Mobile phone asus zenfone 3 laser. Design. Beautiful metal body

While professional photographers were figuring out which was better - Nikon or Canon - the world turned upside down. The most popular device for photography has become the smartphone. Many people have long given up their cameras, since the phone camera successfully solves all typical problems. True, the most Hi-tech first of all fall into top devices, which many simply cannot afford, and for those who want an inexpensive device with one distinct function, the choice is very modest. And from this point of view, ASUS is doing everything right. For fans of huge screens, there's the Zenfone 3 Ultra. For those who believe that nothing is more important capacious battery, there is Zenfone 3 Max. Well, ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is available phone for those for whom a high-quality camera is especially important.

Of course, there can be no talk about the most advanced module in a budget smartphone, but in general the parameters Zenfone cameras 3 Laser look decent. A little later we will talk in detail about how laser focusing works and why it is needed at all. In the meantime, it’s worth taking a look at the main parameters of the model.

Specifications

Design, ergonomics, software

The design can be assessed from two sides: either praise the stylistic unity of the entire Zenfone 3 series, or criticize ASUS for its reluctance to add individuality to each smartphone. However, now all smartphones are similar in one way or another - the standards set ten years ago hardly change, only the display diagonals increase and the thickness decreases.

The smartphone is offered in only two colors: silver and gold. The second option looks more interesting, although this is, of course, not for everybody. Here the color is not as saturated as, for example, in the iPhone, but I would still like more choice: where is black, dark gray, or even pink?

The front panel is completely covered with tempered glass with a fashionable 2.5D effect. The edges are slightly rounded around the perimeter, which contributes to more smooth transition to the side edge. You are unlikely to notice it by eye, but holding the smartphone will be a little more convenient. There is a lens above the display front camera, voice speaker and proximity sensor, and under the screen - touch buttons management. ASUS Zenfone 3 Max, if you remember, did not have such buttons - only on-screen keys were used, which reduced the effective display area.

On the bottom edge there is only a microphone under a nice grille and a microUSB connector. However, it is worth noting here that the lower and upper sections of the case on the rear panel are not metal, like its main part, but plastic. I don’t think that a potential smartphone buyer will be happy after learning about this feature, but ASUS has an excuse - such inserts help better work wireless modules. And indeed, with this on the smartphone full order. In addition, the plastic does not give itself away - it is painted the same color and has the same texture as the metal base of the case.

On the left side there is traditionally a tray for SIM cards, on the right there is a power key and a double volume button. It is also used to release the shutter in shooting mode. It’s nice that these elements are located in the upper third of the side edge - it’s easy to press them with your thumb. Recent experiments by Sony, in which the volume key was located at the bottom, still make us think about where it is better to place the volume control. In my opinion, ASUS option convenient.

On the back of the case there is a flash, a protruding camera lens (which, apparently, is easy to scratch), a laser window and a rectangular, elongated fingerprint reader area. In my opinion, this arrangement of the fingerprint scanner is a little less convenient than on Home button or the power key, but these are minor things. The shape seemed a little awkward to me - the square scanner of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Max was more comfortable to handle.

The dimensions of the device are large (149 × 76 × 7.9 mm), but you can hold it with one hand and it does not cause discomfort. You won't be able to reach the top areas of the screen with your thumb, but typing on the go is quite possible. It is worth noting that even among 5.5-inch smartphones, ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser remains one of the most compact, no comparison with the iPhone 7 Plus.

ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser It has an acceptable diagonal of 5.5 inches and a thin screen frame (2.58 mm). The resolution of the display here is 1920×1080 pixels, and the screen itself is contrasty and bright. It's great for watching videos and showing off your vacation photos.

The smartphone lies comfortably in the hand, but if you compare it with, the latter, despite the glass surface, sits more securely in the palm. But its impact resistance is lower, since protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass covers both the front and back, while ZenFone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) enclosed in a solid aluminum body, and the protective glass only protects the display. At the same time, the smartphone does not lose its premium appearance.

ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser: equipment

We had no complaints regarding performance. Thanks to powerful filling The smartphone works quickly and responds quickly to touch input. The OS installed here is Android 6.0 with proprietary ASUS interface Zen UI and software add-ons that with one click allow you to clear your memory of unnecessary background tasks. However, this device still cannot compete with top models.

On board ZenFone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) installed 8-core CPU Snapdragon 430 with GPU Adreno 505, 2 GB random access memory and 32 GB built-in. The memory is quite enough to store several thousand photos, and the performance of the smartphone is quite enough to play not too resource-intensive games.

ZenFone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) supports the installation of two SIM cards, and the second slot can be divided into (up to 128 GB) if 32 GB does not seem enough to you. The battery here is also impressive - 3000 mAh. This is quite enough to take photo walks all day long and not worry that your smartphone is about to run out.

ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser: camera

For its price range, the 13-megapixel PixelMaster camera based on the Sony IMX214 sensor with a maximum aperture of f/2.0 is more than good. So ZenFone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) will definitely delight you with good pictures. We liked that laser autofocus allows the camera to aim at a target in just a split second, and the color correction sensor makes it possible to get natural color reproduction in photographs.

However, if you want a better camera, pay attention to the older model. We tested these two devices together, and we still liked the picture quality of the latter better. The test shots we have given below were taken on ZenFone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) in cloudy and clear weather automatic settings with HDR. For enthusiasts there are many manual settings, including super resolution mode (52 megapixels).

ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser: test results

We tested the performance in the synthetic AnTuTu Benchmark test, where the smartphone scored 155,958 points, as well as in the PCMark benchmark. We show detailed test results in the screenshots below.

It is a well-known manufacturer of laptops, but for many years now the company has been making us happy and mobile gadgets, which have good characteristics. For example, state employees are made simply, but they are affordable. Well, flagships or near-flagships definitely have good camera. This time the manufacturer presented another interesting phablet - Asus Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL. Among the characteristic features: fast autofocus, a fresh platform and a good design.

Appearance

It looks like the designers have finally abandoned the radial patterns at the bottom of the front panel. This feature has accompanied all the company’s devices for many years now. Instead, we see an iPhone-like concept in an all-metal body. Noteworthy: the device does not have a frame. The back is rounded to the front panel, which is protected by 2.5D glass. I'm glad that, despite the large diagonal and relatively small frames at the edges of the screen, the device still received touch buttons: home, back and menu. Speaking of diagonals: here we have 5.5 inches, and the IP matrix has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels.

Now about the colors: the device is available in silver and gold. looks Asus Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL very stylish too. The speaker grille is missing: here we see a row of neat holes on the bottom end. Important: do not underestimate the capabilities of the gadget in terms of sound; the speaker received 5 magnets at once. At the back, in addition to the camera with flash and the vaunted autofocus laser, we see a fingerprint sensor. And, judging by the fact that it is extended, the sensor perceives swipes.

Characteristics

The device platform is built on the mid-segment Snapdragon 430: not the pinnacle of performance, but fresh, and also eight-core. It is worth noting that versions are available with different amounts of RAM and ROM, and the gadgets differ significantly: 2/32 GB or 4/64 GB, respectively. Expansion slot available. But, as already noted strengths not in technical specifications: here we see an application for a camera phone. All thanks to the Sony IMX214 sensor, as well as ultra-fast laser autofocus. How superfast? According to the manufacturer, the response time is 0.03 seconds. There is support for Pixelmaster, i.e. pictures with a capacity of 54 megapixels.

Well, if the price is right, this device may be considered for purchase. True, the battery capacity is average by today's standards (3,000 mAh). Otherwise, photo flagships are always welcome among a large audience of gadget lovers.

The past 2016 showed us many new budget smartphones. It is worth noting that sales of such devices played an important role in the growth of the entire market. Today we will look at an ambitious newcomer from the budget class - Asus ZenFone 3 Laser.

