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7 August 2014

Asus Zenfone 5 Review:

Asus launched their Zenfone lineup in India last month and they offered great specs at a price lower than the competition. The Asus Zenfone lineup is Flipkart exclusive.
The lineup consists of: 
1) Asus Zenfone 4 (Rs 5999 = 98 US Dollars) {Aimed to compete with the Moto E}. 
2) Asus Zenfone 5 (Rs 9999 for 8GB & Rs 13990 for the 16GB i.e. 163 US Dollars & 228 US Dollars respectively) {Aimed to compete with the Moto E} 
3) Asus Zenfone 6 (Rs 16999 = 277 US Dollars approx) 

The device I managed to get my hands on (thanks to a friend) was the Asus Zenfone 5 8GB Model.

My initial impressions after holding the device were:
1) It's well built (Asus got it right, as always!!)
2) It's nicely designed, its easy to operate with one hand and doesn't feel uncomfortable.
3) Loved the concentric circle design on the bottom (Similar to the Zenbook series).

The specifications of the device are as follows: 
Screen- 5inch IPS Display, packing 294ppi with the Asus TruVivid Technology.
Processor - 1.6Ghz Dual Core Intel Atom Z2560 Processor with Hyper Threading.
RAM- 2GB 
GPU- PowerVR SGX 544 MP2
CAMERA - Primary = 8MP PixelMaster with auto focus, Secondary = 2MP
Storage - 8GB (Internal), expandable upto 64GB (with microSD card)
Android - 4.3 (Jelly Bean) Upgradable to 4.4 (KitKat)

The Zenfone 5 is a well built device, it feels like a premium smartphone. The device runs Android 4.3 with the Zen UI on top of it, and I didn't experience any lags at all. The 5 inch IPS display is sharp and offers great viewing angles, the display packs 294ppi which is close enough to the 300 mark and I couldn't differentiate between the pixels. It's a great display. 
The front looks fabulous!! 

 The Zen UI splashes a great number of features and it has a few pre-installed apps, which makes it easy on the resources, providing a lag free experience. The device packs 2GB of RAM, an Intel Atom 1.6Ghz Dual core CPU with hyper threading and a PowerVR GPU all the three combined allows the device to perform like a boss. It can take on any task we throw at it and it doesn't lag at all. Gaming is a charm, it played Asphalt 8 on high and Fifa without any lag or shutter. 

Coming to the battery life the device is powered by a 2110 mAh battery which is capable enough to keep the device running for about a day with moderate usage and provided a 4h 15m screen on time with heavy usage. 

The 8MP primary camera does a great job with the PixelMaster technology and the 2MP front facing camera is good enough for video calls and selfies. 

The design ? Well it would have looked like a bland phone if it didn't have the concentric circle bar at the bottom. The design is simple and the phone has a textured back which provides a better grip and the volume rockers and power key are placed at a convenient position which makes operating the Zenfone 5 with one hand an easy job.
The volume rocker and power button are sturdy.
The textured back gives a nice grip to the device but felt a little harsh.

The concentric circle bar at the bottom helps it stand out from the crowd, have a closer look at it: 
Overall, the Asus Zenfone 5 is a bang for the bucks. It performs like a beast, feels solid in the hand, has a great camera with tons of features. In my opinion the Zenfone 5 is a great option for anyone looking for an android device that performs well and is a value for money device. 
Ill be posting up a few camera samples and a video sample soon !
Feel free to share your opinions in the comment section below.  Enjoy!!

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