ASUSTeK Computer Inc., known as ASUS, is a Taiwanese multinational computer hardware and electronics company founded in 1989 in Taiwan. ASUS is one of the largest computer hardware companies in the world. Its products include desktops, PC peripherals, laptops, smartphones, tablets and hybrid devices. The company has made Android phones powered by Intel and Qualcomm SoCs.
We haven't had the chance to enter the newly released Asus Phone ROG, but phones that focus on gamers look promising, so we keep it at the bottom of the list so we can really try it. Outside the bat, the top specifications and sharp screen look solid.
The cellphone's appearance, well ... one of our editors compared it to the Velociraptor Transformer, with gray and red accents slicing the entire casing. If that's your style, you will love the distinctive appeal of this mobile: mods.
In accordance with the Asus Republic of Gamers brand, you can buy accessory options to enhance your mobile gaming experience. This includes a clamshell case with a bonus screen, a pair of controllers dividing the clip to one side and a docking platform that extends your phone to a large screen, the Nintendo Switch-style.
Asus clearly has noticed the smartphone package for the latest handsets, but there is one thing that has not been included from Apple, Huawei et al. Price. At a price of £ 400 SIM-free, it is not a mere copy of the iPhone X, and can actually be something cheap.
However, it is something from a short distance in the mid-current range. With Honor 10 and OnePlus 6 being our two phones in this price range, Asus has to do something special to stand out.
Let's get rid of this from the start, huh? Yes, the design at Asus has taken some serious inspiration from the iPhone X for this immobile cellphone.
I'm not just talking about that look too in front. Everyone seems to be doing indirect things now, so it's hard to criticize Asus too much there.
Behind, though, the ZenFone 5 has two cameras stacked vertically to one side. The similarity was so strong that many people thought I was holding the iPhone during testing.
However, pay attention, and you will find some additions that you won't find in the latest and greatest Apple. Fingerprint sensor on the back, for one, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack at the bottom so you don't have to mess around with the headphone dongle.
Scoring one for Asus in front of it - even if the fingerprint sensor can be a bit lethargic when it comes to waking the phone from sleep.
You don't need to use digits to skip the lock screen, of course: ZenFone also unlocks the screen. There is no special hardware that detects it, so it's not as fast or as safe as Apple's FaceID, but does the job faster than tapping a PIN or password. Glasses can be difficult, mind.
The sheen of diamond that covers the back panel is more striking than the flat color of Apple, even if it's still a magnet for fingerprints. The bezel screen is very thin too, which helps keep the overall size of the handset down. Physically smaller than the OnePlus 5T, sitting very comfortably on your mitt without forcing your digits to stretch.
Is that super thin? Well, not really - but it does have a satisfying weight, and the metal frame does feel quite premium. There is very little that is not liked here, really - unless you actively avoid anything that is seen remotely from Apple.
With a notch that holds a selfie camera, cellphone earpiece, and all the other gubbins that you usually find on the top of the cellphone, the entire front is nothing but a screen.
Even with a little lip at the bottom, which still works at a very large screen-to-body ratio. Good luck finding another midanger who can match the ZenFone up front.
On paper, the 6.2in screen sounds like it will be a pretty large pixel cut, but the 19: 9 aspect ratio has helped to press the LCD panel into a handset that feels perfectly manageable after you get one in your hand.
FHD resolution + right for money too. Text is crisp enough to read in almost any size, and the image shows a lot of detail. You have to step into the flagship cellphone to get more pixels, but you won't miss it if you resign to one of these.
OK, the LCD panel does not have the deep contrast or deep black of AMOLED phones, has no definition in darker images, but is adapted to bright white and bright colors.
The color is also accurate: the panel covers 100% of the overall color of DCI-P3, and you can turn on the automatic color balance settings to adjust the screen to compensate for your environment. So it's basically like True Tones on the iPhone. It makes subtle changes, but things definitely look better with the option activated.
It gets a lot bright enough to see clearly outside the house too. Even on very hot days, I had no trouble reading what was on the screen.
The speakers were a decent pair for visuals, loud enough to let out a few notes when I sat in the garden (yes, I am that person) without turning into a distorted mess.
That's pretty much what you can ask for from a mid-range phone.
