Asus Zenfone 5z review

01 September 2018
The Asus ZenFone 5Z has been around for some time now. Flagship ZenFone series devices have been known to border on the excess in the past, and while some of that may have become par for the course for flagship Android phones these days, the ZenFone 5Z leaves no stone unturned and comes with all the proverbial bells and whistles. As with previous ZenFone flagships, it is also priced exceedingly well positioning it squarely between the Poco F1 and the OnePlus 6 but is that really the whole story? Let’s find out.

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On androidauthority.com we can get a serious and even fair review of this phone.
Because this is really a review where many thing need in here, better not making a review if its not a fair one.
Im really surprised in a negative way for this poor review.

    • A
    • Abhi
    • YTY
    • 02 Sep 2018

    Has anyone checked Asus forums for this phone? People there are screaming at Asus for continuously ignoring the bad audio+low volume through headphone jack. According to them, only the earlier builds of software delivered acceptable audio performance, and later updates ruined it.

    hence it would've been better if GSMArena guys would have tested that.

    but I'm repeating my previous point here. Actually what I wanted to say is GSMArena review team should mention, from here on, which build number of the software they are testing a device on. Not the general Samsung UX 9, or MIUI 9.5, or Oxygen OS 5.1 or stuff, but device specific build numbers. It might help people.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 80$
      • 02 Sep 2018

      A damaged (fallen) review-unit has been tested.
      Nice!

      Damage on camera-corner of course.
      Just check the product-photos!

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • uGt
        • 02 Sep 2018

        A Gsmarena review without lab tests?
        Oh, please, this is what I value GSMarena most.

          • M
          • Mumbai-Indians
          • f}g
          • 02 Sep 2018

          Nice to see review taken in Mumbai(India)

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 80$
            • 02 Sep 2018

            Masdjoe, 02 Sep 2018Is that clear that dxo marks give this phone with convincin... moreZenfone 5 (ZE620KL) not = Zenfone 5z (ZS620KL)
            - Snapdragon 636, 4GB vs. - SDM845 with 6/8GB of RAM

            DXOMark rated the camera in Zenfone 5 (ZE620KL w. SDM636)
            . . . with smaller processing power also for picturing.
            check earlier post!

            Wich of them have you checked?

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • tDP
              • 02 Sep 2018

              a boring smartphone

                [deleted post]Never judge someone too fast. Not all fast is better.

                  • M
                  • Masdjoe
                  • tDP
                  • 02 Sep 2018

                  Is that clear that dxo marks give this phone with convincing points (93)? I've been tested zenfone 5 (which is belongs to my friend) and seen couple of camera comparison. My conclusion is : the dynamic range and contrats is bad. Colour accuracy is good. Somehow, there is a wiggle effect when recording video. Software problem I guess? I hope asus fix it very soon. For now, i choose mi 8 se...

                  *sorry for my bad english..

                    Why are all laboratory tests absent?
                    I would like to know all the values on the audio in headphones with jack
                    I would also like to see a battery life test

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 80$
                      • 01 Sep 2018

                      Lol, 01 Sep 2018Why they say that the phone is too bad. I watch people re... morePlease don't forget!

                      DXOMark rated the camera in Zenfone 5 (ZE620KL w. SDM636)
                      The SDM845 in ZF 5z has much more power for picture processing.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • nMI
                        • 01 Sep 2018

                        I would have preferred data on battery life and audio both from the speaker and with a 3.5 jack.
                        How come you did not do the tests?

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • IV}
                          • 01 Sep 2018

                          This is very good phone. I don't agree with the review conclusion.

                            • O
                            • Omega
                            • UD{
                            • 01 Sep 2018

                            BrendonF, 01 Sep 2018The Asus is a good phone and I think this half baked review... moreThe phones shape and appearance is an afterthought, in my opinion at least, I buy the phone for its purpose and not its looks...

