Smart_Photography_-_December_2015_

SMARTPHONE
REVIEW

118 http://www.smartphotography.in

Smart PhotographyDecember 2015

Laser Beamer

T

he Zenfone 2, launched in the

fi rst quarter of this year, boasted

a category-leading 4GB RAM and

variants suiting every user. Th e devices

ranged from Rs.12,000 to Rs.22,000.

With the Zenfone 2 Laser, Asus has

enhanced the camera capabilities in an

aff ordable smartphone promising to

provide a class-leading battery life.

Design and Build Quality

Th e Zenfone 2 Laser is built similar to

the other phones in Zenfone 2 series.

Th e volume rocker/shutter release

button is at the back, and the back panel

is curved. Th e device is designed well,

and the fact that it has been recognised

with the 2015 iF Design Award, shows

its brilliance in design. Th e edges of the

phone are just 3.9mm thick, and the back

cover is matte-fi nished like the Zenfone

5. At the rear are the camera fl anked by
   the LED unit and the laser beam emitter
   and the volume control/shutter release
   button below this. Overall, the device
   is designed very well with a fairly good
   build quality.

Key Features

Th e Zenfone 2 Laser works on Android

platform and the current version is 5.0

(Lollipop). Unlike the previous versions

of Zenfone, which featured Intel Atom

processors, Asus has switched to a 64

bit Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon

410 processor in the Laser, probably to

bring down the cost and for better power

saving features. Each core is clocked at

1.2 GHz. Th e processor is paired with an

Adreno 306 GPU. Th e device has 2GB

LPDDR3 RAM and uses 16GB eMMC

Flash memory for internal memory

(ROM). In addition to this, the Laser has

a memory slot that accepts a MicroSD

card up to 128 GB.

Th e device has dual Micro SIM slots and

both of them support 2G, 3G, and 4G

networks. However, it is on dual standby

confi guration, which means you have to

specify which one can access calls, and

which one should be on standby. Th e

networks supported are WCDMA and

Asus Zenfone 2

Laser^ `^ 9,999 Sujith Gopinath

✓ Asus Zenfone 2 Laser

✓Battery

✓ Power adapter

✓ USB cord

✓Warranty card

Inside the Box

FDD-LTE. It uses LTE category 4, which,

Asus claims, will support transfer speeds

of up to 150 Mbps.

Th e Zenfone 2 Laser uses a 5.5-inch,

HD 1280x720, IPS display, protected by

a Corning Gorilla Glass 4 screen. Th e

screen provides 178 degree wide viewing

angle and 267 ppi pixel density to off er

crisp images even when viewed from

the sides. Th e Zenfone 2 Laser boasts of

Asus’s SonicMaster technology, which

claims to deliver crystal clear audio

under all environments.

Th e Laser incorporates a 13.0-megapixel

PixelMaster rear camera with an f/2.0

lens. Th e camera captures images with

zero shutter lag. Th e device uses Laser

Autofocus, which measures the distance

of the subject using a laser beam, and

provides a fast autofocus speed of up to

0.2 sec. Th e front camera is 5 megapixels

and it also has a wide aperture of f/2.0.

Asus, traditionally known as a motherboard

and laptop manufacturer, surprised all

with the launch of their Zenfone series,

which stormed the market with its value

for money. In fact, the series led to high-

end features trickling down to affordable

smartphones.