Zenfone 4 Review
Today we continue to acquaint you with a new line of smartphones called Zenfone. This time, the hero of this review is Zenfone 4, the youngest member of the series. As the name implies, we have Zenfone with a screen diagonal of 4 inches, while the recommended price of the device is 4 thousand rubles. It’s hard to stand out among low-end devices, but you shouldn’t bypass this smartphone side, ASUS found a couple of trump cards up its sleeve, which I’ll cover in this review.
Software: Android JellyBean 4.3 and later upgrade to Android KitKat 4.4.
Processor: Intel® Atom ™ Multi-Core Z2520 1.2 GHz 2-core, support for Hyper-Threading.
Video: PowerVR SGX544MP2.
RAM: 1 GB LPDDR2.
Screen: 4 "800x480, LED-backlight, TFT, up to 10 simultaneous touches.
Built-in memory: 8 GB.
Connectivity: 802.11b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, GSM / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100, DC-HSPA + (DL / UL): 42 / 5.76 Mbps.
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS.
Sensors: gyroscope, proximity sensor.
Interfaces: 3.5 mm mini-jack for headset, micro SD up to 64 GB, 2 slots for microSIM, micro USB (OTG support).
Cameras: front VGA F2.8, main 5 MP with autofocus.
Battery: 1600 mAh, lithium-polymer, removable.
Dimensions: 124.4x61.44x12.3 mm.
Weight: 120 g
Colors: black, white, red, yellow, turquoise
Zenfone 4 comes in a compact box the size of the phone itself. As you can see, the same packaging design is used for the entire Zenfone series.
On the side face there is a perforation with icons indicating the main advantages of the device. These are 3G, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm audio jack, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 5 MP camera.
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The phone itself lies in the film, under it is a standard set of accessories: power supply and micro USB cable.
The power supply is powerful enough, 5.2 V and 1.35 A. There are no glossy parts on its case, everything is opaque, respectively, it does not collect fingerprints.
The ASUS line of smartphones called Zenfone consists of 3 devices: these are Zenfone 4, 5 and 6.
The concentric circles at the bottom remind us of Zenbook laptops.
Zenfone 4 is the most compact representative of the series. The smartphone has dimensions of 124 by 61 mm and fits perfectly in your hand. Unlike the current trend to produce large smartphones, ASUS does not forget about other users who are not so important to the large screen diagonal. The main advantage of small smartphones is convenience, they don’t need to get used to them, unlike 6-inch phones, and it’s convenient to work with them with one hand.
The thickness of the smartphone is 12 mm, but it is not strongly felt, as the phone is thinning towards the edges. Due to this geometry, the back of the smartphone repeats the palm of the hand, and the phone fits well in the hand.
The back cover of the smartphone is made of matte, slightly rough plastic. The coating is pleasant to the touch and does not collect fingerprints.
The lid covers not only the back, but also the side faces, i.e. The volume and lock buttons are located on the panel itself. Such a decision creates the effect of solidity and indivisibility of the smartphone. But the back panel is easily removed and provides access to a removable battery, microSD connector and two SIM-cards.
The panel holds tightly to a large number of latches, does not creak or stagger anything.
In addition to white, there are more models in other colors: black, red, yellow and turquoise.
Above the screen is a speaker, covered with a metal grid. The interlocutor is heard well, the volume is high. To the left of the speaker indicator for alerts. When you receive various alerts, for example, missed calls or messages, the indicator will blink green. Also, the smartphone will inform about the low battery capacity and the process of charging the smartphone. To the right of the front camera is a distance sensor to lock the screen during a call. Alas, we face a budget device and a light sensor is missing, so the brightness will have to be set manually.
Under the screen are the usual touch buttons: back, main screen and application manager. The sensor is quite sensitive, the buttons have no backlight. In the system, you can adjust the vibration when you press these buttons. By the way, the vibration is very strong and feels good even while walking.
On the right side is the volume rocker, a little higher - the unlock button. The location of the buttons is not the most convenient, with my grip the thumb rests just on the increase in volume and you have to get used to the fact that unlocking is higher. The buttons themselves have a corrugated texture and are nicely pressed.
The microphone is on the bottom.
Connector for charging and syncing micro USB placed on the left side.
It supports OTG, i.e. You can connect flash drives and various peripherals. Unfortunately, the microUSB-OTG cable is not included, it will have to be bought separately.
A standard 3.5 mm mini jack for the headset is located on the top.
