Althought Asus has just unveiled their new flagship – the Asus Zenfone 2 at CES 2015, and of course, its new phone paid much attention and difinitely a true flagship in 2015. But it takes time for this most awaited Asus phone. With a good influence from Asus and Intel brands, good configuration, good design as well as a suitable price, Asus Zenfone made good impression to users even before its official release.

In this time, we want to take you an overview of its predecessor – the Asus Zenfone 5. Needless to say, the Asus Zenfone 5 was available for a long time but its attraction can’t be denied. The Zenfone 5 stays between the Zenfone 4 and Zenfone 6. Therein, the diminutive ZenFone 4 is the smallest (4″), cheapest and least powerful of the three. In contrast, the Zenfone 6 has the best camera and fastest performance but equiped with too large screen (6″). Therefore, it seems that the Zenfone 5 is the most attractive device with a reasonable screen of 5 inch, good specs and affordable price tag.

Our option is the ZenFone 5 A501 version, with the official price tag from PHP 5,995 at pricepony.

Design:

Overall look and design of both three devices generally are the same, except for the screen size. With a medium 5-inch and moderate weight, slightly arched back side should make an impression thicker phone and a pleasant feel in holding. However, this phone has a longish body can be difficult in one hand usage.

The Zenfone 5 was created by a good material, so users don’t have the feeling as owning a cheap phone. Its screen is protected by toughened Gorilla Glass.

Its physical buttons is at the right side, easy to use but may be indistinguishable in low light condition due to be supported backlight. The back cover can be disassembled to reveal two MicroSIM slot and MicroSD memory card slot, but the battery can not be removable.

Camera:

The Asus’ PixelMaster Camera technology 8MP camera with LED flash with a wide speaker grille beneath that Intel Inside logo, which is clamed delivers professional quality photos. In opposite side, there is a 2MP front facing camera, proximity sensor, light sensor and notification LED above the screen.

The Low Light mode is really good, allowing a user to take photos in poor light conditions, though it works best when you steadyly fix its phone on a tripod. Turning on the flash for dim lighting conditions may actually be the best option. But its performance is not good as all these features sound. The electronic shutter is slow, so sometimes you’ll be missing the shot you want to take, especially if your subject is moving.

Zenfone 5 camera-comparison in low condition

Battery life

The Asus Zenfone 5 is powered by a poor 2,110mAh battery. But it’s quite good if you only use one SIM card in operation.  Asus has the power-saving feature – the Ultra-saving mode. But this feature has one big problem, its phone will automatically shut down network connectivity when the display is turned off. This means that background apps such as messaging ones or even your download (at this time) will not work properly when this power mode is selected.

Conclusion

The Asus Zenfone 5 paid much attention in 2014 and its phone deserved with this expectation. Its phone comes with a good design, high configuration compared to others in its price range. Although this phone still has some drawbacks, poor pin battery for an example. But overall, with the price tag of PHP 5,995, this phone now is definitely worth picking up.

There is a rumours of updated Android 5.0 Lollipop for all Zenfone 4,5,6 in the next April. Not sure about its news. But it’s desirable for waiting.

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