The best ASUS smartphones. Review: Asus smartphones customer reviews Should I buy asus zenfone 3

Now there are more and more manufacturers in the smartphone market. Asus was originally known for its laptops, and they were famous for their excellent quality. Later, smartphones of this brand began to appear, but by that time other manufacturers had established themselves in this niche, so people were wary of new models, doubting the purchase.

It seems to me almost unrealistic for a strong laptop manufacturer to produce bad smartphones.

Asus smartphones immediately have a very pleasant design. They work on the basis of Android, that is, you don’t have to worry about updating applications.

The company has released a lot of different models, it is almost impossible to understand them all at once. The main line is Asus Zenfone. Many liked the model with a built-in TV tuner. For some reason, many manufacturers try to install such tuners, but then for some reason they refuse. But it is very convenient - you watch your favorite channels on your smartphone, and you do not need any Internet connection.

There are models designed for work and business, there are luxury models with a special design to create status. They didn’t forget about photography lovers either - there are smartphones with a powerful main camera and a high-quality front camera.

Therefore, if you answer the question: are Asus smartphones good in one word, this word will be "Yes". Definitely. But there are flaws in everyone.

For the sake of interest, I opened one online store to see the prices for these smartphones. Prices start from 5000 rubles. For 5000 rubles you can take a smartphone with a 5 megapixel camera and 2 SIM cards. For a non-choosy user - that's it.

For 16,000 rubles you can get an 8-core processor and powerful cameras, including the front one. Heaven for selfie lovers. Such smartphones are even called Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie.

The most expensive smartphone model costs 35,000 rubles, here there is a surcharge for design to a greater extent, the model is called ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe.

There are no complaints about the design. Phones are thin and light. Some point to a slippery case, but this is solved with a case. There are models with curved glass - it is more difficult to pick up glass for such ones, especially if you want to save money and not take the original.

There are complaints about the camera. Some users indicate that it does not take pictures at the declared megapixels and focusing is rather slow. In poor lighting, the camera does not work very well. But still, this is a smartphone, not a camera.

Yes, in most models there are two slots for SIM cards, but it is worth remembering that the second slot is hybrid, that is, you have a choice - either you put in a second SIM card or a memory card. Agree, many do this, but it is not very convenient.

There are many complaints about weak speakers and sudden freezes. We have to reboot smartphones, update and return to factory settings. Few people want such problems.

It can behave badly in the cold, fail.

There are problems with the GPS module - this is felt both during conversations and when using a smartphone as a navigator.

You know, we do not live in a time when someone can boast of the special quality of their products. Everyone saves on something. Absolutely every brand has negative reviews for every model. It is enough to approximately study the characteristics and view the main complaints in order to correlate all the pros and cons. Asus is quite a good smartphone in its price range.

Video review

ZenFone 5 and 2 sounded good, but rather "to spite the enemies" than at the call of the soul - the sound in the Intel Atom chips was not amazing. In the case of ZenFone 3, the task was simplified because Taiwanese engineers were finalizing the sound path of the Qualcomm chip.

The headroom is crazy even in 60-ohm headphones and the owner capitulates before the volume slider reaches the extreme right position. The sound itself is not bad - clean, deliberately averaged, although with a little "cut" low frequencies. At high volume, due to this amateur performance, the bass is already sorely lacking, the sound is felt shrill. You have to go to the system equalizer to "inflate" the low frequencies and slightly reduce the detail. By the way, the equalizer itself is intelligent, so setting up ZenFone 3 for yourself will not be difficult. Don't expect stunning sound, but the quality will be quite up to par - higher than that of Honor 8 or Alcatel Idol 4S, for example.

The hands-free speaker in both smartphones is average in quality - loud and with a noticeable bias in high frequencies, but without extremes. That is, it does not squeal and does not distort the music beyond recognition, but only slightly loses in details, if you “twist” it to the maximum.

