Hands on: First impressions of the Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe

In a rather loud and very crowded event in Delhi on 6 August, Asus India launched a series of phones and tablets primarily aimed at the smartphone photographer, selfie generation and stylistas. Post the event, we checked out the devices and here’s what we found--in this case their flagship ZenFone 2 Deluxe.

The ZenFone 2 Deluxe throws down the gauntlet to the likes of the OnePlus 2, with specifications, features and abilities that vie for the the same potential consumers and price band. Flaunting its now familiar multi-faceted backplate design, Asus clearly appears to be aiming at the bling generation that isn’t coy about putting their hipster quotient up front and center.

The 5.5-inch Full HD display is as sharp as it gets (403ppi, which makes it virtually impossible to distinguish individual dots,) although it’s interesting to note that like the OnePlus 2, Asus has chosen to forego a higher resolution in their top-of-the-line device. This indicates the company is clearly not headed down the VR path, where higher-resolution screens become all important.

The backplate, consisting of those angular facets makes this phone distinctive to look at, though serving little other purpose. As was seen on the phone’s predecessor as well, the volume rocker continues to be at the back, beneath the centrally-aligned camera. It’s a layout that doesn’t appeal to me personally--I find reaching for the volume on the side with the thumb is far more intuitive and natural. Speaking of the camera, we did note that its laser focus system was quite fast and definitive, especially compared to current-day TTL-based focusing systems with which today’s camera phones tend to hunt for scene focus.

The phone has a tangible heft to it, and it feels solid. As with all phones of this screen size class, you either get accustomed to it or you’ll find it too large depending on how big (or small) your hands are. I found it none too bad, as I’m accustomed to using a similarly-sized phone.

Using the phone, swiping between screens and launching apps was a snap; there were no visible indications of stuttering at any point. However being as we toyed with it for only a few minutes, we’ll leave our final judgement of its performance until the full review. But with its plentiful 4GB of RAM and a top of the spec Intel Quad-core Z3580 processor running at 2.3GHz, we don’t expect this phone to be any sort of laggard.

Stay tuned for the complete review coming up shortly. Meanwhile, read more about the launch event here.