ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser: A Quality Smartphone On A Budget

Choosing the right smartphone is difficult especially when you are on a very tight budget. As far as I know, most of the smartphones out there in the market with great specs and features costs more than Php10,000 and above which is quite expensive.

For a blogger like me, I would prefer a smartphone that can take quality photos and videos enough to look good in my posts. Before, I was aiming for an iPhone 6 which undoubtedly have amazing specs, BUT, it is undoubtedly expensive as well and literally does not fit in to my budget.

But now, I have come to find a smartphone that can meet all my blogging needs in terms of photo and video at the same time, affordable enough to buy. So here it is… The ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser(ZE500KL).

Luckily, I got the ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser hairline sheer gold color with metallic finish and I am loving it for its elegant look. You will never thought of it as a basic smartphone. Actually, I find ASUS smartphones really high-end looking.

WHAT’S INSIDE THE BOX?

Charger
USB Cable
Instruction Manual
Earphones(with replacement cap)
ZenFone 2 Laser unit

So, let’s get to know ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser a little bit further. First, the grip. The ZenFone 2 Laser has the thinnest edge measuring 3.9mm and its back curve-shape that perfectly fits in your palm.

That ergonomic arc back feature will give its users ultimate comfort without sacrificing style. I fully attest to that. I’ve been using ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser for quite some time and the feel of it on my hands is perfect. I can text or navigate with only one hand without the tendency of the phone slipping off my hand.

The ZenFone 2 Laser has a 5.o inch HD IPS display(720x1280p)which offers good brightness levels, vibrant colors and wide viewing angles up to 178 degrees. this smartphone uses ASUS TruVivid Technology that minimizes reflectiveness and maximizes clarity, brightness and touch responsiveness giving its users an enjoyable viewing experience. With this, Photos and videos are much more brigher, vivid and clearer.

Regarding the phone’s interface, It is really not hard to manage. I really like how you can customize your phone’s interface according to your mood or style. With ZenFone 2 Laser’s brand new ZenUI, you can change your font, wallpapers and even change your phone’s theme according to your preference. And you can download it for FREE.

For those who loves shortcuts, Zenfone 2 Laser has something for you. With its Zen Motion feature, now you can actually launch some apps with some specific swipe gestures:

C to launch Camera.
W to launch Browser.
O to launch Calendar.
e to launch Email.
Z to launch ASUS Booster.
V to launch Dialer
Double tap to wake wake the phone without having to reach the power button.

Another LCD thing. What we are so pissed about aside from dropping your precious phone on the ground?… SCRATCHES! and some significant damages like cracks on the LCD of your screen. Now, no need to worry much because ZenFone 2 Laser uses Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which is much stronger than its predecessor. It offers twice the drop damage resistance and 2.5x increase in retained strength and is 85% less likely to break in daily use. Wow!.

I have put to test my very own ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser and took it for a scratch test… Curious? watch the video below.

Another great feature of ZenFone 2 Laser is the 20nm anti-fingerprints layer on the cover glass that lets you swipe and slide your fingers without leaving traces of your fingerprints. Aside from that, I also noticed that the screen is much smoother when swiping. Plus, another addded feature is the Glove touch support where you can still navigate or swipe even if you are wearing gloves. Amazing right? It’s my first time to encounter such great feature and I must say, it would be very convenient to the user without the hassle of removing the gloves in order to use the phone.

WHAT’S UNDER THE HOOD?

ZenFone 2 Laser got 2 sim card slots on dual-standby mode. So if you are using 2 mobile sim networks, there’s no need to switch sim cards from one phone to another. It also has a micro sd card slot that can support up to 128GB of memory.

ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser

For the battery, the unit that I have uses a Li-Polymer removable battery with a 2070mAh capacity which I find quite a downside for this phone. But what is the use of powerbanks for? hahaha! So no need to worry.

ZenFone 2 Laser is equipped with Dual microphone with noise cancellation for best phone call quality. On the other hand, just like any android-based phone, ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser also has a Micro USB port for charging and data transfer.

And speaking of data transfer, I really like how easy it is to transfer files from my laser 2 phone going to my computer. You simply connect it using a Micro USB cable and then it will automatically detect the storage partition. Well, if you can see in the picture above that it only detected one drive. that’s because I haven’t instaled a memory card yet. But once you put your memory card already, another drive will be detected as storage.

Let’s talk about ZenFone 2 Laser’s Audio. It has 5 magnet structure sound chamber and has ASUS SonicMaster for clear and better sound quality and deeper bass. In all fairness, this smartphone really delivers quality sound that makes listening to music more fun and clear sound when having a phone call.

