Asus ZenFone 5 LTE Smartphone Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. Design4. Display5. Software6. Performance7. Camera8. Battery9. Closing Thoughts10. View All Pages

Today we complete our look at the 2014 ZenFone range from ASUS. So far the other two handsets – 4 and 6-inch devices – have been very impressive and cost-effective. Will the 5-inch model, now available for under £190, continue this trend or will it disappoint?

The most recent of the ASUS ZenFone range, the ZenFone 5 LTE debuted in July 2014. While the other ZenFone models went against the current smartphone trend by ditching Qualcomm for Intel Atom processors, the ZenFone 5 LTE features a Snapdragon 400 CPU. Other similar features, such as colourful cases, remain and we'll have a look at these in detail.

Features

• 5-inch HD display
• Snapdragpn 400 CPU 1.2GHz
• Android 4.3, upgradable to 4.4.2 KitKat
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB internal storage with microSD cards up to 64GB supported
• 8MP rear camera with 2MP front camera
• 2110 mAH battery

The packaging of the ZenFone 5 LTE is almost identical to that of the ZenFone 6.

A clean, dark grey box features key specifications along the side. The front is taken up by a colourful photo of the phone itself.

Inside is the typical range of accessories, including an AC adapter, headphones, microUSB cable and some product information.
Continuing the comparison with the ZenFone 6, the ZenFone 5 LTE features a design very similar to its bigger brother, despite the obvious size difference.

Both handsets are constructed from a smooth matte plastic. The backs are removable, allowing you to fit another colour if you wish – including white, gold and purple. We fitted a red back to differentiate the two devices for our photos.

Furthermore, both the 5 and 6-inch devices have a central camera that does not protrude – something we are always glad to see these days. ASUS branding is also common to both, which can be found on both sides of the device.

Where the two devices differ, however, is the placement of the on/off button and volume rocker. The ZenFone 6 featured its on/off button on the right edge below the volume rocker, in the middle of the device. This meant it was within easy reach of your thumb, so unlocking the screen was no problem.

The ZenFone 5 LTE reverses this, with the on/off button above the volume rocker. Despite having a smaller screen, the positioning means its just a bit of a stretch to unlock the screen each time. It's not impossible to reach, just stretching repeatedly can be slightly uncomfortable.

Home buttons remain on the device, rather than soft-keys, whilst the headphone jack stays at the top left of the phone. A microUSB port is centrally positioned on the bottom edge.

The ZenFone 5 LTE features an HD (1280-*720) display, the same resolution as the ZenFone 6. Given that the screen is an inch smaller, though, the display is noticeably sharper here, with a PPI density of 294 proving more than adequate.

It is an IPS panel, too, and allows for great viewing angles – we were able to turn the screen away at multiple angles and still read text clearly.

While colour reproduction is strong, we felt the screen would have benefited from a higher contrast ratio. The iPhone 6, for instance, has a contrast ratio of 1400:1, and blacks are very deep with ultra-crisp whites.

The ZenFone 5 LTE doesn't quite reach these heights and as a result images don't dazzle as much as they could. They lack the depth they would have on other displays.

The display is strong, and for under £190 it is hard to ask for more, but it just feels the screen lacks a standout feature. It is functional and crisp, but there's nothing to set it apart from thousands of other HD displays.
Upon release, the ZenFone 5 LTE shipped with Android 4.3 Jellybean. It is now upgradable to KitKat 4.4.2, and Lollipop is coming to the entire ZenFone range in April.

This means all the ZenFone devices come with the same software and UI – named ZenUI. So rather than go over what we said about the OS when we reviewed the ZenFone 6, here we will look at features we didn't have space for previously.

One of these modes is the ASUS ‘fast-boot' setting which the ZenFone 5 LTE features. With the mode disabled, our sample took 42.7 seconds to go from switched off to the lock screen – very slow. With fast-boot enabled, the boot time was just 8.2 seconds, a remarkable improvement and a very useful feature as many phones are slow to turn on again.

