Asus Zenfone Laser (ZE550KL) review: Quality for price and nothing more
4G at budget
Asus Zenfone LaserVERDICT
Zenfone Laser is a mix bag of electronics with some good and some not so good things in its pocket.
PROS:
- Decent camera
- battery can last for a day
- sleek design
CONS:
- Frequent UI lags
- display is a bit dimmer
- sluggish Camera UI
Asus introduced its 2015 flagship Zenfone 2 in 2015 and since then the Taiwanese tech giant is flooding the market with its look alike. Last month the company introduced Zenfone 2 Deluxe, Selfie and the Zenfone 2 Laser .The later one is available in two variants; one is with 5 inch display and the other with a 5.5 inch display that we have today as the review unit. So let's check out how the only smartphone with a Laser Auto-Focus camera in sub 10k category performs.
Specification
Display: 5.5 inch HD 1280x720p IPS capacitive display
OS: Android Lollipop 5.0.2 with Asus ZenUI
CPU: 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB (10.08GB usable)
Cameras: 13MP Laser Auto-Focus (rear), 5 MP (front)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 3G/4G/2G, GPS, Bluetooth, microUSB
Battery: 3,000mAh
Dimensions: 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9mm
Weight: 170 grams
Price: Rs 9,999 (16 GB)
Design
Zenfone 2 Laser is identical to the flagship Zenfone 2 in terms of look and feel. In fact it's hard to tell any difference when both the devices are seen from the front. The three touch capacitive buttons sits at the bottom of the 5.5 inch display, above the signature concentric circles metallic strip. These are not backlit but their silver colour makes them visible even in the dark. The front camera, light sensors and the notification LED are positioned above the display.
The bezels are quite minimal and the smartphone has a 72% screen to body ratio. And just like Zenfone 2, the volume controls are positioned at the rear, just below the camera module. The power on/off button is pushed on the top edge, which is one odd position to reach but then Asus has provided the double tap on display to solve the problem. We also noticed that these hardware buttons does not offer a very good tactile feedback. The 170g weight is well managed and the phablet does not feell heavy in hands.
The rear panel has a matte finish and houses two 4G LTE ready SIM card slots, one microSD card slot and a removable battery unit. The arc design of the rear panel with the gentle curves makes Zenfone 2 laser easily fit in one hand but for users with small hands, it might feel a bit difficult to operate. But Asus got this covered as the ZenUI let you resize the display on either corners of the screen for one hand usage.
Display
An HD display has now become a standard feature for budget smartphones and devices such as Lenovo k3 Note and Yureka Plus are no doubt amazing deals and puts other similar priced smartphones to shame.
Sadly Zenfone 2 Laser packs a 5.5 inch display with 1280x720p resolution. It accounts to 294ppi, which is not the best but serves the tasks well. The display delivers vibrant colours and acceptable viewing angles to consume the multimedia content however, as we have noticed earlier in Zen smartphones, it is dimmer when compared to other smartphones, which makes it a difficult to see the content in direct sunlight.
On the brighter side, the display comes with Gorilla Glass 4 protection to guard against accidental damages. This makes Zenfone 2 Laser the only smartphone with the top most screen protection at this price point.
Hardware
Asus Zen series is known for their Intel Atom CPUs but for this one, Asus has opted a Snapdragon 410 quad-core CPU clocked at 1.2GHz The 64-bit processor is paired with an Adreno 306 GPU and 2GB RAM to support multitasking. The combination is a fair deal at this price point and offers a satisfactory performance.
The 16GB variant offers 10.8GB of actual storage but the microSD card can boost it up-to 64GB. And if it still does not meet your needs then you have the option of USB OTG to plug in a hard-drive. In terms of connectivity, Zenfone 2 Laser integrates WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The smartphone is backed by a 3,000 mAH battery unit to power up the 5.5 inch HD display.
Software
Zenfone 2 Laser runs Android 5.0 lollipop over Asus highly customized ZenUI. The UI integrates a number of pre-installed Asus apps such as Share Link, Do it Later, Asus Email, Browser, Mini Movie, Whats next, SuperNote, Kid Mode, etc. name it and Asus have an app for the task, which is a good thing but also makes UI quite heavy. You can delete some of these pre-installed Asus applications from the app manager and those can't be deleted can be disabled from the auto-start manager.