Asus ZenFone 3 Laser phone - Reviews

For Asus releasing budget hits is nothing new. Let's remember the successful ZenFone 2, which managed to bring considerable profit to the manufacturer. In 2016, the official premiere of the ZenFone 3 line took place, of which the ZenFone 3 Lazer in question became the most popular.

Included

• Asus ZenFone 3 Laser
• MicroUSB cable
• Adapter alternating current
• SIM Card Tool
• Safety Guide and Warranty

It is also worth saying that new smartphone Asus sells for less than $200 (RUB 11,500).

The main advantage of the phone is the complete replacement of all plastic elements of the case with aluminum inserts. Thanks to this, reliability and quality have increased.

It is noteworthy that the Asus ZenFone 3 Laser fits perfectly in the hand, since back cover quite smooth and cool to the touch. A fingerprint sensor near the rear camera allows you to easily access your secrets.

More to the point specifications, then the thickness of the Asus ZenFone 3 Laser is 7.9 mm and weighs 150 grams. At the same time, it seems that the design of the new product is unfinished and requires more careful work.

Decent display

The “mirror of the soul” of the device is a 5.5-inch touch display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels Full HD.

It is worth saying that the display quality, color rendition and brightness are at a decent level, at least we did not find any significant flaws. In general, for this price category everything is extremely high quality.

Interface and functionality

Asus' software is fast, but a little unattractive. Android 6.0.1 runs on the ZenFone 3 Laser out of the box, and just like all other ASUS phones, it runs the company's software. Asus has done a lot to clean up its Android shell, and the changes made are definitely for the better compared to the ZenFone 2. However, the overall look is still a little cartoonish and unpleasant in my opinion.

Processor and performance

Underneath the body of the ZenFone 3 Laser is a Snapdragon 430 with 2 GB of RAM. The chipset used here is octa-core in nature and operates at 1.4 GHz. The processor is designed specifically for low- and mid-range smartphones, and this is very noticeable in the ZenFone 3 Laser.

General tasks are completed quickly, surfing the web browser, using social networks, and even games like Asphalt 8 run quite well. However, due to the less RAM present here, apps close and reload quickly when you try to do a bit of multitasking.

This is the kind of performance you'd expect from a phone that sells for $199, and while there's enough power for moderate use, you shouldn't expect to be able to run a ton of apps at once.

Communications and connections

Asus ZenFone 3 Laser supports Dual-SIM, or one SIM card and one microSD cards to expand the included 32GB of storage space. Along with this, you also get support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n as well as Bluetooth 4.2.

The downside here is that the ZenFone 3 Laser still uses MicroUSB 2.0 for charging and syncing. I would like to see USB Type-C, which would make the device more promising.

operating system

Asus ZenFone 3 Laser runs under Android Guide 6.0.1. Despite the work carried out in the context of eliminating redundancies, the presented operating system We weren't impressed. It’s not even a matter of limited functionality, but rather a certain cartoonishness of it general view.

Camera Asus ZenFone 3 Laser

The main advantage of the 13 MP rear camera is its laser autofocus technology. This is something that we are already unaccustomed to seeing in the vastness of the budget segment. Despite this oddity, the impressive number of pixels suggests a serious approach from the manufacturer.

Overall, image quality is quite passable, but as light decreases there is a sharp deterioration in image quality. In low light conditions it is quite difficult to use autofocus.

Video recording in 1080 Full HD is passable, but the lack of stabilization makes itself felt.

Multimedia and sound

Despite the colorfulness and productive potential of the display, it does not fit in with the imperfections of the built-in speaker. The speaker makes it clear that the Asus ZenFone 3 Laser is positioned as inexpensive smartphone.

The speaker of this Asus smartphone is not capable of playing high quality sound. As a result, we get a melody of disgusting quality, which is simply not acceptable for smartphones in 2017.

