Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

ASUS raises its game with Zenfone 2 series

SINGAPORE — ASUS, while a late entrant to the budget smartphone category, has managed to set itself apart with its Zenfone series and is now seeking to raise its game with the Zenfone 2 series.

SINGAPORE — ASUS, while a late entrant to the budget smartphone category, has managed to set itself apart with its Zenfone series and is now seeking to raise its game with the Zenfone 2 series.

There are three models in this series, and we review the Zenfone 2 ZE551ML, which is the top-end model, slated to be released in the middle of next month.

On first impression, the phone is comfortable to hold with a curved back that tapers from 10.9mm at its thickest to 3.9mm at the sides. It does not feel like a plus-sized phone, thanks to its improved screen-to-body ratio at 72 per cent, a 10 per cent improvement from its predecessors, with a bezel measuring only 3.3mm wide. Because of its plastic back, the Zenfone 2 weighs light at 170g but feels sturdy and compact, sporting an aluminium-like finish on its back.

The Zenfone 2 has a 5.5” IPS display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels at 403ppi, resulting in impressive sharp and vivid colours on the screen.

It comes with a 2.3GHz 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 processor, has built-in 4G/LTE connectivity, and a 60-millisecond touch response — in other words, the phone reacts super quickly to a tap of a finger. The phone’s performance, in general, was fast and smooth.

Notably, it comes with 4GB of RAM — the world’s first smartphone to do so, says ASUS — which boosts the phone’s ability to multitask.

ASUS says the phone can run up to 26 applications concurrently without any lag. We had 30 apps running while we played a game on the Zenfone 2 and there was no lag in the game or when switching between apps, although the phone predictably got warmer and there was a drain on the battery.

The review set came with 64GB in storage capacity, which can be expanded up to 128GB using its microSD card slot. There is a variant of this model, which offers a base storage capacity of 32GB. Similar to previous Zenfones, it is dual SIM.

The camera on the Zenfone 2, which uses ASUS’ PixelMaster technology, is much improved. The phone has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. In contrast to previous models, photos taken with the Zenfone 2 were vivid and sharp.

When set in the auto-mode, the Zenfone’s camera automatically offers picture mode suggestions, based on the environment you are shooting in. With its pixel-merging technology, pictures taken in low-light conditions continue to be impressive.

However, one letdown is the phone’s battery. Battery life is mediocre, and charging the 3,000mAh battery seems to take longer than usual. With 15 per cent of battery left, the Zenfone 2 said that I had eight hours to wait for a full recharge when plugged into a power bank.

On BoostCharge mode — which ASUS says can charge up to 60 per cent in 39 minutes — a full charge required 2 hours 17 minutes. Charge times are slightly better using a power source, with 1 hour and 50 minutes needed to get a full charge on BoostCharge mode.

The phone runs on the Android 5.0 Lollipop OS, and the refreshed version of its interface, ASUS ZenUI, adds much zing to the product. With the new ZenMotion feature, you can launch an app with a few strokes on the screen in sleep mode: Draw “C” to launch the camera, “W” for the browser, “e” for Email, for instance.

A thoughtful function is ZenUI’s new Kids Mode function that allows users to customise the applications their children can access and set a time for when the phone will shut off by itself. Parents can also block call and messaging notifications or set a passcode to answer or open them.

When available next month, ASUS’s Zenfone 2 ZE551ML with 4GB RAM will be priced at S$499 (64GB) and S$429 (32GB).

Other phones in this series with lower specifications — the ZE500CL, ZE550ML and the ZE551ML with 2GB RAM — are retailing at S$249, S$299 and S$349 respectively. They are available at the ASUS online store and brand stores, Challenger, as well as telcos StarHub and M1.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.