A Quick Look on My New Travel Buddy: Asus ZenFone 2

Have you traveled to a place for the first time and fell in love with it immediately? I think, that is what the new Asus ZenFone 2 impressed upon me when I was invited to its Philippine press launch at the World Trace Center last May 15, 2015, Saturday.

It was actually more than just a launch, it was a grand launch that has upped the ante of the industry practice. No less than Asus CEO Jerry Shen came to the country for the launch and opened the programme. Know more about the launch and the Asus ZenFone 2 Specs here.

See What Others Can’t See

I unboxed the ZenFone 2 with anticipation like I arrived in a famous tourist spot for the first time. I’ve heard and read all about it, but this time, I want to see it and experience it myself!

I got the ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML model with 32G memory and 4G RAM; a world’s first smartphone with 4G RAM capacity. I guess memory and speed will not be a problem anymore.

For the complete technical ZenFone2 Specs, click here on Gadget Gambit blog.

Unboxing the Beauty

Upon opening the box, the shiny cover glass made of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 reflected an excited face with a smile of wonderment. Flipping it to the other side reveals an elegant grey brushed-metal finish with concentric-circle detailing. They say these constitutes the all-new design of the sleek and iconic Zen design elements.

I’m not too sure how to compare it with the previous ZenFone since this is my first Asus smartphone, but I love the non-slippery brushed metal finish for non-slipping handling during my travels.

Another noteworthy physical feature is the Ergonomic Arc design curved case that tapers to an incredibly-thin 3.9mm at the edges for a comfortable, secure grip. On the other hand, the volume-control key on the rear of the phone is something new for me having used Samsung phones for the past few years. I guess my index finger would eventually love it intuitively. 😛

Something a lot of people are raving about online is its 13MP PixelMaster camera.which can shoot great photos even in low-light conditions or back-lit (Super HDR) situations. It’s also has an f/2.0 wide-aperture lens that allows quick and easy capture of high-resolution photos with zero shutter-lag. Right above the camera is the Dual LED Real Tone Flash for a natural illumination effect.

Turn Me On

I finally pressed the on button located center top. the 5.5-inch Full HD IPS+ screen dissplay lit up brightly with 400nits and revealing a large 72% screen-to-body (in contrast to iPhone 6 Plus‘ 68.3%) ratio while reducing ZenFone 2’s overall size.

After a few swipes and slides, the touch response time is observably fast while my fingerprints remained hardly noticeable. My general ZenUI experience with Android 5 Lollipop was also seamless and noteworthy.

More of these experiences and sample photos as I use it in my travels in the next few weeks.

Opening the Monster

I opened its back cover for a quick look and it was pure beauty. Powered with a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 Quad Core Processor running at 2.3GHz, the ZenFone 2 is no less than a monster in performance. It also has an Intel LTE-Advanced modem for 4G/LTE connectivity.

Complementing my power-hungry phone is an equally sustaining 3000mAh battery that provides more than enough power to get through the day. It also features BoostMaster fast-charge technology for dramatically-reduced recharge times.

Overall, it’s like your well-planned travel itinerary which made your trip pleasant and hassle-free. Have I mentioned that it has dual-sim?

Well, now I can say that I SAW what others didn’t see! 🙂

Asus ZenFone 2 Philippine Price

One of the most anticipated announcement in the press conference was of course the Asus ZenFone 2 price for the Philippine market. The SRP for the four models of the Asus ZenFone 2 are the following:

• ZenFone 2 ZE500CL – Php 7,995
• ZenFone 2 ZE551ML 16G/2GRAM- Php 9,995
• ZenFone 2 ZE551ML 32G/4GRAM- Php 13,995
• ZenFone 2 ZE551ML 64G/4GRAM- Php 14,995

I find the prices very competitive for the given specs! The top of the line model, at less than Php 15,000, is comparable with the features and performance of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus!

Special cases / covers come in different colors with the Illusion and Fusion series.

* All photos in this blog are shot with another Asus ZenFone 2!

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Have you had your hands on the new Asus ZenFone 2? What are your first impressions? Share with us your thoughts and feedback at the comment section below!