4GB RAM version of the Asus Zenfone 2 on sale from only $273 in China


asus zenfone 2

Mainland China has received its share of Asus Zenfone 2 lovin today with the release of 3 versions of the flagship phone ranging from 1299 to 1999 Yuan.

The Asus Zenfone 2 is really shaping up to be a true global device. So far the phone has been officially released for sale in Taiwan and now see’s an official launch and pricing for mainland China.

Gizchina News of the week


Asus have launch 3 versions of the Asus Zenfone 2 in China, an entry-level model costs 1299 Yuan ($209) with 5.5-inch FHD display, 1.8Ghz Z3560 Intel CPU, 2GB RAM and 16GB memory. Next in the range is the mid-range Asus Zenfone 2 with the same 1.8Ghz chipset but 4GB RAM and 32GB memory costing 1699 Yuan ($273) and finally there is a 1999 Yuan 64GB model too.

Asus don’t appear to be offering the 5-inch version of the phone, which makes sense as most Chinese phone users do prefer a large device, plus these retail prices but the 5.5-inch Zenfone 2 on a level playing field with Xiaomi and Meizu models.

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44 Comments

  1. sai bhagavan
    March 24, 2015

    Amazing phone with amazing specs and price….brilliance at its best asus with these modles will give a great competition to xiaomi amd meizu and others…

  2. Muhammad Yasir
    March 24, 2015

    Asus <3 !
    great JOB!

  3. George
    March 24, 2015

    Now you talking Jose, you got good specs, good price and it’s ugly as fck with that triple lower chin, but what the heck, I’m glad for people who like it

    • jimberkas
      March 24, 2015

      agreed. i’m interested as it should work well in the US. specs are plenty good for me. but its damned ugly

  4. realjjj
    March 24, 2015

    The 1699CNY model is priced ok against the MX4, Coolpad X7 but maybe not so much against the Nubia Z7 mini and some others.
    The 1299CNY model is too much since it goes against the m1 Note , Lenovo K3 Note and so on. If they had the faster SoC in this model the price would be a lot easier to swallow but with much lower clocks it’s perf drops too much for the price.

  5. Guaire
    March 24, 2015

    Zenfone 2 has a big fat advantage over Chinese phones which is international availability.

    You can’t buy a 2000 yuan flagship outside China with same or close price.

    • realjjj
      March 24, 2015

      That’s not all that true and this is not a flagship (it’s bellow the flagship level in per and specs).
      Huawei expanded the Honor brand to India, EU, Brazil, Many others are selling in India and a few other Asian markets, Meizu does sell in a few European markets, OnePlus is available in lots of locations.

      • Guaire
        March 24, 2015

        You are right this isn’t a high end device for 2015, but comparing to 2014 flagships it’s head to head.

        Also current 2000 yuan devices not high end devices anymore. Hopefully their successors will be.

        Huawei’s international availability is much better than most Chinese competitors, but their flagships also not so high end.

        OnePlus One was a real flagship at the launch and they sold it in a lot countries but availability was a serious issue.

        Meizu reached to my country too, but they are working with a small distributor and imported in small numbers. Their prices are inflated most probably thanks to petty distribitor.

        • realjjj
          March 24, 2015

          It’s debatable how comparable it is to the SD801 and even MT6595 and that’s for the 4GB RAM version that has the SoC at 2.3GHz. i consider it slightly bellow those in perf but for me CPU perf is more important than GPU since if i game i’ll do it on PC not mobile. Ofc value wise this ha sthe extra RAM so i see it as placed ok.

          The 2GB version has the SoC at just 1.8GHz so CPU perf takes a considerable hit- this is something buyers really need to remember when deciding what to purchase, it competes with the 145-160$ new midrange.

          For screen quality, cams and other ,we’ll have to wait and see, hopefully everything is at least ok.

          Edit: Guess we both forgot the obvious, the Zenfone 2 itself will have a somewhat limited availability, as Asus is still expanding the markets they are active in. It’s rolling out slowly in key markets over the next 2-3 months and it will be available in more markets than their previous phones but still not truly global.

