Friends+Design
- Beautiful, elegant, glass & metal design, with a 'notch' screen - quite similar to the iPhone X - and arguably the most beautifully designed phone in this price bracket
- The power button and the volume rocker on the right have just the right amount of tactile give, and also the mid-frame has a smooth matte finish that ups both the premium quotient as well as the in-hand feel - the ZenFone 5Z feels like an expensive phone that isn't expensive at all
- Build quality is rock solid too - the phone has considerable heft but not unbearably so - you'll feel the phone in your hands but you won't find it taking the better of you - it's just the right proportion
- It's very pocketable too - boasting of an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 90 per cent - the phone is almost border-less, barring a notch up-top and a chin portion at the bottom
Display
- The tall, modern, 19:9 display is absolutely gorgeous - it can get really bright and produces rich and vibrant colours that look pleasing to the eyes - it has great viewing angles as well - again, this is arguably the best display in this price bracket, even better than the OnePlus 6, especially in terms of colour accuracy
Software
- Asus's ZenUI is a huge improvement over its previous, bloated versions - it's now much lighter and smoother, and adds tons of useful AI frameworks to make the core Android experience much better - the cameras use AI for scene detection and better shots, the battery uses AI to optimize charging, the processor uses AI to boost specific apps/games, and the display uses AI to remain on when you are looking at it!
- Asus also makes probably the best use of the 'bunny ears' on the sides of the notch of any Android phone so far - the implementation is well thought-out - the bunny ears in the case of the ZenFone 5Z are interactive - they don't bombard you with icons and notifications - instead, everything is neatly arranged and there's even a tap to view more option - tapping on either side of the notch takes you to a small sub-head that gives you an expanded view of all the incoming notifications, without having you to pull them down all the way through - it's these little details in the software that really add to the experience of using the Zenfone 5Z
Performance
- The hardware on the Zenfone 5Z is as top-end as it gets - it is the cheapest phone in India right now with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor under the hood - in short, it will fly through anything you throw at it - and will be as fast as other flagships (OnePlus, Galaxy S9 etc)
Camera
- Very good dual camera system at the rear - arguably the best at this price point, competing virtually head-to-head with the OnePlus 6, and and not too much behind the best of the best like the Pixel 2 - photos clicked with it in good lighting come out well, with lots of detail and colours which are mostly true to source - dynamic range is also spot-on - the ZenFone 5Z is also capable of taking some good shots in tricky and low light conditions - the phone also comes with an in-built night mode that ups the detail (even further) and leads to brighter photos at the cost of resolution (4-megapixel)
- Thanks to the 4-axis OIS, shake is minimal (or altogether absent) in videos and the 4K clips shot with the phone also look fantastic - the phone further comes with a 3 mic system that results in fairly crisp audio recording as well
- The secondary 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor on the rear performs its job really well too - it gives you both a pretty amazing portrait mode, and a wide-angle shot option
- The phone's front 8MP shooter is decent too (though not exceptional like the rear camera setup) - it takes some good selfies in good light
- The shutter speed on the camera could have been slightly better - it's decent but not the best - it can sometimes get in the way when you're looking to take a quick shot, or clicking a moving subject
Audio
- The stereo speakers can get really loud, and the phone also supports High-Resolution audio via compatible wired and wireless headphones
Battery
- Good battery life - the 3300mAh battery inside the ZenFone 5Z is similar to the OnePlus 6 - you will comfortably get a day of use
- It even charges as fast as OnePlus' excellent Dash charger - you can top it off in some one hour fifteen minutes using the bundled 18W Qualcomm Quick Charger 3.0 charger
More
- On the whole, the Asus ZenFone 5Z is the first (and only) phone in the market right now that should make OnePlus nervous, and will give some very serious competition to the excellent OnePlus 6 - it is arguably a bit better than the OnePlus 6 in a couple of areas (overall looks, speakers), and arguably a bit behind in a couple (software, water resistance), but overall, these 2 phones are pretty much neck-and-neck - which is saying something since the Zenfone 5z is significantly cheaper!
