Zenfone 5Z: A Worthy Contender

Over the past few years, OnePlus has dominated the premium-yet-budget segment with smartphones that feature the best processor and memory combination in the market, yet with a price tag akin to the mid-rangers from the likes of Samsung. After a quiet past couple of years, Asus has finally pulled out all the stops with the Zenfone 5Z by taking a page out of OnePlus’ playbook – not only does the phone rock the same top-shelf internals as the latest OnePlus 6, it also does so at a price that significantly undercuts the competition.

In the hand, the 5Z feels a tad inspired by Asus’ previous devices, and the design favours practicality over pure looks. The flat glass on the rear shaves off precious grams, thus allowing for a better grip, but forgoes wireless charging and any semblance of water/dust protection. Asus was the first off the blocks at MWC when it showed off the iPhone-inspired notch, but a few months later, the design isn’t an outlier anymore.

Now, as you would imagine for a phone that's running the latest hardware, the 5Z is a beast when it comes to everyday use, and there is simply no lag or stutter anywhere, no matter what you throw at it, including the latest graphically intensive games. The ZenUI on top of the base Android 8.0 is far more restrained than ever before, making the phone a breeze to use. There is, though, a liberal sprinkling of ‘AI’ features across the 5Z – for instance, AI Charging learns your charging routine and adjusts charging speed to avoid stressing the battery, and AI Ringtone listens for ambient noise levels and sets ringtone volume accordingly. Coupled with software features such as Twin Apps (two copies of the same app) and gaming enhancements, you get a software experience that is useful yet doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the raw power of this device.

Yet, the thirty-thousand-rupee question remains — how does the 5Z compare to its very explicitly stated competitor, the OnePlus 6? The 5Z opts for an LCD display, which while it can’t match up to the richer blacks and overall brightness of the AMOLED on the OP6, does better on colour reproduction and is a very good screen, as LCD displays go. With the 5Z, you get built-in FM radio, a richer dual-speaker setup and expandable storage using the hybrid dual-SIM slot, the latter allowing you to pick up the base variant and add storage as you go along unlike the OnePlus where you get all the storage you buy at purchase. On the flip side, OnePlus scores with basic splash resistance, a cleaner, faster Android implementation (Oxygen OS), which is likely to get faster updates…and the fastest fast charging around (Dash Charge). In the camera department, it comes down to personal preference – while both offer capable cameras, the 5Z does a better job shooting landscapes in good light (with an excellent wide-angle lens on the second camera) and offers some interesting AI capabilities for scene detection, but OnePlus scores better in low-light and while shooting portraits and selfies.

All said, Asus has hit one out of the park with the Zenfone 5Z. The sheer price-to-performance ratio alone will attract buyers looking for the best deal, and the little touches — microSD card expansion, the wide-angle camera and the AI smarts — will seal the deal.