ASUS ZENFONE 5 - quick hands on test (SRP PHP 19,995)



It's been ages since I tested and tried an Asus Zenfone, but I'm happy to see that this age of AI tech on smartphones, I found one of the best AI camera tech and its here on the Zenfone 5.

The new smartphone from Asus is really built for photography and video, I'm happy with the result of the video test that I made and also I almost missed how the rear camera for still photos perform. I only got a taste of it when we went to Baguio for an adventure tour with the Asus Zenfone team.

But before that, I did a quick hands on test and short review using Ted Claudio's Zenfone 5 smartphone.  I borrowed it for 15 minutes and I shoot a vlog test using the dual cameras and front camera of the Zenfone 5.

I can say is that the camera performs well if its on full 4K video mode. I also like the image stabilization on the front camera when on 4K mode. For me, this is a good vlogging camera too.



The back of the phone is so stylish and neat. The light plays around when you tilt the back of the phone.



Asus Zenfone 5 full screen mode maximizes the view of everything on the screen.  More space for the apps and also the camera's live view goes full screen when you switch to wide angle on the rear camera. Also its good when you view websites on full screen.


TECH SPECS

6.2-inch Full HD+ (2246 by 1080) Super IPS+ display
Corning® Gorilla® Glass for best screen protection
Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 636 Mobile Platform with 14nm, 64-bit Octa-core Processor with AI Boost
GPU Qualcomm® Adreno™ 509
Android™ Oreo™ with new ASUS ZenUI 5
4GB LPDDR4X RAM
Rear dual cam- Sony flagship IMX363 12MP dual pixel image sensor and 8MP  F1.8
Rear cam can do 120° wide-angle camera /  5x light sensitivity low light photos
Front cam - 8MP F2.0
4K video recording with 3axis IS on rear cam
64 GB internal storage
Dual SIM dual standby
Rear fingerprint sensor
Face recognition
3300mAh with fast charging
body color available: Meteor Silver and Midnight Blue

more info at https://www.asus.com/ph/Phone/ZenFone-5-ZE620KL/Tech-Specs/

SRP PHP 19,995



Close up look of the 8MP front camera




Rear dual camera 12MP and 8MP with LED flash
and the Zenfone 5's fingerprint unlock scanner



Sim card tray on the left
then Volume rocker and power button at the right side (sorry I forgot to take photo of it)



Headphone jack and USB Type C port slot




That's my initial review of the phone, I didn't got a chance to try the photo mode but when we were in Baguio, I got amazed on how the AI camera tech works, because it chooses the right camera setting when you start taking a photo on a certain subject and also I heard that the AI get familiarize on the user's camera photo behavior, it means that it learn on itself on what kind of environment you are into and what subjects you are shooting a photo.

Below are samples of the video mode and also photo mode of Zenfone 5.

SAMPLES



MY VLOG TEST



Captured by Jemi Diochel Calinog (PBNET BAGUIO)




Captured by Jemi Diochel Calinog (PBNET BAGUIO)




Captured by Jemi Diochel Calinog (PBNET BAGUIO)




Captured by Jemi Diochel Calinog (PBNET BAGUIO)



Captured by Jemi Diochel Calinog (PBNET BAGUIO)




captured by Ted Claudio



captured by Ted Claudio



captured by Ted Claudio



captured by Ted Claudio



captured by Arlene Donaire