Asus Zenfone Selfie review: Vanity light

Synthetic benchmarks

Befitting its midrange aspirations, the Asus Zenfone Selfie comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 under the hood. In this particular case the clock speed caps are set at 1.5GHz for the pseudo-big quad-core cluster of Cortex-A53's, and 1.11GHz for the other four cores.

Our review unit has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. There is a lower-specced version with 2GB of RAM and half the storage. It's natural that the 2GB of RAM may adversely affect some (but not all) of the tests, so have that in mind when sifting through the numbers below.

Sticking to our usual drill, we kick off with the GeekBench 3.0 benchmark. The Zenfone Selfie scores a lot like you'd expect from a Snapdragon 615 device. It's on par with the similarly equipped Moto X Play and marginally ahead of the Zenfone 2 with the lesser of the Atoms, the Z3560. The Exynos 7580 in the Samsung Galaxy J7 is ahead in raw CPU power, as are the Xperias C4 and C5 Ultra.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  4589
• OnePlus 2
  4429
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  4242
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  4226
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3619
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  2922
• HTC Desire Eye
  2911
• Meizu m2 note
  2649
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2608
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  2582
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  2451
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  2423

In Antutu the Zenfone Selfie posts good numbers, among the top Snapdragon 615's we've seen. It more than likely thanks to the 3GB of RAM, which can show its benefits in this compound benchmark. The more powerful CPU helps the Galaxy J7 inch ahead, despite it only has half the Selfie's RAM. The Xperias are towards the top of the crop, where you can find the top-specced Zenfone 2 with the Aton Z3580 and 4GB of RAM.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  48361
• OnePlus 2
  47207
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  46502
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  46307
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  46307
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  42301
• HTC Desire Eye
  40296
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  38263
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  37130
• Motorola Moto X Play
  37020
• Meizu m2 note
  32054
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  29907

The overall score in Basemark II 2.0 isn't impressive on its own, but it's still higher than the Moto X Play. The Zenfone Selfie is also comfortably ahead of the Galaxy J7, though it still can't match the Xperias. If you want to beat them with an Asus smartphone in this benchmark, you'd have to go with a Zenfone 2 ZE551ML, and even the Z3560/2GB model will suffice.

Single-core performance of the Selfie is quite good, almost matching the Xperia C4 and C5 Ultra and again beating the Galaxy J7. The powerful Mediatek's in Sony's models show their strength in the multi-core results easily beating the Zenfone Selfie. The Galaxy J7 is only slightly ahead of the Selfie, and the Intel-inside Zenfone 2 isn't quite up to the same standard in the CPU parts of the benchmark.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  1622
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  1090
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  1063
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  939
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  931
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  883
• Motorola Moto X Play
  809
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  709
• Meizu m2 note
  673

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  5301
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  3434
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2900
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2872
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  2777
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2687
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  2436
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  2203
• Meizu m2 note
  1709

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  24035
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  21809
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  21516
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  19629
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  18615
• Motorola Moto X Play
  17226
• OnePlus 2
  16798
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  8565
• Meizu m2 note
  8105

Moving on to graphics performance, the Zenfone Selfie shows some weaknesses. Never doing too well with FullHD screens the Adreno 405 posts lower numbers in GFXBench, even for its standards. A couple of fps behind the Moto X Play in the lighter T-Rex test and a few tenths of a frame in the more demanding Manhattan test aren't deal-breakers, but ruin the overall impression of a well-optimized Snapdragon 615 device.

The charts clearly show that either of the Zenfone 2's with their PowerVR G6430 are a much better option for intense 3D rendering. The Galaxy J7 does beat the Selfie in onscreen tests, but it's the lower 720p resolution that helps its cause.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  48
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  30
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  27
• HTC Desire Eye
  23.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  23
• Huawei Honor 7
  17
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  16
• Motorola Moto X Play
  15
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  15
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  14.2
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  13
• Meizu m2 note
  12
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  12

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  46.7
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  30
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  27
• HTC Desire Eye
  24.6
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  23
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  20
• Huawei Honor 7
  19
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  16
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  15.1
• Motorola Moto X Play
  15
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  15
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  13
• Meizu m2 note
  12

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  22
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  13
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  13
• HTC Desire Eye
  10.3
• Huawei Honor 7
  9.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  8.5
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  6
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  6
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5.8
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  5.7
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  5.3
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  4.1
• Meizu m2 note
  2.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  22
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  13
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  12
• HTC Desire Eye
  10.9
• Huawei Honor 7
  9.3
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  8.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  7.9
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  6.4
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  6.4
• Motorola Moto X Play
  6.1
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  6
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  5.3
• Meizu m2 note
  2.3

In Basemark X the Zenfone Selfie sticks closer to its S615 brethren, comfortably ahead of the Galaxy J7, but still no match for the assorted Zenfone 2's.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  21937
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  13414
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  12565
• HTC Desire Eye
  10249
• Huawei Honor 7
  9377
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  8518
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  5695
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5032
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  4953
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  4915
• Meizu m2 note
  3946
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3922

JavaScript isn't the Selfie's cup of tea, scoring rather poorly in Kraken 1.1. That said, the Xperia C5 Ultra is the same ballpark and the Idol 3 (5.5) is even less inspiring and the. The Moto X Play shows that the Snapdragon 615 can do better and is well ahead, tied with the Galaxy J7. Again, the Zenfone 2's lead the pack.

General web browsing performance, tested by BrowserMark 2.1, doesn't look too good either. Ahead of the Xperia C5 Ultra, the Selfie is nowhere near the Moto X Play, which is also beaten by the Galaxy J7.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  5057
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  6360
• OnePlus 2
  6808
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  9504
• HTC Desire Eye
  11093
• Huawei Honor 7
  11493
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  12038
• Motorola Moto X Play
  12236
• Meizu m2 note
  14462
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  15815
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  17075
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  17157
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  18124

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  2055
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
  1853
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  1508
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  1505
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  1486
• Motorola Moto X Play
  1483
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  1343
• HTC Desire Eye
  1009
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  918
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  860
• Huawei Honor 7
  825
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  793
• Meizu m2 note
  656

To sum it all up, the Zenfone Selfie's benchmark run is a mixed bag. Starting well in the CPU tests and going strong in compound benchmarks, it's trailing in graphics performance and scores below average numbers in browser tests.