This is Asus Zenfone 2 Laser review brought to you by Clickuz.
=====
Zzzzzttttt… Laser beam from the phone.
A phone under RM1K. What is laser actually and how does it matter?
Well, we will know soon.
In the hunt of best phablet smartphone under RM1k is not easy but we have a variety of choices of nowadays compared to a year ago.
Competition is very stiff and the real winner are the smartphone users.
Asus had make a good phones since the launch of the first-gen Zenfone but with using the power hungry Intel processor was not bringing in the full potential of the Zenfone series but finally our prayer is answered with the Zenfone 2 Laser.
This is the Zenfone 2 series with Snapdragon processor with a Laser guided focus under RM800.
The Reason
Well the moment I heard the name of “Laser”, I remembered Cyclops from The Xmen with his large laser beam coming out from his eyes.
Yeah, actually there are some phones equipped with laser auto focus but it has not tagged the name with its laser specialty.
For me this phone is sturdy, solid powerhouse performer with its laser advantage and will able to deliver what is needed similar to the Cyclops character.
The Phone
Having my personal test on the Zenfone 4, 5 and 6 and finally the 4GB version of Zenfone 2 has bring my expectation of the phone lower.
It was a bright sunny day in Cyberjaya where the haze has left Malaysia when I got the phone.
The box was simple and a typical Zenfone box and when I held the phone, it was grippy, decent and large sturdy enough to be a good competitor.
Well the body is not built as pretty as Meizu M2 Note and not as sleek as Lenovo A7000 Plus but it was build well.
Then the setup work begins.
The back cover is very difficult to remove and when I saw the 2 micro SD slot available, it was on Micro and not Nano.
Good news for some but not me as both of my Maxis and Celcom sims are on Nano as most of the latest phone are running that.
Using the adaptor for the Sim makes it difficult to remove and add those sims but I still think Asus should start doing Nano instead of Micro Sim.
So enough nagging about SIM card sizes, I wanted to know about the camera as from my research the overall experience of the phone is fine.
Well Asus has been pushing for good camera from the early days of the Zenfone and its finally evolve to an excellent 13.1MP dual tone flash camera and now a Laser guided focus.
So I start testing how good was the laser addition of this (especially as comparison to my previous One Plus Two Laser Focus).
It was good, fast focus but color not as vibrant as the One Plus Two camera but I can say it was one of the best phablet cameras under RM1K.
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser Specs
Overall Findings
A very smooth and practical Phablet that able to provide more than sufficient computing power, a good front and back camera and a very long lasting battery.
A real value for money for a day-to-day phone that covers most of the normal user requirement.
Great Features About The Phone
- Awesome battery life, one of the longest I ever used so far. Optimization of battery is good even with only 3,000MaH battery size. 6 hours plus screen on time is long and would be ideal for heavy users.
- One of the best camera phone under RM800 with its dual tone flash, revolutionary OWL night mode, and laser focus. Front facing also has a decent 5MP selfie cam.
- Nice grip to the phone, phone is large enough and easy to handle,
- Snapdragon 410 is a good addition to the phone instead of the Intel variant, not hot, long lasting battery and offers the power most user need.
- Asus Zen UI is nice, east to use and very stable. Their UI is getting better and better.
What I Want From This Phone?
- Camera is good but colors are not as vibrant as One Plus Two camera and Meizu M2 Note.
- Secondary SIM is only 3G and it does not have auto fallback if SIM1 has no data connection.
- Slimmer and different design, Asus has used the same design from the first Zenfone series and its seriously getting old.
Sample Photos
Below are some sample photos taken from Asus Zenfone 2 Laser without any editing.
What You Should and Shouldn’t Expect From This Phone
You Should Expect
- Smooth and stable operation of the phone with no quirks. The power is what you need.
- Best camera phone under RM1K in the market with the best awesome features as stated above.
- One of the best budget 5.5 inch phablet around.
- Simple design but very practical to use.
- Long battery life, over 6 hours screen on time and almost 2 days battery on average use.
You Shouldn’t Expect
- Camera is very decent but its unable to beat other flagship phones (understandable as the flagship phones cost more than 3 times of this phone).
- It is a not a slim phone, those wanted a smaller variant. Asus came out with a identical specs except the screen 5 inch and smaller battery model the ZE500KL.
- Not designed for hardcore 3D gaming, so for gamers do get the Lenovo A7000 Plus.
Summary
If you need a phone that has large screen, don’t want to luggage a powerbank around, good camera, smooth for all day to day use and under RM800, this is the phone for you.
Due to it almost perfection budget phone it has top our list of budget phablet compared to the Meizu M2 Note and Lenovo A7000 Plus.
For Who?
This phone is almost for everybody who are a smartphone user that requires a large screen or smaller size the 5 inch version ZE500KL is available.
Other competitors would be Meizu M2 Note, Lenovo A7000 Plus and the soon to be launched Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.
Accessories
Even when the phone its just releases there are ton of cases, screen protectors online and available at some shops.
My personal recommendation will be the same, get the Nillkin H+ Tempered Glass.
Slim feel get the Nillkin Super Shield or for full protection there’s tons of slim TPU cases that will serve well.
=====
Well, time to part with these phone and move on to the Alcatel Flash 2 for our next review.
If you have any question, please comment below and I will answer you.