There were frequent lags while using some stock applications such as dialer, which becomes unresponsive time to time and you have to wait to make a call. Then the sluggish camera UI that takes a long time to display the captured shot within the UI and the super resolution mode, which is most of the time inconsistent.
Besides, the UI integrates some features that are quite useful in day-to-day usage such as ZenMotion on-screen gestures to open a host of apps from the lock-screen itself, double tap to wake-up the smartphone, resizing the screen for one hand usage and a variety of themes to customize the look and feel of the smartphone. Moreover, the app drawer now smartly creates separate folders and automatically adds the applications you install in their respective places such as Games, Media, Tools, etc.
Performance
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser packs enough hardware to deliver an acceptable performance. The Snapdragon CPU took care of all computing requirements with no major issues and the 2GB RAM was adequate for most of the multitasking needs. However, the smartphone does not feel as fluid as Lenovo K3 Note in day-to-day usage.
Specification
Display: 5.5 inch HD 1280x720p IPS capacitive display
OS: Android Lollipop 5.0.2 with Asus ZenUI
CPU: 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB (10.08GB usable)
Cameras: 13MP Laser Auto-Focus (rear), 5 MP (front)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 3G/4G/2G, GPS, Bluetooth, microUSB
Battery: 3,000mAh
Dimensions: 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9mm
Weight: 170 grams
Price: Rs 9,999 (16 GB)
Design
Zenfone 2 Laser is identical to the flagship Zenfone 2 in terms of look and feel. In fact it's hard to tell any difference when both the devices are seen from the front. The three touch capacitive buttons sits at the bottom of the 5.5 inch display, above the signature concentric circles metallic strip. These are not backlit but their silver colour makes them visible even in the dark. The front camera, light sensors and the notification LED are positioned above the display.
The bezels are quite minimal and the smartphone has a 72% screen to body ratio. And just like Zenfone 2, the volume controls are positioned at the rear, just below the camera module. The power on/off button is pushed on the top edge, which is one odd position to reach but then Asus has provided the double tap on display to solve the problem. We also noticed that these hardware buttons does not offer a very good tactile feedback. The 170g weight is well managed and the phablet does not feell heavy in hands.
The rear panel has a matte finish and houses two 4G LTE ready SIM card slots, one microSD card slot and a removable battery unit. The arc design of the rear panel with the gentle curves makes Zenfone 2 laser easily fit in one hand but for users with small hands, it might feel a bit difficult to operate. But Asus got this covered as the ZenUI let you resize the display on either corners of the screen for one hand usage.
Display
An HD display has now become a standard feature for budget smartphones and devices such as Lenovo k3 Note and Yureka Plus are no doubt amazing deals and puts other similar priced smartphones to shame.
Sadly Zenfone 2 Laser packs a 5.5 inch display with 1280x720p resolution. It accounts to 294ppi, which is not the best but serves the tasks well. The display delivers vibrant colours and acceptable viewing angles to consume the multimedia content however, as we have noticed earlier in Zen smartphones, it is dimmer when compared to other smartphones, which makes it a difficult to see the content in direct sunlight.
On the brighter side, the display comes with Gorilla Glass 4 protection to guard against accidental damages. This makes Zenfone 2 Laser the only smartphone with the top most screen protection at this price point.
Hardware
Asus Zen series is known for their Intel Atom CPUs but for this one, Asus has opted a Snapdragon 410 quad-core CPU clocked at 1.2GHz The 64-bit processor is paired with an Adreno 306 GPU and 2GB RAM to support multitasking. The combination is a fair deal at this price point and offers a satisfactory performance.
The 16GB variant offers 10.8GB of actual storage but the microSD card can boost it up-to 64GB. And if it still does not meet your needs then you have the option of USB OTG to plug in a hard-drive. In terms of connectivity, Zenfone 2 Laser integrates WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The smartphone is backed by a 3,000 mAH battery unit to power up the 5.5 inch HD display.
