We spent a hefty time with our own Zenfone 5 for the past 2 weeks and we were surprised on some areas of this device. This is nowhere near a full & in-depth review, but we’d like to share our inputs based on our actual usage.
Gorgeous AF!
This device, at it’s price point, is hands-down a beautifully crafted device. And this is not an exaggeration! We truly admire this device’ design, how it feels premium in our hand, and how incredibly light it is without too much compromise.
Aside from it’s glass sandwich body which ASUS was able to pull-off, what makes this device a joy to use is its big and bright screen. Notch aside, the OLED screen is a fun to look at though we’re not sure who made this panel. It’s nowhere near Samsung’s Super AMOLED displays, but it’s bright enough for our liking and colors are super vibrant.
That Notch is polarizing.
We have to address the elephant in the room. We have to mention that we’re not fond of notches. But of course, with the notch, ASUS was able to pull-off a panel with a big screen to body ratio. And honestly, coming from an iPhone X, which obviously has a way bigger notch than its Android counterparts, this is bearable. We were able to adapt to it and eventually, not even notice it whenever we use the device (except on Youtube videos which when cropped to fit the screen, cuts the notch area).
Needless to say, some users will definitely bear its existence, and some might not. But based on how phone manufacturers are now designing their devices, this might be the trend of 2018. We just have to live with it.
BATTERY LIFE IS OUTSTANDING!
As mentioned, we came from an iPhone X which usually lasts a day of normal to heavy usage. Migrating to the ASUS Zenfone 5, we expected a little to no improvements to our previous experience. Having personal experience with Zenfones from 2014 to 2016. we can say that Zenfones are not battery-friendly due to its cluttered and heavy UI and their own proprietary apps. But we were surprised when we started using it. We had a thought in our mind:
ASUS should might as well call the Zenfone 5 their BatteryKing!
We used it as our primary device, or as other say, “daily driver”. Our normal routine is from 7 in the morning until 9 in the evening without charging in between. Usage usually revolves around Waze going to work, multiple notifications every 5 to 10 minutes, casual social media browsing, watching Youtube videos, and the usual call and text. Connection varies from Wifi to Data time to time.
Photos below shows our screenshot of how this device’ battery is surviving our heavy usage daily and still crunching to have some few power left after.
The photo above shows our normal Monday routine. At around 6 in the morning, (due to number coding) we go to work with a freshly charged battery . Data and GPS on.
By 12:30 in the afternoon, there’s still more than 50% charge left despite our average to heavy usage since 6AM. Though it’s not accurate, our estimated usage time left is still 8 hours!!
We capped the day at around 10 in the evening before we charge it again for tomorrow. At this time, we still have 17% juice left in the battery with 4 hours screen-on-time.
This device might not be supporting a 4,000 to 5,000 mAh battery, but to a normal to heavy user, the Zenfone 5 definitely ticks all the boxes! A device that looks good, takes good photos, a beautiful screen, and a battery that would last a day and a half. Highly recommending this device to everyone. The Zenfone 5 retails just for PHP 19,995 in all ASUS concept stores, kiosks, and authorized resellers. Check out our unboxing video here.
*This short battery performance overview is not in anyway scientific and was just based on normal day-to-day usage and was benchmarked from other devices.