For volume control, instead of the usual volume control buttons on the side, with ZenFone 2 Laser, it is located at the back. The said button also serve as a click button when you are doing your selfies.

Now let’s talk about the camera. ZenFone 2 Laser’s (ZE550KL) rear camera has laser auto-focus technology for the fastest possible clarity. it is the first phone in the price range to have 8MP camera on th back and 5 MP in the front.

ZenFone 2 Laser’s laser beam measures distances at lightning speed – and that means near-instant focus as fast as 0.03 seconds, especially in dim light conditions. The laser auto-focus even accelerates close-ups photography, compensating for the extra distance created by the lens receding during framing.(Source: Asus.com.ph)

This smartphone also has dual color real tone flash to deliver true to life colors by using yellow and white based light unlike other smartphones out there that only uses white making your photo looked overexposed.

ZenFone 2 Laser’s (ZE550KL) PixelMaster 2.0 camera features different modes that will surely make all its users enjoy. I have personally tried some of the modes and It was a lot easier taking photos.See the sample photos below.

The first photo is a photo comparison of iPhone6 and Zenfone 2 Laser. Both on Auto mode, You can see that the photo quality of Zenfone 2 Laser is not that much far from the iPhone6. Well considering for it’s price range, not bad for the Zenfone 2 laser.

Here are some other photos that I took…

ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser — ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser Auto Camera Mode

But I must admit that it would take a while when you use these modes, you need to wait for a few seconds for photo processing before you see the photo results. Unlike in the Auto mode that when you tap the shutter button, you’ll see the photo result right away but other than that, I did not encounter any problem.

For now these are just the modes that I used and I’m excited to experiment on other modes as well. And with ASUS Photo Collage and Photo Effects, it would be more fun as it provides quality collage templates that can unleash your creativity.

How about the video quality? Watch the video below.

For me, the video quality is very nice. The colors are precise and real-life. And it’s amazing how it easily adjusted its focus when shifting subject. I’m so loving this phone!

So far, I haven’t experienced any major problem with the phone. It’s overall performance really surpassed my expectation. Imagine, for only Php7,695 you get to enjoy this phone’s amazing features. This is really a smartphone that you can consider buying if you are on a tight budget.

ASUS really makes Zenfone smartphones better everytime they launch a new one. The company really take innovation seriously so that users can enjoy and can look forward to nice improvements and new features.

#SeeWhatOthersCantSee with Zenfone smartphones.

For more specific specifications, kindly refer below:

Display: 5 inch, 1280×720 HD Resolution with ASUS TrueVivid Full Screen Lamination Technology, 72% screen to body ratio, IPS Display up to 178 degrees viewing angle, 400 units brightness, Anti Scratch Corning Gorilla Glass 4, Support Glove Touch, 20nm Oleophobic Ant-fingerprints coating.

Processor: 1.2 Ghz 64-bit Quad Core Processor Snapdragon 410, Adreno 306 GPU

Storage: 16GB ROM, ASUS Web storage 5GB(lifetime), Google drive 100GB free space(2years)

Memory: LPDDR3 2GB RAM

Camera: 5MP 85 degrees wide-angle lens Front camera. 8MP Back camera with f/2.0 aperture, 5-element auto focus lens/Laser Auto focus for 0.2 focus time, Dual LED Real Tone Flash, Blue Glass Infrared Filter/Zero Shutter Lag.

Network Standards: Laser Direct Structuring Antennas for better signal reception, 4G LTE(Cat 4), Download speed up to 150Mbps, GSM/WCDMA Quad-band for worldwide Data Roaming, 850/900/1900/2100MHz.

Wireless: 802.11b/g/n, BT4.0 with A2DP, wifi direct

Connectivity: 3.5mm audio jack, Dual Micro SIM, Micro USB(support OTG)

Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDSS

Sensor: Accelerometer(Gyro/G-sensor combo), E-compass, Proximity/Light sensor combo, Hall sensor

Sim Card: Dual Micro-SIM, Dual standby, SIM 1/Sim 2 supports 2G/3G/4G.

Operating System: Brand-new ASUS ZenUI with Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Battery: 2070mAh Li-Polymer removable battery.

Dimension/Weight: 71.5×143.7×10.5- 3.5mm

User Interface: ASUS ZenUI 2.0 with over 1000+ software enhncements.

Audio: Dual Microphone with noise cancellation for the best phone call quality, ASUS SonicMastic for better sound clarity and deeper bass, 5 magnet structure sound chamber, FM receiver.