At CES the Asus Zenfone 2 was one of the big surprises of the show, boasting amazing hardware at a great price, but do the expectations live up to the reality.
The Asus Zenfone 2 packs a wallop in terms of hardware. It has an Intel Atom processor (at least the model I tried), 2GB RAM, 5.5-inch 1080 display, 5 mega-pixel front camera and 13 mega-pixel rear. The design is nice too, taking some styling tips from HTC and LG. It was one of the phones that got me really excited at CES, so how was it when I finally got my hands on the Asus Zenfone 2 at MWC?
Well the specifications are there, but the design doesn’t live up to the renders we have all seen. At 5.5-inch the phone’s screen is on par with other Chinese flagship devices, but with wide bezels and a thick body the Zenfone 2 feels much bigger than any 5.5-inch phone I have tried so far this year.
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Asus have used their own ZenUI over the top of Android 5.0 but it isn’t as crisp or polished as MIUI, EMUI or ColorOS. Stock Android 5.0 Lollipop would have been a much better bet for Asus and would have gone a long way to improve the overall look and feel of the phone as a whole.
Build quality is of good, but the materials used to make the Zenfone all feel like cheaper quality plastics. After using the Mi Note, Huawei Honor 6 Plus and even the UMi Zero, the Zenfone 2 feels a little cheap in comparison.
Pricing for the Zenfone 2 starts from around $299 once the phone launches, rising to higher prices once different versions with different processors and more RAM are launched. At $299 I feel the JiaYu S3 feels like a better designed and made phone, plus it offers similar hardware and more RAM for around $100 less.
so what happend with the price of 199$, in the case, that the zenfone 2 will cost 299$, i will order now my jiayu s3
from an italian site finally: 249 euros por 5 inch hd model, more than 400 for the 5.5 full hd basic version
Their will actually be a 200$ version but with 720p display & base spec (Z3560, 2GB RAM & 16GB storage). Many may see a HD panel as a draw back but on the contrary it will make this particular model as a gaming long lasting rig and will save some juice. One more thing GX6400 actually mets & min base (EGLS 3.1) for upcoming Vulcan. Mali T760MP2 is far from good enough for 1080p gaming.
the Hd panel is not a drawback, but with a less powerful SoC i believe there won’t be differences in performance with the Full HD one. Only battery may have a longer life in the HD version (if Mah are the same)
Some how I DID mentioned SoC (Z3560) & only performance difference would actually be in EGLS game’s.
This is absolutely not true. The $199 is still for the version with 1080p version, with 2gb ram, 16gb and Z3560 CPU.
You can find the full listing of versions and prices online.
People need to stop to spread nonsense
How about that you REED the article?! After that I just hope you WILL chose words better in the future or at lest won’t spared nonsense.
The article is wrong as well. The starting price is definitely not $299.
See here: http://www.reddit.com/r/zenfone2/comments/2xnroz/tentative_price_chart/
Asus confirmed a long time ago the $199 would be full HD.
Somehow table you refer to is a bad yoke. Look at the other pricing errors in it. We all know what Asus told two months ago & this is what they told at WMC. I don’t think they did it on purpose, they miscalculated + Intel cut the founding. Anyway I think that even my speculation for decent enough attributed 720p model for 200$ are a little too optimistic. Time will tell. So far if you ask me this whose just a another disappointment in the row. Only one who stud up to expectations so far this year whose Jiayu.
What errors? I believe this table is legit.
Anyway we’re gonna see very soon with the launch in Taiwan on March 9th. So we’ll see
Put up jour eye glasses & look at the yellow filed prices.
https://asusclub.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/final.jpg
Now do you really think that Full HD model with Z3560, 16GB NAND & 2GB RAM will cost 199$? Not only that table is not legit it’s a yoke! Asus actually still don’t know how to price 4GB model’s but shore some prick out there who made table figured it out. By the way you didn’t actually even put a right link to it! You put a link to comments not a, I really can’t call that as article.
My god…
Yes I believe it’ll be since this is the base model and Asus had always said it’d be $199.
Phone is being released in 3 days. I’m sure they know the pricing.
I linked to reddit and not the picture on purpose, to provide context and source.
Whatever man. Believe what you want. You could also learn how to write in English. See ya
I ashore you improving my writing will be much easier task then your thinking. Insulting people & not just me based on not even rumors that you from some bizarre reasons think are facts is far from normal adequate social behavior.
Well, Lazar Prodanovic, what about an apology for Bryan now that we know he was right and you were wrong?
For what? He whosent right about anything. Dream on.
But he was right, and you were wrong. The 2GB 1080p version was sold for 200$ and still is. Just apologize.
It whose sold for 206$ in Tajvan only, costed significantly more everywhere else. Discounts & so don’t count we ware talking about regular price. So you are wrong, he whose wrong & so whose I. I don’t expect you to apologize at all.
Now you’re just being stubborn. Fine, you’re choice.
Better stubborn than moron.
The moron says what?
Hey, ready to admit you were wrong?
LOL 🙂
The article is wrong. There is still a $199 with full HD.
http://www.reddit.com/r/zenfone2/comments/2xnroz/tentative_price_chart/
It has been confirmed many times by Asus
i think 250 $ for 2gb version and 350 for 4 gb version is a great deal
jiayu s3 ftw i gess…
Yes
im disappointed
Any sign of the Ulefone Dare N1 at MWC? I’m waiting on buying the Ecoo Aurora till I see what this new rumored Ulefone is about.
Looking for that too.
Let us wait for next monday launch in Taiwan.
Aliexpress preorders were all 64GB storage version. So taking that into consideration 299$ for ZE551ML FullHD/Z3560/2GB RAM/64GB internal storage is not that bad. 32GB could be 249/259 and 199$ goes for 16GB internal storage.
I would go for the 3560 with 2gb of ram if camera quality is the same, I don`t care for FHD display, HD is just fine, and it saves battery life too. As long as Intel can deliver the same battery life and it already has better graphics, I`ll be happy to pay 199$ for the cheaper model. It’s just 200Mhz CPU speed, I can live with that.
So the specs come down, we have to deal with ZenUI and cannot even use xposed (no xposed on lollipop for x86). Not too impressed anymore…
On the other hand, the 5inch vs 5.5 is quite welcome