My 4 months wait ended today. After researching almost every model in the range Rs.8000-25000, I felt this is the perfect phone with right bunch of features, quality, performance and value for money. Got delivery well before expected time. Thanks to Flipkart. I have used it for 2 days. Just want to share my hands on experience:
You can always trust Asus for hardware, built quality and user experience. You find quality in everything in and around the phone. This is where Asus stands out among other budget players. In all other terms except price, Asus is true competitor to high end brands. Beautifully crafted ZenUI and its default apps are taking the ZenFone series to a new highs. You will anyway find the specification details in flipkart, GSMArena, NDTV Gadgets etc. So let me concentrate on qualitative details which you don't find easily in websites
+ Camera: Zenfone2 camera is one of the best you can ever find in smartphones. It produces rich and true colored images. Picture quality is very good. In sunlight it is outstanding. Flash is powerful enough to take average pictures in absolute darkness too. There are 17 different modes (Beautification mode, super resolution, manual mode, selfie panorama etc.) and 12 effects. Dual tone flash is added advantage to avoid over exposures. Front camera is also very good. You can take wide angle photos and selfie panoramas.
+ Display: It has Full HD, Vivid, sharp display capable of true color production. Touch sensitivity is outstanding and responses are very quick. You can just double tap the screen to wake up the phone and a double tap after use turns off the display and locks the screen. You don’t have to use power button at all during regular use. I found the display bit slippery for fingers. But a screen guard should fix it.
+ ZenUI and default Apps: ZenUI is beautiful, smart, simple and easy. Asus has smartly utilized its hardware/OS features and presented in the form of UI/default Apps in simple and handy manner. I rank it the best and I tell you why. While you are on a call you can access supernote, call recorder, contacts etc. in the same screen. In your gallery, just select few pics and create a microfilm with single touch. You also have one hand mode for complete phone usage, easy mode for elder people, kids mode, glove mode and so many things as part of UI. Every single feature like contacts, dialer, notepad, gallary are very nice. Hope you will never think of customized RAM or any other launchers.
+ Media and connectivity: Music quality is satisfactory both in headset and speaker. Locks quickly to bluetooth/NFC. There is one touch built in miracast support. Wi-Fi and data connectivity is among the fastest. You have 5GB cloud storage. Additionally PC link (wireless sync with PC), sharelink, partylink to enhance the connectivity.
+ Hardware and Design: There is no second thought about Asus hardware. Design is one of the best in new phones. Volume button in the back is easily accessible. Power button on top bothers smaller hands, but you can use tap switch. It has got all major sensors like proximity, Accelerometer, compass, Gyroscope and hall sensor.
+ Performance: With 2/4gb RAM and Intel quad core processor inside, it is a true performer phone. 4GB RAM variant has scored 47000+ in AnTuTu benchmark test! You will never experience any lag or slowness even with the loads of apps. I don’t play games, so no words about them. Though mighty processor, all sensors, quick touch response, big-sharp display should provide great gaming experience.
- Battery: The phone is not so power efficient. Intel processors consume lot of power. Quick charge is not quick enough if you are using any other charger. Though it has 3000mAh battery, the backup is comparable to 2000mAh. It may for a day for average user.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t find earphones in the box. Asus actually doesn't provide it.
- Srinivas Bhat2 May, 2015