The ZenFone 2 looks impressive on paper. But can the same be said about its real-life performance? Let’s find out with its pictorial review

1. ASUS
ZenFone 2
Review in pictures
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2. Inspired by LG, manufactured by ASUS
Similar to some of LG’s smartphones, the ZenFone 2 sports volume buttons at the rear
The power button is placed up top, which is difficult to reach considering the size of the
device
The brushed metal finish on the plastic back lends the phone a premium appeal
Apart from the display, the front hosts sensors, an earpiece and a camera above along with
a row of hardware keys for navigation below
DESIGN

3. Big, but not unwieldy
With a screen-to-body ratio of 72 percent, the device isn’t as big as other phablets of
similar size
Its heft of 170g and thickness of 10.2mm is compensated by the dual curve at the
back
The curved rear also helps in using the smartphone for extended periods
Prying open the back cover exposes the slots for inserting SIM cards and a microSD
card, but the battery is embedded
DESIGN

4. The screening
The ZenFone 2 sports a 5.5-inch display, protected by Gorilla Glass 3
It features full HD resolution, resulting in a rich pixel density of 401ppi
The IPS display panel reproduces good colours and sharp text, and offers
good viewing angles
Though the brightness levels seem to be on the lower side, you can use
different modes such as vivid and reading mode to tweak the display
DISPLAY

5. Offers the latest Android iteration with tons of
features…
Comes with the latest build
of Android, i.e., 5.0
Lollipop
Gets a custom skin dubbed
ZenUI, which was also
available on the first-gen
ZenFones
The interface offers tons of
customisations along with
lots of apps
With the Easy Mode, you
can simplify the interface of
the device
Also comes with preloaded
apps such as Amazon
Kindle, Clean Master, etc.
USERINTERFACE

6. … but the charm of the Lollipop-based candy gets
crushed by ZenUI
With support for gestures,
you can double tap the
device to unlock or draw ‘C’
to access the camera app
directly
To enable one-hand mode,
you can tap the home
button twice
There’s also an option to
change themes, scrolling
effects and icon packs on
the phone
Sadly, the UI subdues the
physical world aspects of
Google’s Material Design
language
USERINTERFACE

7. The master of pixels…
Unlike the 8MP shooter in its
predecessor, the phablet
sports a 13-megapixel primary
sensor with f/2.0 aperture,
supported by dual-tone LED
flash
For selfies, the smartphone
comes with a 5MP camera
The custom camera app is fully
loaded and offers a number of
features and modes
You can also enable the
manual mode to access
granular settings or Super
resolution to capture images in
52MP quality
The rear shooter can record
videos in 1080p resolution
CAMERA

8. … along with numerous image-enhancing modes
In terms of quality, the images
offer vivid colour and good amount
of details
The handset also promises superb
performance in dimly-lit
environments with its low-light
mode, which shoots in 3MP
resolution
Sadly, the low-light mode as well
as the HDR mode makes the
images seem artificial
The front shooter does a good job
when it comes to selfies
The rear camera can also record
videos at 1080p
Close up
Long shot
CAMERA

9. Feel the power
Compared to the ZenFone 5, the internals of the ZenFone 2 have received the
biggest upgrade
It’s the world’s first device to be powered by 4GB of RAM, which makes it a
powerhouse, complemented well by the 64-bit Intel Z3580 quad-core SoC running
at 2.3GHz
The hardware delivers buttery-smooth performance
Combined with the PowerVR G6430 GPU, playing games on the phone is a delight
PERFORMANCE

10. Enough room for your apps and multimedia
Comes with 32GB of
eMMC storage. There’s a
64GB storage variant too
After accounting for OS
and preinstalled apps,
you get around 25.5GB to
use
It can be extended further
by making use of a
microSD card of up to
64GB
The phablet also supports
flash drives thanks to its
USB On-the-Go
capability
PERFORMANCE

11. Power user by day, thirsty for power by night
The smartphone is fuelled by
a fixed 3,000mAh battery
With moderate usage, it can
last you through the day
But with gaming, internet
browsing on 3G and GPS
navigation, the battery drains
quickly
In our battery drain test, it
played back a 720p video for
eight hours and 30
minutes
You can also enable various
battery-saving modes to
extend the battery life
PERFORMANCE

12. At a glance…
Measures 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9mm
Weighs 170g
5.5-inch display, featuring a
resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels
2.3GHz quad-core processor
4GB RAM
32/64GB internal storage,
expandable up to 64GB
13MP primary camera with dual-tone
LED flash
5MP front-facing camera
Dual-SIM support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
GPS and NFC
3,000mAh battery
Android 5.0 with ZenUI

13. Different versions of the ASUS ZenFone 2
compared

14. Pros and cons
Ergonomic design
Loaded internals
Expandable storage
Dual-SIM support with
compatibility for 4G networks (in
the primary SIM)
Average battery
ZenUI subdues Material Design

15. Pricing & verdict
Price:
Rs 19,999
/ 22,999
“It’s clear that the interest levels in the ASUS
ZenFone 2 are high because of its 4 gigs of RAM,
but just more amount of RAM compared to its
peers (OnePlus One and Xiaomi Mi 4) doesn’t make
it a great device. It’s the combination of all aspects,
such as the display, build quality and the camera
performance, and the phablet scores well in all
these areas. Overall, the ASUS ZenFone 2 deserves
our recommendation as the device to go for in the
mid-range segment.