Asus zenfone 5 review

Today thanks to Asus we have to introduce you to one of its latest terminals: The Asus Zenfone 5. The company is betting a lot on the smartphone market. Let's see how this is given and if it passes our demanding tests in its Intel Atom version.

We appreciate the trust and the transfer of the product to Asus:

Specifications and technical characteristics

CPU: 2 × 2 Intel Atom Multi-Core Z2560 1.6Hz processor with

Hyper-Threading technology

Screen: 5 ”HD 1280 × 720 IPS with Gorilla Glass 3

OS: Android 4.3

RAM: 2GB

Storage: 8GB / 16GB

Battery: 2110 mAh

Camera: 8 Mp

Dual SIM card

Design

If recently I commented that the design of the mywigo was not completely convincing. I must admit that the design of the zenfone attracts at first sight for its rounded, simple style and a good finish that gives it an elegant touch. The thing is not there because once in hand, it feels that its construction is robust as well as light. On the right side we will find both the volume and the power buttons.

As for the back cover, its rubbery touch stands out, which to a certain extent prevents the terminal from slipping and, on the other hand, gives it a finish that is pleasant to hold.

The slight curvature of the case also partly prevents the rear speaker from being completely covered. It is a good solution and despite the curvature the terminal does not rock.

In this section we will also talk about the official housings available. The "Zen Case" can be found in red, white and black and have the same touch and finish as the standard one. At amazon, they are priced close to € 26.

On the other hand, there are the “View Flip Cover” that replace the back cover, but they have a front closure and a circular opening so that when it is closed, the time and number of notifications, time, and possibility are shown. turn on the flashlight and toggle between Vibrate or Sound mode. They are also available in white, red and black and their price on Amazon is around € 28.

screen

As with most terminals recently analyzed, this also incorporates a panel with IPS technology that provides very intense colors and a fairly good contrast. A quality in regards to the colors that as I have said previously is being seen more and more in mid-range smartphones.

The 5 inches of the zenfone and the 1280 × 720 resolution give us a pixel density of 294ppi, which offers a sharp image of the screen.

One aspect to highlight is the brightness, which does its job well outdoors and is something that is missing in more terminals.

On the other hand, an unusual feature that the zenfone has is the possibility of activating the “for gloves” mode, which at this time of year comes quite well, and which increases the sensitivity to touch of the screen.

As a protection method we find the use of Gorilla Glass 3.

Sound

The fact that the back shell is curved allows the sound to not be muffled when resting on a flat surface. It is a detail that is appreciated, but speaking of the sound itself; The audio quality and power is quite good, although without being outstanding. A more careful aspect and in which they have placed more emphasis on advertising is the surround mode for headphones called SonicMaster and which it performs is a software optimization.

In theory it is very good, but in practical terms and with the "in ear" headphones that come standard, in the end the feeling is almost the same as always.

performance

At first glance, and with the quad-core and eight-core smartphones in full swing, it's easy to be surprised to see one that's just hit the market with two cores, just like the Z560 processor. But in this case and thanks to HyperThreading technology, those two 1.6GHz cores in practice do for four.

To complement the CPU, the device incorporates 2GB of RAM, which is an amount that is not seen as often in the mid-range and that comes in handy for overall performance.

And how is the overall performance? Quite fluent, both when moving through the menu and to open applications. With regard to the most cutting-edge games, it performs very well and only occasionally shows a pull. In Antutu with a score of 23, 000, it is only slightly below the Xiaomi Redmi Note.

Camera

The rear camera of the Zenfone 5 has an 8 Megapixel sensor with flash (Something that its younger brother lacks because the Zenfone 4 does not incorporate a flash). The quality of the photos with light in general is good and reflects the colors very well, although it is true that as a result of the comments that were heard before leaving the terminal, more was expected from the camera.

Where but you can find buts, is in the photos with less lighting. There is a lot of noise in the photographs taken and the flash, which should help, does not do much good due to its low power.

Perhaps at the hardware level Asus could have been a little more careful but as far as software is concerned there is no complaint. A technology called PixelMaster is incorporated that helps improve the quality of the photos taken and also in the camera options you can choose from a multitude of modes (GIF, HDR, rewind time,..). As I always say, overcoming the options that the pure android camera brings by default is child's play.

WE RECOMMEND YOU The ASUS Zenfone 6 has been officially presented

Battery

The terminal has a built-in 2110 mAh battery that cannot be removed even though the back cover can be removed.

As for the autonomy time with 4 hours of screen and normal use of whatsapp and chrome in 3g and wifi, it is possible to reach the day without problems but if it is going to be used more intensively, it may not reach the end of the day. This time can be prolonged if you give us to use the maximum savings option that is provided in the Settings.

In my case, more than an improvement of the camera I would have liked to see a greater capacity in terms of autonomy. Taking advantage of the fact that the terminal weighs so little, 3000mAh would have been fabulous.

OS

From the factory it comes incorporated with version 4.3 of android and it is possible to update to android 4.4.2 kit kat. For better or for worse, the update rate is high. In one week it was updated twice, I prefer to see it as something positive for the resolution and improvement of failures.

As for the system interface we will find ZenUI; of which I must say that I personally liked it a lot, even more than MIUI (Following the comparison with Xiaomi). It is a beautiful interface and with many options, sometimes too many. To highlight the fact that if we lower the notification bar from the left side of the screen, we see the notifications and if on the contrary we do it from the right side, the options of brightness, flashlight, wifi, sound, etc. will appear.

The performance as mentioned above is very fluid in the menu and transitions, and in the case of opening many applications and causing slowdown, you can use the Boost option that frees memory.

conclusion

ASUS does not bring a mid-range terminal, almost high with exquisite performance and design despite slacking on the camera and perhaps in the battery or storage, although this is always to the consumer's liking. However, it is a highly recommended terminal. We can get the 8GB version of storage for € 179 and € 199 the 16GB version.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ VERY ELEGANT DESIGN	- THE CAMERA IS NOT AT HEIGHT
+ GOOD RESOLUTION.
+ DUAL CORE PROCESSOR WITH 64 BIT HT
+ INTERNAL MEMORY AND EXCELLENT RAM.
+ OPERATING SYSTEM
+ PRICE MORE THAN TEMPTING.

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal:

Asus Zenfone 5

Design

Camera

Battery

Connectivity

OS

Weight

8.7 / 10

A great terminal with x64 chip.