ASUS set to launch its latest flagship Zenfone 5Z on July 4 in India: Specifications and Price Expectations

ASUS has started sending out media invites for its much awaited Zenfone 5Z Flagship smartphone. The smartphone is marketed with a tag line of "Flagship Redefined". The smartphone will be exclusively available on Flipkart .  The device is said to be running on Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon 845 Chipset with Artificial Intelligence Engine, the same processor which powers mighty OnePlus 6 . 

ASUS Zenfone 5Z

What is known about device:

Apart from powerful processor, the device is known to be sporting a 6.2 inch Full HD+ display i.e. 2246x1080 resolution, with extremely thin bezels and having a notch as per latest trend. The display is protected by 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass. The body is entirely covered with Glass, and is likely to attract more customers for its aesthetic appeal. 

In global market the device has three variants for RAM/Storage viz. 4 GB/64 GB , 6 GB/128 GB and 8 GB/256 GB. It is not known as of now about what variants will see the light of Indian markets. 

On the camera department ASUS is banking on with AIE engine of Snapdragon 845 which is utilized in imaging department as the device is also promoted with tagline "AI Cameras that Think for you". By now you might have already guessed that the device comes with Dual Cameras at rear. One Primary 16 MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture supported by 13 MP dual pixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture. The camera is also loaded with PDAF, OIS and LED flash support.  On front there is an 8 MP camera with f/2.0 aperture.

The device runs on ASUS ZenUI5 on top of Android Oreo and comes with a plenty of apps pre-installed. This is one thing which takes the device a step backwards to pre Zenfone Max Pro M1 era, where first thing to complain about ASUS devices was its own UI and bloatware apps. The ASUS Zenfone 5Z comes with 3300 mAH battery with AI and scheduled charging support for battery protection.

Price Expectations: As per the specifications and design language of the device it certainly comes in league of Flagship devices of today and expected to bear a starting price tag of 31000 Rs to 33000 Rs. 

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ASUS Zenfone Zoom S Review

ASUS Zenfone series phones are spread across the spectrum of smarphone scores. Few of the initial devices were breakthrough in their respective segment (Zenfone5, Zenfone2, Zenfone 4.5 etc) , some of the devices didn't worked out for the brand (ASUS Zenfone Selfie, ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie pro). 

In 3 years, ASUS has worked a lot in terms of the device's design language, features, bloat wares etc. ASUS Zenfone Zoom  was result of these efforts that brought 3X zoom in a phone. The device was a bit bulky and lacked in few aspects. ASUS Zenfone Zoom S overcomes most of these hiccups but is it still good enough to compete with other flagships? Let's find out.

Build and Design:

ASUS Zenfone Zoom S is comes with a metallic unibody as is the norm now a days for mid-range and premium smartphones. The device sports a 5.5 inch display and is rounded from the edges which makes it quite ergonomic to hold the edges, however it feels slippery from the back as is the case with most of the metallic back phones. 

Volume rockers and power button are placed on right edge of the phone which works as expected and placed well within reach when phone is held in one hand. 

On top there is nothing but a noise cancellation mic, while on the bottom the device sports speaker grill, USB Type C slot, and 3.5 mm audio jack. On the left edge there is a hybrid SIM tray. 

Turning the phone towards back , Finger print sensor is placed on the back as most of other phones from the company, sensor was fast and accurate during our usage. Dual cameras sit on the top left of the phone supported by dual LED flash lights. Towards the bottom ASUS branding can be seen engraved center aligned to the horizontal width.

Bottom Edge

Rear View

Camera:

As the name suggests ASUS Zenfone Zoom S camera comes with optical zoom capability (2.3X), there are many implementations of dual camera setup which includes RGB+Monochrome, Depth+Auto, ASUS has implemented secondary camera for zoom which adds 2.3x zoom. Both rear cameras are 12MP cameras. The primary camera comes with SONY IMX362 sensor with f/1.7 aperture. The camera also comes with 4-axis OIS, dual pixel autofocus.