Iron

ASUS smartphones and Intel processors are united as a people and a party. Largely due to the symbolic price of Atom chips, previous ZenFones managed to cost like “basement Chinese” with obviously higher quality. But the Atoms didn’t give more advantages, because the jokes with the launch of Windows 7 on the phone remained jokes, and the heating, regular cheating with updating the Android version (hello, Lenovo!), And then lagging behind in “parrots” from competitors buried smartphone Atom completely.

The ZF3 Zoom is a potential hit in the mid-price segment. This is a smartphone that focuses on what many brands seem to have forgotten - photo quality and battery life.

You can find out whether this device is really so good in comparison with others and whether it is worth buying it by reading our review of Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom.

Price and main characteristics

Zenfone 3 Zoom went on official sale at the beginning of March. The device is available in various modifications with 3/4 operational and 32/64/128 GB of main memory, the actual cost of the Rostest smartphone in version 64/4 is 30 thousand rubles.

In total, there are three versions of the color of the device - black, pink and silver.

Specifications

• display: 5.5”, Super-AMOLED FHD 1920*1080 px;
• processor: Snapdragon 625 + graphics accelerator Adreno 510;
• RAM: 3/4 GB;
• internal memory: 32/64/128 GB, expandable with micro SD cards up to 2 TB;
• camera: main - dual module 12 + 12 MP (Sony IMX362, f / 1.7, hybrid autofocus, 4K video, optical zoom), front - 13 MP (Sony IMX214, f / 2.0);
• connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, LTE, USB-C;
• battery: 5000 mAh.

The characteristics are decent even taking into account the clearly inflated price at the start of sales.

Equipment and appearance

The Zenfone 3 Zoom comes in a solid hardboard box. Together with the smartphone, we get a charging adapter, a USB-C cable, a wired headset (vacuum headphones of very good quality) and a USB-OTG adapter, through which you can not only connect various external devices to the phone, but also use it as a power bank for charging other electronics.

The body of the Zenfone 3 Zoom is made in the corporate style of Asus, the front panel of the smartphone can be completely confused with the ZF3 Max and Laser - the same rounded corners, sloping edges due to 2.5D glass, touch control keys under the screen.

The build quality is first class. The device feels monolithic, it has no squeaks, no backlashes and pleases with an excellent fit of the body parts to each other. The main part of the rear panel is made of metal, but there are plastic inserts for antennas on top and bottom. Plastic has the same color and texture as metal, and at first glance it is not even obvious that the materials are somehow different.

The back cover of the smartphone is matte, in its upper part is the main feature of the Zenfone 3 Zoom - a dual camera, the design approach to which is clearly borrowed from the iPhone 7 Plus. Next to the camera is a block of dual LED flash, which shines very brightly, and a laser autofocus rangefinder.

The fingerprint scanner works correctly, but not record-breaking fast: pressing and unlocking the screen are separated by noticeable fractions of a second, but the accuracy of the responses reaches 100%.

The arrangement of buttons and functional elements is standard. On the right is a paired volume rocker and power button, on the left is a hybrid card tray, on the bottom is a 3.5 mm jack, a USB-C port and an acoustic speaker grille.

With an impressive battery capacity of 5000 mAh, the Zenfone 3 Zoom is only 8 mm thick and weighs 160 grams. Ergonomics of the smartphone is excellent, due to the rounded edges of the body it is comfortable to hold in your hand, and the matte back cover is very pleasant in tactile terms.

Screen

The 5.5'' Super-AMOLED screen with Full HD resolution has a standard pixel density of 401 ppi. The picture is sharp and clear, with detail, as well as with color reproduction, everything is fine. Viewing angles - maximum. The Zenfone 3 Zoom screen may not appeal only to those who prefer academically correct color reproduction - the colors are oversaturated here, but you should understand that this is a characteristic feature of all AMOLED-type matrices.

The maximum brightness level of the screen is 500 nits, along with the presence of a good anti-glare coating, this ensures excellent readability of the display in bright sunlight. There is an oleophobic layer, of very decent quality - a finger glides across the screen much better than on budget devices, and the display itself is practically not covered with greasy stains.

