ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION(ZB553KL) First Impression and Honest Review

In this generation, taking selfie or wefie is a thing. It became the norm in every occasion and circumstances. May it be on a restaurant while eating with your fambam, while you do your shopping-spree, you do it before-while-or after doing workout, when you bumped into an old-time friend, or whenever you are alone and out on a travel- and a whole lot more! Who’s guilty about these? hahaha! Well if not all, then most of us are!

Maybe you’ve already noticed it with the kind of smartphones being sold in the market right now. Whenever mobile brands releases newer smartphone models, they keep on improving the front camera’s features and capabilities and almost all are highlighting the front-facing camera for a better quality selfie or wefie photo.

Speaking of selfie/wefie-centric, just recently, I received a smartphone from ASUS Philippines which is the ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION(Thank you ASUS FAM for my new phone!). Yes you read it right. “Special edition”- and you will know why later as you read further.

For this review, I will not be too technical but rather personal, as I share with you my takes and honest opinions regarding this special edition smartphone.

So first, let me show you WHAT’S INSIDE THE BOX?

I made a short video to show you guys what’s inside every package of ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION. Watch the video above to see more. Inside the box, you’ll get the following:

Sim ejector pin
Instruction manual
ASUS Zenfone Selfie Lite (ZB553KL) unit
Clear protective casing
Adapter charger
USB Cable
Earphones

It’s so nice of Asus to include the free

A post shared by GirlAndBoyThing.com (@girlandboythingph) on May 28, 2018 at 8:10pm PDT

I love the minimalist look of the box. All white, less design, just the colorful “We Love Photo” hologram logo in front with the model series and “We Love Photo” words in hologram too on the side of the box.

The ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite has a 5.5-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 resolution which you will definitely love especially if you want to watch movies or play games on smartphone. You will not feel the “bitin ang screensize” factor.

The size is just enough for grasp and not too big as well. You can easily navigate even you are using one hand. The curvy sides added to the handling comfortability, plus look how thin it is(well, not too thin compared to those recently launched high-end phones of course. I used a pen for thickness comparison)

ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION

Like other android phones, ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite houses a nano Dual-sim(dual standby) slot and micro sd card slot- All in one tray which is a space saver and easy to install. The power and volume up-down button are placed on the right side, which is kinda different compared to the other smartphone brand that I am using. Since I’m right-handed, it turns into my favor and convenience.(I think) haha!.

For the security feature, you can choose among the following to unlock your phone: Fingerprint, PIN, Pattern, and Password. For me, I preferred using the fingerprint and it reacted surprisingly fast!(about 0.3 seconds).

You must be curious about the camera capabilities of this limited edition smartphone from ASUS. ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite houses a 13-megapixel front camera with Softlight LED flash and a 13-megapixel rear camera. Here are some unedited and raw photo samples which I took using both front and rear cam.

FRONT CAM:

For this photo, I used the portrait mode of the front camera(in low light condition). This camera feature blurred the background to make you or any subject stand out. Plus the soft flash softens our skin(no blemishes, no visible pores and other impurities). So this will go well too if you are on a no-make up day where you will still look fresh in the pictures haha!.

Another sample of Portrait mode(well-lighted using natural light) Have you noticed how this mode blurred my background? However, if you will notice the quality of the bokeh, it looks like more of a dreamy or foggy-like. Of course, don’t expect for a DSLR-like bokeh. For the price range, it’s actually nice that it can deliver this kind of feature.

You may also use the Selfie Master technology, world’s first all-in-one app where you can find everything for instant beautification. You can choose among 10 levels of beautification for a better selfie quality photos or videos. Please refer to the photos above for comparison. When you turn on the selfie master, you’ll notice a big difference. It’s like you have that instant “kutis koreana” and you can do so much more like adjust your eye size(yes you can!) and even make your cheeks thinner(winner!!!).

BACK CAMERA:

All these photos where taken outdoors with natural lighting. In fairness, it can take very decent shots. The color output is real color and it’s not over saturated(HDR) which I like because the more natural color it is for me, the better.

I also tried using the rear cam indoors in low lighting condition(still in Auto setting). Look at the photo above to see the actual, unedited photo. Of course, the lower the lighting condition whether you are using a high-end smartphone brand or DSLR, the more grainy your photo would become. Just in case you want to have in control of your camera settings, you may choose the Pro mode where you can set manually your preferred settings such as ISO, AF, White Balance, shutter speed, and many more.

The Zenfone 4 Selfie Lite camera can do more especially on its rear cam. Aside from Auto, Beauty, Portrait and Pro features, it can also do GIF animation, Panorama, Time Lapse and Super Resolution.

And remember, compared to its normal counterpart which has 16Gb internal storage, Zenfone 4 Selfie Lite special edition has 32GB internal memory and expandable through sd card up to 2TB, which can save lots of photos, videos and and even games. How’s that for a nice smartphone experience? ????

VERDICT. As a blogger, who does not own a DSLR or mirrorless camera, I always rely on my smartphone in taking photos and videos whenever I am out on a travel or covering events. That is why camera’s capabilities and functions are very important and a deciding factor for me whenever I buy a smartphone.

For me the Zenfone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION can serve my requirements when it comes to photo quality on well-lighted locations.
The video quality is quite high in contrast(outdoors) which I find quite off, but will try it soon on other lighting situations.
Battery life lasts about 3 days in standby mode with continous wifi connection and very minimal browsing.
The metallic look is very classy and elegant-looking for a budget phone. (i love what ASUS gave me which is the sunlight gold color)
The Selfie Master is ❤❤❤. It can clear the blemishes away. Instant “kutis mayaman”. If Selfie Lite can do justice to my selfie photos, how much more on its higher model. ????
If you are on a budget(Below P10,000)and you want a smartphone which can deliver quality photos and has features which can fit your lifestyle, Zenfone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION is the phone for you.

Buy your very own ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION which is exclusively available at the Official ASUS Lazada shop for only Php7,695.

ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite SPECIAL EDITION Specifications:

Android 7.1.1 Nougat, ASUS ZenUI 4.0

Dual SIM, Dual Standby

5.5-inch IPS display, 1280 x 720 resolution, ~267pp

2.5D Curved Glass

Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 quad-core processor

3GB RAM

32GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 2TB

13-megapixel front camera, f/2.0, Softlight LED flash

13-megapixel rear camera, PDAF(Phase detection autofocus), LED flash

4G LTE

WiFi 802.11 b/g/n