Camera no doubt is the highlight of the phone, Auto mode works well for most of  the situations, the images captured are crisp and clear. Phone works well in low light, optical zoom upto 2.3x works fine which can be further zoomed upto 12x digitally however zooming in digitally doesn't work really well. Secondary camera enables you to take portrait shots as well. Below are few of the shots taken by the phone.

Auto Mode

Night Mode

Auto Mode

HDR Mode

Artificial Light (Auto Mode)

Artificial Light (Auto Mode)

 Display and UI:

5.5 inch AMOLED display is good and bright, which can be viewed from different angles and in sunlight as well. There is a blue light filter as well which can be activated when you are reading at night. 

On the UI part, ASUS has done a good job in removing the infamous bloat-wares from the device and there are fewer applications pre-installed on the phone. The phone is running on ASUS Zen UI based on Android 7.0 Nougat. There are still few apps which can irritate the users as there is no option to un-install them however these can be disabled. 

Performance:

The phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset which is proven in many flagship devices, the processor is supported by 4 GB of RAM. We didn't faced any issues while using the phone in terms of performance. The phone is quite responsive when multitasking or putting it through resource intensive tasks. In our usage the device didn't get heated while playing light games for more than 15 minutes however in resource intensive games as NFS, Injustice 2 etc the temperature rises a bit. Good thing is it doesn't become unbearable while playing.

Bottom line:

The ASUS Zenfone Zoom S is priced at 25,999/- as of now on Flipkart. The camera of the device is quite impressive along with performance and battery backup. However when looked at its massive 5000 mAH battery, it seems like its a feat to put a battery of that size into a slim device. Overall the device is one of the best Zenfones from the company.

Having said that if you are looking for a decent device with focus on Camera, recently launched Honor View 10 looks more promising with price of 4K more than ASUS Zenfone Zoom S.

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Asus Zenfone 4 selfie Pro review: Stylish selfie expert or overpriced player in the race?

Asus has launched a plethora of devices under Zenfone 4 series this year and one of such devices is the Zenfone 4 Selfie  Pro. As the name suggests this device has its USP in the selfie camera or should we call cameras as the device comes with dual selfie camera. The Zenfone 4 Pro selfie is priced at Rs 23,999/- . So does the device justify the price tag or its an overpriced player in arena of 'Selfie Experts' ? Let's find out.

Specifications at a glance:

The zenfone Selfie pro is powered by time tested Octa-core Snapdragon 625 with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The Zenfone 4 Selfie pro comes with 5.5 inch Full HD AMOLED display which has brightness of 500nits and clor gamut that's greater than 100% of NTSC color space as claimed by company. The display is crisp and can handle any type of content with ease. Even in outdoors on bright sunny day the display is readable and bright enough. The Zenfone 4 Selfie pro comes with a 76.7% body to screen ratio, however competitors in similar price segment are coming up with full view display now.

The phone comes with a finger print sensor on the front which is claimed to unlock phone in 0.2 seconds. We can say that finger print sensor is fast and accurate and we didn't faced any issues while using the device.  Zenfone 4 Selfie pro comes with 3000 mAh strong battery with Fast charging support. The charger supplied with device has a rating of 10W (5V/2A) rating. 

On camera department the Rear camera is a 16MP Sony IMX351 Sensor, which supports 4K video recording and comes with ASUS own SuperPixel Engine. On Front there are are two cameras for selfie , the first one features Sony IMX362 dual pixel image sensor that is said to be equivalent of 24 MP resolution camera. The 24 MP DuoPixel camera technology uses the information captured by the sensor to intelligently create one 24 MP photo. The second sensor is used to widen your frame area, i.e. it expands your view to upto 120 degrees which is best suited for group selfies.

Design:

The Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro is a sleek and stylish device which feels premium when held in hand. The device sports a rectangular metal unibody design with rounded corners. On the front of the device 2.5 D corning gorilla glass protects the 5.5 inch display. On top of the display there are two selfie cameras to the right of the ear piece and array of sensors to the left of ear piece. On the left edge of the device there is a SIM tray slot which can be ejected using the pin. The SIM tray can hold 2 Nano SIM cards and a micro SD card (upto 2 TB is supported). On the right side of the device you get volume rockers on the top and power button just above the middle of the edge.

