As expected, Asus has launched today its next generation Zenfone 2 smartphone in four variants at an event in Gurgaon. All the four variants of Zenfone 2 are compatible with 4G LTE bands in India – FDD-LTE Band 3 and TDD-LTE Band 40.
The Zenfone 2 has a removable back panel, which has a brushed metallic finish. This device is quite slim with thickness of 3.9mm on the edges, which are quite rounded one. It also has the iconic Asus concentric-circle design, and is comfortable to hold despite the 5.5 inches screen. The metallic volume buttons are located at the back just below the rear camera lens.
The Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML is the top model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage, and has a price tag of Rs. 22,999. This model of Zenfone 2 is claimed by the company to be the world’s first smartphone with 4GB of 64-bit dual-channel RAM—delivering super-fast, PC-like data transfer speeds—for blazingly-fast multitasking and smooth performance when running the latest apps.
The other variants are the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML with 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal memory and comes for 19,999, the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage is priced Rs. 14,999, and the base model Zenfone 2 (ZE550ML) also comes with a 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage, with a price tag of Rs. 12,999.
The difference in the variants of Zenfone 4 is of processor speed and display resolution. The Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML with 4GB RAM with 32 GB and 64GB internal storage are packed with64-bit Quad Core Intel Atom Z3580 processor with a clock speed of 2.3Ghz, while the 2GB of RAM model features a 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3560 processor. The internal storage of all the variants of Zenfone 2 can be expanded upto 64GB via microSD card.
The base model of Asus Zenfone 2 sports a 5.5-inch HD display with resolution of 1280×720 pixels and the remaining three variants features a 5.5-inch full-HD display with a resolution of 1920×1080. All the four varants are Dual-SIM devices with dual active support, which means that while making or receiving a call on SIM 1, users can switch seamlessly without disconnecting SIM 1 if another caller tries to contact them on SIM 2. All the variants have Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, GloveTouch support, super-fast 60ms touch screen response time that is 72% screen-to-body ratio.
All the four variants of Asus ZenFone 2 are equipped with 13MP rear-facing camera with f/2.0-aperture, 5-element, auto-focus lens with dual-color Real Tone flash, and 5MP front-facing cameras with f/2.0-aperture, wide-angle 85-degree lens with Selfie Panorama. The camera of Zenfone 2 incorporates PixelMaster 2.0 technology, which features a wide range of enhancements, including Low Light mode on both the rear and front cameras, allowing users to capture up to 400% brighter photos and videos at night or in dimly lit scenes.
The camera also features an enhanced HDR mode and a blue glass infrared filter, making ZenFone 2 one of the best smartphones for capturing challenging backlit scenes, such as sunset portraits. The camera’s zero shutter lag lets users take photos instantly.
The Zenfone 2- all variants- are fuelled by a powerful 3000mAh battery that is claimed to provides more than a full day of use on a single charge. With its BoostMaster technology, it enables 2X faster charging, letting users charge ZenFone 2 from from 0% to 60% in just 39 minutes. When charging, ZenFone 2 displays the current battery state and remaining time needed before the battery is fully charged.
The Zenfone 2 runs on Android Lollipop 5.0 OS with updated ASUS ZenUI on top. Asus has put more than 30 ZenUI apps in the Google Play, so each app can be updated separately without having to wait for a system update like on most other Android smartphones. Asus Launcher, also available in Google Play features enhancements such as easy customization and ZenMotion, a collection of intuitive touch gestures, each providing a new way of interacting with ZenFone 2, such as double tapping on the screen to wake the device.
Compared to its predecessors, the ZenFone 2 is also equipped with SonicMaster technology, which has 38% larger audio chambers and improved speakers for better sound output. with better diafragmas and stronger voice coils, resulting in 4X more powerful sound output, 4X deeper bass (increased by 14dB), and 2X higher pitch. Moreover, with Audio Wizard application, the users can choose from six different output modes to give them the type of sound they desire.
The Zenfone 2 will be available in Glacier Gray, Osmium Black, Glamour Red, Ceramic White and Sheer Gold (ZE551ML), and Osmium Black, Glamour Red, Ceramic White (ZE550ML) colors. These smartphones will be sold exclusively on Flipkart and the registration is open now on Flipkart. The delivery is expected to commence by 13th May.
Asus has also introduced five accessories for the Zenfone 2, which are : flip cover (Rs 15,99), ZenEar earphones (Rs 599), Zen power bank of 10,000mAh (Rs 1,499), Lolliflash for enhancements for taking selfies (Rs 799) and ZenFlash (Rs 1,599).
