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Asus Zenfone 5 Performance on a budget

The Asus Zenfone has raised and turned quite a few heads in the smartphone segment. Not only has Asus managed to hit all the right notes with the Zenfone but has also dethroned the Moto G to be the next King of budget phones. Dont get me wrong here. Both phones are top notch when it comes to build quality and ergonomics. However, the main aspect where the Moto G falls short on is the performance and package contents. The G only ships with a MicroUSB cable. There is no headphone or even a charging adapter. The 8 GB and 16 GB versions sell for Rs. 12,499 and Rs. 13,999 respectively. The Asus Zenfone 5 on the other hand retails for Rs. 9999 (8 GB) and Rs. 12,999 (16 GB). Below is a comparison sheet of both the Zenfone 5 and the Moto G.

		Asus Zenfone 5	Motorola Moto G
Display
Type		IPS capacitive touchscreen	IPS capacitive touchscreen
Size		720 x 1280 pixels, 5.0 inches	720 x 1280 pixels, 4.5 inches
Pixel Density		294 PPI	326 PPI
Memory
Internal | RAM		8/16 GB | 2 GB	8/16 GB | 1 GB
Expansion slot		MicroSD upto 64 GB	No
Camera
Primary		8 MP (3264 x 2448 pixels)	5 MP (2592 ? 1944 pixels)
Secondary		2 MP	1.3 MP
OS		Android 4.3, upgradable to 4.4.2 KitKat	Android 4.3, upgradable to 4.4.3 KitKat
Chipset		Intel Atom Z2560	Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400
CPU		Hyperthreaded Dual-core 1.6 GHz	Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU		PowerVR SGX544MP2 | 533 MHz	Adreno 305 | 450 MHz

What�s in the box?!

A charging head, a cable approximately 1.5 meters long, in-ear headphones, a warranty card and a user manual. So that sums up the whole package contents (with the phone obviously).

The Zenfone 5

For its size and build the Zenfone 5 is surprisingly light. It�s even lighter than the S3 which I had previously. It comes with a 5-inch IPS capacitive screen that has a pixel resolution of 294 ppi. The fit and finish is top notch and the rubberized rear (though plastic) adds an extra bit of confidence when held.

The Zenfone 5 houses a non-removable 2110 mAh battery, an Intel Atom (Saltwell) processor clocked at 1.6 GHz, a PowerVR SGX544 MP2 GPU clocked at 533 MHz, 2 GB of LPDDR2 RAM, support for two micro SIM cards and an expansion slot that can accommodate a 64 GB microSD card. For under 10k, that�s one heck of a configuration.

Booting and Installation

Setting up the phone was easy however I did tend to get a bit lost trying to configure Asus�s free online WebStorage (3 GB). According to me, they should shift their personal customizations after the user boots into the OS. There was a point during installation where I couldn�t gain access to the home-screen. It took me a whole 5 minutes to find my way out.

Bundled Software

The phone comes with a decent set of bundled software. Apart from the already mentioneda Asus WebStorage the Zenfone 5 comes with their proprietary calendar, a �Do It Later� task manager, an audio wizard and a Splendid mode, which basically allows you to either enhance or adjust the overall color temperature. There are three more additional features which is the PC Link, Remote Link and Share Link; all housed inside one folder which Asus aptly named as the ZenLink.

Performance

For a budget phone the Asus ZenFone 5 returned a decent score of 19611 in AnTuTu X, giving it a lead of 1655 points over Samsung�s Galaxy S3 (which still retails for Rs. 20,000+).  The PowerVR SGX544 MP2 sets new standards when it comes to 2D (1651) and 3D (6738) gaming, beating the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Sony Experia Z and the Google Nexus 7. You can check the chart given below.

		AnTuTu X Benchmark
		2D Graphics	3D Graphics
Asus Zenfone 5		1651	6738
HTC One		1567	6421
Samsung Galaxy Note 2		1492	4477
Sony Experia Z		1451	5856
Google Nexus 7		1642	5771
Samsung Galaxy S3		1257	3701

Both Asphalt 8 and Real Racing 3 played flawlessly at their highest settings and with 1.2 GB of free memory at your disposal switching between apps has never been this smooth. 

Headphone Performance
If you love a little base in your music then you will enjoy these bundled headphones. I have personally enjoyed the Cowon EM1 for the last one year on the Galaxy S3 but they sound rather flat when used with the Zenfone 5.

Let me put it this way, just to give you a comparison of the overall performance. The headphone bundled with the Zenfone 5 is what Cowon EM1 was with the Galaxy S3. And on a scale of 10 I would give it an 8.5 for audio. 

They are small, extremely compact and snugly fit the ear with much ease. Also, the headphones come with 3 different size ear pads, thus allowing you to choose the one that fit you best.

Battery Life

The battery will last for about 7 hours to 7 hours 30 minutes with nothing left to spare. Here is how a very generalized test was conducted.
Google Navigation: 15 min
Music: 4 hours
Web Browsing: 20 min
Gaming: 25 min
Movie @ 720p: 2 hours 20 min

*Mobile network (3G) was left on throughout the testing process

Do note that the Zenfone 5 was not operating on just one SIM, but on two. This also reduces battery as the phone needs to handle two networks rather than just one.

If you are not a heavy user the battery should last for about 9 to 9 hours 30 min. But then again it all depends on usage.

Verdict

I have had this phone for a while and the overall experience has been astoundingly good. For Rs. 9999, I personally don�t think there is a better performing phone than the Asus Zenfone 5. Do keep in mind that there is no update to KitKat (4.4.2) as of now. So you will have to make do with JellyBean (4.3) for a month or so.

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