Removing the back cover, we get access to the slots for two SIM-cards of the micro-SIM form factor. The radio module is one, when talking on one SIM-card, the second one will be unavailable.
We also have a slot for connecting a micro SD card (up to 64GB) to increase the memory capacity of the smartphone.
As already mentioned, there is a screen with a diagonal of 4 inches. This model is the most affordable among Zenfone, and therefore received a conventional TFT-matrix with LED-backlit.
But technologies are not standing still, and TFT screens look better and better every year. The screen resolution is 800 by 480 pixels, 223 dots per inch (PPI).
The image is poorly visible in the sun and you have to set the maximum brightness. In general, the screen looks good, the colors are displayed correctly, the viewing angles are not too large, but we don’t expect more from such a budget phone.
The screen has a protective coating, during use no scratches appeared. There is also an oleophobic coating, due to which the finger slides well and less prints remain.
The screen supports up to 10 simultaneous touches.
The front camera has a small resolution and is useful only for video calls. The picture quality is satisfactory.
The main camera with a 5 megapixel matrix and an F2.4 aperture gives out good photos of average quality. On the screen, you can choose which part of the frame to focus on. The camera application allows you to use has many interesting modes.
Intellectual removal. Convenient mode when you need to take a photo in a public place. 5 photos are taken and moving objects are deleted from the final image. The function really works, even in low light.
Everyone is smiling. A great tool for creating group photos. The camera takes 5 pictures, after that for each person you can select a good frame and glue everything into one photo.
Your picture. Selfies are moving to a new level. Now there is a handy tool to shoot yourself on the main camera. To start, select the number of people (from 1 to 4), which will be in the photo. After that, the camera goes into face search mode. If two faces are selected, then while the camera does not recognize the second face in the frame, shooting will not occur. The whole process is accompanied by a sound indication, for example, if the second person is not in the frame, then a signal will be given. After the photo is taken, you can choose a good frame of the three proposed. Then you can immediately process the photo - correct the tone, make more eyes or narrow the cheeks. In general, the girls will be happy.
Depth of field Allows you to blur the background, thereby shifting the focus to the foreground objects. The function is interesting, but it does not always work as it should.
Time control Convenient mode for shooting children. After shooting you will be offered 31 photos taken within 2 seconds before pressing the shutter and within 1 second after. Twisting the slider, you can select a good frame with a little restless.
Miniature. The so-called Tilt Shift. Objects in the photo become as miniature. Such photos should be done from a high point of view.
There are also modes that can be found in almost all modern smartphones with a camera: HDR, 360-degree panorama, night, low light, face enhancement, GIF animation.
Archive of photos taken on Zenfone 4.
The hardware platform of the smartphone is built on a mobile solution from Intel. The new 2-core Atom Z2520 processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz has support for Hyper-Threading, which adds to it two virtual cores. The amount of RAM is 1 GB. The graphic accelerator PowerVR SGX544MP2 copes well with its task, showing a high frame rate in games. There are no problems with drawing the interface, everything works smoothly.
Video with the launch of games: Dead Trigger 2, Riptide GP2, Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 4.
The speed of the mobile Internet in the MTS network, according to measurements, was about 5 Mbit. Also, the smartphone can distribute mobile Internet via Wi-Fi to other devices.
The combined navigation chip is capable of receiving signals from GLONASS and GPS satellites. The location is calculated fairly quickly.
Zenfone series has received a new interface ASUS ZenUI, which was developed with an eye on maximum functionality, but not at the expense of aesthetics. It is easy to learn and intuitive, looks nice, icons have become simpler and follow modern trends in user interfaces. Standard applications are also altered in favor of the overall concept. In general, from ZenUI only good impressions.
The device is running Android 4.3, but ASUS promises to upgrade to version 4.4 KitKat.
Interface screenshots.
Removable lithium-polymer battery has a modest capacity of 1600 mAh, but for a small screen and an energy-efficient processor this is enough. In the settings, you can choose different modes of the phone, which will extend the time.
In power saving mode, the machine will turn on the wireless connection only with the active screen. Using the optimized mode, I did not notice any restrictions, everything works as usual. You can flexibly configure the backlight for videos or websites, set permissions for instant messengers to use the Internet.
In the evening I fully charged the phone and left it overnight without charging. During the day, I used Wi-Fi for a little over an hour to browse sites. Mobile Internet was also constantly turned on, messages came regularly to Viber and Gmail with auto-reception of letters, rather than checking the box at a certain time. There were voice calls for about 25 minutes. By 8 pm, the phone was almost completely discharged.