Bottom of the device houses speaker grill, micro USB slot, mic and 3.5 mm audio jack. On the top edge there is just another mic (probably noise cancellation one). Turning the device on back, Antenna lines are visible on the top and bottom of the back panel. The Rear camera is sitting in middle horizontally and towards the top vertically with a flash light placed just the left of the Camera unit. In the middle of the back ASUS branding is visible.

Camera:

The frond camera works well in normal mode where there is enough light. The images are sharp and colors are natural. Sometimes images are overexposed when you are using front camera in sunlight. The low light performance is mediocre and images become bit noisy or blurry. 

There is a portrait mode as well in front camera which works pretty well. In group selfie mode the secondary 5 MP camera comes into the play and increases your view area. In view finder one can observe that switching to group selfie mode the edges resembles that of fish eye mode. The selfie camera is also capable of shooting 4K videos which will be useful for Vloggers specially. 

The back 16 MP camera does its job as expected and doesn't disappoint. The images from rear camera are detailed and clear in bright lit areas however in low light the images are grainy and not something we were hoping for with this camera. The images loose detail as soon as the light source is diminished. The autofocus of the camera works fine and quickly locks the focus on object in frame. The image processing is quite good and images are rendered in real time without any noticeable lag.

Below are few samples from the camera.

Low Light (Rear Camera)

Artificial Light (Rear Camera)

Day light (Rear Camera)

Group Selfie Mode (front camera)

Normal Mode (Front Camera)

OS and Apps:

The Zenfone 4 Selfie pro runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with its own ZenUI 4.0 skin on the top. Thankfully Asus has listened to our pleas and this device is as neat as you would want in terms of applications. The only app on board are the required minimal set of apps to get started without any bloatware. The UI experience is fluidic and smooth. We didn't noticed any lag while opening multiple apps. In settings we have an Asus customized settings option where in you can enable twin apps feature for accessing two accounts on apps like Facebook and Instagram.

Final Verdict:

This selfie expert has great build quality and hardware strength. The phone has got most of the things on the right side. We are happy that Asus has not compromised on the hardware or quality in this device. The camera features are in line with the competition, however the competitors are offering features like full view display at lower or similar price. If you are looking for a decent camera phone with smooth UI experience then you can opt for this phone. For other uses there are still options in market at lower price. 

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Top 10 reasons the ZenFone AR is the next big thing

The ASUS ZenFone AR is built from the ground up for augmented reality. There’s a lot to love about this cutting-edge smartphone, but let’s run down the biggest reasons why you should consider picking one up.

1. Tango Technology - Augmented Reality

Tango AR

Tango is the augmented reality system by Google which marries depth-sensing and motion-tracking camera technology. With the right apps, virtual objects can inhabit the space around you in fun, informative, and creative ways. For example, you could size up furniture for your living room, or chase monsters through your kitchen. It’s a brand new world of possibilities with augmented reality and Tango.

2. Daydream Technology - Virtual Reality

VR with Daydream view support

The ZenFone AR is the first Android phone to include both Tango and Daydream support in the same device. With the Daydream View headset, you can enjoy your own personal cinema filling your whole field of view, or dive into immersive games with the help of the included controller. The growing library of Daydream apps means you’ll always have new experiences right around the corner.

3. Next-generation camera

While the TriCam system combines every technology required for fluid virtual reality and augmented reality, the primary 23 megapixel camera can take some incredible shots. It has a large f/2.0 aperture, perfect for shooting in low-light. It can capture video in razor-sharp 4K, complete with optical and electronic image stabilization.

4.       Lightning-fast autofocus

ASUS has been carefully refining its autofocus system over the course of several generations. TriTech consists of three mechanisms working seamlessly with one another. First, there’s traditional object-tracking focus. Then, there’s laser autofocus, which can detect the distance of subjects out to 1.5 meters, even in low light. Finally, phase detection autofocus is specialized at capturing subjects in motion. All of that comes together for a lock in under 0.03 seconds.