Call quality

The Asus ZenFone 3 Laser excels at delivering great audio quality on both ends of your calls. I never encountered any call quality issues, and the rounded edges of the phone make it easy to hold the phone comfortably during calls.

Asus ZenFone 3 Laser Battery Life

Despite everything said above, there are no significant problems with the battery. In contrast, the Asus ZenFone 3 Laser's 3,000 mAh battery performed the best side.

When actively using ZetFone 3 Laser, time battery life is more than a day. If you use the device in a “gentle” mode, the charge will last for several days. At the same time, we were extremely surprised by the battery charge time. The charging process from 0 to 100% takes more than 3 hours! This is long.

Bottom line

Overall, Asus has done a commendable job in developing the ZenFone 3 Laser, which costs less than 1/3 of today's premium flagships at just $200. The design of the smartphone may seem a little banal, but the good materials used in the phone perfectly imitate appearance more expensive product.

Along with high-quality assembly, Laser has a large and beautiful screen, a very powerful processor, fast system automatic focusing, and decent battery life. Although its software is a bit disappointing, Low quality speaker and slow recharge.

Asus ZenFone 3 Laser is one of the best phones for $199. If you are someone who is currently looking for a smartphone that costs no more than $200, be sure to take a look at the ZenFone 3 Laser. You won't be disappointed.

From the front, the phone looks featureless - rounded edges, medium-thick frame, touch buttons under the screen (not backlit, so they’re not even visible at first) and edging along the edges of the front panel. Interestingly, there is even glass slightly curved at the edges (2.5D), but it is curved just a little, just enough to say that this feature is formally implemented in the design of the device. When you look at the front panel, it is not clear what kind of smartphone this is in front of you - their names are legion. Just by turning it, you can see the typical features of this year’s Zenfons - textured metal, a pair of horizontal stripes at the top and bottom, a rectangular lens (for some reason sticks out from the body) with sensors on the left and right, and a vertically elongated fingerprint scanner. The side ends have convex shapes that are pleasant to the touch, as well as a power key with a volume rocker on the right.

The Asus Zenfone 3 Laser fits well in the palm of your hand thanks to its rounded shape, but it is too large for convenient operation with one hand. Phone dimensions: 149x76x8.1 mm, weight - 145 grams. It has become much more compact than its predecessor and not only, even the Huawei Honor 5X is a little bit, but larger and heavier. Zenfone 3 Laser outperforms the more expensive and premium Zenfone 3 ZE552KL, second only to flagships like OnePlus 3 (and then only in thickness and width).

The Asus Zenfone 3 Laser case is made of metal, so it is non-separable. By the way, during very careless use, we only got one not so noticeable scratch on it. The build quality is high, the smartphone feels solid and durable.

The Asus Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL smartphone can be purchased in two colors: gold and silver.

Screen - 4.7

The screen of the new Zenfone 3 Laser can be called high-quality and placed somewhere between the average and top level. It is quite bright, clear, with accurate color reproduction and even a glove mode.

The phone is equipped with a Full HD display (1920×1080 pixels) with an IPS matrix. The pixel density is 401 per inch, similar to the iPhone 7 Plus. The image is very clear, individual dots will not be noticeable. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, which looks a little curious considering that its predecessors, for example, the Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE500KL, had the newer Gorilla Glass 4. It creates a strange feeling that stock went into production from dusty warehouses. But by and large, these are our problems, because it is better with protection than without it at all. Indeed, we didn’t like the only viewing angles of the screen; their brothers in the line have wider ones. The range of measured brightness was better than average - from 8 to 488 nits. The minimum value is quite comfortable for the dark, and the maximum should allow you to work with the screen in bright light. But in practice, the display is readable under the sun with minor difficulties, although it is an order of magnitude better than last year’s model. The auto-brightness function is present and works quite adequately, but not so quickly when you need to turn down the brightness. The contrast turned out to be quite good, 980:1, good for a mid-range phone, but it can be higher (up to 1400:1 for the iPhone 7). Color gamut is 97% of the standard, color accuracy turned out to be high, comparable to some TVs. The color temperature is high - in the best traditions of the company, as can be seen from the light bluish tints on the display. This, of course, can be corrected in the screen settings, but you will have to do it yourself, without relying on the manufacturer. Separately, we note such a plus as the mode of operation with gloves, and here it is not for show, but actually works.

