ASUS ’ Zenfone 2 is a smartphone Trojan horse . On the exterior , it looks awing . A huge 5.5 - inch Full HD show , 64 GB of storage , 4 GB of RAM , and a 2.3 gigacycle per second Intel space - core C.P.U. — all for just $ 300 onAmazon starting today . That ’s stunned cheap . But once you power up the phone , you might feel differently .
For $ 200 or $ 300 off - contract ( depending on the model ) , the Zenfone 2 is the late entrant inthe cheap - but - good smartphone slipstream . Ever hear of theOnePlus Oneand theNexus 5 ? Same idea . Those two phone show us how far our money could go . But my former impression suggest the Zenfone 2 wo n’t measure up to the unbarred smartphone ideal .
The Zenfone 2 is a lot like the LG G3 in the looks section . It uses a similar false metallic element / plastic back and also puts the volume rocker on the rear — a well - known LGism . ASUS even cribbed LG ’s Smart Circle casing with its own View FlipCover Deluxe ( see below ) . Frustratingly , the power button sit on top of the phone , which may be the most awkwardly place power key ever . It works on the iPhone 5/5s because that French telephone is muy pequeño ; not so much on this 5.5 - inch monster .
Still , from a hardware perspective , there ’s not a pot to hate . It feel solid so far . The problem is computer software — how it looks , how it feel , and how much unwanted software system you ’ll be devote for .
Swiping through menus and apps , the Zenfone was n’t around the bend or torpid ( Asus prides itself on a 6o millisecond touch input ) , but the Android Lollipop - inspired ZenUI is tangible ugly , almost distractingly so . The app icons are immense , the drop - down notifications menu is muddy up with a bunch of unlike setting , and the execution of Google ’s Material Design is almost cartoonishly exaggerated . I had to swallow my rude impulse to go shinny to the Google turn fund and download Nova Launcher to fix the UI aesthetics .
The Zenfone 2 also comes with a lot of bloat . Most are proprietary apps like ZenCircle and MyASUS , but there are also a surprising amount of third - party applications like Amazon Kindle , Jawbone ’s Up , TripAdvisor , etc . Before I downloaded my first app ( Spotify , always Spotify ) I almost had 70 different apps on this smartphone already . That seems excessive .
I do n’t have estimable news on the television camera side of thing either . The few low - light shots I ’ve taken are pretty grainy . Well - lit photos search vivid and the camera app has an impressive regalia of manual restraint , but the lens had a few center trouble on some close - up shots and the results were a blurry spate . Not exactly what you desire out of your smartphone .
We ’ll hump much more about the Zenfone 2 as we put it through some testing , and maybe it still has a few surprises up its sleeve . But for now , I ’m hold my OnePlus One finis .
reach the author at[email protect ] .
Asushands - onSmartphones
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