Today we are going to review a brand new flagship smartphone from ASUS which is Zenfone Zoom. ASUS launched World’s thinnest 3X Optical Zoom Smartphone ASUS Zenfone Zoom in India on 22nd January 2016 in Agra. We are using this Smartphone from past one week and we are here with the detailed review of ASUS Zenfone Zoom at Engineers Corner.
Checkout the below Genuine and Honest Review of ASUS Zenfone Zoom which was released in CES 2016 and now in India. ASUS CEO Jerry Shen invited India to See the World Up Close with the revolutionary Zenfone Zoom (ZX551ML). It has incredible Camera and offers great performance.
ASUS Zenfone Zoom Design and Display Review:
The ASUS Zenfone Zoom has Full Metal Uni-Body Infused with Fine Leather Craftsmanship.Unlike other ASUS Zenfone model, The Zenfone Zoom has very different and unique design, As we already know that ASUS win Design Award and they are best at it. ASUS has given a diamond cutting edge with aluminium uni-body frame and with 5mm ultra thin edges. The Front Panel has 5.5 inch full HD IPS Display with 403ppi pixel density. On the front panel you will get as usual like other zenfone the 3 touch buttons for return, home and task manager. The Zenfone Zoom has given a rounded corner and definitely it looks thin as it weighs only 185g.
There are no physical buttons at the left side of the smartphone but on the right side of the Zenfone Zoom it has Volume Keys which can be used for 3x Optical Zoom and 12x Total Zoom. A small Power or Lock button is also given just below the Volume keys. It helps you to Lock/Unlock and Power Off your Device. At the bottom on the right side of Zenfone Zoom you will see a very interesting physical buttons for Camera. As ASUS Zenfone Zoom is known as Pocket DSLR Camera Smartphone and that’s why ASUS has given one Camera button to take your pictures an a small button to record your videos.
Talking about the Back Panel of the Device it looks really awesome at the back side they have a given a leather like texture that gives a premium look to the device.We have speaker at the back bottom of the smartphone. At the back it has a camera with having 3x optical zoom. The 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top corner of the phone and at the bottom it carries the charger.
ASUS Zenfone Zoom Performance Review:
Honestly speaking no one can beat ASUS Zenfone Zoom in terms of Performance, While reviewing this smartphone we found the best thing about this smartphone apart from the Camera features. The Performance of the ASUS Zenfone Zoom is just awesome and above our expectations. The ASUS Zenfone Zoom is power packed with 64-bit Intel Atom Z3590 CPU processor clocked at 2.3GHz.
The ASUS Zenfone Zoom has PC Grade Performance, it comes with 64-bit dual channel 4 GB RAM and 128 GB Internal Storage which is huge. It has also expandable storage upto 128 GB. Seriously, when we were using this Smartphone we were literally amazed by it’s performance. As it gives you 4 GB RAM and 128 GB Internal Storage I mean WOW ! This is something Amazing. It is not less than your PC with these awesome configuration for your pocket smartphone. Wheather you have opened a high or low application no matter what your Zenfone Zoom will work smoothly. This is best for multitasking work and help you to give multi tasking feature no matter what.
We have not seen any app crashes, all the apps were running smoothly and fast. Zenfone Zoom has Quad core processor but after the bench mark test we founf that it is better and gives good results than octa core processor. While Playing Games on ASUS Zenfone Zoom we didn’t find any lag or crash in the smartphone, All games were working perfectly fine and gives you smooth and great experience as Zenfone Zoom has PowerVR G6430 GPU that offers you an amazing gaming experience. Even higher games works smooth. This is the same technology that is used on Apple devices.Some of the games we played are Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 5 and many more.
In the ASUS Zenfone Zoom you will also get NFC Technology to share and exchange data or information on the go with other NFC equipped smartphone. Apart from ASUS Zenfone Zoom also comes with 60ms touch response time and touch sensor even if you are wearing gloves. It has 4 LDS antennas for best call and data quality with one 4G LTE Single SIM.
ASUS Zenfone Zoom Camera Review:
Okay, So this is what the best part of this device is, talking about the ASUS Zenfone Zoom and not reviewing and discussing Zenfone Zoom Camera will be unfair. ASUS Zenfone Zoom comes with 3x Optical Zoom. It has a 13MP rear and 5MP front camera. They have improved the OIS that allows you to give the best and stable image. It has the Laser Focus technology that focuses the object in just 0.03 seconds, which means you have the best picture. It has 10-element lens that has helps to main the smartphone look unlike the digital cameras. It also has 4 stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and ISO upto 3200 to give you complete DSLR like experience never before.