Camera

Zenfone 3 Laser received mid-level cameras of 13 and 8 MP. There is nothing special about them, except for a feature in the form of laser focusing, but they are quite suitable for a passing shot and a decent selfie.

The camera's parameters are quite typical - a medium-sized sensor (1/3") with a medium aperture (f/2.0), about the same as everyone else in its price range. Among the unusual features is a color correction sensor and laser focusing. This year it works better - its predecessors We didn’t always focus correctly the first time, we didn’t encounter such a problem in this generation. Although this system is still slower than top models like LG G4 or LG G5. The shooting quality is average for its resolution, at least the camera. There is less noise, which is already pleasing. The level of detail is average, the camera reproduces the captured colors well. However, the sharpness across the frame is not very uniform. In any case, the phone copes well with daytime shots and will replace you with a budget camera for side-by-side shots. The camera has a simple and intuitive interface, but there are many unnecessary, in our opinion, modes such as “Children”, “Smile”, “Intelligent Delete” and some others. Unlike the Zenfone 3 Max with a weaker camera, this is available to you. manual mode. It has the following set of settings:

• focusing - from macro to infinity
• shutter speed - from 32 to 1/1000 seconds
• ISO - from 50 to 3200
• exposure - from −2 to +2
• color temperature - from 2500 to 6500 K in increments of 50 degrees.

Manual mode also shows the level for the horizon. True, in our case he was somewhat mistaken and suggested blocking the horizon; apparently, the gyroscopes in a smartphone work a little incorrectly, incorrectly determining their place in this world.

Front camera with a fairly large aperture (f/2.0) and high resolution 8 MP is capable of taking good selfies even indoors. The maximum photo resolution is 3264×2448 pixels. Available shooting Full HD videos, panoramas, GIFs and a whole range of facial enhancement filters.

Photo from camera Asus Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL - 2.9

Photos from the front camera of Asus Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL - 2.9

Working with text - 5.0

Working with text on the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser is convenient and enjoyable thanks to the advanced keyboard. In it you will find support for continuous word input (Swype) and marking of additional characters. Switching between languages ​​occurs either with a separate key or with a “swipe” on the space bar. To edit text, there is a special window with icons for typical actions (like the iPhone 6 Plus in landscape mode). Some unusual features include adjusting the size of the keyboard, moving it around the screen, and setting a long press delay.

Internet - 3.0

Asus Zenfone 3 Laser is initially present Chrome browsers and Puffin. You've probably already encountered the first one; in addition to typical functions, you can synchronize tabs and history with the desktop version and scale the text to the selected size by double-clicking. Puffin turns out to be an unusual browser in terms of its interface and two features - a virtual touchpad and a joystick that pop up on top of the image. It's just not that convenient to use; perhaps it's more suitable for tablets. In addition, if you enable them, the browser begins to noticeably slow down. Don’t forget that you are not tied to these browsers; installing any other one from the Play Market on your phone is not a problem.

Communications - 2.6

The set of communications on the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser is the most ordinary, or standard for today:

• simple Wi-Fi b/g/n
• LTE support
• Bluetooth 4.2
• A-GPS with GLONASS and BeiDou
• Micro-USB 2.0
• FM radio (needs headphones)
• two SIM cards (Micro format).

There's not much to note here. The USB connector is simple, the radio module is one, the slot for the second SIM card is combined (either communication or additional memory).

Multimedia - 3.6

We can't name Asus smartphone Zenfone 3 Laser is a multimedia model; it supports only the most common audio and video formats, and its sound quality is average. The phone comes with simple, inexpensive headphones.

