CES 2014: Asus overview

Asus Zenfone 5 hands-on

The Asus Zenfone 5 is the second smartphone in the company’s latest Zenfone trio. As the name suggests, the handset comes with a 5″ screen, which is a 720p unit of the IPS+ variety. The smartphone runs on the fastest available Intel chipset – the Atom Z2580, which gives you a dual-core 2.0GHz Atom processor with hyper-threading, PowerVR SGX 544MP2 graphics and 1GB of RAM.

The Zenfone 5, just like the other two Zenfones, is a dual-SIM device. The rest of its highlights include 4, 8 or 16 GB expandable storage, an 8MP Sony BSI rear camera and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with a KitKat update in the pipeline.

Asus Zenfone 5

The design of the Asus Zenfone 5 is pretty much the same as the smaller Zenfone 4, it’s just a bit taller and wider and slightly thinner. Its rear is covered with a ceramic coating which is quite pleasant to the touch.

The Zenfone 5′s front is the usual affair – a 2MP front snapper, an earpiece and a couple of sensors above the 5" display, plus the capacitive Android deck below the screen.

Zenfone 5's front

The 8MP camera and its LED flash companion are at the back. The huge loudspeaker grille is also around.

The back of Zenfone 5

There is nothing on the left of the device, while the Power/Lock key and the volume rocker are on the right.

A peek at the left and right sides of the Zenfone 5

Finally, the 3.5mm audio jack is on top, while the microphone pinhole and the microUSB port are at the bottom of the Zenfone 5.

The 3.5mm audio jack is on top • the microUSB port at the bottom

The Asus Zenfone 5 will launch in Black, White, Blue, Red and Gold in the next couple of months starting at $149.