Software
Zenfone 2 Laser runs Android 5.0 lollipop over Asus highly customized ZenUI. The UI integrates a number of pre-installed Asus apps such as Share Link, Do it Later, Asus Email, Browser, Mini Movie, Whats next, SuperNote, Kid Mode, etc. name it and Asus have an app for the task, which is a good thing but also makes UI quite heavy. You can delete some of these pre-installed Asus applications from the app manager and those can't be deleted can be disabled from the auto-start manager.
There were frequent lags while using some stock applications such as dialer, which becomes unresponsive time to time and you have to wait to make a call. Then the sluggish camera UI that takes a long time to display the captured shot within the UI and the super resolution mode, which is most of the time inconsistent.
Besides, the UI integrates some features that are quite useful in day-to-day usage such as ZenMotion on-screen gestures to open a host of apps from the lock-screen itself, double tap to wake-up the smartphone, resizing the screen for one hand usage and a variety of themes to customize the look and feel of the smartphone. Moreover, the app drawer now smartly creates separate folders and automatically adds the applications you install in their respective places such as Games, Media, Tools, etc.
Performance
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser packs enough hardware to deliver an acceptable performance. The Snapdragon CPU took care of all computing requirements with no major issues and the 2GB RAM was adequate for most of the multitasking needs. However, the smartphone does not feel as fluid as Lenovo K3 Note in day-to-day usage.
Games such as Dead Trigger 2, Spiderman Unlimited and Air race were pretty smooth but GPU stuttered while playing graphical intensive games such as Asphalt 8 and Marvel Champions.
Camera
Zenfone 2 Laser is the only smartphone that comes packed with a laser AutoFocus camera at this price point. It is the same 13MP camera hardware seen in the flagship Zenfone 2 but with a focus time of just 0.3 seconds, which we found to be correct. The f/2.0-aperture Toshiba lens manages to focus the subject in a jiffy and delivers shots with good detailing, saturation and contrast levels in day-light conditions. But just like most of the budget smartphones, the camera intends to capture noise when lighting is not very good.
Asus Pixelmaster camera packs a number of modes for camera enthusiasts and you can play around with these to capture the right moment. Our personal favorite is the Full Manual mode that allows you to adjust exposure, ISO, focus and the scene. Then there is Super HDR to give the dramatic effects with enhanced brightness, saturation and color
contrast to the shots you take.
The camera also has the Super Resolution mode that uses the Multiframe Fusion technology to combine four images into a single highly detailed picture. However, the mode is very inconsistent and the output is not like the 52MP that the Asus claims. But nevertheless, the Zenfone 2 Laser camera integrates the maximum number of modes to please camera lovers at a pocket friendly price.
These are some of the shots we have taken with the Zenfone 2 Laser.
Battery
Battery back-up is one area where Asus has definitely improved over the flagship Zenfone 2. Both the smartphones are backed by a 3,000 mAh battery unit but with the Snapdragon 410 chipset in action, Zenfone 2 Laser manages to deliver a decent battery back-up. The smartphone lasted for 14 hours with heavy usage that includes a lot of reading, texting, music playback, social networking, a bit of gaming, calling, etc. With moderate usage, you can make it work for 16 hours on a single charge.
And talking about the benchmarks, the smartphone also scored quite well in the PC Mark battery test. You can check the scores in the below comparison graph.
We Liked
The smartphone is capable to take good photographs, last longer and live up-to a decent level of multitasking requirements for the price you pay for it.
We Disliked
Asus claims Zenfone 2 Laser to be the best designed phablet but we have our doubts with it. Just making the edges thinner does not solves the entire handling purpose of a 5.5 inch phablet. Moreover, the ZenUI gives a hard time with frequent hiccups that needs to be improved.
Verdict
Zenfone 2 Laser surely ups the ante in the sub 10k price category with the Laser AutoFocus camera and a decent battery back-up but loses marks in terms of display and software performance. The smartphone is capable to offer a value for money performance but then you also have contenders such as Lenovo K3 Note, Yureka Plus with full HD displays and better software experience. If you have a knack for photography and are looking for a device with a large display and good battery back-up, you can go for Asus Zenfone 2 Laser.
No comments:
Post a Comment