The Zenfone 3 Zoom screen can be compared in quality to the older devices of the Galaxy A line - it does not strike the imagination, but overall it is good and does not cause any complaints even among demanding users.

Performance

The Snapdragon 625 processor paired with the Adreno 506 video accelerator is responsible for the performance of the smartphone. The hardware platform is the same as the standard version of the Zenfone 3, and it does not present any surprises - the smartphone runs quickly, has no problems with multitasking, FHD / 4K playback videos and heavy games. Such toys as NBA 2017, Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat work with comfortable fps at high graphics settings.

With heating, everything is fine, after half an hour of gaming, the smartphone remains barely warm. You can only complain about the occasionally slipping, not the smoothest drawing of the interface, but this is already a matter of optimizing the proprietary Zen UI shell.

Camera

On paper, the Zenfone 3 Zoom's camera specs are impressive. The smartphone is equipped with a paired SONY IMX362 module with f / 1.7 aperture: one camera has a wide-angle optics with a focal length of 25 mm, the second has a telescopic lens (56 mm) that performs the function of a 2.3x optical zoom. Throw in optical 4-axis stabilization, hybrid autofocus (laser + phase detection), powerful dual flash, the ability to shoot in RAW and record video in 4K, and you have potentially one of the best cameras on mobile devices.

The functionality of the standard camera application is also pleasing. In addition to a variety of shooting scenarios, it has an advanced manual mode in which you can adjust the shutter speed (up to 32 seconds), ISO (up to 3200), adjust the exposure and much more.

We have to admit that the Zenfone 3 Zoom lives up to its expectations. During the day, it produces excellent image quality, the optical zoom really works without any deterioration in the picture, and the laser focusing is amazing in its speed. In terms of image quality, this smartphone is on par with most flagships of 2016, while due to the fast optics, the bokeh effect in the pictures is obtained without any software blur.

The front camera is no complaints, the pictures are clear and pleasant in color, no worse than those that are obtained on the main cameras of most middle-class Chinese.

In terms of video recording, Zenfone 3 Zoom is also very worthy - excellent detail and high-quality optical stabilization. When shooting at 4k/30fps and FHD/60fps, there is a slight twitching, but FHD/30fps records perfectly smoothly.

speaker, sound quality

Sound lovers will definitely be pleased with the Zenfone 3 Zoom. Despite the absence of a stereo multimedia speaker, it produces very high-quality and surround sound with a high maximum volume level.

But the charm of the ZF3 is different. This is one of the few smartphones that supports 192kHz/24bit Hi-Res Audio playback in hardware. In headphones, the device sounds just fine, the sound is an order of magnitude clearer, more detailed and more correct than that of 80% of smartphones on the market.

Battery

The Zenfone 3 Zoom has one of the thickest batteries in its class. A 5000 mAh battery, paired with an energy-efficient AMOLED display and a not-so-gluttonous processor, in total provide 2 days of work in active load mode. In the Work 2.0 Battery Life test, we managed to achieve almost 16 hours of screen activity, which is a very impressive indicator.

The smartphone supports Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology, but due to the large battery capacity, it cannot be called particularly fast. The included charger fully charges the battery in about 3 hours.

Communication and Internet

The smartphone has no problems with the reception quality of the operator's network and work in 3G/LTE. Using Bluetooth 4.2, it holds the Xiaomi MiBand 2 fitness tracker well, and with the included Zenfone 3 Zoom USB-OTG adapter, you can charge other portable devices.

Zenfone 3 Zoom video review

Competitors, conclusion

Zenfone 3 Zoom is an excellent smartphone in all respects. It's definitely worth considering if gaming performance isn't your primary concern.

Benefits of ZF3 Zoom:

• excellent build quality and nice design;
• photo-video opportunities;
• impressive autonomy;
• sound in headphones and the quality of the main speaker.

