The time has come. Officially introduced to the world back in MWC 2018, the resurrection of the ZenFone 5 has been made official in the Philippines. They are currently offering three SKUs in their latest ZenFone 5 lineup; the ASUS ZenFone 5Z, ZenFone 5, and the ZenFone 5Q.
ASUS ZenFone 5 and 5Z
The ASUS ZenFone 5 and 5Z are the first batch of smartphones to have a notched 19:9 display. The screen also includes a 6.2-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 2246 x 1080. It is capable of producing of 500nits of brightness as well as DCI-P3 wide color gamut. The display also allows ASUS to reach a screen-to-body ratio of 90% all within a 5.5-inch smartphone body.
The display is also capable of automatically adjusting its colors and brightness with ASUS’ AI. This means that you won’t need to manually adjust every setting of your screen unless you really want to. The screen is protected by a 2.5D Gorilla Glass so you don’t need to worry about breaking its pretty display accidentally.
Both smartphones come with a dual rear camera setup, which is composed of a 12MP primary camera powered by a Sony IMX 363 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture with OIS/EIS. PDAF, Night HDR, 4K recording, as well as RAW file support. The secondary camera, meanwhile, is an 8MP 120° wide view camera.
ASUS as improved the camera experience by integrating AI to its cameras. The cameras of the ASUS ZenFone 5 and 5Z can now identify different scenes and apply the best settings to take the prettiest photo you can get. It can also identify the gender of the subject as well as automatically apply the effect you have been using the most.
Selfies are taken with an 8MP f/2.0 front-facing camera. The ZenFone 5 and 5Z now comes with its own ZeniMoji, which is basically ASUS’ take of the Animoji. We haven’t tested this feature yet on our first-hand preview of the ZenFone 5 but it looks promising. We’ll update you about the ZeniMoji once we have our review of the smartphone.
The difference between the ZenFone 5 and the 5Z is the SoC and RAM. The ZenFone 5 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 and 4GB RAM while the ZenFone 5Z will have a much more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM. Performance is boosted by AI as well with ASUS promising up to 12% increase in performance.
Power is supplied by by a 3,300mAh non-removable battery. The AI in the ZenFone 5 now applies Smart Charging depending on your usage. If say, its morning and you need to get your smartphone charged quickly, the ZenFone 5 will speed up the charging speed. If it’s nighttime and you’re at home, then the battery will be charged slowly; which will extend its life.
Here are the full specs of both the ZenFone 5 and the ZenFone 5Z:
| ASUS ZenFone 5 | ASUS ZenFone 5Z | |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 with ASUS AI Boost | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with ASUS AI Boost |
| Screen | 6.2-inch, 19.9, 2246 x 1080, 500 nits, 2.5D Gorilla Glass, all-screen notched display, 90% screen-to-body ratio, DCI-P3 wide color gamut display, AI Display | |
| RAM | 4GB | 6GB |
| OS | Android 8.0 with ZenUI 5.0 | |
| Rear Camera | Primary: 12MP, Sony IMX363, f/1.8, Night HDR, OIS, EIS PDAF; Secondary: 8MP, 120° wide view; 4K recording, RAW file support | |
| Front Camera | 8MP. f/2.0 | |
| Storage | 64GB/128GB expandable via microSD card up to 2TB | |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 4G LTE | |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, A-GPS, Fingerprint Scanner, Face Recognition, USB Type-C | |
| Battery | 3,300mAh, BoostMaster, Smart Charging |
ASUS ZenFone 5Q
As we’ve said before, the ASUS ZenFone 5Q (also known as ZenFone 5 Lite in other regions) is the runt of ZenFone 5 series. It’s specifications, however, are nothing but light.
The ASUS ZenFone 5Q sticks to the 18:9 aspect ratio introduced by the ZenFone Max Plus M1. The display is a 6.0-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 with 2.5D Glass. The 5Q sticks to a dual rear camera setup, which is composed of a 16MP primary camera powered by a Sony IMX 376 sensor while the 8MP secondary camera has 120° wide-angle coverage.
Inside the ASUS ZenFone 5Q is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 with 4GB of RAM running on Android 7.1.1 with ZenUI 4.0. Storage comes with 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded via a dedicated microSD slot. You can also check out our review of the ASUS ZenFone 5Q to see if it will suit your needs.
The ASUS ZenFone 5, ZenFone 5Z. ZenFone 5Q are now available in stores for PhP 19,995, PhP 29,995, and PhP 16,995, respectively.