Asus Zenfone 3: Impressive hardware but comes at a price

Asus made a great comeback with its affordable Zenfone range and graduated to mid-range with some decent hardware. Riding on the success of the Zenfone 2 launched last year, Asus launched the Zenfone 3 this year. But can it continue to beat the popularity of the Xiaomi Mi 5 and a slightly more expensive OnePlus 3?

Asus has done a superb job with the design of the Zenfone 3. To some extent, it has managed to copy the looks of the Samsung Galaxy S7. The same glossy soft finish at the rear, camera placement and the curved edges -Asus definitely has raised the bar for the design of its Zenfone range and the Zenfone 3 will become a benchmark for future Zenfones. The Zenfone 3 has got an all metal design and my review unit in blue looked elegant. It boasts a 5.2inch full HD display with three capacitive touch keys and a fingerprint scanner at the rear below the camera module. Asus has adopted Type C charging port instead of micro-USB.  The ZenFone 3 can be comfortably held and operated with a single hand. However, I had to be extra-careful as the soft finish made it slightly slippery.

Over the last couple of years, smartphone cameras are getting bigger and better. Asus too has added a 16MP rear camera and an 8MP front facing camera to this variant. The camera onboard is pretty decent - it manages to lock the focus and capture images instantly. While the colour reproduction was good, the images lacked clarity at the edges. The biggest plus point of the ZenFone 3 is the battery backup. Even though it is equipped with a 2650mAh non-removable battery, it lasted me over a day and a half on regular usage. For testing, I inserted a Reliance Jio SIM in the ZenFone 3 to use it as a WiFi hotspot. To my surprise, the battery lasted me two days on the same. Bag it or Junk it: The Asus ZenFone 3 has been priced on the higher side. It competes against the Xiaomi Mi 5, which is also retailing for Rs 22,999 for 32GB capacity but is powered by Qualcomm 820 chipset. An even better option is the OnePlus 3 with 6GB of RAM and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset for Rs 27,999.

Price: Rs 21,999

Rating: 3.5/5

Plus: Design, Battery

Minus: Price