Asus the world’s 5th largest PC maker has come back with a bombarding entry into the Indian Smartphone Arena. With stellar features it lures the users to buy the Smartphones. Though there are many Smartphones with the specifications like it, what actually attracts is that it is a branded phone. Power packed with stunning hardware Asus ZenFone 5 gives the stiff competition to the Budget king “Moto G” and other Smartphones in the same price range.
So in this review, I am going to do a full autopsy of Asus ZenFone 5 to give you a clear picture of the smartphone.
Let’s talk about the material. Asus Zenfone 5 has a simple candy bar design. Majority of the phone is built out of plastic but the design incorporates the iconic concentric circle finish with a unique fine texture which lends the phone a classic premium look and feels. For the simplicity of its design, it has been the winner of the prestigious RedDot Award 2014.
The 5 inch IPS Display is quite vivid, thanks to Corning and the viewing angles are pretty impressive. With a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, you can view images & videos beautifully and that’s all within your budget.
Zenfone UI
Now let’s talk about the ZEN UI. This is one of the perfect UI I have seen after HTC Sense. Kudos to the ASUS Team. Believing in their motto of “Turning Complexity into Simplicity” they have focused on pure functionality but elegance and beauty also fall with that. The “What’s Next” feature helps to keep a track of your events of the day. Inspired by the retrospective notification pop-ups. This one is a challenger. It reminds you of the next important task or event, lets you identify things and the biggest thing is that it helps to concentrate on your priorities. Huh, I love Zenfone. The “Do it later” assists you in reminding you of all your pending activities whether it’s a poem written by your friend or an important message from your girlfriend.
ZenFone own PixelMaster helps to combine the best of the camera’s hardware and optical design to deliver sharp and magnificent photos. Thus helping you to capture life in moments. Share Link, Party link, PC link, Remote Link helps you seamlessly connect the entire thing meticulously. Omlet Chat helps to do some quirky chat with your friends. It is popular as an open-end chatting application.
Camera
Now lets talk about the camera. The 8 Megapixel shooter camera lets you capture life in motion. The flash helps to capture images in the lowest light condition. What beautifies its performance is the presence of ZEN UI’s PixelMaster. With various options available you are bound to deliver beautiful and professional images. Images taken from the HDR Mode are pretty impressive. Selfie Lovers would devour this phone for the beauty in it with 2 Megapixel front camera.
One of the prominent features of the Asus Zenfone 5 Camera is that it is capable of taking good images, especially in the extremely low light. Asus Zenfone 5 Camera App is also capable to generate GIF animated images.
Performance
It’s time to rate the Asus Zenfone 5 performance. Powered by Intel Atom Z2560 SoC unlike MediaTek processor, this smartphone gives amazing user experience. Intel Atom Z2560 features a dual-core Clover Trial+ CPU running at 1.6GHz. Needless to say, it gives a head-on competition to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 and MediaTek MT6582. With such a rocking processor you can coolly play high adrenaline games without any lag. The 2 GB RAM gives you that guarantee.
Storage
About the storage, Asus ZenFone 5 is available in 8 GB and 16 GB variants both having an expandable memory. Music player’s looks have also been redefined and is easy to use. The 2110 mAH non-removable battery manages to deliver a day-long battery backup in normal usage. So go on and test the juice.
Zenfone which is exclusively available on Flipkart has been going through flash sales. Selling within 2 or 3 seconds. That’s the demand of this phone in India. I seriously recommend this phone to all of them who prefer to have a branded budget phone with stellar features.
Below is a personal on Hand experience by a Zenfone User :
“As the topic title suggests, this smartphone is definitely worth every penny. 8 MP Camera, Dual Core Intel processor, 8GB Internal Storage and 2 GB RAM makes this phone super awesome. It works without any lags. I have installed nearly 60 Apps on my Asus ZenFone 5 and it works like charm while multitasking. Overall it’s a phone worth buying” ~ Kamal.
