset (2.3 GHz quad-core processor, PowerVR G6430 GPU) and whopping 4 GB of RAM, which is surely one of the USPs of the phone. It runs on Android 5.0 with ASUS’s own ZenUI on top. The phone feels a lot smoother and snappier to work on than its predecessor. There are not too many Intel-powered Android phones, but this one certainly does its job without lagging.

ASUS has loaded plenty of options in every nook and corner of the OS. With a dedicated themes center, you can now choose the overall look of the phone – from wallpaper, lock screen, scrolling effect, option to change how your Menu launcher shows app icons or arranges them, to even changing icons from one of the icon packs from the Play Store, yep. Contacts app allows you to select certain contacts under the tab VIP, for whom you may contact frequently or just want to view separate from the rest. There are dozens of ASUS apps pre-loaded as well as annoying third-party apps, which you can uninstall. There is a dedicated ASUS support app you can use to chat and get help from the company’s customer support, so that you don’t have to wait holding calls.

ASUS has done a really good job with the ZenFone 2. With a good camera and screen, feature-heavy and relatively smooth OS, decent battery life and innovative design, the phone seems to be up there with other heavyweights when it comes to phones under Rs 24,000.

(Pictures courtesy Manik Kakra)