What Is Asus Zenfone 5Z?
Ater a strong initial showing with the ZenFone series, ASUS faded from relevance in the last few years owing to a combination of uninspiring designs and inability to match up to the likes of Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Honor. OnePlus, in particular, has come to dominate the affordable flagship space, with the OnePlus 6 now the benchmark that other $500 phones have to measure up to. That's particularly true in markets like India, where OnePlus is virtually unchallenged in this space.
ASUS is now looking to challenge OnePlus' dominance in this segment. The Taiwanese manufacturer has been dormant in India for a few years, but that has changed in recent months. ASUS unveiled the ZenFone Max Pro M1 in the budget segment a few months ago, taking the fight to Xiaomi's Redmi Note 5 Pro and coming out on top. It isn't every day that you see a brand undercut Xiaomi, but ASUS managed to do just that with the M1.
Now, the manufacturer is looking to do the same in the premium segment with the ZenFone 5Z. From the onset, it's clear that ASUS is going after OnePlus, with its marketing materials making endless references to the OnePlus 6. That's because the ZenFone 5Z shares a lot of the same hardware as the OnePlus 6 — it is powered by a Snapdragon 845, and comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
More importantly, however, ASUS has once again managed to undercut the incumbent, with the ZenFone 5Z retailing for ₹5,000 ($75) less than the OnePlus 6. So does it manage to dethrone the OnePlus 6 as the best $500 phone? Let's find out.
Price:- 29,999 INR, 433.85 USD, 380.11 EUR
ASUS ZenFone 5Z Hardware
ASUS was one of the first Android manufacturers to adopt the notch, and the company made no attempt to hide the fact that the design was inspired by the iPhone X. If anything, ASUS invited those comparisons, stating that the ZenFone series offers a similar design aesthetic as Apple's flagship at less than half the cost.
With a majority of Android phones in this segment now offering a notch, the ZenFone 5Z's design isn't an outlier, but the norm. The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.2-inch IPS LCD display with a sizeable notch at the top and a chin at the bottom. The notch is wider than the one you'd find on the OnePlus 6, and the chin at the bottom is also slightly thicker. The phone has a glass back as well, and both the front and back offer subtle curves thanks to 2.5D glass and are protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3.
The ZenFone 5Z is available in Midnight Blue and Meteor Silver, and if you ignore the obvious iPhone comparison, the design is stunning. The rounded corners, chamfered edges, and the dark blue coating underneath the glass back make for a gorgeous device.
The power and volume buttons are located on the right, and they offer excellent tactile feedback. The phone retains a 3.5mm jack, and you get dual speakers that sound great. The fingerprint sensor is positioned right where you rest your index finger at the back, making it highly convenient to unlock the phone. There's also a face unlock feature that works reliably well most of the time, but it ran into issues in low-light scenarios.
The 6.2-inch Super IPS+ display gets sufficiently bright for outdoor use, and colors are punchy. The FHD+ resolution is more than adequate, and the screen sports a 19:9 ratio due to the notch. There's an option to hide the notch entirely, which results in black bars on either side of the cutout. However, you will be able to make out the black bars when using the phone outdoors as the panel doesn't have the same deep contrast levels as an AMOLED display.
For its part, ASUS lets you customize the color temperature to your liking, and there's even an auto mode that relies on the camera sensor to detect the ambient lighting levels in your environment, adjusting the colors accordingly. For instance, the mode switches the screen to warmer colors at night to reduce eye strain and boosts colors when outdoors.
ASUS ZenFone 5 Software
ASUS overhauled ZenUI over the course of the last year, and while the interface still sports a few distinct tweaks, the company is now focusing on providing a clutter-free experience. To that effect, the company got rid of stock apps that served the same function as Google's offerings, and the ZenFone 5Z comes with a minimal set of pre-installed apps that include Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and ASUS' own Go2Pay mobile wallet service. There's also the option to uninstall the pre-installed apps.
The current ZenUI interface feels much more modern, with clean lines and a white color scheme interlaced with blue accents. Overall, it's a pleasant change from what ASUS was offering just a few years ago.
