Asus Zenfone 6 Quick Specs
Display Size: 6 Inch HD IPS LCD, 1280 x 720p resolution, 245 PPI, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protectionProcessor: 2 GHz dual Core Intel Atom Z2580 processor with PowerVRSGX 544 MP2 GPU clocked at 400 MHzRAM: 2 GBSoftware Version: Android 4.3 Jelly bean (customized)Camera: 13 MP camera, Capable of Full HD, 1080p video recordingSecondary Camera: 2 MPInternal Storage: 8 GBExternal Storage: MicroSD support up to 64 GB aBattery: 3310 mAhConnectivity: HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, aGPS, Micro USB 2.0
Asus Zenfone 6 Hands on Review, Price, Features, Camera, Software and Overview [Video]
Design, Display and Form Factor
Zenfone 6 is similar to Zenfone 5 in terms of looks and design. The Zenfone 6 features the familiar simple and sturdy design with soft touch plastic back and the metallic trim at the front, just below the capacitive navigation keys. This new Zenfone is however quite big, understandably so, and one handed usage won’t be easy. Speaker grill is present at the rear along with camera, led flash and ASUS Insignia.
The 6 inch display has still features a 720p HD resolution. Holding it against Zenfone 5, you can notice the difference, but if you haven’t used full HD displays extensively, you wouldn’t notice much difference. The text and icons appeared slightly softer, Color reproduction and brightness are good enough. Since its an IPS LCD Display, viewing angles are pretty good. The display is also protected by Gorilla Glass 3.
Processor and RAM
The processor used is Intel Atom Z2580, a 2 GHz Dual Core, 32 nm Atom chipset which we also saw in Lenovo K900 last year. We expect the chipset to be a decent performer in handling your day to day tasks but we it remains to be seen how the GPS hardware and other aspects will function. Also, each core can execute 2 threads at a time which will further improve performance.
Recommended: Dual Core VS Quad Core VS Octa Core: Whats does it mean for you? The processor is coupled with PowerVR SGX544 MP4 GPU and 2 GB RAM for smooth multi tasking and graphics. As you can easily find hexa cores and octa cores in this price range, ASUS will have a marketing disadvantage because of the dual core blemish.
Camera and Internal Storage
The rear camera with 13 MP sensor is a good one. ASUS has combined software and hardware with its Pixelmaster technology, which seems to work very well. In our initial time with the device, the performance was better than other 13 MP camera units that we have seen so far. The front 2 MP shooter seemed average.
The internal storage is 16 GB and can be further extended by another 64 GB using MicroSD card slot. This should be sufficient for most users out there.
User interface and Battery
Asus Zenfone 6 runs Zen UI on top of Android 4.3 jelly bean, which means you will have support for android wear devices and most other apps on playstore. The OS is upgradeable to Kitkat, but no Kitkat update has been promised. We found the UI to be very neat and simple to use. In our initial time with the device, there was no noticeable UI lag.
Battery capacity is 3300 mAh which sounds pretty cool and well suited to 6 inch phablet display. We will save our judgment for the final review, but we are optimistic about it.
Asus Zenfone 6 Photo Gallery
Conclusion
The Asus Zenfone 6 is a decent phablet which we expect to render good android experience. There are not many options available if you are looking for a strict 6 inch display size and perhaps it’s the cheapest one out there from a global brand. It will however receive tough competition from the likes of Xiaomi Mi3, Panasonic P81 and several other 5.5 Inch display phablets with octa core and hexa core chipset.
