Meet the Asus Zenfone 5, 5Z, 5 Lite and 5 Max launched at MWC 2018

With this smartphone, Asus has also introduced its own take on Apple’s Animoji, called the ZeniMoji. The ZeniMoji has been described as live-animated avatars of users that can be used across video chats, live-streaming and text chats.

Asus Zenfone 5 features a dual-rear camera setup. Its 12MP primary Sony IMX363 Sensor, which is 1.4um in size, features Auto Scene Detection, Night HDR AI Scene Detection alongside scene-detection AI algorithms, for clear low-light images. This camera allows real-time portraits, which integrates features from portrait and bokeh modes and provides a Pro mode option, where users can adjust shutter speeds.

The 6p secondary lens offers a 120-degree wide-angle camera with a lag time of 0.03 sec, and 4-axis OIS. The Zenfone 5’s camera is capable of shooting 4K UHD video at 60 fps, while managing 1080p quality video at 30/60 fps. Meanwhile, the 8MP front lens with f/2.0 aperture offers an 84-degree field of view and instant camera switching.

Storage options on the Zenfone 5 include two RAM variants, 4GB and 6GB. Both variants offer 64GB of internal memory with microSD support up to 2TB. Users will have to contend with a hybrid SIM slot on this phone. Connectivity options include 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi alongside Bluetooth 5.0 and an integrated NFC with Google Pay. Sensors on the device include a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner with 0.3 sec unlock time, GPS/A-GPS, Glonass and BDS, in addition to gyro, accelerometer, ambient light and proximity. It will be available in Midnight Blue and Meteor Silver colour options, but the exact availability of this device is yet to be announced.

Asus Zenfone 5Z

The Asus Zenfone5Z is the company’s flagship for the 2018 lineup of the Zenfone smartphones. It is built out of premium materials and supposedly features a 90 percent screen to body ratio. The company has decided not to skimp out on the hardware of the smartphone. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset along with Adreno 630 GPU.

The smartphone features a 6.2-inch Full HD+ display with a resolution of 2246 x 1080 pixels and support for the DCI-P3 colour gamut. The display might cover 90 percent of the screen but the one thing that bothers me is the iPhone X like notch on top of the smartphone’s display. No points for guessing where the design inspiration came from.

The Zenfone 5Z will be offered in three RAM and storage variants – 4GB RAM/64GB of internal storage, 6GB RAM/128GB of internal storage and 8GB RAM/256GB of internal storage. All of these come with an option to expand the storage up to 2TB via a microSD card.

The device features a stereo speaker setup with two amplifiers to boost the sound. It also comes with support for Hi-Res Audio and DTS Headphone-X technology, which allows for a 7.1-channel surround sound on headphones.

As for the camera, the Zenfone 5Z features a dual camera setup on the rear (12-megapixel + 8-megapixel). On the front, it features an 8-megapixel selfie camera with an 84-degree field of view.

The device will be made available in the Midnight Blue, Meteor Silver colour variants. The Zenfone 5Z starts from EUR 479 (roughly Rs. 38,400).

Asus Zenfone 5 Lite

Another addition to the Zenfone 5 series is the Zenfone 5 Lite. It comes with a 6-inch Full HD+ IPS display with 2160 x 1080 pixels resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio. It features the same Blue-light and capacitive touch capabilities as the Zenfone 5. This Zenfone series device also comes with 2.5D curved glass on the front as well as the back.

Based on Android 8. 0 Oreo with Asus ZenUI 5.0 skin, the Zenfone 5 Lite comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 630 processor. It is backed by a 3300mAh battery which supports Asus’ Boost Charger feature as well as FinFET Low Power Plus power-saving technology. A rapid face unlock is included with this smartphone too in addition to a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The Zenfone 5 Lite also supports the zoom-to-fill feature during video playback.

On the Zenfone 5 Lite, Asus has provided a dual-rear camera and a dual-front lens setup. The primary 16MP rear camera lens offers f/2.2 aperture with 85.5 degree viewing angle and soft light LED. Meanwhile, the 20MP Sony front camera with f/2.0 aperture comes with LED flash and an 80-degree field of view. The secondary 6p lenses on the rear and front cameras offer a 120-degree viewing angle.

Enabled with three-axis EIS, the Asus Zenfone 5 Lite can record 4K UHD video via the rear camera as well as 1080p video (30/60fps) and 720p footage (30fps). A key enhancement to this smartphone is Asus BeautyLive, that enables beauty mode when broadcasting live across social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asus Zenfone 5 Lite will be offered in two storage variants: 4GB RAM/ 64GB internal storage & 3GB RAM/32GB internal memory. On both models, microSD support has been extended up to 2TB. Connectivity options include 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC tech with Google Pay, as well as a micro USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack. This phone comes with GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, BDS as well as proximity, ambient light, gyro sensors and accelerometer.

Set to be available in three colour variants: Midnight Black, Moonlight White and Rouge Red, Asus is yet to reveal its date of arrival.

Asus Zenfone 5 Max

Along with the other three new Zenfone smartphones, Asus also showcased two variants of the Zenfone 5 Max. This might seem a bit recognisable to customers as it is very similar to the Zenfone Max Plus which was launched last year. The devices may look similar but there are a few major differences that set them apart.

Unlike the Zenfone Max Plus, the new Zenfone 5 Max doesn’t run on a MediaTek MT6750T processor. Instead, it is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 and the Snapdragon 430 processors. The display is also a bit smaller than that found in the older Max Plus.

The new Asus Zenfone 5 Max features an all metallic finish body with a 2.5D curved glass up front. It sports a 5.5-inch HD+ IPS display (1440 x 720 pixels) with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The display also features Glove Touch support which allows users wearing gloves to access their smartphones without the need of removing them.

As far as the memory is concerned, the device will feature up to 3GB of RAM along with 32GB of internal storage expandable up to 256GB. It runs on Google’s Android 8.0 Oreo operating system with the company’s own ZenUI 5.0 on top. All of this is backed by a 4,000mAh non-removable battery, which is one thing that should have been bigger on a smartphone with the Max branding. Additionally, the device comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor along with a face unlock feature.

As for the camera, the Asus Zenfone 5 Max features a dual camera setup on the back, a 13-megapixel shooter with an aperture of f/2.0 and a secondary 120-degree wide angle 8-megapixel sensor with an aperture of f/2.2. On the front, the device features an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with an aperture of f/2.2.

The Asus Zenfone 5 Max will be available in Deep-sea Black, Sunlight Gold, and Ruby Red colour variants. The company hasn’t revealed any details regarding the pricing and availability of this smartphone either. However, they did say that the details will follow soon.