When we were taking Pictures at Taj Mahal, Agra during the launch of this Smartphone, we found that it has amazing Zoom and actually gives you a Pocket DSLR experience. Saying that it is same as DSLR is also not fair because you can’t just compare with DSLR but to get the feel like the same Zenfone Zoom can give you that experience because it is not less than DSLR. ASUS Engineers worked so hard to bring the unbelievable 3x optical zoom technology in such a small hardware with their innovative technology.
The Camera of Zenfone Zoom is just awesome in day light and offers you a DSLR like quality pictures but in low light it disappoint us. But if you’re photographer then you can actually take better pictures by doing some manual settings to get more awesome pictures even in low light. because ASUS Zenfone Zoom offers a lots of manual editing feature along with some great apps in built with camera to give great exposure to your pictures. Zenfone Zoom provides dual-LED Real Tone flash at rear camera to capture natural skin tones, and a revolutionary laser auto-focus system that frames and focuses every shot in no more than 0.03 seconds. Talking about the front Camera it is same any Zenfone 2 Smartphones, Zenfone Zoom has 5 Mega Pixel front Camera with f/2.0, 88 degree wide view lens.
Below are some of the Technology and integrated apps which Zenfone Zoom offers to make your pictures more real and give you full customization options:
- Pixel Master 2.0 – this features include Low Light Mode, Backlight (Super HDR) mode, Beautification mode, Professional (manual-settings) mode etc.
- Mini Movie – By using this feature you can just simply select all your pictures and rest of the work will be done by your Zenfone Zoom by this feature. It will create a awesome mini movies for you with music and smart edits. you can even customize and select theme on your own.
- Photo Collage – This feature will let you create a photo collage for you.
- Pano Selfie and lots more to do.
We took some awesome photographs at the Launch event which you can checkout below.
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ASUS Zenfone Zoom Zen UI (User Interface) Review:
Zenfone Zoom comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop and ASUS ZenUI 2.0 with over 1000+ software enhancements, Zenfone Zoom has amazing features to lock and unlock your device without using power button, you can just simply double tap the screen to awake or lock the screen. The Zen UI gives you the One Hand mode technology which enables you to fix the screen size according to you to use the phone with one hand. Zen UI also offers Easy Mode, Kids Mode, Zen Motion and Bluelight filter for eye protection to give you better experience.
The Best part of ASUS Zenfone Zoom Zen UI is the Power Saver Mode which smartly manages your smartphone to extend batter life where the user can customize the different mode to get best results. Zenfone Zoom has the same UI as any other Zenfone series which is i find a lacking point of the phone Because the UI not that great, ASUS needs to work on this. we think in future Zen UI will be updated with more enhancements.
ASUS Zenfone Zoom Battery Review:
ASUS Zenfone Zoom has a 3000mAh Non-removable Li-Po battery (lithium polymer battery). When we at Engineers Corner used this Smartphone we find this is the only negative points behind this phone. if you use this phone from the morning and use all apps, gaming, calls, internet the battery drains and gives backup to 6:00pm in the evening. All we can say is it gives you maximum 15 hours of battery back up if you are using the phone with internet. So, we cannot say that it has one day long Battery and somewhere down the line it disappoint us because it’s a high end smartphone.
We think that this can be overcome with the future updates on the phone to extend the battery life more. But, Yeah all thanks to it’s Boost Master Technology that helps to charge your smartphone faster. So, You don’t need to worry about your battery life anymore. In just 40 minutes it charges to 60% and in 10 minutes it gives you backup upto 4 hours. It hardly take only one hour to full charge your Zenfone Zoom Smartphone. So, basically if your battery is drained you just need only 1 hour to full charge your phone. also, you ASUS offers you Power Saver Mode to extend your battery life according to your needs.
ASUS Zenfone Zoom Verdict:
After using the ASUS Zenfone Zoom over a week, we found that the Camera is just amazing but in low light, it disappoints. No doubt that In Day Light it gives you DSLR like experience with Manual settings. If you are looking for best Performance, Incredible Camera, Than just go for this Smartphone. The Cons of Zenfone Zoom is that it has no latest update like it has Android 5.0, there is no update from ASUS whether marshmallow update will arrive or not? The Zen UI is also the same as previous smartphone, The hardware technology of Zenfone Zoom is also not upto the mark. The Battery is also not upto our expectation. ASUS Zenfone Zoom priced at 37,999/- which is available on Flipkart & ASUS Exclusve stores. I Think we will see some price down in near future soon. Let me show you the Pros & Cons of ASUS Zenfone Zoom Below.
Pros & Cons of ASUS Zenfone Zoom:
Pros:
- 13 MP 3x Optical Camera which is just awesome
- PC Grade Performance
- Great Design & Premium leather rear cover
- Full 5.5 inch FHD Display
Cons:
- No fingerprint Sensor – Which is now every flagship smartphone has.
- No LED front touch panels – Many user reports to have LED front touch panel. (We Don’t like :p)
- Battery
- Old Hardware technology
- a bit Heavy with 185g.
