ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser: Revolutionary Luxury SmartPhone
Yesterday, I had shared my review of the ASUS ZenPad 8 Tablet and why it is my gadget of choice for my holidays and travels. Today, I will be sharing the review of the ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser smartphone. I got both these devices as Christmas gifts and I have really taken to both these gadgets. In fact, even my laptop is from the ASUS family. So you can say that I am a ASUS fan. The thing that I like about ASUS products is that they don’t compromise on technical specifications (for us processor hungry Indians), their products are designed well, they are rugged, they are very utility driven and finally, they are very inexpensive.
Coming to my review of the ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser, I cannot still come to terms with how someone can pack so much rich functionality and specifications along with an awesome product design for a price of INR 9,999. On paper, the photos and specifications at this price seem like a total value buy. In reality, after using this phone for the last couple of weeks, I can comfortably say that it offers more than just an awesome value for money smartphone. It is in a league of its own and sets the new trend in smartphones.
Let me dive into the details.
Standout Features of the Phone
1) Luxury Phone: The ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser looks, feels and behaves like luxury. I love its rich metallic look, its ergonomically fit curvature that provides a great grip in my palm, its incredibly thin edges and its gorgeous colours. My phone is in metallic gold and the corners feel classy and refined. The phone also comes in black, purple, red, white, aqua blue and gun metal grey colors.
2) Crystal Clear Display: Like the ZenPad 8, the Zenfone 2 Laser comes with a sensational display (available in both 5.5 and 6 inches). It offers a class leading 72% screen to body ratio, clearer and vivid pictures and the ASUS TruVivid Technology with its full screen lamination is legendary. And the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on the outside ensures that it doesn’t attract my fingerprints or scratches and offers a first level protection in case of a fall or drop.
3) Bluelight Filter: While we are talking about the display, I have to highlight the Bluelight filter feature of this phone. Like with the ZenPad 8, this feature has reduced the strain on my eyes so much and yet, I don’t notice any difference with the colors or contrast.
4) Great Photography Tool: With a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front camera and a f2.0 Aperture, this phone’s camera specs are pretty awesome. Whats even better is its laser fast auto focus, which is much better than other premium phones that I have been using. This quick auto focus works even in low light environments. It has a dual color real tone flash, which I missed in the ZenPad 8. And it has hard core photography features like zero shutter lag and manual mode, which any photographer would love. For those who do not want to bother with the details, the ASUS PixelMaster 2.0 offers a total of 16 in-built and ready to use camera modes for day and night. Some of my personal favorites are time lapse, selfie panorama mode, low light, beautification and HDR.
5) Dual Sim: This might necessarily not be a standout feature of the phone, but I love phones that offer dual 4G Sim options. I use only one phone connection in India, but when I am traveling (which I do frequently), I hate having to remove my India sim to plug in a local sim. In Dual sim phones, I need not bother about that and can continue to use both connections at the same time.
6) Incredible Sound: In my head, I end up comparing the sound of the ZenPad 8 with the audio cover to the sound of the ZenFone 2 Laser phone. I know such a comparison would be incorrect as the ZenPad 8 with the audio cover is in league of its own when compared to any phone for that matter. If I were to compare the Zenfone 2 Laser with any other phone or even its predecessor, it offer a magnificent sound experience with louder sound volume, enhanced bass effect and minimum sound distortion. And I absolutely loved the experience of the poerful AudioWizard 2.0 software that offers a built in equalizer with a high degree of freedom. This is now my preferred audio device for my daily workouts.
7) Great Quality Signal Reception: The one thing that I hate with most of the phones these days is that they always have weak signal reception even when the cellphone tower is located close by. The ZenFone 2 Laser has been a revelation in that regard. I guess it is their dual antennas that make the difference. It makes a huge difference to both voice signal and data transfer speeds.
8) Responsive Phone: The touch of this phone is fast and responsive, but the feature that I really loved is that I could use the touch even with my gloves on and sometimes very sweaty hands (during workouts). Well, may be, all this is due to the super powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with octa core, an Adreno A405 3D Graphic core, 2 GB of RAM memory and a super fast wi-fi and LTE.
9) Strong Battery: The phone comes with a 3000 mAh battery that is fast charging and that comfortably runs more than a day with all kinds of heavy duty phone activities (web browsing, videos, music, gaming and talking).
10) Expandable Memory: Like the ZenPad 8, the Zenfone 2 Laser also allows expandable memory. It has an in-built 16 GB memory and you can add an additional 128 GB Micro SD/SDHC/SDXC card to it. Asus is also offering 100GB of space on Google Drive free of cost for 2 years. This means that you have 244 GB of data on your phone and that is simply unbelievable.
11) Familiar Android: If you are an Android user like me, you would be happy to know that the phone features the latest Android OS with a handy and very user friendly ZenUI layer on top of it.