5.       Incredible processing power

Thanks to the custom-tailored Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, the ZenFone AR is able to construct vibrant 3D worlds on the fly. This requires not only an impressive amount of sheer processing power power, but energy efficiency, too. We are working with a smartphone, after all, which needs to be able to carry on with usual functions the rest of the day.

 6.       Mind-blowing sound

The finely tuned SonicMaster 3.0 engine produces premium audio in any circumstance. A new 5-magnet speaker design can churn out music louder than ever without distorting or damaging the hardware. Advanced signal processing by way of the NXP Smart AMP can handle audio at up to four times CD quality. Whether you’re in VR, or just relaxing with some tunes, the ZenFone AR will not disappoint.

7.       A beautiful display

When using the ZenFone AR with the Daydream View headset, the screen will be quite close to your eyes. ASUS has made this display exceptionally sharp to maximize immersion. At 5.7 inches, your full field of view will be taken over. The Super AMOLED 2560 x 1440 WQHD screen will produce details at the sharpest definition and with the deepest colors.

8.       Premium construction

The ZenFone AR pushes boundaries, and it feels built for the task. With a burnished leather rear and precision-milled metal frame, you’ll enjoy a true feeling of luxury every time you take the ZenFone AR out of your pocket. During day-to-day use, the Gorilla Glass 4 cover will amply protect the screen. Overall, the fine craftsmanship at play will ensure this phone ages gracefully.

9.       Biggest RAM ever in a smartphone

The ZenFone AR manages to pack in 8 GB of RAM. You can read more about how RAM works and why it’s important here, but the bottom line is that having 8 GB of it in the ZenFone AR ensures it will be able to handle intensive processing tasks of any kind, not just those that have to do with augmented reality and virtual reality.

10.   Cutting edge uses of AR technology

Last but not the least, the augmented reality or AR goes beyond VR in some key respects, enabling users to integrate real and virtual scenes — in effect, allowing you to try on products before you buy. Imagine buying furniture that you often have trouble visualizing in your home. Asian augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) startup iStaging lets you arrange furniture and appliances in your living space. By integrating the product images in your designated space, thus giving you a concrete visualization of potential purchases.

Bridging the gap between the virtual and physical worlds, augmented reality (AR) app enables students and teachers to visualize 3D models in the real environment, in real time, and at scale desired. AR Solar System, inspiring young kids to understanding the enormity and complexity of their universe. Anatomy 4D helps to discover a world of knowledge about your own amazing hardware. Zenfone AR opens up to plethora of opportunities for everyone irrespective of age.

The ZenFone AR is an absolute feat of engineering. Dig into more details on the ZenFone AR product page.

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ASUS Zenfone AR launched in India for Rs 49,999/- , with impressive tech embedded in it.

ASUS has announced launch of ASUS Zenfone AR the world's first Tango and Daydream enabled phone which opens a new dimension for use of smartphones. The phone is a result of co-operation of ASUS with Google's Tango and Daydream team, and Qualcomm which improvised its Snapdragon 820 series to come up with Snapdragon 821 enabling smoother and Accurate AR , VR experience.

The device comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB internal storage to support resource extensive applications which makes sense with AR focused tech in the phone.

ASUS Zenfone AR

The device in itself is a tech marvel considering the fact that we have a finished end consumer product and not any prototype. ASUS has stood apart from the crowd on many occasions be it the first phone with 4 GB RAM or first phone with a 3x optical zoom. But what we liked most about Zenfone AR is that it packs so much in its compact body. Unlike Zenfone Zoom which was too bulky to be used as a primary phone, the Zenfone AR is quite compact with just 4.8mm thickness on edges and less than 8mm thick at its thickest point. 

Notice the Geyser and Shower shown on big screen is added using AR

Smartphones have changed the way we look at our phones and use them in our day to day life, this transition has come in last 10 years. But today with launch of Zenfone AR, I truly believe that it is going to add more dimensions to mobile usage. We recently discussed about different usecases of using an AR enabled phone.