Smartphone: a list of 2016 output asus phones & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; 10118 </ span> </ o: p> </ span> </ div>
I will admit: performance is where I expect ZenFone 5 to fall. This is one of the first phones I tried with one of the new mid-range Snapdragon 636 CPUs from Qualcomm running the show.
Apparently I don't need to worry. OK, that won't set a benchmark record - Honor 10 is faster on paper, and some serious mobile games might still make it sweat - but the CPU works well with the types of applications that you will jump in and out of every time you pick up your phone .
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp? Without sweat. Smooth animations, applications loaded quickly and even multitasking separate screens function properly. 4GB of RAM is equivalent to this price, so we will make the performance on par with 660-powered Snapdragon phones. Not bad for the money, really.
The 3300mAh battery is also quite standard for mid-range blowers, even one with a 6-inch screen, and ZenFone 5 makes it useful. Without hammering high-intensity objects (imagine Full HD streaming videos, games and on-the-go filming) it is comfortable to survive all day from electricity, with a little juice left to the next morning.
With a more demanding use, you are still looking for bedtime without having to stand out in the middle of the day.
Back at Mobile World Congress in February, Asus spoke a big game about AI integration and the potential for improved performance, but finished phones naturally changed their name to an easier "battery profile".
They still let you give your mobile a bum kick if you need a little CPU snorting, or closing the tap to save battery life when you run out of power, but the impact is not significant. It's hard to find smoother frame rates in games, however.
A few years ago the Asus cellphone was more bloated than Mr. Creosote, but compared to that initial effort, ZenFone 5 was stripped back to the bare bones.
These are only shipped with several applications pre-installed on Google's regular default plants, and almost all of them are useful. You might not use the Gallery application if you have saved your photos on Google Photos, but Asus has used them instead.
That leaves healthy 64GB on-board storage available for use outside the box, with the rest filled by Android 8.0 Oreo. With boffin on Google, which is still beaver on Android P, this has been updated like what today's cellphones do.
The ZenUI Asus interface is above, and is only as narrow as the choice of application. The notification tray and Settings screen look a little different, but most Android owners will feel right at home.
That's great and all, but the way Asus works around the screen is very bad. There is only room for some notification icons, with extras transferred to the second row that you have to tap to see.
You cannot adjust what is being displayed, so the battery percentage and sound mode are a priority over Bluetooth and NFC - whether you like it or not. At least the UI doesn't disappear behind it as we've seen on some beginner-level phones with notches.
If you really hate a notch you can 'hide it' with a black blade of software, but it's not entirely elegant. Huawei has done a much better job with P20 - here hopes Asus will give a little attention in the future.
Look fully at the pixel count and you might think Asus is a little lazy with the ZenFone dual rear camera 5. The main 12per, f / 1.8 and 8MP snapper, secondary sensor f / 2.2 seems identical to the ZenFone 4 years ago.
It's just not. Asus has upgraded the sensor to the newer Sony IMX363, along with phase-detection dual-phase autofocus for key snappier objects. The main sensor also has optical image stabilization, which will help cut camera shake and allow longer exposure when light is low.
Although it's nice to see companies other than LG fly flags for wide-angle lenses on smartphones, 8MP isn't enough to do the justice of your photos. There is a significant deterioration in the quality of the main sensor, with the details removed and the color turning into the saturated region.
It's a shame, because the main snapper does a very good job when you give it enough light. There are lots of details, balanced colors, and the automatic HDR mode doesn't make you wait between shots.
For low-light shots, you really need to make sure the phone is focused on your subject, and you hold it firmly. Some photos of spontaneous dinner finally seemed blurry until I forced focus and rearranged the image.
Bright sunlight, or scenes with a mixture of bright and dark areas can show some limitations with exposure that cannot be repaired by HDR.
I am not sure about scene detection. The phone can choose 16 different subjects, including landscapes, flowers, low-light images and animals - it can even distinguish between cats and dogs. Asus calculates it then applies tweaks to color saturation, exposure, shutter speed and white balance for the best shots, but the difference is small, if at all.
OnePlus 6 has advantages in overall quality, but the gap in quality is not at the recommended price.
