Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe
Asus seems to have a custom Zenfone for everyone. ZenFone One, Two, Max, Go, Selfie, Laser and a couple more upcoming iterations named Zoom and of course the ZenFone Three. Each has tweaks to appeal to certain age groups and user characteristics. We've got one of those today for a review: the current Zenfone Two Deluxe.
First impressions
The phone has a matte back cover comprising of tessellated triangles in a pearlescent colour. The three dimensional shapes change hues depending on how the light hits it. While I found it to look interestingly different, opinion around the office was divided with the white unit. But the blue variant definitely looks more striking with its subtle purple tonal variations. The textured surface feels good in the hand with the curved surface fitting the palm easily. The device also comes with a set of earphones with multiple covers which is pretty cool.
Display
A 5.5 inch 1080p screen with 401ppi looks fantastic with great legibility and custom colour adjustment to suit your needs. Love this built-in feature as you can select a warmer tone to reduce eye strain while reading at night. ON the other hand, wish the bezel was thinner so as to reduce the bulk of the phone. Less is more in this case.
Software
Comes with Android 5.0 with the ZenUI layered on top featuring plenty of customizability tweaks. Device is slated to get a Marshmallow update sometime now which will replace some Asus apps with Google apps. What I am hoping is it will reduce some of the bloatware. The phone is loaded with many Asus apps some of which can be deleted like the Omlet Messenger while others can be disabled. While it does not affect the performance, it does require many updates occasionally.
Power
There are two versions with the same model name - one has a Z3560 chipset (CPU at 1.8GHz) and the other has a Z3580 chipset (CPU at 2.3GHz). We got the latter with 4GB of RAM, something that is becoming more common these days. So far, nothing fazes it. Games like GT Racing 2 loaded fast and the bloatware didn't cause even a flicker. I often favour phone over the laptop for dealing with office communication interspersed with a little play time.
Camera
Equipped with a 13MP main camera and a 5MP front camera both with reasonably quick f/2.0 lenses. The app comes chock full of options to play with. Auto Mode is supplemented by a wide choice of options including Night, Panorama, Selfie and HDR. You can also play around with depth of field shots where two pictures are taken and combined to provide a blurred background. It works better with selfies but you have to hold the phone and your perfected smile super still.
Images come out well exposed with accurate white balance in natural lighting conditions. Colours look very good and neutral on screen. In auto mode the phone increases the contrast and sharpness bringing out more detail but also increasing grain. That is till you zoom into background detail where edges becomes a watercolour mishmash reducing the actual clarity of edges. It will suffice on social media with the right choice of filter.
Battery
The 3000mAh non-removable battery lasted well over a day. We ran a video loop that lasted more than eight hours. Web browsing and Facebook will eat up your power a little quicker. And you will need that backup for the 128GB worth of storage space. That's more than enough for binge watching you HD quality Game of Thrones episodes or Top Gear.
SPECS
Display: 5.5 inches, 1080 x 1920 (~401 ppi), Gorilla Glass 3
CPU: Intel Atom Quad-core 2.3 GHz
GPU: PowerVR G6430
OS: Android OS v 5.0 (upgradable to Marshmallow)
ROM: 128 GB
RAM: 4 GB
Camera:13 MP + 5 MP (Both f/2.0)
Battery: 3000 mAh
Connectivity: 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Price: Tk. 27,950/-
VERDICT
In a sea of mid-range phones, this is a strong work horse. An excellent screen paired with that power pack means you can work all day and squeeze in a little bit of play time without worrying about recharging. It runs smoothly even when you multi task several programs. Where it lacks is the quality of the photos. It does better than most but the resolved detail is low making edges pears jagged. Noticeable when you zoom in. If selfies are important, get the Zenfone selfie which has a better front camera with 13MP. That massive storage space makes it the perfect multimedia device on the go helping us survive traffic jams. Just make sure you get the blue one.
WORDS & PHOTOS: EHSANUR RAZA RONNY
Comments