In general, the result is quite good, like most smartphones, the phone works one “light day”.
So, in the ranks of budget smartphones appeared symbolic representative of this class. For 3990 rubles, we get a compact and convenient smartphone with good performance. Although the screen resolution is not so big, but for a 4-inch diagonal this is enough, the picture looks good. It was also unusual to see the presence of protective glass. The new shell ZenUI is beautiful and works quickly, in general, only good feelings remain from use. Among the shortcomings, a small capacity battery can be noted, but it copes well with its task, and the phone remains in touch until the evening.
Recommended price is 3990 rubles.
Specifications
Software: Android JellyBean 4.3 and later upgrade to Android KitKat 4.4.
Processor: Intel® Atom ™ Multi-Core Z2520 1.2 GHz 2-core, support for Hyper-Threading.
Video: PowerVR SGX544MP2.
RAM: 1 GB LPDDR2.
Screen: 4 "800x480, LED-backlight, TFT, up to 10 simultaneous touches.
Built-in memory: 8 GB.
Connectivity: 802.11b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, GSM / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100, DC-HSPA + (DL / UL): 42 / 5.76 Mbps.
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS.
Sensors: gyroscope, proximity sensor.
Interfaces: 3.5 mm mini-jack for headset, micro SD up to 64 GB, 2 slots for microSIM, micro USB (OTG support).
Cameras: front VGA F2.8, main 5 MP with autofocus.
Battery: 1600 mAh, lithium-polymer, removable.
Dimensions: 124.4x61.44x12.3 mm.
Weight: 120 g
Colors: black, white, red, yellow, turquoise
Equipment
Zenfone 4 comes in a compact box the size of the phone itself. As you can see, the same packaging design is used for the entire Zenfone series.
On the side face there is a perforation with icons indicating the main advantages of the device. These are 3G, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm audio jack, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 5 MP camera.
')
The phone itself lies in the film, under it is a standard set of accessories: power supply and micro USB cable.
The power supply is powerful enough, 5.2 V and 1.35 A. There are no glossy parts on its case, everything is opaque, respectively, it does not collect fingerprints.
Appearance
The ASUS line of smartphones called Zenfone consists of 3 devices: these are Zenfone 4, 5 and 6.
The concentric circles at the bottom remind us of Zenbook laptops.
Zenfone 4 is the most compact representative of the series. The smartphone has dimensions of 124 by 61 mm and fits perfectly in your hand. Unlike the current trend to produce large smartphones, ASUS does not forget about other users who are not so important to the large screen diagonal. The main advantage of small smartphones is convenience, they don’t need to get used to them, unlike 6-inch phones, and it’s convenient to work with them with one hand.
The thickness of the smartphone is 12 mm, but it is not strongly felt, as the phone is thinning towards the edges. Due to this geometry, the back of the smartphone repeats the palm of the hand, and the phone fits well in the hand.
The back cover of the smartphone is made of matte, slightly rough plastic. The coating is pleasant to the touch and does not collect fingerprints.
The lid covers not only the back, but also the side faces, i.e. The volume and lock buttons are located on the panel itself. Such a decision creates the effect of solidity and indivisibility of the smartphone. But the back panel is easily removed and provides access to a removable battery, microSD connector and two SIM-cards.
The panel holds tightly to a large number of latches, does not creak or stagger anything.
In addition to white, there are more models in other colors: black, red, yellow and turquoise.
Interfaces
Above the screen is a speaker, covered with a metal grid. The interlocutor is heard well, the volume is high. To the left of the speaker indicator for alerts. When you receive various alerts, for example, missed calls or messages, the indicator will blink green. Also, the smartphone will inform about the low battery capacity and the process of charging the smartphone. To the right of the front camera is a distance sensor to lock the screen during a call. Alas, we face a budget device and a light sensor is missing, so the brightness will have to be set manually.
Under the screen are the usual touch buttons: back, main screen and application manager. The sensor is quite sensitive, the buttons have no backlight. In the system, you can adjust the vibration when you press these buttons. By the way, the vibration is very strong and feels good even while walking.
On the right side is the volume rocker, a little higher - the unlock button. The location of the buttons is not the most convenient, with my grip the thumb rests just on the increase in volume and you have to get used to the fact that unlocking is higher. The buttons themselves have a corrugated texture and are nicely pressed.
The microphone is on the bottom.