TriCam System

The device packs in 3 camera on rear with the primary being 23 MP sensor for capturing vivid details. The other two sensors are there to sense depth and motion. The launch event also had live demo of the AR capabilities of the smart phone where in we were shown the future of buying a car with the BMW app , where in user can Augment the car on the phone in real environment and inspect and customize various features as if done in a physical car. Another demo was done by Pune based Renewate demoed their app, which was again very cool as using this app you can plan the interiors, furniture, fittings of your house by using AR.

The Asus ZenFone AR has a 5.7-inch WQHD (2K) (1440 x 2560) display. This large size and high resolution screen makes it ideal for VR apps and games when used with Daydream View, immersing users in incredible VR worlds that appear detailed and lifelike. Super AMOLED technology enables deep blacks and high contrast, further enhancing image quality and 3D effects.

With ZenFone AR and Daydream View, users can explore new worlds with apps like Street View and Fantastic Beasts, kick back in a personal VR cinema with YouTube VR and Netflix, and get in the game with Gunjack 2, Need for Speed and more.

ZenFone AR is designed with the latest, top-of-the-line components to provide high-quality AR and VR experiences. This cutting-edge hardware also makes ZenFone AR one of the most powerful smartphones available.

ZenFone AR features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor that has been specially optimized for the demanding, real-time calculations of AR. ASUS worked closely with Qualcomm Technologies and Google engineers to help develop methods for efficiently distributing computer-vision workloads, as well as rapidly processing movement and positioning instructions with Tango to deliver smooth, immersive, and compelling AR experiences. It also features the desktop-class Qualcomm Adreno 530 graphics-processing unit (GPU) to deliver supercharged graphics performance and handle the graphical demands of Tango and Daydream applications with ease.

ZenFone AR is the world's first smartphone with 8GB of RAM, enabling it to handle the demands of AR and VR with ease. It also helps with heavy multitasking, allowing users to keep dozens of apps open simultaneously, and instantly switch among them. ZenFone AR also includes 128GB of fast UFS 2.0 storage, enabling users to store a large library of apps, games, videos, photos, and music, and open them quickly.

ZenFone AR is backed by a 3,300mAh battery pack with Quick Charge 3.0 - fastest, most efficient charging technology by Qualcomm to date. This technology enables 60% battery charge in only 45 mins.

 Flipkart is offering INR 2500/- off on Google Daydream View VR Headset along with purchase of ZenFone AR. Additionally, the consumer can avail no cost EMI offer upto 9 months. Every Jio and Zenfone AT user will get up to 100GB additional 4G data and complimentary Jio Prime membership. The user can avail the additional 4G data in the form of one additional 10GB data voucher per recharge or Rs 309 or above, for a maximum of 10 recharges till March’18. This data is over and above the benefits of the pack.

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ASUS launches Zenfone 3S Max in India for Rs 14,999/-, runs on Android Nougat out of the box

Strengthening its presence in Longer Battery Life Smartphones ASUS has today announced the Zenfone 3S Max in India for a price of Rs 14,999/-. ASUS Zenfone 3S Max will be available both offline as well as online from today itself in Sand Gold and Black colour variants.

ASUS Zenfone 3S Max

It is worth noting that in second half of last year ASUS launched Zenfone 3 Max phone with two variants with 5.2 inch and 5.5 inch display and other slight differences. The Zenfone 3 Max were priced at Rs 17,999/- and 12,999/-. Its courageous on ASUS's part to launch the successor device within a short span and intelligent to price it with atleast a 2K difference in price.

As you might already know the Zenfone Max series is known for its longer battery life, the last launched Zenfone 3 Max had 4100 mAh battery power to get you max from your phone while the latest Zenfone 3S Max comes with a massive 5000 mAh battery which is claimed to give 38 days of 4G standby time, 28 hours of 3G talktime, and 25 hours of Web browsing. As with the other Zenfone 3 models Zenfone 3S Max comes in all metal unibody design however the finger print sensor is placed on front this time and is claimed to unlock the phone in less than 0.5 seconds. The Zenfone 3S Max also comes with the familiar reverse charging feature using which you can also charge another phone from Zenfone 3S. 

