Asus Zenfone 5/5z – Muchos Gracias Notchos [First Impressions]
Asus Zenfone 5 has got the best design and the most non-intrusive implementation of "The Notch"
As of this date, while I am penning this post, I have personally seen 3 Android mobiles with 19:9 aspect ratio and a notch on the top. Of all these mobiles, I would say that the Asus Zenfone 5 has got the best design and the most non-intrusive implementation of “The Notch”. Read on to find out why.
When it comes to mobile design and engineering innovation, Asus stands tall and proud among the crowd of other mobile manufacturers. Asus mobiles don’t shun away from experimenting and if you have been following them, you would know that they are a pioneer in many mobile tech innovations out there. I will not drown you with history chapters, but you can look up for them, if interested. Zenfone 5 and 5z were announced in MWC, Barcelona, earlier this year. At the MWC, Asus also announced Zenfone 5 Lite and M1.
Even before Android announced its support for Notches in Android P, Asus announced its mobiles with Notches: 5 and 5z. Here are the key specifications of these mobiles.
Asus Zenfone 5 and 5z
- Build: Dual Gorilla Glass, aluminum frame;
- Display: 6.2-inch, 19:9, 1080p IPS LCD
- Primary Camera: 12MP f/1.8 24mm lens, 8MP wide-angle camera, 12mm lens
- Front Camera: 8MP, f/2.0
- Internals in Zenfone 5: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, 4/6 GB RAM, 64GB
- Internal in Zenfone 5z: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 4/6/8 GB RAM, 64/128/256 GB
- Android 8.0 Oreo + ZenUI 5.0
- Battery: 3300mAh
Apart from the internals, everything else is common for both these mobiles. I got to check out the first cut production unit of Zenfone 5 and in this article, I will talk to you about the mobile’s design. I will cover the performance of the Zenfone 5 and 5z when the official retail unit is out.
Asus Zenfone 5 and 5z have shiny glass body. The curved Gorilla Glass back and the metal frame around the mobile gives it an ultra-premium look. The design looks stellar and it is one of the best we have seen from the Asus stables so far. It definitely feels premium than the likes of Vivo V9 or Oppo F7.
Let us now address the elephant in the room, the Notch. Asus Zenfone 5 and 5z have a notch on the top. The display aspect ratio is 19:9 and the Notch is very thin and minimal. Also, ASUS Zen UI intelligently offers to manage the viewing aspect ratio of the app, so that the user would not find the notch to be intrusive. Another phenomenal engineering feat is the front-facing stereo speakers. Beneath the ear-piece in the notch is a 5 magnet speaker that is the second speaker, apart from the bottom speaker grills. This alone blew me out! Asus has also managed to fit in the Kinect sensor in the notch.
Also, Asus intelligently brings down different parts of the notification shade, when swiped down from the left or right side of the notch. Swiping down from the right horn brings down the notification drawer with toggles and the swipe from the left of the notch brings down the expanded notification shade.
The dual camera setup at the back of the mobile looks like an iPhone X setup, but there ends the similarity. Asus has got a 12 MP Sony IMX 363 sensor with a f/1.8 lens and an 8 MP wide-angle sensor. Dual lens setup with zoom and tele-focus lens makes a lot of difference. The camera also supports EIS for video.
Both the models have USB Type-C port and a hybrid dual SIM card slot. It runs on Android Oreo out of the box with Zen UI skinned on top. Zen UI now has very less bloatware and feels ultra light on the resources. The mobiles are powered by a 3300 mAh battery.
Asus Zenfone 5 and 5z have a screen aspect ratio of 18.5:9 and this means that the 6.2″ display can fit into a small form factor and the mobile is still single hand user-friendly. The display is stunningly bright under all light conditions. The colors are vivid and not over-saturated. It supports FHD+ resolution.
Artificial Intelligence
Another huge differentiating innovation Asus brings to the table is the promising use of Artificial intelligence in their mobiles. Asus Zenfone 5 and 5z uses AI for performance boost when needed, Photography to detect scene and adjust processing, Display to adjust temperature, Ringtone adjustments, and much more.
Asus also bring in some features to keep up with the competition like the AR Emoji, which Asus calls the ZenMoji. These mobiles are also unlocked using Face ID. Both these mobiles are yet to be launched in India and they will see the light in India soon. Now that we can see what Asus Engineering is capable of, we will have to wait for the Asus Management to see how they can price this mobile in the fiercely competitive Indian Market.