Technical Specifications for Asus ZenFone 5 :
- Network : 2G / 3G (HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100)
- SIM : Dual SIM, Dual Stand-by (Micro-SIM)
- Display : 5 Inch IPS Capacitive Touchscreen with 16M Colors
- Resolution : 720 x 1280 pixels with 298 PPI pixel density
- Protection : Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Memory : Internal 8GB / 16GB (Two variants available), MicroSD up to 64 GB supported
- DATA : GPRS / EDGE / HSDPA, 42.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps / Wi-Fi / Bluetooth v4.0 / microUSB v2.0
- Camera : 8 MP Autofocus with LED Flash Primary Camera and 2 MP Secondary Camera for selfies
- Video : 1080p@30fps
- OS : Upgradable to Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat (Android Lollipop also promised)
- Chipset : Intel Atom Z2580/ Z2560
- CPU : Dual-core 2 GHz (Z2580)
- GPU : PowerVR SGX544MP2
- Radio : FM Radio
- GPS : with A-GPS, GLONASS
- Battery : Li-Po 2110 mAh battery (Non-removable)
- SAR Value : US : 1.18 W/kg (head) SAR EU : 0.53 W/kg (head)
Asus Zenfone 5 is exclusively available at Flipkart:
Asus ZenFone 5 Black 8GB
Asus ZenFone 5 White 8GB
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The phone is great but I prefer snapdraggon over intel.
Thanks for taking out time to review it…
Yeah truely zenfone is worth every penny.. Asus has made a fone that is affordable by the people who have a low budget.. People will not find a fone like this which gives sooo much in soo mch less.. 10/10
yeah… its true… such features in this figure is wonderful
Moto G (2nd gen) best in this segment
Micromax nitro too with 2gb ram
thanks for reviewing it. but moto g (2nd gen) doesnt have an impressive hardware as compared to Zenfone 5 and its priced higher than Zenfone..
By the way thanks for sharing ur information
Well written About Zenfone Unii!! Keep up the good job mate!! I liked the way u analysed and presented those statistics!!
thanks mate.. will get back to you soon with Lollipop…
Unni
Itz just awesome and unni well done hatsoff nice job 🙂
Thanks arbaaz for taking out your time to check out the article
I would prefer moto g 2nd gen…!! gud phone … n d bst part…!! its Google’s… n L UPDATE too…
But Moto g(Gen 2) Hardware aint that impressive .. we couldnt see much difference between moto g and gen 2 other than screen size , camera , storage.
still its a good budget phone.
thanks a lot for your feedback
Asus Zenfone 5 too will get Android Lollipop update by April 2015.
In fact the whole Zenfone series (Zenfone 4, 5 & 6) will get the Lollipop update.
Awesome one bro tooo good……
thanks . Do visit our blog for latest gadget news
Firstly I would like to appreciate the writer about giving me the detailed analysis of Asus Zenfone5… and yeah I Specially liked the ‘Do it later ‘and ‘the omlet chat ‘ feature in this phone and secondly I would like to rate it 10 on 10 if and only if it get a lolipop update … but I would like to ask you that having 1.6 ghz processor , would lolipop update have any effect on this phone ?
Welcome to Telecom Panda Aniket. Asus has already promised Lollipot Update for Zenfone Series to be available by April 2015 and I believe it would not have any affect with Lollipop update. Though it is Dual Core but can work like a Quad Core using HT (Hyper Threading) technology.
An awesome in-depth analysis of the Zenfone 5. The best thing it’s a beast of a phone which comes under your budget. With the lollipop guarantee it makes this phone a must buy. With the increase in the competition, at the end of the day the customer is truly the ‘King of the Market’.Keep up the good work Unni!
Welcome to Telecom Panda Vikrant. Do visit again for more updates on Telecom and Latest Gadgets News.
A very perfect article it updated my knowledge abt d phone :))
Welcome to Telecom Panda Vivek.
Even I’d prefer Qualcomm over Intel but the reviews are good…and it is said to work Tally in it…. It’s good for those users… The screen resolution is also good… So is the camera… So yes it is a pretty good phone for the Indian users.. As it is cheap and fast…
Thanks for visiting Telecom Panda Harneel. No doubts Asus Zenfone 5 is a robust phone. Qualcomm and Intel both are good and it only depends upon the personal choice what you like to have.
True this cellphone is worth every penny ND a very good detailed description given bhai
Thanks for dropping by Siddham. Asus Zenfone 5 is truely a value for money smartphone.
Good
Thanks for visiting Telecom Panda Pratik. Do visit again for more such articles.
Nice phone with such good specifications nd just for Rs9999.
Wat more do u want……
Nd unni ur description about d phone was awesome
Thanks for visiting Telecom Panda Pulkit. Asus Zenfone 5 is one th best phone in this price segment. Touchscreen on Asus Zenfone 5 is very responsive and can be compared with iPhone Touch.
That’s great.
Seems the hardware is quite impressive.
Specifications are quite good as compared to same rate phones..
Is it there available in market???.
Welcome to Telecom Panda Brijesh. Asus Zenfone Series mobiles are available on Flipkart and at authorised Asus Galleries only.