Also included is a ‘glove mode', which increases touch sensitivity when wearing gloves. This is also useful, though it did have a slight issue where occasionally it would over-compensate for the gloves, resulting in a jerking response to our touch. Mostly, though, it improved responsiveness while wearing gloves, a definite success.

ASUS Keyboard is another feature worth looking at, as many people don't change the stock keyboard when they get a new phone. We found it to be a fast and responsive keyboard, with a nifty feature where if you flick a letter up or down, the keyboard changes to upper or lower-case, saving you pressing shift every time.

We have been effusive in our praise of ZenUI previously, and this does not change. It is also great to see the cool features ASUS have also included, as well as a solid stock keyboard. On the whole, this OS is smooth and user-friendly.

Rather than Intel Atom processors, such as the Z2580 in the ZenFone 6, a Snapdragon 400 CPU handles things with the ZenFone 5 LTE. Paired with this is a solid 2GB of RAM.

Before coming to benchmarks, we look at how the phone deals with everyday usage. Here, it is superb. Opening apps, and switching between several at once, is handled effortlessly by the quad-core CPU.

The same can be said for simple games we played, including Temple Run 2 and Flappy Bird (which we still enjoy) – they ran smoothly and without lag. In everyday usage, we didn't have a single problem with the phone, something to be commended.

In the benchmarks, though, the ZenFone 5 LTE didn't live up to its real-world performance. In Geekbench 3 it scored 346 for single-core performance, and 1136 for its multi-core performance. This lags behind the ZenFone 6, which posted 551 and 1283, respectively.

In 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited the ZenFone 5 LTE got a score of 4651, again behind its bigger brother which scored 7278. 
The primary shooter on the ZenFone 5 LTE is an 8MP unit, taking images at a native resolution of 3200*2400, a 4:3 aspect ratio.

The camera is very good and takes sharp images, even with lower light. ASUS' own camera app has several useful modes, but we found ourselves using the HDR mode most of all, as it was very effective at producing well-balanced images. In bright sunlight, photos taken using the auto mode can seem over-exposed, but HDR mode takes lovely photos.

HDR off (left) compared with HDR on


For under £190, this is a great little camera and seems to be rivalling the 8MP shooter on the iPhone 5 and 5S. Yes, newer handsets often have 13MP cameras these days, but for the price, the camera on the ZenFone 5 LTE is very impressive.

Another very impressive aspect of the ZenFone 5 LTE is the battery life. Powering things is a 2110 mAH unit, which doesn't sound like a lot – but is very capable.

We found the battery breezed through a day's use. With automatic brightness on, as well as constant auto-sync and WiFi/mobile data enabled, the ZenFone 5 LTE lasted a day and more.

We didn't turn anything off and with our regular usage, the phone often had 30-40% battery capacity left by the evening.

An argument could be made that now we should be expecting a two-day battery life from modern smartphones, a standard set by the Sony Xperia Z3 – so by that same standard, the ZenFone 5 LTE falls a little short.

Overall, the ZenFone 5 LTE proved to be a great success – another hit from ASUS and their ZenFone range. Fantastic real-world performance and an excellent camera top the list of great features.

The battery life might not be remarkable, but it will last a full day before you need to recharge.

ZenUI also includes some nifty features like the fast-boot option, drastically cutting boot times, and the display is solid, if not spectacular. We would have preferred an easier on/off button as it is a stretch to reach, but it's a small price to pay for a fantastic all-round phone.

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Pros

• Excellent camera.
• Very responsive everyday performance.
• Battery can comfortably last a day.
• Good value after dropping in price.
• User-friendly OS

Cons

• Display doesn't excite.
• It's a stretch to reach the on/off button.

KitGuru says: It seems the ZenFone 5 LTE is a great phone if you're not looking to spend more than £200. It follows in the footsteps of the other phones in the ZenFone range which proved equally successful.

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