          • Guaire
            March 24, 2015

            I agree with you about 1.8GHz version.

          • Ekeluo Chukwuogor
            March 24, 2015

            Actually it’s as fast, if not faster than those SoCs at 1.8ghz, at least in tablets. Go to notebookcheck.net, they has several asus tablet reviewed featuring these chips. Performance may differ in phone for tho.

            • realjjj
              March 24, 2015

              No it’s not, you are the one that needs to do his homework.

            • View From The Top
              March 24, 2015

              It IS, actually. Search for real world benchmarks on Anandtech. 🙂

            • realjjj
              March 24, 2015

              Go ahead and do that, the guy claims that at 1.83GHz it is faster than SD801 and that’s very very untrue.

              The Intel core is similar in perf to A53 clock for clock (except weaker in encryption).
              And btw Anandtech doesn’t do any real world tests at all. They are focused on synthetic benchmarks and even those are mostly browser perf and GPU perf.

    • balcobomber25
      March 24, 2015

      To people outside China not have access to the internet?

      I bought my Mi4 for $325 online with free shipping to the US. Even looking now they are selling on Aliexpress for as low as $335, the Honor 6 is selling for as low as $300. Amazon has the Mx4 listed for $355. That is not even to mention the One Plus One, if you live in one of their countries.

      • n
        April 18, 2015

        does the mi4 get lte in the us?

        • balcobomber25
          April 19, 2015

          I am the wrong person to ask that question to for two reasons: I have the original 3G version and I don’t live in the US full time. I have used my 3G model in the US and got very good speeds on ATT. Ask Max Power he has a Mi4 and lives in the US.

  6. Manos
    March 24, 2015

    Resellers will make a lot oF money with this one I have saw it 560$ Easy money! they can’t wait to get it to stock!

  7. Karly Johnston
    March 24, 2015

    US launch is when?

  8. toioioio
    March 24, 2015

    Hey andi,can you provide info of on-screen time per charge?
    im wondering if im to switch from honor6 to zenfone2(ze551ml)

  9. Kazi Noman
    March 24, 2015

    In which online shop its available now ?

  10. Jack
    March 25, 2015

    Wondering when will this phone launch in Singapore?

  11. Guaire
    March 25, 2015

    Honor 6 wasn’t real high end from the beginning even for 2014. Nice phone though.

    Yours is an exceptionial price for Mi4. Most of people buying it more expensive via resellers and have to pay custom duties.

    MX4’s Amazon price is $70 more expensive.

    For to buying Zenfone 2, people could go local store and get it instantly at same or close price. You have not to struggle to get an invite like OnePlus One.

    • balcobomber25
      March 26, 2015

      Honor 6 wasn’t high end?? It was a near match of the Mi4/One Plus One specs, the only difference was the SoC, Huwaeii used a Kirin 920 instead of the 801 in the others. The Honor 6 had near equal performance to both of those.

      I got my Mi4 on sale, but its very easy to find them for around $335 on sites such as Aliexpress with free shipping. Custom duties vary from country to country. I have never paid them in the US and only once in Thailand.

      Mx4 is more expensive but it is also a better phone.

      It all depends what country you live in. I have never seen Zenphones in any store in the US, and in Thailand they are marked up.

  12. Steven Fox
    March 25, 2015

    It will end up around 350 USD after resellers. Not a bad price, but still I`d rather buy Xiaomi or Meizu at that price.

    • TheEvilPenguinGamer .
      March 25, 2015

      Resellers usually charge about $30 extra for phones in this price range, once they are readily available.

      • jimmy
        March 30, 2015

        if this 30usd is including dhl shipping fee and paypal fee ,i suppose i can accept ,my last xiaomi 4 order from http://flosmall.com/phones/xiaomi-mi4-white-detail,the price including dhl shipping fee and just 5 days after payment ,the phone reach my hand .

    • k
      April 18, 2015

      I would like xiaomi or meizu, but are there actually ones that get LTE in the US?

