Earlier this week, Samsung and Sony had announced their Snapdragon 845 chipset powered flagship phones at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 tech expo in Barcelona, Spain. Yesterday, Asus had also announced the ZenFone 5Z flagship phone that is driven by Snapdragon 845. Alongside it, the Taiwanese company has also launched ZenFone 5 mid-range and ZenFone 5 Lite entry-level smartphones. The latter is expected to arrive with ZenFone 5Q moniker in some markets.
ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z Specifications and Features
The main highlight of the ZenFone 5Z and ZenFone 5 is that both the smartphones feature notch enabled full screen design like the Apple iPhone X. Both phones sport identical design and specs, except for that the fact the ZenFone 5Z includes a flagship chipset and comes with better storage and RAM options.
The ZenFone 5Z features a metallic frame 2.5D curved glass panels on their front and rear. It comes in colors like Midnight Blue and Meteor Silver.
It features a massive Super IPS LCD display of 6.2 inches that supports DCI-P3 color gamut and offers an aspect ratio of 19:9. It produces a resolution of 2,246 x 1,080 pixels. The ZenFone 5Z delivers an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 90 percent thanks to super-slim bezels that surround the display. The notch present on the top bezel is 26 percent smaller than the one found on the iPhone X.
The Snapdragon 845 chipset powers the different RAM and storage variants of the ZenFone 5Z such as 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. The handset also features a microSD card slot. It is fueled by a 3,300mAh battery.
The Android 8.0 Oreo OS that is customized with ZenUI 5.0 comes pre-installed on the ZenFone 5Z. The other features present on the 5Z include dual-SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS, USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack and FM radio. For security, it comes equipped with fingerprint scanner and face unlock.
For audiophiles, the Taiwanese company has included dual 5-magnet speakers along with dual NXP smart amplifiers. It also features a PMIC internal dual amplifier and three microphones. Moreover, ZenFone 5Z buyers will also get Hi-Res audio earbuds along with the phone.
The ZenFone 5Z has an 84-degree wide-angle selfie camera of 8-megapixel that comes with f/2.0 aperture. The rear-facing dual camera setup includes Sony IMX363 12-megapixel camera with f/1.8 aperture as main sensor. It carries support for 83-degree field of view, 1.4μm pixel size, 5-axis OIS and dual-pixel PDAF. It is coupled with a secondary wide-angle camera that offers 120-degree of field of view.
As far as ZenFone 5 mid-range phone is concerned, it borrows all the specs from 5Z flagship. However, instead of SD845, it is powered by Snapdragon 636. Also, its 6 GB and 4 GB RAM variants feature 64 GB of native storage.
ZenFone 5 Lite (5Q) Specifications and Features
The ZenFone 5 Lite is the smallest member in the ZenFone 5 family. The chassis of the phone has 2.5D curved glass panels on both sides with a metallic frame in between. It can be availed in colors like Moonlight Black, Moonlight White and Rough Red. It features a 6-inch IPS LCD display that supports FHD+ resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. It offers 83-percent screen-to-body ratio.
The ZenFone 5 Lite is fitted with quad cameras. The dual camera on the front includes a 20-megapixel Sony IMX376 primary sensor with 85.5-degree field of view. It is coupled with 120-degree field of view secondary lens. The dual rear cameras comprise of a 16-megapixel main sensor with 80-degree field of view and the same secondary sensor that is available on the front.
The ZenFone 5 Lite comes in 32 GB and 64 GB storage models that respectively feature 3 GB and 4 GB of RAM. It features a separate slot for adding a microSD card. It is also loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo that is skinned with ZenUI 5.0. There is a 3,300mAh battery under the hood of the ZenFone 5 Lite. The other features of the phone include FM Radio, fingerprint scanner, face unlock, microUSB, NFC, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE and dual-SIM.
Lastly, it comes in two chipset models. The Snapdragon 430 variant carries support for 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band and 1080p video shooting. The Snapdragon 630 variant offers support for 5GHz Wi-Fi band and 4K video recording.
AI Capabilities of ZenFone 5 Family
The ZenFone 5 family are also blessed with numerous AI features such as:
> AI Photography includes features scene recognition, photo learning, bokeh effect and beautification
> AI Boost improves phone’s performance while playing games
> AI Ringtone can control the volume of the phone by recognizing the surroundings of the user
> AI Display can not only controls the color temperature of the screen automatically, but also keep the display on when the user is viewing it.
> AI Charging can prompt user on when whether the phone is to be charged quickly right now or it will be kept on charging overnight. By adjusting the charging currents accordingly, it ensures that the battery stays in good health.
> ZenMoji is Asus ’offering when it comes to creating animated emoji that can be used during video calls or live streams.
Asus ZenFone 5Z, 5 and 5 Lite Pricing and Availability
The ZenFone 5Z carries a pricing of $499. There is no information on the pricing of ZenFone 5 and 5 Lite. As far as availability of ZenFone 5, 5 Lite and 5Z are concerned, they are expected to arrive in the market in March, April and June, respectively.
