A few days ago, we published our first impressions of the ASUS Zenfone 5 and gave you a sneak peek at what this phone could do. Now that we’ve had it for some time, here’s our full review on the phone that’s known as the “Zenfone 5 lite” AKA the ASUS Zenfone 5Q!
Geek-sthetic – 9/10
There isn’t much to dislike about the Zenfone 5Q. It’s looks classy AF due to it’s sleek and gorgeous design aesthetic. The curves on it make it look so pretty as well. The unit we’re reviewing came in a nice Midnight Blue and I loved its whole look. After some use, yes. It is easy to get fingerprints on the whole phone but they’re easily removed with a quick wipe. You could also prevent them from marking with the proper case. You might only be weirded out by the two 2.5D glass panels on the front and back sandwiching the main metal frame of the phone but that’s just nitpicking at this point.
Binge-watching Factor – 8/10
The display is pretty sweet. The colors really pop out when you’re watching. It’s a big 6-inch Full HD+ IPS Display making binge watching your favorite anime shows or netflix series on your phone such a pleasure. IPS also means that you view this in weird angles and still get a good visual experience. Sound isn’t perfect but it’ll do for your binge sessions.
One thing worth mentioning is the Crop-to-fit feature! Annoyed by the little black pillars on the side of your video if the video doesn’t exactly fit the whole screen? It has a function where you can ZOOM the video to fill the black gaps on the side in exchange for a bit of cropping at the top and bottom. It’s pretty nifty to use!
My only issue? It’s not so great for outdoor use. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but the screen brightness issue we mentioned in our first impressions article is really does play a bit of a factor to this when you’re trying to watch things while on-the-go.
Gaming Prowess – 8/10
The screen is definitely a plus with gaming with how visually great it is. It’s pretty smooth too as the phone does use a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 octa-core processor, Adreno 508 GPU, with 4GB RAM. We’ve been playing Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition on it and it’s definitely a treat. Minor chugs occur but only during some scene transitions.
The Prince of Pain, Noctis Lucis Caelum, definitely shines when we’re adventuring with the ASUS Zenfone 5Q!
Geek Photoshoot Capabilities – 8.5/10
Taking photos with this phone is GREAT! You can really abuse the Quad-Cams features of the Zenfone 5Q. You’re working with a 16-megapixel primary camera + an 8-megapixel secondary wide-angle secondary camera for the rear. For the front, you have 20-megapixel primary camera + an 8-megapixel wide-angle secondary camera. The shots you take are really GREAT. Whether front or back, you can do normal or wide angle shots.
Here are some sample shots from the camera:
It’s excellent under good lighting but there’s a bit of a dip in quality when proper lighting isn’t available.
Everyday Reliability – 8.5/10
Is the ASUS Zenfone 5Q reliable? Hells yea! The specs alone make for smooth usage for your everyday apps – Social Media, YouTube, Netflix, Browsing, and the like. It’s super stylish and very sleek so it will look great with you… just watch out because I’m sure it looks great in the eyes of others as well (i.e. snatchers). It IS a premium phone so don’t exactly tempt the fates by dropping this too often. Most importantly, you have all this PLUS a good amount of battery to make it last as it has a 3300mAh battery, which will ROUGHLY last you the whole day. If you plan to game or binge-watch all-day though, you MAY still have to resort to using a power bank. We did mention before though that it IS a bit unweildy due to the weird feel it has so one-handing this may be a challenge.
Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict – 9/10
This phone is GREAT. It’s a powerful midrange phone that can suit your geek lifestyle needs. It provides a good gaming experience, a great camera for your geek photography, and it looks damn good! Definitely worthy of your consideration if you’re looking for a phone. And with that amazing PRICE POINT? It’s DEFINITELY A STEAL!
Specs Summary
- 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 octa-core processor
- Adreno 508 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB of expandable storage
- 6-inch Full HD+IPS display; 18:9 aspect ratio, 2160×1080 resolution
- 16-megapixel primary at f/2.2 aperture + 8-megapixel secondary wide-angle rear camera f/2.4, PDAF, EIS, LED Flash
- 20-megapixel primary at f/2.0 aperture + 8-megapixel wide-angle secondary front cameras f/2.4, EIS, LED Flash
- 4G, LTE
- Dual SIM
- WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC
- GPS, A-GPS
- Fingerprint scanner
- Facial Recognition
- 3300mAh battery
- Android Nougat 7.1.1 with ZenUI 4.5
- Price: PHP 16,995