To facilitate the gamut of AI features available on the device, the ZenFone 5Z takes full advantage of the AI engine in the Snapdragon 845. One of the AI features is Optiflex, which boosts app launch times by predicting apps you're likely to load based on your usage habits. I wasn't able to notice dramatically-improved launch times, but this feature will likely come to be handy after using the phone for a few months.
The ZenFone 5Z has three microphones placed around the device, and there's an AI-assisted call feature that automatically adjusts volume levels so the recipient can always hear you. This feature is particularly useful when you're making calls in a noisy environment. On the flip side, there's AI Ringtone, which adjusts the volume of incoming calls based on the ambient noise levels in your surroundings. Say if you're in a meeting and forgot to switch the phone to mute, AI Ringtone will detect the ambient noise and put the ringer at a lower volume. Conversely, if you're at a mall, the volume will automatically be boosted to its highest setting so you can hear the ringtone.
AI Charging is designed to improve battery longevity by leveraging machine learning to adjust the charging speed based on when you plug in the phone. If you're charging the device overnight, the phone charges up to 80% and then cuts off until a predetermined time, after which it will top up to 100%. ASUS says this will significantly improve battery health over time, and the feature itself takes about a week to learn your usage habits. There's also a scheduled charging mode that lets you manually specify the charging times.
Alongside the AI features, ASUS also offers its own take on Animoji, dubbed ZeniMoji. The only difference is that ASUS' implementation is nowhere as refined, and it just doesn't work for the most part.
The ZenFone 5Z runs Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box with the April patch, and ASUS says it is committing to timely updates. While it didn't specify a timeline, the manufacturer did state that the Android P update will be making its way to the device. Software updates are one area where ASUS lagged behind its rivals in the past, and while it says that things are different this time around, we'll have to wait and see if that's indeed the case.
About Asus
AsusTek Computer Inc is a Taiwanese multinational computer and phone hardware and electronics company headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its products include desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, networking equipment, monitors, WIFI routers, projectors, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage, multimedia products, peripherals, wearables, servers,workstations, and tablet PCs. The company is also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Asus is the world's 4th-largest PC vendor by 2015 unit sales. Asus appears in BusinessWeek’s "InfoTech 100" and "Asia’s Top 10 IT Companies" rankings, and it ranked first in the IT Hardware category of the 2008 Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands survey with a total brand value of $1.3 billion.
Asus has a primary listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the ticker code 2357 and a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange under a ticker code ASKD.
Full Specifications
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2018, February |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available. Released 2018, June |
| BODY | Dimensions | 153 x 75.7 x 7.9 mm (6.02 x 2.98 x 0.31 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 155 g (5.47 oz) | |
| Build | Front glass, aluminum body | |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| DISPLAY | Type | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 6.2 inches, 96.9 cm2 (~83.6% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2246 pixels, 18.7:9 ratio (~402 ppi density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes, up to 10 fingers | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified version) | |
| - 95% DCI-P3 coverage - ASUS ZenUI 5.0 |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android 8.0 (Oreo) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845 | |
| CPU | Octa-core (4x2.7 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) | |
| GPU | Adreno 630 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 512 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 256 GB, 8 GB RAM or 128 GB, 6 GB RAM or 64 GB, 4 GB RAM |
| MAIN CAMERA | Dual | 12 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, 4-axis OIS, PDAF 8 MP, f/2.0, 12mm, 1/4", 1.12µm, no AF |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60/120fps, 1080p@30fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@240fps |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Single | 8 MP, f/2.0, 24mm, 1/4", 1.12µm |
|---|---|---|
| Video | 1080p@30fps (gyro-EIS) |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with dual speakers | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | |
| - 24-bit/192kHz audio - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - DTS Headphone X |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | v5.0, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | FM radio | |
| USB | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | HTML | |
| - Fast battery charging 9V/2A 18W - MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player - MP4/H.264 player - Document viewer - Photo editor |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 3300 mAh battery |
|---|
| MISC | Colors | Midnight Blue, Meteor Silver |
|---|
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