Asus on Tuesday launched its 2018 flagship ZenFone 5 series at the MWC conference in Barcelona, Spain. Specifically, the company unveiled the ZenFone 5Z, ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5 Lite. All three smartphones come with all screen 18:9 displays, dual camera systems and AI enabled features. Asus will release the Zenfone 5 Lite in March, followed by the Zenfone 5 in April and then the Zenfone 5Z in June. At least two of the phones will launch in Indian region, though there is no information on exact release dates and pricing. Let's take a look at the specifications of the smartphones.
Asus ZenFone 5Z and ZenFone 5
Asus ZenFone 5Z and ZenFone 5 look very similar to Apple’s iPhone X with bezel-less full-screen design and an identical top notch for the front camera and sensors. And Asus is proud that their notch is smaller than the one present on the iPhone X. The display comes with curved edges, and the rear dual camera is also placed similarly as the iPhone X.
The ZenFone 5Z is the flagship smartphone of the series running powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The smartphone’s variants go up to 8GB RAM and 256GB of inbuilt storage. The device sports a 6.2-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The bezel-less design result in 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. Without the notch, the display has 18:9 aspect ration, but with the notch, it goes to 19:9.
In optics department, the ZenFone 5Z features a dual rear camera setup comprising of a 12MP f/1.8 aperture primary sensor and a secondary 8MP, 120-degree wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture. There’s an 8M f/2.0 aperture selfie shooter at the front that also supports Face Unlock feature. The ZenFone 5Z boasts an AI technology that can automatically detect scenes and applies ideal settings accordingly.
Beyond the processor, the Zenfone 5 has nearly the same set of specifications as the Zenfone 5Z. It runs on a less powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, clubbed with 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage.
Both the devices are backed by 3300mAh battery with fast charging support and AI charging tech and run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. Asus' AI based features for the Zenfone 5 lineup looks interesting. Asus also introduced a new feature called Zenmoji, and as the name itself suggests, it's a rip off to iPhone X's Animoji feature.
Asus ZenFone 5 Lite
The ZenFone 5 Lite is rather a simplified version of the phone. It bears a little physical resemblance to the premium smartphone sporting a slightly smaller 6-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a lesser screen to body ratio at 80 percent.
Running Android Oreo-based ZenUI 5.0, the smartphone comes in two variants based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 and Snapdragon 630 chipsets. The device also comes in two versions based on 3GB RAM + 32GB storage and 4GB RAM + 64GB storage.
The Asus ZenFone 5 Lite sports a dual rear camera setup with a primary 16MP f/2.2 aperture sensor with 80-degree FOV and a secondary 8MP, 120-degree wide-angle lens. At the front, you get dual camera setup again consisting of a 20MP Sony IMX376 sensor with a f/2.0 aperture and a secondary 8MP sensor with 120-degree wide-angle lens.
Powered by a 3300mAh battery, the 4G VoLTE device sports a rear fingerprint scanner and Face Unlock feature. The ZenFone 5 Lite will be available in Midnight Black, Moonlight White, and Rouge Red colour variants.
