Smartphone review ASUS ZenFone Selfie



    Most smartphone owners, at least once in their lives, took selfies. In the vast majority of cases, front-facing cameras are used specifically for taking pictures, and not for video calls. You can have a different attitude to selfies, but the ability to shoot yourself, guided by the image on the screen, is very convenient. This function is used by tens of millions of people. However, in most smartphone models, front-facing cameras have a small resolution. But demand, as you know, generates supply, and therefore ASUS has released a new model of smartphone ZenFone Selfie, with a front camera that is in no way inferior to the main one.

    Technical characteristics (those that correspond to the considered sample are emphasized)



    Operating system : Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
    Processor :
    Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939
    Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 MSM8939
    RAM : 2 GB / 3 GB LPDDR3 RAM
    Storage : 16 GB / 24 GB / 32 GB eMCP Flash
    Card reader : MicroSD (up to 128 GB)
    Wireless Communication :
    WLAN 802.11 b / g / n / ac
    Bluetooth V4.0
    Connectors :
    2 x Micro SIM (both support 2G / 3G / 4G), simultaneously in standby mode.
    1 x Audio 2-in-1
    Communication Standards :
    UMTS / WCDMA / TD-SCDMA / LTE / TDD-LTE / FDD-LTE
    Maximum Data Rate:
    HSPA + and DC-HSPA +: outbound 5.76 Mbps / inbound 42 Mbps
    LTE Cat4: outbound 150 Mbps / inbound 50 Mbps
    Navigation : GPS, GLONASS, AGPS & BDS
    Display :
    5.5 inches, Full HD (1920x1080), 403 ppi,
    Corning Gorilla Glass 4 with an oleophobic coating
    Battery : 3000 mAh, Li-Polymer, removable
    Cameras : each 13 MP
    Case color : Black, white, pink, blue, gray, golden
    Dimensions : 156 , 5 x 77.2 x 10.8 ~ 3.9 mm (L x W x T)
    Weight : 170 g.

    AnTuTu Specifications













    Appearance


    A rare case when the review got three versions of the device at once, with cases of different colors. It's no secret that shooting selfies is very popular among women. This explains the color scheme inherent in this model.



    The closest to the "male taste" is the black version, but, unfortunately, they did not provide it to me. The case is made of plastic that is pleasant to the touch, moderately smooth and moderately rough: the phone does not try to slip out of the hand, but the surface feels like velvety-smooth. The maximum thickness of the device is almost 11 mm, but the smartphone does not feel thick due to the fact that at the edges it is thinned up to 4 mm.

    The Selfie design is inspired by Zen, which is characterized by clean lines, restraint and the use of decorative panels with a concentric pattern. By tradition, on smartphones it is located on the front panel below.



    A characteristic feature of the Selfie is the large front camera lens, next to which there is also a flash with two LEDs: white and yellow. To the right of the lens is the speaker mesh.



    On the back, the main camera lens flaunts, under which there is a large volume change button. On the right is the same two-color flash as on the front panel, and to the left of the lens is a low-power laser that facilitates autofocus in low light.





    On the upper end, in the middle, is the power button. I must say that she is rather small, and in a hurry she has to be grope. At the same end is an audio jack and one of two microphones.



    The second microphone, like the micro USB connector, is located at the bottom.



    The left end of the smartphone is completely smooth.



    A recess is slightly visible on the right side, which allows you to remove the housing cover.



    The lid is removed quite tightly. Under it are found two slots for SIM cards and a microSD card reader. The latter is not so easy to notice - it is located directly above the slot for the first SIM card, and at first it seems that there are only two slots under the housing cover.





    Not a very convenient solution, because you can accidentally insert a memory card into the SIM card slot. Or vice versa.



    Display


    The smartphone is equipped with an excellent 5.5-inch IPS display. A pixel density of 403 ppi is more than enough to make the image look absolutely smooth. Despite the rather large dimensions of the entire smartphone, it does not look massive. This visual effect is achieved by a small frame width on the sides of the display - a little more than 3 mm. The entire front panel (except for the decorative insert at the bottom) is covered with a protective glass Gorilla Glass 4. According to the manufacturer, it is 2 times stronger than Gorilla Glass 3. The oleophobic coating is very severe, the prints remain very, so to speak, reluctantly.

    Cameras


    Both cameras are equipped with 13 megapixels. There is also a flash on both sides of the smartphone, each of which is equipped with two multi-colored LEDs. Before taking a picture, the software analyzes the presence of people, as well as the color temperature of the lighting. And depending on this, whether this or that LED is used - with a cold glow spectrum or with a warm one.

    Looking ahead, I want to note that rather large lenses increase the photosensitivity of cameras, which somewhat reduces the amount of noise and allows you to use the flash less often. Nevertheless, the firmware with red-hot iron burns out any hints of noise. A low-power laser speeds up the focusing process of the camera. At the same time, the minimum shooting distance is 6 cm.

    Main camera (with flash)





    Main camera (no flash)










    And since this smartphone is called Selfie, I had to take selfies. I'm sorry I didn’t do the dacface, I couldn’t force myself.

    No flash (light from the window, overcast) and with flash




    Software


    The smartphone is running Android 5.0 with the proprietary ZenUI graphical shell. If desired, you can download and install various themes that change the appearance of the operating system for free.



    A traditional set of software for ASUS was preinstalled on the device.





    Let us recall again that the hero of the review is Selfie: if you display the letter S (selfie) on the screen of a sleeping smartphone, your photo application will automatically start and the front camera will be activated. And if you "draw" the letter C (camera), then the main camera is activated.

    The smartphone supports branded View Flip Cover cases with round windows:





    Performance


    We techies are much more interested in the computing capabilities of the device. To say how fast the smartphone works. Selfie is notable for its very good performance thanks to the eight-core Snapdragon 615 processor, operating at a frequency of up to 1.7 GHz. I believe this is necessary precisely because of the imprisonment for taking photographs: the device should quickly process 13-megapixel images, imposing all kinds of filters, stitching panoramas and generating HDR images. And with a weak filling, the shooting results would appear with too much delay.

    Three gigabytes of RAM is more than enough for any task. I had no problems playing various “heavy” mobile games or watching Full HD video. Only video files with a very high bitrate forced the smartphone to open and rewind thoughtfully.

    Benchmark results
    Vellamo






    GFXbench




    3Dmark




    Geekbench 3

















    Duration of work


    The ZenFone Selfie has a removable battery capacity of 3,000 mAh. When using a smartphone for web surfing, listening to music and occasional watching videos on Youtube, the charge lasted about 8 hours. But with Full HD movies I put Sellfie in about 5 hours.

    Conclusion


    It would seem, selfies - that’s it. Is this smartphone designed primarily for women? Well yes. However, it is not decorated with rhinestones and other elaborate elements, it does not draw flowers, hearts or Hello Kitty. It doesn't even have the word Selfie. And the smartphone in the black case is in no way inferior to all other “universal” models available on the market. Moreover, Selfie is a fairly large device, and in a man’s hand it looks even more harmonious, unless it is a soft pink or blue copy. On the other hand, if you do not mind giving your lady a present, or have long been planning to update her phone, then Selfie will be a very interesting option. Fast, long battery life, lots of flashes, even laser autofocus is a great gift for the upcoming New Year holidays. Maybe even myself.

    Recommended retail price: with ROM 16 GB - 17 990 rubles., 32 GB - 19 990 rubles.

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