First phone with 4 GB RAM, ASUS Zenfone2 review

Asus announced its new entry to already successful line of Zenfone series last month, the Zenfone2. Zenfone 2 has its USP in having 4 GB RAM in a smartphone for the first time, however there are lower end models of the same phone which comes with 2GB RAM. We have got the Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML version for the review, this variant comes with 32 GB ROM, 4 GB RAM and quad core Intel Atom processor clocked at 1.8 GHz. Enough of introduction, now let's dive deep into the device and see what it has for you.

ASUS Zenfone2

Look and feel

Asus Zenfone 2 takes the Zenfone line of models to a next level in terms of design and looks. Though the body is made of plastic but the faux metal coating on the back cover gives it a premium look. We have got the grey colour variant and it definitely looks premium. On the front we have a 5.5 inch display with concentric circle design on the bottom going in line with design of previous  Zenfones. On the top there is an earpiece placed below which we can see the ASUS branding. On right side of earpiece there is an array of sensors and a 5 MP front camera. At bottom of the display there lies three capacitive buttons viz. back, home and multi tasking placed left to right in same order.

Zenfone2 Front

Despite of being a 5.5 inch device, the phone easily fits into the hand and offers a better grip than many other phones of same size. Back is curved and tapers when it reaches to the edges from all sides, hence the better ergonomics. 

Asus Zenfone2 Sideview

Both the side edges are void of any buttons, that means there is no rocker button or power button on either of the sides, instead power button is placed on top which I feel is not the best position for power button.

The bottom edge of phone is home to charging slot and mic. Top edge sports 3.5 mm audio jack and power button.

ASUS Zenfone2 bottom edge

ASUS Zenfone2 top edge

Back of the phone is made of plastic with faux metal coating, the back has all elements centrally aligned which are dual LED flash light, 13MP rear camera, volume rocker buttons. Look a bit down and you will see speaker grill which is almost as wide as the phone itself giving illusion of very strong speaker, but that's not the case removing back cover reveals a very tiny speaker and you can feel the same when its used. Once the cover is removed you can see two dual SIM card slots, micro SD card slot and a massive battery beneath which is not removable.

ASUS Zenfone2 Back view

Box Contents:

Device, Wall charger, USB cable, Warranty book, user manual.

Specifications and Feature:

ASUS has just hit the ball right , with giving a lot of buzz words space on its robust specification sheet. ASUS runs on latest Zen UI which is based on Android Lollipop with a lot of customization and few bloats.  Our review unit is powered by Intel Atom quad core processor clocked at 1.8 GHz , backed by 4 GB RAM and has 32 GB internal memory. However a higher version with 64 GB ROM and processor clocked at 2.3 GHz and a lower specification version which comes with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB ROM. On sensors front device comes with usual sensors as proximity sensor, G-Sensor, E-Compass, Gyroscope, Ambient light, GLONASS, GPS. For connectivity phone comes with 802.11ac Wifi, bluetooth, 3G/4G/2G support and NFC. 

Display:

On display front ASUS Zenfone2 has a 5.5 inch and it doesn't boast with best of the displays available but with 1920x1080 resolution and 403 ppi does the expected work and it played all sort of videos pretty well thrown at it. By default phone ships with balanced mode for display which offers accurate colors, user can well adjust settings to reading mode, or custom mode to change the settings. Viewing angles and touch response are great and does not lets you down. 

Software and Performance:

ASUS Zenfone2 comes with ZenUI build on top of Android 5.0 which I personally feel is the best customization of Android till date. The apps , themes and background gels well in material design of Android Lollipop. The lock screen is beautifully customized with option of double tap to wake up the screen (this is life saver as the power button is not that user friendly), If you think that the size of the display is too big for you to handle you can select one hand mode and adjust the phone area to work upon by simply dragging the corner to desired place. 

Performance of Zenfone2 is very impressive, we didn't faced any lag while operating the phone, multitasking worked smoothly and gaming experience is equally good. Intel processor handles the apps pretty well and we didn't faced any app crash issues.

Attention is paid to many software aspects of the device in terms of security, user modes etc. There is a kid mode in which you can set the timer and your kid can enjoy selected apps and once the time is up it becomes unusable for the kid, you can hide your applications, contacts, call history etc in case you need it. 

On battery front this device goes a leap forward from its predecessor and 3000 mAh strong battery lasted entire day with more than 40% battery to spare. The phone was connected to a 3G network and all social media apps were allowed to sync on the go. More importantly the phone's battery didn't dropped drastically when camera was in use which is a huge improvement from Zenfone5. Zenfone5 comes with ASUS Boostmaster technology which works same as Qualcomm Quick Charge or Oppo's VOOC charge. Boostmaster comes quite handy and now the Zenfone2 doesn't needs to be connected to a charger for all night.

Camera:

On the launch event , ASUS stressed too much on capabilities of its camera, Indian famous photographer Dabbu Ratnani himself was present at launch event and explained how he liked camera of Zenfone2. This made us expecting on a higher side, however we found camera to be just better than average but not outstanding as we would have liked.

Apart from normal camera settings there are other modes available (including manual ) which allows user to set the camera with best settings for a particular situation.

ASUS Zenfone2 Camera Modes

All the modes are self explanatory, Auto mode still is best mode to capture variety of shots, if you are a pro photographer then you would love the Manual mode which gives complete control in your hands, HDR and Depth of Field modes are other two settings which we loved.

Below are few sample shots from camera.

Depth of Field Mode (Macro)

Day light shot (Auto)

Day light shot (HDR)

Verdict:

Zenfone2 offers look and feel of a high end premium flagship device but that doesn't mean its competitors are likes of Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4 etc. The device is specifically manufactured and priced to compete likes of One Plus One, Xiaomi, Huawei, Micromax etc i.e. its what you can get best for the price. So if you are ok with the size of device and you don't mind those sharp curves towards edges Zenfone is one of the best choices available today for this price range. For 23999 you are getting 64 GB storage , 4GB RAM and latest android OS with one of the best customizations available in the market. If you are not a die hard Apple/Samsung fan and want to have perfect value for money device which you can be proud of go for it, it won't let you down.

Pros: Good display, Processor, RAM, Software
Cons: Average Camera, Weak speaker