Currently the flagship of the Zenfone line, the ASUS Zenfone 5Z packs amazing features well worthy of its price. We’ve taken our time in getting to know everything this amazing phone has to offer and finally, here’s our full review of the ASUS Zenfone 5Z !
Design & Construction
While competitors are dressing up their phones in eye-catching colors and trippy gradients, the ASUS Zenfone 5Z banks on its quiet sophistication. Encased in an aerospace-grade aluminum that’s both lightweight and durable, this helps the phone keep its weight at just 155g. Both the front and back panels are covered in glass, with the back panel’s surface engraved with a tightly-knit circular pattern. This gives the ASUS Zenfone 5Z a unique effect when light hits its back panel’s surface.
ASUS ZenFone 5Z: First Impressions
There’s a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor sitting on top of the ASUS branding, with the power and volume control buttons placed on the phone’s right side. Though already equipped with a USB Type-C charging port, the phone still has a separate 3.5mm earphone jack.
The back panel may be a smudge magnet, but when used with a clear bumper case, it surprisingly doesn’t diminish the back panel’s reflective effect.
Display & Multimedia
The Zenfone 5Z has a 6.2” notched display that has a screen resolution of 1080 x 2246 and a 402ppi pixel density. Text and images appear sharp, and there is hardly any color distortion when the screen is viewed in different angles. Videos and UI animation appear smooth, with colors appearing slightly on the warm side. This device takes pride in its AI capabilities, which extends to display preferences. Not only does it have the option to automatically optimize the screen’s brightness according to the amount of light present in the environment, but it can also keep the screen on for an extended amount of time whenever it detects that you are looking at it.
As for sound, the quality is really good and turning up the volume at maximum can really blast your tunes across a busy room. The speakers also offer an immersive gaming experience, and I love that the device still has a dedicated earphone jack, while most phones drop it when using a Type-C port.
Camera
Much like the ASUS ROG Phone, the Zenfone 5Z relies on the high-end processor for image quality hence the lenses not having high megapixels. The 5Z’s main shooter is a 12MP+8MP setup with an 8MP front camera that is both powered by advanced AI capabilities that no longer needs to be switched on because it’s always working already. Automatic scene recognition and focus set the perfect color balance and light exposure to your chosen subject, allowing even beginners to take professional-looking photos!
There are at least 8 basic shooting modes to choose from: Auto, Beauty, Pro, Super resolution, GIF Animation, Panorama, Slow Motion, and Time Lapse. All work well except the Slow Motion mode which, although it does really slow down action through burst shooting at 240fps, greatly reduces light sensitivity and picture quality. I recommend only using this feature when shooting outdoors or when in a brightly-lit environment.
Another great feature of the ASUS Zenfone 5Z is its integration of the Google Lens, which surprisingly works well and is pretty accurate at detecting text and directly runs it through the Google search engine. This feature is really convenient when you need something translated or searched for right away.
ASUS ZenFone 5Z Sample Photos:
Performance & Battery
I expected nothing less from the Zenfone 5Z because of its Snapdragon 845 chipset and Adreno 630 GPU. Even heavy games such as Identity V and Bendy Run can be played smoothly at the highest graphics setting. Though not primarily designed for this purpose, this makes the 5Z incredible at gaming. Assets load quickly and there are virtually no lags within the game.
The only downside being its battery having a limited capacity at just 3,300mAh which can only get you through the day, depending on use. Fortunately, it has BoostMaster technology that helps you charge the 5Z faster and prolong the battery’s lifespan.
Even with its already impressive 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage, it managed to score a total of 271616 on Antutu Benchmark, placing the ASUS Zenfone 5Z right under the Pocophone F1 in terms of performance. I also find the security features very impressive: the face recognition feature records data fast, allowing you to enroll your face quickly and yet the device will still recognize you right away. I tested the face unlock in various angles and it worked great except when the lighting gets too dark. On the other hand, the fingerprint sensor is much more reliable and offers a faster way to unlock the phone.
All in all, the ASUS Zenfone 5Z is yet another great addition to the Zenfone line. It delivers superb performance in a sleek and stylish package. The ASUS Zenfone 5Z is currently available in all authorized ASUS distributors all over the country at a suggested retail price of Php 29,995.