We get a lot of readers asking us our opinions on a lot of Android phones, and at the moment there’s a lot of interest in the Asus ZenFone 2. We currently have an Asus ZenFone 2 on the review bench – and that review will be published in the next few days – but that may not be early enough for some, as it’s on sale at Kogan for $229 + delivery.
The Asus ZenFone 2 is a solid device, and at the bargain basement price of $229 + delivery for either the black or white it’s hard to ignore. The ZenFone 2 ZE550ML dual sim phone comes with only 16GB of onboard storage but has an expansion slot for a microSD card and has 2GB of RAM which should be enough for most users.
Running Riptide GP 2 or Asphalt 7 was fluid and without stuttering. The 5.5in display is only 720p which by today’s standards is low resolution but on its own merits, it is a decent display to use.
The processor is an Intel 64bit quad-core processor which so far seems to perform well when running single tasks. Only the power users will run into issues with lag on the device, but as per usual a reboot fixes it all. The phone can lag a bit, but only after using it for a lot of games and apps which were most likely still running in the background.
In casual everyday use it was certainly snappy and a decent phone. At $229 plus shipping it is a deal hard to pass up. I would only recommend against the purchase of it if you consider yourself a power user.
Kogan has both the black and white 16GB versions in stock, but at that price I doubt they’ll last long. If the black or white versions do not take your fancy Expansys has other colours available for $270, as well as the high end ZE551ML (1080p, 4GB RAM, 32/64GB storage) for $370 and $450 respectively (plus shipping).
Are you planning to get an Asus ZenFone 2? Tell us in the comments!
I am VERY interested in the 720p version if the battery is good. A 5-hour SOT is what I am looking for.
I probably won’t buy one but eglobal digital camera website has them from $213 in various colours and from what I’ve heard are better to buy from than Kogan.
The price is stated as $299 at the start of the article
oops. typo.. thanks for that
I would be more interested in hearing about the higher end device with 1080p and 4GB of memory…
Check out high on android comparison video on youtube. He doesn’t think the 4GB ram version is worth the extra money.
i reckon it would be. the 2GB version is amazingly good. just a bit of lag when using it heaps. the 4GB version has 1080, a better processor, and double the ram… at under $500 that’s good value. the software is seriously good
Maybe, but you also buy an OPO for around $500 with a Snapdragon processor. I’m just not sure about the Atom yet.