Asus launched the Zenfone 5 last year that had an Intel chipset inside it. The Phone was very well received especially because it offered good specs at a budget price.
Watch: Review of Asus Zenfone 2
Now the company has come out with a second iteration of the Zenfone 5. For reasons only known to them, they named it Zenfone 2. The phone has a massive 4 GB RAM and is the only smartphone that offers that in India. But there is a catch!
What’s Good?
Asus Zenfone 2 comes packed with an Intel quad-core 2.3GHz Atom Z3580 processor. There is a PowerVR G6430 graphics chip. And all that is backed by 4GB RAM.
The Zenfone 2 is a phone made for geeks who like to play around with the Android platform. This smartphone is not for the masses simply because they won’t even be able to utilise the phone to its full potential.
The phone is superfast and if any phone maker wants to learn how to balance power and make multitasking smooth, they should go visit the folks at Asus.
While we were testing it, we never quit an app that we opened and it did not lag at all. You can fire any app onto a smartphone and expect it to hang, but the Zenphone 2 won’t. The phone’s AnTuTu benchmark score was also remarkable at 46,968.
The 13 megapixel rear camera with two-tone dual-LED flash and the 5 megapixel selfie snapper will not disappoint you at all. Zenfone 2 is a dual-SIM smartphone and supports 2G, 3G and 4G.
The custom user interface called Zen UI loaded on top on Android 5.0 Lollipop is non-intrusive and comes with nifty features and even a spy mode that is just awesome for any boyfriend who has a doubting girlfriend.
What’s Bad?
Asus is boring when it comes to design. The Zenfone 5 had nothing great in terms of design and it’s the same with the Zenfone 2. It uses a plastic back that makes it look like metal. But it’s a poor cousin to the HTC One M9+ which actually sports a metal frame.
Both the companies are from Taiwan, so we really can’t blame Asus for that. But, the overall look and feel is boring.
Zenfone 2 has a 5.5-inch Full HD screen which is bigger and better than the Zenfone 5 but then it is very dim and reflective under sunlight. Neither is the colour fidelity great.
Another hitch with the Zenfone 2 is its battery. At 3,000 mAh it was the maximum size that Asus could load up on this phone but it drains really fast mainly because of that powerful Intel chipset inside. The battery will drain out if you have a 9 to 5 job.
We mentioned that there’s a catch to the 4 GB RAM feature. The hitch is, there are 4 variants of the Zenfone 2 and not all of them come with 4 GB RAM. This adds to a lot of confusion because the price difference between a low-end model and the high-end 4 GB one is almost Rs 10,000. And yes you pay a Rs 10,000 premium for that 4GB RAM.
Why Buy it?
Asus Zenfone 2 with 4 GB RAM is a fantastic smartphone to own but not a practical one. The battery does not last and we still feel that for Rs 22,999 One Plus One is better than the Zenfone 2.
For geeks this phone will give them the hardware they always desired for. The 2 GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 12,999 and is not even close to the features that the Xiaomi Mi 4i offers.
So overall the Asus Zenfone 2 is a mixed bag for android lovers. Buy it only for its performance and camera.
Prices Asus Zenfone 2
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE550ML(16GB): Rs. 12,999
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (16GB): Rs 14,999
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (32GB): Rs 19,999
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (64GB): Rs 22,999
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