Asus had launched smartphones in India like a salvo of Hellfire missiles to tackle the raging war for eyeballs in an overcrowded market. Its latest offering, Zenfone 2, was launched in April. Here is an IANS analysis of the device, which costs Rs 23,999:
Design: The latest warrior from Asus' stable comes with a look and feel that will elicit conflicting opinions. The phone has no buttons at the side and the power button is placed on top, making things difficult if it is used with one hand. There is a key at the back of the phone under the rear camera unit which doubles up as a shutter and volume rocker key. There are no separate volume controls in the user interface for media, ringtone and notifications. Hence the warrior will go silent on all fronts together except alarms.
The back panel curve is a bit higher (10.9 millimetres) most probably to house the unremovable 3,000 mAH battery. There is an Intel logo at the back to not only indicate the processor inside the phone but to remind the world about the relationship between the two companies. The speaker mesh is on the top and the micro USB is at the bottom. The phone weighs around 170 grammes.
Display: The Zenfone 2 ships with a 5.5-inch 1920*1080 fHD display with a pixel density of 403, so expect clearer, sharper pictures. There were no problems with viewing angles as the display comes with a 178 degree view angle and 400 nits brightness. As a part of safety, the screen uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3 which makes it super scratch-resistant. It also uses a 20nm Oleophobic anti-fingerprint coating for the least touch friction. The device has a screen-to-body ratio of 72 percent. The screen can also access motion gestures which form a part of the user interface of the device.
Hardware: This is where the Zenfone 2 turns heads. The combo of a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 quad-core processor (2.3GHz) and 4-GB DDR3 RAM makes the smartphone a mean machine. This is the first 4GB RAM phone in the world. As a part of its extended support, the processor, which comes with Intel Exclusive 3D Tri-Gate Transistor Technology, will back OpenGL 3.2. Hence, users can expect superior gaming, multi-tasking and a smooth performance without lags.