The phone refused to play AC-3 music, but it copes with high-quality FLAC. TS, RMVB, FLV, WMV videos, as well as some videos in MOV and sometimes MPG formats, were not launched from the video. But it copes well with 2K and 4K video. It’s a bit of a pity, but the phone only has a built-in video and audio player, although the same Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra uses branded application"Music".

Battery - 3.1

The battery life of the phone can be called average, it is lower than that of its predecessor, and many phablets with the same screen diagonal work longer. We easily had enough of a smartphone for a day, in some cases for a day and a half, but no more.

The battery capacity of a smartphone is typical - 3000 mAh, the same amount, for example, in the mid-range Huawei Honor 5C or the flagship Xiaomi Mi 5. In the video test (Airplane mode and maximum brightness), the phone lasted 7.5 hours, slightly more than Huawei P9 or Lenovo Vibe Shot. The result is above average, but not impressive. Its predecessor lasted 10 hours, but this is not at all surprising; its screen brightness and resolution were much lower. The audio player mode turned out to be a more difficult test for the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser - 57 hours, which is not enough, the same iPhone SE worked a little longer, and only the Huawei P9 Lite was noticeably worse. As for games, an hour of racing drained the battery by about 20%, and this is already a good result, which means gamers can last the phone for almost 5 hours, which is much better than the typical 3-3.5 hours. At the same time, during the tests it turned out that the smartphone takes an unexpectedly long time to charge - it took almost three hours.

Performance - 2.9

The performance of the smartphone cannot be called high, but it is sufficient for most telephone tasks.

The solution used as a chipset is entry level— Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 (eight Cortex A-53 cores, frequency up to 1.4 GHz). But the amount of RAM is not bad - either 2 or 4 GB of RAM. Four gigabytes at once look disproportionate to the “initial” chipset; it would be better to save on them and choose a more powerful processor. On the one hand, this cannot be called a big minus. But on the other hand, the phone works relatively smoothly, but often slips a little in its intricately twisted, heavy interface. For example, when launching an application you will have to wait half a second or a little more, you will have to wait the same amount when switching between them and many other typical actions. But this will only annoy you if you're used to fast, smooth-running smartphones. In games, the Zenfone 3 Laser performed even slightly worse than the Zenfone 3 Max, apparently due to the higher Full HD resolution. On the one hand, a clear screen is good, on the other hand, again, it looks a little out of place with a not-so-strong processor and graphics. But this does not mean that you will have to limit yourself greatly in games, just to enjoy a smooth game, you will have to make do with low graphics settings.

We also checked whether the smartphone overheats from such tasks. Half an hour of racing in Asphalt 8 left it cool, without heating the body by more than 37 degrees, it’s not even noticeable to the hands.

If we look at the benchmark results, we can see that the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser receives rather modest scores:

• in GeekBench 4 (processor test) - 1964 points (200 more than the LG Nexus 5 from three years ago, and only because of twice the number of cores)
• in AnTuTu (mixed test) - 43871 (twenty thousand lower than Asus Zenfone 3 ZE520KL)
• in 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited ( graphics test) - up to 9564 (lower than the old Lenovo P70).

Memory - 5.0

Built-in volume Asus memory Zenfone 3 Laser can be called solid - 32 or 64 GB, even quite a lot for a model of this level. If you find that this is not enough, you can add up to 256GB using a memory card. In our 32 GB version, we had 23.8 GB available.

Peculiarities

The Zenfone 3 Laser smartphone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and the company's own interface - ZenUI 3.0. Most likely, an update to Android 7 will be released over time (in any case, the predecessor was updated from five to six).

Features include support for two SIM cards, metal case and a fingerprint scanner - although today this is, rather, not even a feature, but a general trend. In addition, we note our own functional interface, at the same time quite heavy and crammed with various applications, often not the most useful. Well, the most important feature is the laser focusing of the camera. The laser works, but it cannot be said that it radically changes the overall shooting quality; rather, it is a pleasant addition to a mid-level camera.