We haven't had the chance to enter the newly released Asus Phone ROG, but phones that focus on gamers look promising, so we keep it at the bottom of the list so we can really try it. Outside the bat, the top specifications and sharp screen look solid.
The cellphone's appearance, well ... one of our editors compared it to the Velociraptor Transformer, with gray and red accents slicing the entire casing. If that's your style, you will love the distinctive appeal of this mobile: mods.
In accordance with the Asus Republic of Gamers brand, you can buy accessory options to enhance your mobile gaming experience. This includes a clamshell case with a bonus screen, a pair of controllers dividing the clip to one side and a docking platform that extends your phone to a large screen, the Nintendo Switch-style.
You’d better read:
Asus clearly has noticed the smartphone package for the latest handsets, but there is one thing that has not been included from Apple, Huawei et al. Price. At a price of £ 400 SIM-free, it is not a mere copy of the iPhone X, and can actually be something cheap.
However, it is something from a short distance in the mid-current range. With Honor 10 and OnePlus 6 being our two phones in this price range, Asus has to do something special to stand out.
 |
| sidik17,blogspot,com |
DESIGN and DISPLAY: FACE FAMILIAR </ h2>
Let's get rid of this from the start, huh? Yes, the design at Asus has taken some serious inspiration from the iPhone X for this immobile cellphone.
I'm not just talking about that look too in front. Everyone seems to be doing indirect things now, so it's hard to criticize Asus too much there.
Behind, though, the ZenFone 5 has two cameras stacked vertically to one side. The similarity was so strong that many people thought I was holding the iPhone during testing.
You’d better read:
However, pay attention, and you will find some additions that you won't find in the latest and greatest Apple. Fingerprint sensor on the back, for one, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack at the bottom so you don't have to mess around with the headphone dongle.
Scoring one for Asus in front of it - even if the fingerprint sensor can be a bit lethargic when it comes to waking the phone from sleep.
You don't need to use digits to skip the lock screen, of course: ZenFone also unlocks the screen. There is no special hardware that detects it, so it's not as fast or as safe as Apple's FaceID, but does the job faster than tapping a PIN or password. Glasses can be difficult, mind.
The sheen of diamond that covers the back panel is more striking than the flat color of Apple, even if it's still a magnet for fingerprints. The bezel screen is very thin too, which helps keep the overall size of the handset down. Physically smaller than the OnePlus 5T, sitting very comfortably on your mitt without forcing your digits to stretch.
Is that super thin? Well, not really - but it does have a satisfying weight, and the metal frame does feel quite premium. There is very little that is not liked here, really - unless you actively avoid anything that is seen remotely from Apple.
DISPLAY and SOUND: COLOR ME IMPRESSED </ h2>
With a notch that holds a selfie camera, cellphone earpiece, and all the other gubbins that you usually find on the top of the cellphone, the entire front is nothing but a screen.
You’d better read:
Even with a little lip at the bottom, which still works at a very large screen-to-body ratio. Good luck finding another midanger who can match the ZenFone up front.
On paper, the 6.2in screen sounds like it will be a pretty large pixel cut, but the 19: 9 aspect ratio has helped to press the LCD panel into a handset that feels perfectly manageable after you get one in your hand.
FHD resolution + right for money too. Text is crisp enough to read in almost any size, and the image shows a lot of detail. You have to step into the flagship cellphone to get more pixels, but you won't miss it if you resign to one of these.
OK, the LCD panel does not have the deep contrast or deep black of AMOLED phones, has no definition in darker images, but is adapted to bright white and bright colors.
You’d better read:
The color is also accurate: the panel covers 100% of the overall color of DCI-P3, and you can turn on the automatic color balance settings to adjust the screen to compensate for your environment. So it's basically like True Tones on the iPhone. It makes subtle changes, but things definitely look better with the option activated.
It gets a lot bright enough to see clearly outside the house too. Even on very hot days, I had no trouble reading what was on the screen.
The speakers were a decent pair for visuals, loud enough to let out a few notes when I sat in the garden (yes, I am that person) without turning into a distorted mess.
That's pretty much what you can ask for from a mid-range phone.
You’d better read:
Smartphone: a list of 2016 output asus phones & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; 10118 </ span> </ o: p> </ span> </ div>
PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY RESISTANCE: SIX APPEARANCE
I will admit: performance is where I expect ZenFone 5 to fall. This is one of the first phones I tried with one of the new mid-range Snapdragon 636 CPUs from Qualcomm running the show.
