ASUS Zenfone 2‏

This is how you will usually catch me when I'm waiting for my food or when I'm on the train heading to work and even in the restroom.. oops. Attached to my phone 24/7. So it is safe to say that my phone is definitely on the list of the top 3 things I must have when I leave my house.

 

1. Wallet

2. Keys.

3. Phone.

 

Sometimes I can't live without my camera too. Well, you know lah, life of a blogger right? We have to capture every worthy moment so that we have things to share online. But nowadays I find myself relying less on my camera because of my new phone! More on that later, but so yes, that's why you don't see "camera" listed in my top 3 must-have items.

 

Let me share with you my latest gadget - ASUS ZenFone 2.

 

"A marvel of craftsmanship and engineering that combines the beauty of Zen, unprecedented performance, fast charging, sharp vision and a seamless and intuitive UI, designed to be your best companion."

 

I heard of the brand ASUS about 8-9 years ago when I was working in the yearly IT Fair at Suntec with SX (poly days, part time jobs) and we were selling their laptops! They also carry other IT products like motherboards, routers, PC and tablets.

 

 I remembered the brand having really good technology because of the specifications I had to remember when I was selling the laptops & it was easy to beat the other competitor's and my sales target were met daily. SX even told me "Eh, ASUS latop 可以买的". Price was reasonable & performance was good!

So when I heard from my blog manager that the brand of the phone I was given was ASUS, I excitedly agreed and told SX about it and he was like "Wah, shiok lor, then you no need spend money buy new phone already because ASUS specs is good."

 

 

I'm super honoured to be the first few in Singapore to try out the ASUS ZenFone 2 before it was launched in the market.

 

So here's a little rundown on the ZenFone2:

 

- Powered by a 64-bit Intel® Atom™ Processor  (Balances performance & power efficiency)

 

- Intel 3D Tri-Gate Transistor (Increases performance & decrease power usage)

 

- Dual Channel Data Transmission (Performance speed increase)

 

- World's 1st Smartphone with 4GB RAM (Zero lag when multitasking, "Monster" performance)

 

- Advanced 4G LTE Technology (Faster downloads)

 

- 60ms Touch-Response Time (Smooth scrolling & receptive touchscreen)

 

- Dual Active Sim Card

 

- Full HD IPS Crystal-Clear Display (Responsive even when wearing gloves)

 

- Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 (Very durable & damage resistant screen, 3x stronger)

 

- SonicMaster (delivers crystal clear quality audio)

 

- BoostMaster Fast Charging (able to charge up to 69% battery in just 39 mins)

 

There's even more but I can't list out all but these are what caught my attention when I was at the event launch & I was thinking to myself that all these unprecedented performance built in a tiny phone, sounds super powerful to me!

 

After un-boxing, this is what you get.

 

I like how they are meticulous to even the littlest things like the different sizes of rubbers for the headphones.

 

The shape of the ZenFone 2 is surprisingly easy & comfortable to hold. It also doesn't threaten to slip off my hand when I'm trying to take selfies or type with one hand.

 

It is also pretty slim - thin edges at 3.9mm.

 

I like how clean and sleek it looks!

 

I really enjoy the large screen, it is such a treat considering the previous phone I used had a pretty small screen! The ZenFone 2 has a 72% screen to body ratio.

 

 

The ZenUI has added features and my favorite is definitely the ZenMotion - Imagine just drawing a letter "C" with your finger onto the screen and the camera function will be launched, "E" for email & etc. How convenient!

 

Another feature that I adore is the Trend Micro™ Security that helps block away malicious websites and viruses that threatens the security of your phone.

 

The last feature is ZenLink - I'm able to share pictures, contacts, music and information with my friends & even my PC effortlessly.

 

 

 The next function I'm going to talk about is the most crucial to me in a phone.

 

The Camera, PixelMaster 2.0.

 

 

I know, very bimbo of me to say that but.. I'm always taking pictures on the go. For my SnapChat, Instagram, Dayre and Facebook. So the image quality of a phone's camera is very important to me!

