[Review] Asus Zenfone2 Laser 6-Inch: The Optimus Prime of Zenfone Series

This is Asus Zenfone 2 Laser 6 Inch (ZE601KL) review brought to you by Clickuz.

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Autobots transform and roll out!

From a Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE550KL) user, and looking into Zenfone Selfie (ZD551KL), I was really looking forward for the 6-inch Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE601KL).

Let’s face it, the previous Zenfone 6 was a huge success here in Malaysia as it was one of the most affordable 6-inch mega phone around, way affordable than the Samsung Mega that was cost more than RM1k.

It was Sunday when I received the review phone and I was having mix feeling that this is a phone I should knew very well as it shouldn’t stray much from my Asus ZE550KL phone and the Selfie variant.

Boy, I was wrong.

Upon opening the box, the first impression it was a solid and huge phone wrapped in glorious red.

The first character that came to mind: something huge, big, solid, punch and the leader in its class…none other than Optimus Prime!

After opening it up, I quickly powered it up to check how is the phone.

First thing I was so impressed that the screen was very bright compared to the previous Zenfone Laser model and my view it is better than the Zenfone Selfie.

Operation in scrolling and opening Apps was very smooth and camera was the usual solid performer 13.1MP Laser focus based camera which is identical within all the Laser series.

The Reason

Well those who has hold the phone and use it, I believe you would agree with me that the phone is solid sturdy, powerful, versatile and the biggest and bad’es of all the Zenfone Laser series.

Tell you a true story which happened to me.

I was actually driving to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a specialist appointment before entering the Ampang tunnel using the Zenfone Laser 6 for running Waze navi.

It was sitting nicely on my Arkon car-phone holder when a car hit my back.

The impact was so great until the whole of the holder and the phone thrown out from it place.

Hit my gear level and finally fell in the cup holder area.

Of course my car rear end was badly affected and I was in state of shock and I went looking for the phone.

To my heart, I was saying “finish la, that’s goes the review unit”, as did see the phone screen was hitting the gear level with a great impact.

When I pickup the phone, to my surprise the phone is fine.

No crack and scratch was visible.

All operation is well and I even took the accident picture using the phone.

See, told you right – Optimus Prime!

 

The Phone

I was expecting something familiar and I was blown by it.

It is one of the best Zenfone series that I ever used and definitely the best value for money 6 incher.

The screen was awesome, the camera is way more than decent, the performance was very good and ideally the price was only slightly more that 1K for such a beast.

Asus has been enticing us with value for money phone and Zenfone Laser 6 is the tops it all.

The Specs

Overall Findings

A very smooth, tactile and practical phablet that able to provide more than sufficient computing power, decent screen, a good front and sold rear camera with a day of battery endurance.

A real value for money for a daily driver that covers all the mega phablet requirement.

Great Phone Features

1. Value for money mega phablet 6 incher in the market.
2. One of the best camera laser focus camera phone.
3. Smooth and highly optimized ZenUI 5.1 that is upgradable to Marshmallow.
4. 4G dual sim on both slot that uses a separate memory card slot unlike Huawei, Honor, Meizu, some Samsung.
5. Great gaming experience. No lags and shutter that I have encountered.
6. Overall great package on specs, design, quality and price. Thumbs up Asus! 

What I Want From This Phone?

1. Camera is one of the best but low lighting – medium level of low lighting (without OWL mode) can be further improved.
2. The design is nice but all too fimilar, maybe something that follows the Zenfone Max design?
3. Fast charging would be nice on the phone.

Sample Photos

Below are some sample photos taken from Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL without any editing.

Expectations

You Should Expect

1. Large and vibrant 6 inch screen for your viewing pleasure.
2. Winning camera spec using the latest 13.1MP Toshiba camera sensor with Laser Focus. Dual tone flash.
3. The best value for money 6 inch phone in the market. Period.
4. Solid phone, the build quality and feel is very sturdy.
5. Glorious stereo speaker.
6. Speedster performance in day to day use and gaming.

You Shouldn’t Expect

1. Not a small phone.
2. You don’t have to fork out around RM2,000 or maybe more for such a spec and size. Save the money and buy 2 phones instead for you and your partner!

Summary

If large screen is your thing, especially for multimedia, browsing and gaming usage. This phone sits nicely within the requirement for most users.

I am happy to report that the wait for Zenfone 6 successor is over and it is indeed a major improvement over the previous variant.

During trouble times, my specialist visit, my car accident or any given day that I face.

The Zenfone Laser 6 has never failed me even once.

It is a trustworthy companion that manage to take a heap of impact, Google for information, Waze my way thru, take pictures and contact during incident, call in and out, long battery life until at night and delivery it smoothly that made my predicament easier with the phone.

It has already a personal connection with me and I hope it will for other owners as well.

Overall it’s a thumb up for the phone; it is for me the best of the Zenfone Laser series on my personal note.

For Who?

For everybody that need a big screen, fast performance and very decent camera.

Those who need a tablet size phone that is still pocket’able.

It has what you need and almost half of the other comparable phone in the market. If you are eyeing on a 6 inch phablet, no need to think or question, just get this phone.

Other competitors would be OPPO R7Plus, Huawei Mate 8 and Nexus 6P. The upcoming Samsung A9.

Accessories

The Zenfone series is really a normal sight in Malaysia hence you can easily find the accessories available.

I would normally go with a Red Nillkin back cover and paired it with a nice 9H+ Tempered Glass with blue coating.

Also you can always join us at the Facebook Group: Zenfone 2 Laser User Malaysia to get friendly support, purchase accessories from the member and share your joy and discuss about the phone.

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Question From Asus Zenfone Group Member

1. How long does it take to charge the phone from 0% to 100%?
   Answer: It will take around 2 hours.

2. How long the battery can survive if used non-stop? – screen set auto brightness.
   Answer: 5 hours screen on time.

3. Can the battery sustain if used heavily – run multi task app and playing games in 1 day?
   Answer: Depending on the game. Roughly until evening with 2-3 hours intensive gaming and others is heavy app based used.

4. Facebook app always crash on Laser 6 inch. What’s the solution for that?
   Answer: No issue on Facebook on the tested Laser review set. Facebook and other Apps was running flawless.

5. How the RAM consumption and is it really consume so much RAM? – when there are insufficient RAM left, the phone will get laggy and auto restart. What is the solution?
   Answer:  I didn’t face issue with insufficient RAM as Android has a build in memory management.

6. Is it true that the Dual Speakers are actually just produce Mono sound quality, not stereo?
   Answer: It is running with a glorious Dual Stereo Speaker.