Review: Asus ZenFone 2 Laser is an impressive device

ASUS ZENFONE 2 LASER
PRICE: Rs 9,999

Last year, Asus returned to the Indian smartphone market with its Zenfone range. Opting for the online-only strategy, the company received a great response and now has the complete range of ZenFone 2 smartphones.

ZenFone 2 Laser is aimed at photography enthusiasts without hurting their pocket. Designed along the lines of the flagship ZenFone 2, the ZenFone 2 Laser boasts a 5.5inch HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. The Asus brand is displayed on the top, while the back, home and multitasking keys are at the bottom of the display. The phone has a slightly curved rear and curved corners. The power key has been placed on the top and the volume keys on the rear, making it comfortable to grip.

The highlight of the ZenFone 2 Laser is its 13 MP camera with laser auto focus and dual LED flash. The laser focus helps in focusing on the subject quickly. This comes handy while capturing close-up shots. A laser focus in a budget smartphone is rare, so we welcome Asus's decision. The camera's performance was impressive. Images captured during the daylight were sharp but were not so good during low-light conditions, although the night mode and the dual LED flash came handy. With changing environment, the camera app automatically suggested to activate HDR mode with a simple touch. It has various modes including beautification, super resolution, low light, night, depth of field, panorama, miniature and time rewind. Even for capturing selfies there are advanced settings such as selecting the number of faces to detect. The countdown for capturing images starts only after the faces are detected.

The ZenFone 2 Laser has a new ZenUI skin, which is based on Android Lollipop operating system. By default, in the app tray, apps are categorised into folders and one can change the view mode from all to downloaded, customised or frequent. There is also a Kids Mode that comes handy if a kid is playing on the phone. Overall, the performance of this device is impressive. There wasn't any lag while playing games such as Asphalt 8 or switching between multiple running apps. It is powered by 64-bit 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset and is paired with 2 GB of RAM. It comes with 16 GB internal storage and supports expandable memory. Being a dual SIM smartphone, it also supports 4G network. The 3000mAh battery was good enough to last over a day on a single charge.

BAG IT OR JUNK IT: Best smartphone under Rs 10,000.
RATING: 4.5/5
PLUS: Camera with laser focus, performance
MINUS: No full HD display