Friends+Design
- Excellent build quality, with a metal body - holds its own against any of today’s premium smartphones
- Simple, aesthetic design
- With a device as large as this, your main consideration should be whether or not you can handle its sheer size and weight of 233g - it is awkward and difficult both to carry and to handle - it will stick out of pockets and will only really work if you carry it around in a handbag or backpack
- You’ll also need two hands to hold and use it securely
- The width and weight of this phone also make long calls, and long videos, fatiguing
Display
- Huge, crisp, clean display - movies and YouTube clips consistently look great, and are immersive with the large field of view - colours are bright and motion is smooth - viewing angles are good too - overall the screen is a delight to use
- Useful one-handed mode - allows double-clicking the Home button to shrink the display down to one corner of the screen
Software
- Asus’ ZenUI is just too busy and can be overwhelming for ordinary users by simply offering too much choice and customization options - in fact, there is no other Android UI offering this much customisation
- The phone is also loaded with way too much bloatware that most users will want to un-install
Performance
- Good speed/performance - the SoC might not be the fastest around, but it’s paired well with the display and therefore isn’t being pushed beyond its capabilities - the device also doesn't get too hot at any point
- Performance is good overall, but definitely not at the same level as we’d expect from a flagship device at this price point
Camera
- Good cameras - good autofocus performance, framing is easy with the large screen, macros looked very good, with fine detailing and vivid colours really popping against blurred-out backgrounds - night shots are also surprisingly bright and clear
- Cameras too are good, but certainly not the best, and not flagship-class
Audio
- Good loudspeaker - produces deep, rich sound
- Good bundled earphones - with impressive detailing and perception of space
Battery
- Excellent battery - goes two days without needing a recharge, even with moderate to heavy use
- The phone also supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 standard
More
- On the whole, ergonomically, the handset is just too big to be convenient as a phone, so you might like to have something like this more as a tablet with a SIM card for mobile data and the occasional voice call
