Review: Asus ZenFone 2
Asus has an interesting offering when it comes to the ZenFone 2 which can be summed up as follows:
- Cheap in terms of price, but not quality.
- Unlocked
- Dual SIM Compatible
You’re likely wondering about the last two items. Let me start with the fact that this phone is only available unlocked is unique. Asus can grab a lot of market share that way because of the fact that you can use this phone with any carrier anywhere on planet Earth. The second part is the fact that it has two SIM slots as pictured here:
In Canada, a dual SIM phone is somewhat unusual. However, in many parts of the planet, it’s standard fare. For example, you might have a work and personal SIM. Or you might have SIM cards for two different carriers in two different countries. One thing to note is that the second SIM is for a 2G SIM card. That makes it good for making and receiving phone calls. But if you’re looking to roam via 3G or 4G data, you might be out of luck unless you swap out the other SIM which kind of defeats the purpose of having two SIM cards. You can also see the MicroSD card slot to expand the memory above the SIM card slots.
The ZenFone 2 does feel solid and well constructed. And I was fooled by the removable back which looks like it is metal but is really made of plastic. It’s easy to hold, but is on the heavy side. Some might find the weight to be a bit of an issue. I didn’t in the two days that I used this as my “daily driver.” Asus placed the power button and headphone jack on the top, and the volume buttons on the back. There are also three capacitive buttons at the button as opposed to on screen virtual buttons which seem to be the in thing at the moment for Android phones. As for the screen, it’s bright and crisp and it was viewable in almost any lighting condition. Only bright sunlight and twilight seemed to be a problem. However it does attract fingerprints so you need to have a microfiber cloth handy at all times.
In terms of specs, here’s what its got under the hood:
- Android 5.0 w/ ZenUI
- 5.5″ 1080p LCD display
- 2.3Ghz quad-core Intel Atom processor
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage
- MicroSD Slot
- 13MP rear camera
- 5MP front-facing camera
- 1080p video capture
- WiFi a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth 4.0
- LTE Connectivity
The one thing that jumps out at me is the the use of the Intel Atom processor when pretty much every other phone uses a ARM processor of some description. The reason for this is that it is reasonably quick and the price of the Intel processor is likely a lot cheaper than the comparable ARM part which helps to keep the cost of the phone low. The phone came out of the box with Android 5.0 and had the ZenUI skin laid on top of it. I have to admit that I am a fan of skinless phones, or phones that have a skin that doesn’t get in the way. ZenUI didn’t get in the way of my ability to use the phone and it was one of those skins that didn’t immediately make me want to get rid of it upon first boot. One thing that I note is this phone comes with a fair amount of software from Asus and other companies. You may or may not find them useful, but you can get rid of these apps easily if you choose not to use them. Since the phone was unlocked, I used a Bell LTE SIM that I had lying around to test how fast this phone could go on LTE. I got an average of 24.81 Mbps downstream and 15.13 Mbps upstream on the Bell network. But I should note that because this is an unlocked phone, the results that you get will depend on the network that you choose.
In terms of the camera, it’s got a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front one and it does 1080p video. To see how well the ZenFone 2 does on that front, I went to Pearson Airport in Toronto to take pictures of planes landing. First let me start with the still pictures. Click on them to see them in full size:
The one thing that I note is that there is no image stabilization. That’s a bit of a downer. However it is quick to recycle between shots which is good. Now the video. Set the video to 1080p and full screen to see it at full size:
One thing to note is that while you take video, you can take pictures at the same time. Plus the controls for the camera are straightforward and easy to use.
Lastly there’s the battery life. I got just over a day out of it which is very good given that the battery is non-removable. So, what does all of this go for? You can pick a ZenFone 2 up for $379 CDN and you can choose from a number of colors. If you need a unlocked phone with the ability to use a pair of SIM cards for travel purposes, this is your phone. But if you also want an unlocked phone because you want to choose your carrier at a good price, this is also your phone. Plus it’s not sold by carriers and is instead sold in retail locations such as Staples and Canada Computers which some people will consider to be a plus. Because it fits those use cases, I think that the ZenFone 2 will find a market for Asus. Expect to see it in people’s hands when you’re walking down the street.
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