Zenfone 3S Max comes with a 5.2 inch HD display which is claimed to have a brightness over 400 nits, the Display is covered with a 2.5D curved glass. The device is powered by a 1.5 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6750 SoC and Mali T860 GPU coupled with 3 GB RAM. Zenfone 3S Max comes with 32 GB inbuilt storage which can be further expanded upto a whopping 2 TB via micro SD card. As for camera, the Zenfone 3S Max comes with a 13 MP rear camera with an f/2.0 aperture, 5P Largan lens, PDAF and dual LED real tone flash. The rear camera comes with familiar features such as super resolution, panorama, low-light, backlit HDR mode etc. On Front there is a 8MP camera with 85 degree wide angle lens and has beautification mode along with HDR and low light mode.

On connectivity front the device comes with a hybrid dual SIM (dual standby) and has connectivity options such as 4G LTE (CAT 4), VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/A-GPS. Asus also claims that the ICEPower enhanced mono 5-magnet loudspeaker produces high quality loud sound while the dual microphone setup ensures noise cancellation. 

ASUS Zenfone 3S Max runs ZenUI 3.0 based on latest Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. ZenMotion Touch Gesture helps users swiftly launch apps by writing a letter on the Zenfone 3S Max’s blank screen. Multi-window mode, provided by Android 7.0 Nougat, allows users to multitask by working on a split-window or effortlessly switching between apps. GameGenie helps enhance the gaming experience with its search function offering tips and the option to record and live broadcast gameplay via YouTube and Twitch

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Camera Focused mid range smartphone from ASUS, Zenfone 3 Laser review

ASUS has launched a array of new devices under Zenfone 3 series with a huge make over in design language. Shifting from plastic to metal body that too in sleek and light enclosure is the main USP of the new series. We already reviewed Asus Zenfone 3 Max in one of our earlier posts. In this post we will be looking at Zenfone 3 Laser a successor to Zenfone Laser series which is well known for its camera features assisted by Laser Auto focus.

Asus Zenfone 3 Laser Design:

The Zenfone 3 Laser comes in all metal body with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass in front and is 7.9 mm thin. The device weighs just 150 grams which is remarkable. The screen to body ratio is again pretty good as despite a 5.5 inch display the phone fits in hand quite well and can be operated with single hand.

On the front majority of real estate is owned by 5.5 inch Full HD display, over which lies the front camera, There are capacitive navigation buttons below the display without the ASUS trademark chin which saves a lot of space. The capacitive buttons are not back lit hence it might take some time to get used to it. On the back side the phone sports a metal back with oleophobic coating as per ASUS.

The rear camera is placed at top right in the center of the phone and is slightly protruded, the dual led flash and laser autofocus grace the camera on one side each. The finger print scanner is placed right below the camera unit and has a rectangular shape which we have not seen yet in any other phone. The power and volume rockers are placed on right, while the SIM slot is placed on the left side which is a hybrid dual sim slot. On the top you can find a 3.5 mm Audio jack where as at the bottom there is a Micro USB port for charging and data transfer along with Speaker gill and Microphone.

Specifications and Software:

Zenfone 3 Laser is powered by a 64 bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor clocked at 1.4 GHz, with Adreno 305 and 4 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. In terms of storage you get 32 GB of internal storage and can be expanded upto 128 GB via micro SD card. ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser comes with Google drive offer of up to 100 GB cloud storage for two years.

On Camera front, the phone comes with a 13 MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture and dual LED real tone flash. On front you get 8 MP camera with f/2.0 aperture. The rear camera supports 1080p video recording at 30 fps. For connectivity you get options such as Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi direct, GPS/A-GPS, GLONASS and 4G. The phone supports 3G and 4G in both sim slots however only one can be activated at any given point of time. 

On software front the phone runs on ASUS ZenUI 3.0 which is built on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The UI features are same as with the other Zenfone 3 series devices such as real-time weather animation and clock widgets, Zen motion gestures to perform tasks quickly etc.

Over all we like the interface and for a change it looked much less cluttered however there are still a lot of pre-installed applications mostly from ASUS itself which still can be classified as bloatware apps if not all a majority of apps are those which are not used by average users.