  13. 3165dwayne
    March 25, 2015

    If we are talking about the 2GB version with 720p then I could say that it is comparable to certain phones with a snapdragon 801. When it benchmarks it gets scores similar to that of the HTC One m8 which is around 4300. I have a G3 which is running a custom ROM, kernel, and governor. These customization are the only way that the G3 got a similar score to the One m8 and zenfone 2 . My customized G3 scored a 43463 . Before I rooted and whatever else the G3 used to get a score of 37000. The zenfone gets such a high score without being rooted or anything else. That’s pretty good. I just ordered the 4GB version. If everything goes well and I receive it I will be sure to tell how well it performs. Although you can look it up now. I believe that one get s a score of around 50,000 which is much higher than the HTC One m8. The note 4 scores lower (around 3000 points lower) but that phone has a QHD screen. So I guess it is close to the snapdragon 805.

  14. Owsley_66
    March 25, 2015

    For anyone in the U.S., it’s hard to find an unlocked gsm 4G capable phone with comparable specs in this price range. The ZE551ML shows to have all the necessary frequencies to get 4G in the U.S. for At&T and TMobile and that’s all you need.

    On Ebay right now this particular model is selling for anywhere from U.S. $299 to U.S. $319. From what I can tell, this is the 2GB model and this is one of the models that was released in Taiwan. No idea what this model will cost once ASUS releases it for sale in the U.S. but I’m guessing that it’s going to be priced in the U.S. $300 dollar range, +/- a bit.

    For those of us in the U.S., mayiandjay has done a nice review of the phone on youtube.

    https://youtu.be/HVYMtgmOUO4

    If the link doesn’t work, just do a search for mayiandjay on Youtube.

    • balcobomber25
      March 26, 2015

      Have you seen any traditional stores actually selling Asus phones? I have never seen them in any store in New England.

      • Owsley_66
        March 26, 2015

        No.

      • Karly Johnston
        March 26, 2015

        they sell them online.

    • sandro khokhiashvili
      March 26, 2015

      jiayu s3

  15. Karly Johnston
    March 26, 2015

    Zenfone 2 has a big fat advantage over Chinese phones… the 4G LTE actually works.

    • apple
      April 8, 2015

      yes, i think so , ram 4g. rom 32g,i see the details on this shophttp://flosmall.com/phones/asus-zenfone-2-ze551ml-black-4gb-32gb-detail

    • Og Hilario
      May 2, 2015

      Asus company is found in china?
      I am confuse.. can some one answer my question?

  16. Greg Zeng
    March 27, 2015

    Good to know that you, all your goods, family & friends don’t care about clothing, accessories, etc. Most of us, myself included, dress in okay clothes, etc, rather than the birthday suits into which we are born.

    All my gadgets benefit by “woman’s” nail polish. Sometimes just a hard clear coat on easily worn out parts (icons, lettering). For ergonomic reasons & beauty, I do what women do with lipstick, hair & cloth coloring, & facial makeup. It highlights parts that are important to me (power buttons, sockets, etc). Stick-on earings enable me to quickly visualize & touch-feel where are the physical controls of my device.

    As a very old man now, I’m into accessories, etc just after my mother created me. Same with all my personal goods, friends, family, smartphones, etc. Be so happy with your nudist barebones life. I’m not brave enough for that.

    • George
      March 27, 2015

      Why you trippin Greg?

  17. Tas
    March 27, 2015

    What is the best high end phone to choose now on market and what is one that coming in the future? I mean the whole deal to be good, cameras, processors, ram, everything. Price doesn’t matter.

  18. Ali
    March 27, 2015

    Which sites do you recommend to buy cellphones, tablets and accessories in china?

  19. carol
    March 30, 2015

    i heard this shop presell this phone , stock will arrive in April~~~~http://flosmall.com/phones/asus-zenfone-2-ze551ml-black-4gb-32gb-detail

  20. Kev45
    April 1, 2015

    299€ for 4GB model in France

  21. Og Hilario
    May 2, 2015

    Asus company is Found in China or Taiwan.? I am so confuse..