 

As a blogger, I would need to carry my camera most of the time with me and it is such a love-hate relationship because my camera is so bulky & heavy! I was even tempted to buy a compact camera that is lighter and smaller so that I can bring it out on days with me when I still need good quality pictures but without the huge lens and heavy camera body.

 

So when I went for the event launch of the ZenFone 2, I remembered them saying that one of the aim that ASUS has is for users to no longer need to lug another camera out because their phone will be able to give them quality images too!

 

My favorite function of the entire phone.. the different camera modes.

The PixelMaster camera produces images that are 4x brighter and with better contrast!

 

I'm spoilt for choices!!

The Depth of Field mode is definitely handy when taking close up of items and the Low Light mode for times where it isn't bright enough.

 

My favorite has got to be the "Beautification" mode that takes really pretty selfies. It allows you to add blush to your cheeks, enlarge your eyes, slim down those cheeks/jaws, smoothen and brighten the skin!!

 

 

Can you see the lower row with all the cute icons?

I always set NO blusher, smoothening of skin at level 1, brighten skin at level 2, enlarge eyes at level 3 and slimming cheeks at level 2. That's my default settings. HAHA

 

Taking vain selfies made easier with ASUS ZenFone 2!

 

It is like, out of 2 pictures I snap. confirm 1 of it is chio one lor!!

This Beautification mode really saves me time from having to edit my pictures or having to take my picture over and over again until I have a nice one.

 

 

This is the picture from the above shot.

ZERO FILTER, ZERO EDITING DONE.

 

& when I take food pictures, I will usually just set it to AUTO because it is the easiest and I don't want to waste time selecting which mode to use and have my food turn cold. Haha.

 

Just 1 snap is all I need to capture the perfect image.

 

This is the original image from the above shot, with no filters and zero editing.

Super clear and good quality right!!

I am really amazed by the images produced via a phone's camera.

 

 

I really have yet to use any camera that has such good quality pictures and I've been a faithful user to my previous phone brand for years. Yes, the image quality definitely improved over the years but still, I am blown away by the images that ASUS's ZenFone 2's produces!

The above was taken in the Manual mode.

Super sharp image too!

 

Captured these active babies with it too!

 

 

Picture taken in SX's car while he went to run some errands.

This was taken in the "Low Light" mode because it was really gloomy and dark outside but I was surprised at how bright it turned out to be!

 

Here are some images I took during the ASUS ZenFone 2 event launch a few weeks back with over 500 guests.

 

 

Yep, I was sold by the 4GB built in ram.

 

Dual Active Sim Card!

Means you can actually receive phone calls and texts from both your numbers at the same time using the ZenFone 2!

 

& here are the incredible prices.

 

I was really shocked at how affordable it was.

I mean, after listening to a 20 minutes introduction on how awesome the phone is, I expected it to be around S$800 at least! The specifications of the phone was on par or even better than some of the high-end smart phone brands in the market that's why I couldn't believe that it would be sold at below S$500!

 

Here's a picture of the great men behind ASUS ZenFone 2.

 

The eager guests all having some hands-on with the phone.

 

ASUS also created many accessories to compliment the phone and can you guess what is in the above image?

 

It is a flashlight!

Perfect for the front camera when you are in a dim place and super affordable too! If I'm not wrong, it is just below S$20. I NEED THIS IN MA LIFE!

 

Another accessory that caught my eye is the phone casing.

I like how the cut out displays the important information at a glance.

 

The 4GB "Monster Perfromance" smartphone at an incredible price of S$429 is now open for pre-orer at the ASUS Online Store: http://bit.ly/1dYHzHk

 

 

And they will be available in stores from 16th May 2015 onwards at ASUS Authorised Dealers, ASUS Brand Stores, ASUS Online Store (http://bit.ly/1dYHzHk), M1 and StarHub.

 

 The 4GB/64GB will be available in Singtel and Singtel Exclusive Retailers.

 

 

Here are the other colours available and if you wish to read more on the phone, visit:

http://www.asus.com/sg/Phones/ZenFone_2_ZE551ML/