Camera:

Most talked about feature of the phone is its camera with laser autofocus tech which claims to lock focus in just 0.03 seconds. We found that laser autofocus is indeed pretty fast and it quickly locked focus very quickly. We found camera to be especially good in well lit conditions where you can capture a lot of details. Low light shots too turned out good however you can still notice some noise and grain in the photos where lighting was not adequate.

Daylight Shot - Auto HDR Mode

The front camera is also good and compliments its rear part. The selfies are automatically taken with beautification mode on however you can choose to disable the feature or adjust the scale on which you want it to work.

Performance:

The phone turns out to be a mediocre performer when it comes to day to day usage. Its good for normal usage like browsing internet, social media apps and photography. However with lots of background apps running it starts to respond slow. Watching movies on the phone is a good experience owing to its vibrant display. We accidentally dropped the device once as it felt a bit slippery on the edges (like most of metallic phone does), however we did not notice any damage due to the fall. The finger print sensor is responsive but not the fastest one around. For music lovers the speakers quality is decent for this segment, the earphones works even better with decent music quality. In terms of battery life the phone lasted with around 25% juice left for which we used in day for social media apps, internet browsing , video playback of around 30-40 minutes, casual gaming for around half an hour and around 8-10 phone calls for an average of 50 seconds duration. We got average scores on Antutu and other benchmarking test scores as expected keeping in mind the processor and other hardware.

Verdict:

ASUS has really upped the ante with the Zenfone3 series, however the pricing is also substantially high for these smartphones when compared to competitors like Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 or Lenovo Z2 Plus. The Zenfone 3 Laser is priced at Rs 20,000 and offers you average specifications and specialized camera features. On the down side the phone doesn't comes with USB Type-C port and doesn't support Fast charging. However, we personally feel that it is still worth for around 15000 Rs and if you are getting some offers, cashbacks or buyback options around this range then it becomes a sensible choice.

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ASUS Zenfone 3 Max (ZC553KL) Review: Good Build , Design and Battery Life but high on Price

For long the battery life of Android Smartphones have been the Achilles heel. Though the shift to larger screens, media consumption, internet connectivity made phones really smart but the lack of enough juice left users in dilemma whether to save the power to last for the day or make use of the 'smart' features of the phone. When the race of Quad core/ octa core processors, number of Mega pixels in smartphone was still in market, there were few who took upon to solve the most prominent problem of smartphone usage. Gionee Marathon, ASUS Zenfone Max , Redmi Note 3 are product of such efforts.  We are doing a review of more refined version of one such device from ASUS which is ASUS Zenfone 3 Max. Zenfone 3 Max was launched along with Zenfone 3 series phones and is priced for Rs 17,999/- for 5.5 inch version (the one we are reviewing here). Let's take a look into the phone and see if its worth the price and hype.

Build and Design:

The ASUS Zenfone 3 Max, definitely brings a good change in terms of design language and build quality, In fact we are glad that ASUS has listened to feedback from tech community to change on the design which was not so appealing and had lot of waste space in the devices. The Zenfone 3 over comes all those drawbacks we could point out in Zenfone 2, Zenfone Max and other Zenfone devices. The phone is easy to hold and grip, it looks sturdy thanks to its unibody aluminium chasis.

On the front we have a 5.5 inch full HD display with very thin bezels around, on the top of the display sits proximity sensor, the ear piece and 8 MP front camera, whereas at the bottom of the screen there are three capacitive buttons viz. back, home and multi tasking in same sequence from left to right. The capcitive touch buttons are non-backlit though and it can be difficult to use the phone in dark in initial days of use, until your fingers are trained for the exact position of the buttons. The front is protected by 2.5D contoured glass which makes it look more elegant and premium.

ASUS Zenfone 3 Max comes with a 5.5 inch Full HD display which produces sharp pictures and brightness is good, Auto brightness works well for most of the cases however in direct sunlight we had to manually increase the brightness to make screen readable. Around 73% screen to body ratio makes it easy to use with single hand. We watched few videos on Amazon Prime and Youtube to test the display and we were satisfied with handling of the content by the phone.

