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Review: ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser

The ASUS ZenFone 2 was unveiled in April and now we already have not just one but three variants that have just hit the scene.

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There’s the iPhone that gets a reboot every year – one major and one not so major (The ‘S’ variants) and then there are a growing number of other handset manufacturers who keep refreshing their devices almost every six months. ASUS seems to have joined this band; the ZenFone 2 was unveiled in April and now we already have not just one but three variants that have just hit the scene. There’s the ZenFone 2 Deluxe that sits at the top end of the tree, the ZenFone Selfie with two 13MP cams and the ZenFone Laser that rides on its camera credentials - equipped with a laser-guided focus. It’s not just the cam, the Laser also aims to fill the same price band that gave last year’s ZenFone 5 some serious traction.

The ZenFone 2 Laser is actually three different devices that straddle three price points – Rs 9,999 / Rs 13,999 / Rs 17,999. It comes as no surprise – the ZenFone 2 had a fairly confusing grid of 4 variants. We took the entry-level (ZE550KL) for a spin; is this one of the best phones you can snag at the Rs 10,000 price point?

The form factor certainly doesn’t feel Rs 9,999 – a flourish of brushed metal in the front coupled with a matte rubber back. ASUS’ now trademark volume rocker sits on the back cover while the oddly placed power button is located on top of the device. ASUS is mighty proud of the device’s 72% Screen to body ratio and it should. It makes the large 5.5-inch display fit slightly better in your hands. At 170 gms its certainly no lightweight but feels quite good in your hands; the matte back loves finger prints though. The display crams 267 PPI (Pixels per inch) with a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. Given the number of ZenFone variants out there, there’s nothing radically new about this device – no wow elements; and yet it is one of the most refined devices at this price point.

ASUS might be synonymous with Intel processors, but this device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon M8916 (Quad-core, 1.2GHz) processor that teams up with 2GB of RAM. The results are quite good; whether it’s multi-tasking or firing up the cam, this device does a stellar job. The device notched up a score of 21566 on our AnTuTu benchmark test, slightly lower than the Xiaomi MI2 and the Redmi Note; the Laser’s corresponding PCMark score (Work performance score) was 3082.

     

ASUS has managed to cram 16GB of onboard memory with support for extendable memory up to 128GB; absolutely no cribs on that front. The other huge plus is the device’s impressive battery life. The 3000 mAH battery comfortably delivers a full day’s battery life; you don’t have to worry about lugging a power bank or your charger to work.

The ZenFone 2 Laser’s biggest talking point is its camera. The 13MP shooter is flanked by a dual LED flash and a Laser AutoFocus sensor. The shooter walks all the sales talk and produces impressive results even in low light, allowing the Laser to tick two key boxes – battery and camera. Images clicked in daylight managed to capture quite a few details while a couple of pictures we clicked in absolute darkness (with the flash) were surprisingly good too. The 5MP front facing Cam snaps reasonably good selfies too. The Zen UI is fairly clean and keeps things quite clutter free, if you enjoy bunching all your Apps into folders you will love how every new ‘install’ seeks to find a relevant folder.

  

We made every judgement about this phone without losing sight of the price tag of our review unit (Rs 9,999) - there are very few devices that pack the value that this device does. If you’re looking at a device to do almost everything you would expect in a premium device without breaking the bank, the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser won’t let you down as long as your expectations are reasonable!

What we liked: Camera, Battery life
What we didn’t like: Slightly odd placement of power key
Price: Rs 9,999 / Rs 13,999 / Rs 17,999

Specifications:
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon M8916 processor (Quad-core, 1.2GHz)
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB onboard memory with Micro SD Card support up to 128GB
  • Dual SIM
  • 5.5-inch screen is 1080 x 720 pixels with a 267 PPI pixel density
  • 13MP primary shooter (Dual LED flash with Laser focus sensor) / 5MP front Camera

 

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