                              • N
                              • Not A Fanboy
                              • X%7
                              • 01 Sep 2018

                              BrendonF, 01 Sep 2018The Asus is a good phone and I think this half baked review... moreBut can you stream Netflix in HD. It's a meme now for poco f1. That was a pun no hard feeling bro. Poco is a nice phone but one can't compare it with Asus. I bought 5z on bank offer so it nearly cost me around $380. Which is quite similar to Poco 6/128 but at least I'm happy with it. Not fighting for a mere phone just to prove that it is better and flagship killer and bla bla. Enjoy the phone.

                                mukhi, 01 Sep 2018At 1st, I was dejected to see the cons. But now I have star... moreThe Asus is a good phone and I think this half baked review is a dis service to this phone. But the phone looks amazing except it seemed to be made out of soap! I held my friends phone and it almost slipped out of my hands. It looks beautiful but I would never use that phone without an ugly case that hides its beauty from the world!

                                That and the battery life is average. With 2 sims it barely gets through a day.

                                That brings me to why I chose the poco f1. Aside from the much lower price which enticed me the larger battery was a huge plus along with a more same plastic build. I would never use the poco without a case either which levels the playing field between the Asus 5z and poco. I like both screens and found that the poco was more accurate but the Asus had punchier colors. All in all i am very happy with the poco and the battery life alone makes me more appreciative of the poco. Anyone calling it a cheap phone probably has never even held it in their hands

                                  • A
                                  • Abhi
                                  • YTc
                                  • 01 Sep 2018

                                  I suspect this is an outsourced review. The sample photos and videos clearly suggest the country they've been shot in. Hence no lab tests and no familiar buildings/ snail/ iPhone graffiti and Night-Shots.

                                  I could care less about those, actually. It was the absence of audio quality test that was an immediate letdown for me. But these things have happened in the past. But then I started noticing things.

                                  So Yes, this review might've been biased but it might not have been done by the actual GSMArena team. They might be busy at IFA in berlin. So they contracted for this one.

                                  No letting them off the hook though. Its still very bad,misleading and disappointing. I for one waited for this review since ages. I just hope at some point they update it with proper test results and the usually sharp findings I've come to expect.

                                  Shame, really.

                                    • L
                                    • Lol
                                    • X$q
                                    • 01 Sep 2018

                                    Why they say that the phone is too bad.
                                    I watch people review ZF5Z but none say the phone is this bad..
                                    What the heck
                                    I this is unfair for the phone, the model and the Brand
                                    You guys should do your works properly.
                                    Please dont be biased towards Asus.
                                    Dont say they doesnt care about update.
                                    Dont say their phone had a bad camera performance..
                                    DXOMark rate it at 90 score
                                    At least the camera can shoot night well compare to some other flagship phone
                                    For the speaker, at least it have 2 speaker eventhough it dual set up.
                                    For money... It still worth it..
                                    You got the Earbuds...and it is High Res

                                      • m
                                      • mukhi
                                      • GQS
                                      • 01 Sep 2018

                                      At 1st, I was dejected to see the cons. But now I have started believing that it's kinda biased.
                                      Stereo speakers sound imbalanced: I won't expect something like Bose quality, but was the reviewer serious when he compared the stereo capability of 5z to that ot the other smartphones?
                                      No ingress protection: At this price, I can't even expect IP65, which is OK. One needs a good case anyway.
                                      Underwhelming camera quality: Very disappointing, right? Given the powerful HW, I'm sure it's just a software update that can fix it. Poco has even more serious problem, no OIS there; so, no fix there.
                                      Too much bloatware: I thought Asus corrected it this time (Samsung uses much less bloatware nowadays).
                                      And then, battery. Without data, how can you say so?
                                      And then, no HD streaming. But someone else is saying there is L1 which means HD is possible.
                                      OnePlus 6 may sound better, but OLED with only 1080p, almost stock Android (but that may mean less custom features that could actually help), no card slot, splash resistance (but still no IP rating), and higher price...better, really? And, let's not talk about Poco...cheap = too many compromises.

                                        [deleted post]Totally agree. How am I supposed to compare battery life performance? And camera samples is studio light?