My Verdict
Whether you are a power user, a photographer or a business user, you will definitely love the features and specifications of this phone. And at INR 9,999, I think it is a revolutionary luxury smart phone and one that will start the trend for such phones in the market.
Screen: 9/10
Processor: 9/10
Camera: 8/10
Usability: 9/10
Design: 10/10
Battery: 8/10
Price: 10/10
Coming to my review of the ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser, I cannot still come to terms with how someone can pack so much rich functionality and specifications along with an awesome product design for a price of INR 9,999. On paper, the photos and specifications at this price seem like a total value buy. In reality, after using this phone for the last couple of weeks, I can comfortably say that it offers more than just an awesome value for money smartphone. It is in a league of its own and sets the new trend in smartphones.
Let me dive into the details.
Standout Features of the Phone
1) Luxury Phone: The ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser looks, feels and behaves like luxury. I love its rich metallic look, its ergonomically fit curvature that provides a great grip in my palm, its incredibly thin edges and its gorgeous colours. My phone is in metallic gold and the corners feel classy and refined. The phone also comes in black, purple, red, white, aqua blue and gun metal grey colors.
2) Crystal Clear Display: Like the ZenPad 8, the Zenfone 2 Laser comes with a sensational display (available in both 5.5 and 6 inches). It offers a class leading 72% screen to body ratio, clearer and vivid pictures and the ASUS TruVivid Technology with its full screen lamination is legendary. And the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on the outside ensures that it doesn’t attract my fingerprints or scratches and offers a first level protection in case of a fall or drop.
3) Bluelight Filter: While we are talking about the display, I have to highlight the Bluelight filter feature of this phone. Like with the ZenPad 8, this feature has reduced the strain on my eyes so much and yet, I don’t notice any difference with the colors or contrast.
4) Great Photography Tool: With a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front camera and a f2.0 Aperture, this phone’s camera specs are pretty awesome. Whats even better is its laser fast auto focus, which is much better than other premium phones that I have been using. This quick auto focus works even in low light environments. It has a dual color real tone flash, which I missed in the ZenPad 8. And it has hard core photography features like zero shutter lag and manual mode, which any photographer would love. For those who do not want to bother with the details, the ASUS PixelMaster 2.0 offers a total of 16 in-built and ready to use camera modes for day and night. Some of my personal favorites are time lapse, selfie panorama mode, low light, beautification and HDR.
5) Dual Sim: This might necessarily not be a standout feature of the phone, but I love phones that offer dual 4G Sim options. I use only one phone connection in India, but when I am traveling (which I do frequently), I hate having to remove my India sim to plug in a local sim. In Dual sim phones, I need not bother about that and can continue to use both connections at the same time.
6) Incredible Sound: In my head, I end up comparing the sound of the ZenPad 8 with the audio cover to the sound of the ZenFone 2 Laser phone. I know such a comparison would be incorrect as the ZenPad 8 with the audio cover is in league of its own when compared to any phone for that matter. If I were to compare the Zenfone 2 Laser with any other phone or even its predecessor, it offer a magnificent sound experience with louder sound volume, enhanced bass effect and minimum sound distortion. And I absolutely loved the experience of the poerful AudioWizard 2.0 software that offers a built in equalizer with a high degree of freedom. This is now my preferred audio device for my daily workouts.
7) Great Quality Signal Reception: The one thing that I hate with most of the phones these days is that they always have weak signal reception even when the cellphone tower is located close by. The ZenFone 2 Laser has been a revelation in that regard. I guess it is their dual antennas that make the difference. It makes a huge difference to both voice signal and data transfer speeds.
8) Responsive Phone: The touch of this phone is fast and responsive, but the feature that I really loved is that I could use the touch even with my gloves on and sometimes very sweaty hands (during workouts). Well, may be, all this is due to the super powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with octa core, an Adreno A405 3D Graphic core, 2 GB of RAM memory and a super fast wi-fi and LTE.
9) Strong Battery: The phone comes with a 3000 mAh battery that is fast charging and that comfortably runs more than a day with all kinds of heavy duty phone activities (web browsing, videos, music, gaming and talking).
10) Expandable Memory: Like the ZenPad 8, the Zenfone 2 Laser also allows expandable memory. It has an in-built 16 GB memory and you can add an additional 128 GB Micro SD/SDHC/SDXC card to it. Asus is also offering 100GB of space on Google Drive free of cost for 2 years. This means that you have 244 GB of data on your phone and that is simply unbelievable.
11) Familiar Android: If you are an Android user like me, you would be happy to know that the phone features the latest Android OS with a handy and very user friendly ZenUI layer on top of it.
My Verdict
Whether you are a power user, a photographer or a business user, you will definitely love the features and specifications of this phone. And at INR 9,999, I think it is a revolutionary luxury smart phone and one that will start the trend for such phones in the market.
Screen: 9/10
Processor: 9/10
Camera: 8/10
Usability: 9/10
Design: 10/10
Battery: 8/10
Price: 10/10
