Asus stole the show because of their latest phone line-up at MWC 2018. The Asus Zenfone 5 series consisting of the Zenfone 5Z, Zenfone 5, and the Zenfone 5 Lite has been making hype for itself recently, and if you are one of the many who have been wanting to know about these three models, we are here to help you out. Let’s dive deep into the specifications, design and pricing of the phones.
Design & Display:
The Asus Zenfone 5 (2018) has a design which is similar to iPhone X owing to the famous ‘notch’ on the top side of the screen. The screen is an IPS LCD display with an aspect ratio similar to the latest devices which is 18:9 and including the notch, it's 19:9. The resolution on the phone is 1080 x 2246 with a PPI score of 402. For the protection, Asus has put Gorilla Glass on the Zenfone 5. Also, Asus claims that the notch on the Zenfone is 26% smaller than the one on the iPhone X, giving the device more sleek and attractive look. On the design terms, the Zenfone 5z follows the ‘normal’ Zenfone.
The third model in the series the Zenfone Lite, however, differs in the design and form factor a little bit and leans a little more on the conventional side with a 6.0-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels, giving a pixel density of 402. The device is made of an aluminium frame but is covered with glass on both front and rear, therefore, giving it a shiny and premium feel. However, the overall feel of the phone is more like the older Asus handsets.
Hardware:
The Zenfone 5 (2018) is powered by the Snapdragon 636 Mobile Platform which is the same as the one found on the Redmi Note 5 Pro which launched recently in India. There are two variants available for this phone one with a 4GB RAM 64GB internal storage and the other model having 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage but with a higher price tag. The graphics of the phone are driven by the Adreno 509 GPU and the battery boasts of 3300mAh power.
The Zenfone 5z, however, has a different chipset running on the inside. The processor used by the Zenfone 5z is the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC accompanied with an Adreno 630 GPU for rendering high-quality graphics. Although the battery is same as the Zenfone 5 (2018) providing users with 3,300mAh power the device ships in three variants rather than just two options – 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage and a superior 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage version with the last one obviously coming on a heavier price.
The Zenfone 5 Lite is the most affordable among the three due to its conventional design and comes in two variants – first one with a Snapdragon 430 with 3GB RAM and 32GB Internal Storage and the second one with Snapdragon 630 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The first model of the Zenfone 5 Lite uses Adreno 505 GPU and the second one uses Adreno 508 GPU for driving the graphics.
The Zenfone 5 (2018) and Zenfone 5Z comes with Android Oreo while the Zenfone 5 Lite ships with Android Nougat initially. There might be updates further regarding the Zenfone 5 Lite Android.
Camera and Imaging:
The first two models Zenfone 5 (2018) and the Zenfone 5Z consist of dual cameras with 12MP and 8MP sensors. The primary camera has an aperture of f/1.8 and the secondary camera fashions an aperture of f/2.0. The cameras come loaded with a bunch of features like phase detection autofocus and EIS and also have dual tone flash for low light areas. The front camera on the device is an 8MP camera with a f/2.0 aperture and also supports 1080p video recording at 30fps. The only distinction between the camera of the two devices is in the 4K video recording where the Zenfone 5 (2018) records at 30fps while the Zenfone 5Z records at 60fps.
The Zenfone 5 Lite comes with dual cameras on both the front and the back of the phone, with the primary camera being 16MP and with a f/2.2 aperture. The specifications of the secondary camera are yet to be revealed by Asus. This model also supports phase detection autofocus like the previous two versions. The Lite records 4K videos also at 30fps, but the 4k option is only available for the Snapdragon 630 version. The front of the camera consists of a 20-Megapixel camera with a f/2.0 aperture.
Pricing and availability:
The price of the three devices are yet to be revealed, but it is pretty understandable that the impressive Zenfone 5Z will be the costliest among the three. The entry-level variant of the Zenfone 5Z will ship at a global price of Euro 489, and that's impressive pricing from Asus after a long time. We expect however that the price of the Zenfone series is going to be cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S9 or the iPhone X due to competitive reasons.
