Taiwanese tech major Asus, has a sizeable presence in the
Indian computer market for years. However Asus has finally entered the Indian smartphone
market with its Zenfone range of devices. The range of devices launched in
India include the Zenfone 4, Zenfone 5 and the Zenfone
6.
These phones, which made their debut early this year at CES 2014,
are priced at INR 5,999 onwards (ZenFone 4). The ZenFone 6 is priced at INR
16,999 while the ZenFone 5's prices start at INR 9,999.
The Asus ZenFone 5 will comes two variants - 8GB and 16GB, and a
wide range of colors - black, white, red, purple, and gold. We got to spend some time with the
Zenfone 5, which at INR 9,999 is all set to compete in a highly competitive
market segment, and here’s what we think of the smartphone.
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SPECIFICATIONS:
|
General
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Form
factor
|
Touchscreen
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||
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Dimensions
(mm)
|
148.20 x 72.80 x 10.34
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Weight
(g)
|
145.00
|
||
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Battery
capacity (mAh)
|
2110
|
||
|
Removable
battery
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No
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||
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Colors
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Black,
White, Red, Purple, Gold
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SAR
value
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NA
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Display
|
|
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Screen
size (inches)
|
5.00
|
||
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Touchscreen
|
Yes
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||
|
Touchscreen
type
|
Capacitive
|
||
|
Resolution
|
720x1280
pixels
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Colors
|
16M
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Hardware
|
|
|
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Processor
|
1.6GHz
dual-core
|
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Processor
make
|
Intel
Atom Z2560
|
||
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RAM
|
2GB
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Internal
storage
|
8GB
|
||
|
Expandable
storage
|
Yes
|
||
|
Expandable
storage type
|
micro
SD
|
||
|
Expandable
storage up to (GB)
|
64
|
||
|
Camera
|
|
|
|
|
Rear
camera
|
8-megapixel
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
Flash
|
Yes
|
||
|
Front
camera
|
2-megapixel
|
||
|
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|
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Software
|
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|
|
Operating
System
|
Android 4.3
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||
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Skin
|
ZenUI
|
||
|
Java
support
|
Yes
|
||
|
Browser
supports Flash
|
No
|
||
|
Connectivity
|
|
|
|
|
Wi-Fi
|
Yes
|
||
|
Wi-Fi
standards supported
|
802.11
b/ g/ n
|
||
|
GPS
|
Yes
|
||
|
Bluetooth
|
Yes, v
4.00
|
||
|
NFC
|
No
|
||
|
Infrared
|
No
|
||
|
DLNA
|
No
|
||
|
Wi-Fi
Direct
|
Yes
|
||
|
MHL Out
|
No
|
||
|
HDMI
|
No
|
||
|
Headphones
|
3.5mm
|
||
|
FM
|
No
|
||
|
USB
|
Micro-USB
|
||
|
Charging
via Micro-USB
|
Yes
|
||
|
Proprietary
charging connector
|
No
|
||
|
Proprietary
data connector
|
No
|
||
|
Number
of SIMs
|
2
|
||
|
SIM 1
|
|
||
|
SIM
Type
|
Micro-SIM
|
||
|
GSM/
CDMA
|
GSM
|
||
|
3G
|
Yes
|
||
|
SIM 2
|
|
||
|
SIM
Type
|
Micro-SIM
|
||
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GSM/
CDMA
|
GSM
|
||
|
3G
|
No
|
||
|
Sensors
|
|
|
|
|
Compass/
Magnetometer
|
No
|
||
|
Proximity
sensor
|
Yes
|
||
|
Accelerometer
|
Yes
|
||
|
Ambient
light sensor
|
No
|
||
|
Gyroscope
|
No
|
||
|
Barometer
|
No
|
||
|
Temperature
sensor
|
No
|
||
Hardware
A 1.6 GHz dual core Intel Atom processor, 2GB RAM and PowerVR SGX544MP2 graphics, powers the Zenfone 5.
It comes with 8/16GB internal storage and has a micro SD slot for expansion - up to 64GB
Software
It comes out of the box with Android 4.3 and will be upgraded to Android 4.4 via firmware update. Asus runs its own Zen UI interface on top that works butter smooth and has an overall flat look.
It comes out of the box with Android 4.3 and will be upgraded to Android 4.4 via firmware update. Asus runs its own Zen UI interface on top that works butter smooth and has an overall flat look.
The
lock screen lets you quickly launch camera, call, and SMS apps and also display
calendar entries for the day.
Design:
The ZenFone 5 has a standard candy bar design with a 5-inch 720p
display protected with Gorilla Glass 3. Asus has used an IPS panel which offers
pretty good viewing angles but somehow the display seems a bit dull. Even on
the highest brightness settings, it looks very average.
Above the display are the Asus logo, the
earpiece, the front facing camera and the usual set of sensors. Below, we have
the three capacitive Android navigation buttons and a metal textured accent
underneath it.
The right edge houses the volume and power/lock key which have a
metal finish. The top has the 3.5mm audio jack while the bottom has the
microUSB port.
At the back you will find the 8MP camera with an LED flash, the
loudspeaker and a couple of Asus and Intel logos. The back panel is essentially
plastic with a matte finish. The panel comes off to reveal two microSIM card
slots and a micro SD card slot. The battery is non-user replaceable so in case
you have any issues, you will have to head to the service center.
Camera:
The smartphone has an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera.
The rear camera uses Asus's pixelmaster technology that combines hardware,
software and optical design for best results. Check out these images taken by Asus Zenfone 5.
There are multiple modes available including a selfie mode,
instant beautification, depth of field as well as various filters. You also get
tones of settings to tweak including focus, exposure, white balance, ISO etc.
The front camera is good for taking occasional selfies and video calling, but
also suffers from visible noise.
Storage and Sound:
The speakers on the phone produce decent sound - both in terms
of quality and loudness. The phone's 8GB of internal storage offers 5GB of
actual storage space to users. Users can, however, expand its memory as it
supports a micro SD card of up to 64 GB.
Performance:
Under its hood is a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 along with
2GB of RAM. Don't presume its performance based on the number of cores it has
as the processor includes Intel's Hyper Threading technology, which makes it
appear to the OS that it has two processing cores for each physical core in a
CPU.
The Hyper Threading technology does not really double the number of cores,
but it creates virtual processing cores and adds to the performance when
multiple tasks are being processed at a time.
Battery Output:
One thing
that disappointed us was the battery life. While on paper the device features a
2,110mAh battery, it wasn’t enough to last us a day. On a more judicial usage
the battery was able to last just for about nine to ten hours.
To
counter this problem Asus has also included power saver modes, which boost
battery efficiency. There are three modes to choose from
— Optimized mode, Ultra-saving mode and Customized mode. In the Optimized model
the phone saves battery but keeps the mobile data running in the background,
while in the ultra-saving mode it switches off the mobile data when your device
is sleeping
Conclusion:
In the
sub-Rs 10,000 price segment the Asus Zenfone 5 makes a strong case for itself.
The device is really well built, has a good primary camera and the overall
performance too is quite good.
We strongly recommend the ZenFone for those who
need a stylish phone with a great camera and dependable performance.
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