Apparently I don't need to worry. OK, that won't set a benchmark record - Honor 10 is faster on paper, and some serious mobile games might still make it sweat - but the CPU works well with the types of applications that you will jump in and out of every time you pick up your phone .
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp? Without sweat. Smooth animations, applications loaded quickly and even multitasking separate screens function properly. 4GB of RAM is equivalent to this price, so we will make the performance on par with 660-powered Snapdragon phones. Not bad for the money, really.
You’d better read:
The 3300mAh battery is also quite standard for mid-range blowers, even one with a 6-inch screen, and ZenFone 5 makes it useful. Without hammering high-intensity objects (imagine Full HD streaming videos, games and on-the-go filming) it is comfortable to survive all day from electricity, with a little juice left to the next morning.
With a more demanding use, you are still looking for bedtime without having to stand out in the middle of the day.
Back at Mobile World Congress in February, Asus spoke a big game about AI integration and the potential for improved performance, but finished phones naturally changed their name to an easier "battery profile".
They still let you give your mobile a bum kick if you need a little CPU snorting, or closing the tap to save battery life when you run out of power, but the impact is not significant. It's hard to find smoother frame rates in games, however.
You’d better read:
OS and SOFTWARE: SIMPLE IS THE BEST
A few years ago the Asus cellphone was more bloated than Mr. Creosote, but compared to that initial effort, ZenFone 5 was stripped back to the bare bones.
These are only shipped with several applications pre-installed on Google's regular default plants, and almost all of them are useful. You might not use the Gallery application if you have saved your photos on Google Photos, but Asus has used them instead.
That leaves healthy 64GB on-board storage available for use outside the box, with the rest filled by Android 8.0 Oreo. With boffin on Google, which is still beaver on Android P, this has been updated like what today's cellphones do.
The ZenUI Asus interface is above, and is only as narrow as the choice of application. The notification tray and Settings screen look a little different, but most Android owners will feel right at home.
You’d better read:
That's great and all, but the way Asus works around the screen is very bad. There is only room for some notification icons, with extras transferred to the second row that you have to tap to see.
You cannot adjust what is being displayed, so the battery percentage and sound mode are a priority over Bluetooth and NFC - whether you like it or not. At least the UI doesn't disappear behind it as we've seen on some beginner-level phones with notches.
If you really hate a notch you can 'hide it' with a black blade of software, but it's not entirely elegant. Huawei has done a much better job with P20 - here hopes Asus will give a little attention in the future.
CAMERA: WATCHING WIDE
Look fully at the pixel count and you might think Asus is a little lazy with the ZenFone dual rear camera 5. The main 12per, f / 1.8 and 8MP snapper, secondary sensor f / 2.2 seems identical to the ZenFone 4 years ago.
You’d better read:
It's just not. Asus has upgraded the sensor to the newer Sony IMX363, along with phase-detection dual-phase autofocus for key snappier objects. The main sensor also has optical image stabilization, which will help cut camera shake and allow longer exposure when light is low.
Although it's nice to see companies other than LG fly flags for wide-angle lenses on smartphones, 8MP isn't enough to do the justice of your photos. There is a significant deterioration in the quality of the main sensor, with the details removed and the color turning into the saturated region.
It's a shame, because the main snapper does a very good job when you give it enough light. There are lots of details, balanced colors, and the automatic HDR mode doesn't make you wait between shots.
You’d better read:
For low-light shots, you really need to make sure the phone is focused on your subject, and you hold it firmly. Some photos of spontaneous dinner finally seemed blurry until I forced focus and rearranged the image.
Bright sunlight, or scenes with a mixture of bright and dark areas can show some limitations with exposure that cannot be repaired by HDR.
You’d better read:
I am not sure about scene detection. The phone can choose 16 different subjects, including landscapes, flowers, low-light images and animals - it can even distinguish between cats and dogs. Asus calculates it then applies tweaks to color saturation, exposure, shutter speed and white balance for the best shots, but the difference is small, if at all.
OnePlus 6 has advantages in overall quality, but the gap in quality is not at the recommended price.