The disadvantages include perhaps a slightly oversaturated screen and the proprietary Zen UI shell, which has good functionality, but its design, to put it mildly, is not for everyone.

It is difficult to find a direct competitor for Zenfone 3 Zoom, smartphones with a camera of comparable quality will lose to it in terms of autonomy, and gadgets with a thick battery will lose in terms of camera. The alternative is seen only in the face, which can be taken for 20-25 thousand rubles. If you sacrifice optical zoom and a bit of autonomy, then it makes sense to pay attention to - also a high-quality photo, an AMOLED screen and comparable performance. Price - from 25 thousand.

If the article was useful to you, do not forget to bookmark (Cntr + D) so as not to lose it and subscribe to our channel!

In January 2015, news arrived from Las Vegas: "ASUS presented the world's first smartphone with 4 GB of RAM." Applause.

Two years have passed, and the next CES presented a traditional note: the record holders from ASUS announced the world's first flagship with 8 GB of RAM. It's time for a standing ovation.

ASUS releases are ridiculous for two reasons. Firstly, such a volume of RAM (8 GB) is simply not required now - by the time it becomes relevant, the phone will already be outdated.

Secondly, the undisguised desire of ASUS to light up in IT publications is easily traced. Once a year, the corporation copes with this mission, but then no one remembers about it.

ASUS makes deeply secondary, dull, faceless devices. But these are emotions. Now let's back them up with facts.

1. The most disgusting design. If Sony got sick of self-copying, then ASUS has a different problem - their smartphones are deeply tasteless. The model range can be naively called diverse, but it would be more correct to note the complete absence of corporate identity.

The strip under the screen (absolutely useless) appears and disappears. The name of the manufacturer is either engraved on the front panel (the most severe bad manners), or remains behind the scenes. With the front Home key - a similar situation: it is inserted on the screen, then under the screen.

Even the fingerprint scanner regularly moves from front to back and back. There is simply no single format.

The worst sin performed by ASUS is copy-paste. In the picture below, you can easily see the features of the iPhone 7 (left) and the old rectangles from LG (right).

And here is a mutant that combines Samsung and ancient Nokia. It is impossible to take a smartphone in hand and understand that it is ASUS: there is nothing characteristic there.

The only detail that the Taiwanese company has the right to consider its unique achievement is the ugly iridescent “metal-like” insert. She is shoved into the most hopeless smartphones, thinking that she will help. Will not help.

2. Marketing random. ASUS names gadgets in such a way that no one understands what it is about.

For example, there is a model with a flashy name ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe. She has two modifications that are clearly not named for people: ZS550KL (5.5-inch screen) and ZS570KL (5.7-inch diagonal).

Does ASUS really think that a healthy person will waste time tinkering with these tedious nuances? Of course not: he will go to the vendor that does not bring chaos to the lineup.

However, once ASUS surpassed itself. A diamond from the collection of the wildest titles - ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe Special Edition. Four words, one number. Bravo! At the same time, all four words are focused on the inhabitants of the Rublevsky highway, who walk around with iPhones.

By the way, the design of the Deluxe Special Edition is taken from the HTC Touch Diamond from the 2000s. Even there, these edges looked much better.

3. Ugly shell. No one likes to fill up their phones with crap the way those crazy Asians do.

A shocking fact: in some countries, Zenfone 2 had 20 programs each, which were deleted only after obtaining root rights. It is clear that not everyone was engaged in rooting - undemanding users had to put up with the built-in software.

And another funny story. ASUS loves itself so much that it puts branded applications in the public domain - on Google Play. And not only uploads, but also winds up their rating: for example, the useless launcher from the Zen UI set has the same ratings as the most popular Nova Launcher. Why do this is a mystery.

Apparently, very vain and ambitious people work at ASUS. The tragedy is that apart from these qualities, the Taiwanese have nothing. Therefore, the company's smartphones turn out so weak, flawed and hopeless.