The left edge of the phone has a sim tray towards the top which can hold one Micro SIM and another Nano SIM or a micro SD card. On the right side there is a power button just above the middle point and volume rocker is placed one finger distance above the power button. All the buttons are placed ergonomically, the feedback of buttons is good as well. On the top edge of the phone there is a 3.5 mm Audio jack and a secondary mic for noise cancellation. While the bottom edge sports a mic, micro USB slot for charging and data transfer and speaker grill.

Turning the phone backwards you will see a 16 MP rear camera adored by dual tone LED flash and Laser Assist Auto Focus on both sides. Just below the Camera unit, adhering to central line there is rounded square finger print sensor which is easy to reach by the index finger. The finger print sensor is active one which wakes the phone as well so you don't have to press power button to unlock your phone. The sensor works well most of the time and is accurate but its definitely not the fastest one around.

On the bottom there is sticker with IMEI details for the phone below which you can see the ASUS branding.

Features and Specifications:

Zenfone 3 Max(ZC553KL) comes with Octacore Snapdragon 430 chipset which we feel is not the best choice looking at the price and accompanying hardware. The chipset is fine in handling normal day to day tasks but when it comes to some power intensive games the phone shows clear lags.  The phone comes with a 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB storage, single band Wi-Fi b/g/n, FM radio, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, 4G support as well as VoLTE.

On software side the phone comes with Android Marshmallow with ASUS ZenUI 3.0 skin running on top of it. Still the new skin doesn't interfere much with the stock Android and you get lots of option to customize things as per your choice. However, there are still a lot of , really lot of pre-installed apps which unfortunately looks more of bloatware to us. You get few useful apps pre-installed as well such as Instagram, puffin browser, Facebook, NFS: No Limits, SimCity etc. There is a Game Genie widget as well for enhancing the gaming experience which can be activate for your chosen game and then you can close background apps to free some memory, record your game , livestream your game on YouTube or Twich.

At last the reason for the name Max, the battery of the phone has 4100 mAh of juice when fully charged. The battery lasts for more than a day easily for more than average usage for me which includes some 15-20 minutes gaming, few videos on YouTube, some browsing internet and reading Quora Feed. However if I extend the gaming session the battery drop was sharp. So we can comfortably say that with day to day usage one can even get 2 days of power but with some resource intensive tasks the battery starts draining quickly. There is a reverse charging feature too, but we don't feel its practical if you are on the move as you might want to save the fuel for yourself instead of donating it to others, nevertheless the feature is novel in its nature and can come handy in some situations.

Performance:

Despite Mediocre processor, we didn't  faced any major issues in day to day tasks, except sometimes while typing we felt that Keyboard was lagging a word or two. We didn't faced any overheating situation either even when the camera was used for a long time. The call quality is good, sound is crisp and clear on both sides of the call.

We have got 43680 score in Antutu Benchmarking test and Vellamo Metal Score of 1196 which is lower than even ASUS Zenfone 2. As mentioned earlier the video playback was good , at upto 1080p videos the phone handles videos quite well. The audio quality as well is pretty good with or without headsets.

Camera:

The  rear 16 MP camera with f/2.0 aperture produces detailed landscapes and works particularly well in daylight, however in low light the noise becomes dominant in shots taken by the phone. The lowlight mode and Night mode helps to some extent. ASUS Pixelmaster tech has been always good in terms of imaging and Zenfone 3 Max is no exception to that. Below is a slide show of shots taken by Zenfone 3 Max in various modes and conditions. Rest we leave it upto you to decide.

Verdict:

Here comes the tricky part and ASUS hasn't left any stone unturned to confuse us. For the Design, Build, Display, and Battery performance this device will be an easy pick. Even Camera is decent enough for the price range. So if you want to buy yourself a ASUS phone with all these qualities you can go for it, but if you are looking for some serious performance oriented smartphone then Zenfone 3 Max isn't the phone you should look at. Specially with the 17K plus price tag I would expect better performing phone based on the competitive phones present in market. Another deal breaker can be absence of Gorilla Glass protection for many. 

If you can ignore on the performance aspects then the phone packages a lot in itself, at the launch price it may be bit over priced but if the prices are dropped around 2000  less than it would make lot more sense to buy this device.

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