Connector for charging and syncing micro USB placed on the left side.
It supports OTG, i.e. You can connect flash drives and various peripherals. Unfortunately, the microUSB-OTG cable is not included, it will have to be bought separately.
A standard 3.5 mm mini jack for the headset is located on the top.
Removing the back cover, we get access to the slots for two SIM-cards of the micro-SIM form factor. The radio module is one, when talking on one SIM-card, the second one will be unavailable.
We also have a slot for connecting a micro SD card (up to 64GB) to increase the memory capacity of the smartphone.
Screen
As already mentioned, there is a screen with a diagonal of 4 inches. This model is the most affordable among Zenfone, and therefore received a conventional TFT-matrix with LED-backlit.
But technologies are not standing still, and TFT screens look better and better every year. The screen resolution is 800 by 480 pixels, 223 dots per inch (PPI).
The image is poorly visible in the sun and you have to set the maximum brightness. In general, the screen looks good, the colors are displayed correctly, the viewing angles are not too large, but we don’t expect more from such a budget phone.
The screen has a protective coating, during use no scratches appeared. There is also an oleophobic coating, due to which the finger slides well and less prints remain.
The screen supports up to 10 simultaneous touches.
Camera
The front camera has a small resolution and is useful only for video calls. The picture quality is satisfactory.
The main camera with a 5 megapixel matrix and an F2.4 aperture gives out good photos of average quality. On the screen, you can choose which part of the frame to focus on. The camera application allows you to use has many interesting modes.
Intellectual removal. Convenient mode when you need to take a photo in a public place. 5 photos are taken and moving objects are deleted from the final image. The function really works, even in low light.
Everyone is smiling. A great tool for creating group photos. The camera takes 5 pictures, after that for each person you can select a good frame and glue everything into one photo.
Your picture. Selfies are moving to a new level. Now there is a handy tool to shoot yourself on the main camera. To start, select the number of people (from 1 to 4), which will be in the photo. After that, the camera goes into face search mode. If two faces are selected, then while the camera does not recognize the second face in the frame, shooting will not occur. The whole process is accompanied by a sound indication, for example, if the second person is not in the frame, then a signal will be given. After the photo is taken, you can choose a good frame of the three proposed. Then you can immediately process the photo - correct the tone, make more eyes or narrow the cheeks. In general, the girls will be happy.
Depth of field Allows you to blur the background, thereby shifting the focus to the foreground objects. The function is interesting, but it does not always work as it should.
Time control Convenient mode for shooting children. After shooting you will be offered 31 photos taken within 2 seconds before pressing the shutter and within 1 second after. Twisting the slider, you can select a good frame with a little restless.
Miniature. The so-called Tilt Shift. Objects in the photo become as miniature. Such photos should be done from a high point of view.
There are also modes that can be found in almost all modern smartphones with a camera: HDR, 360-degree panorama, night, low light, face enhancement, GIF animation.
Archive of photos taken on Zenfone 4.
Performance
The hardware platform of the smartphone is built on a mobile solution from Intel. The new 2-core Atom Z2520 processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz has support for Hyper-Threading, which adds to it two virtual cores. The amount of RAM is 1 GB. The graphic accelerator PowerVR SGX544MP2 copes well with its task, showing a high frame rate in games. There are no problems with drawing the interface, everything works smoothly.
Video with the launch of games: Dead Trigger 2, Riptide GP2, Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 4.
Benchmark results.
The speed of the mobile Internet in the MTS network, according to measurements, was about 5 Mbit. Also, the smartphone can distribute mobile Internet via Wi-Fi to other devices.
The combined navigation chip is capable of receiving signals from GLONASS and GPS satellites. The location is calculated fairly quickly.
Software
Zenfone series has received a new interface ASUS ZenUI, which was developed with an eye on maximum functionality, but not at the expense of aesthetics. It is easy to learn and intuitive, looks nice, icons have become simpler and follow modern trends in user interfaces. Standard applications are also altered in favor of the overall concept. In general, from ZenUI only good impressions.
The device is running Android 4.3, but ASUS promises to upgrade to version 4.4 KitKat.
Interface screenshots.
Battery and working time
Removable lithium-polymer battery has a modest capacity of 1600 mAh, but for a small screen and an energy-efficient processor this is enough. In the settings, you can choose different modes of the phone, which will extend the time.
In power saving mode, the machine will turn on the wireless connection only with the active screen. Using the optimized mode, I did not notice any restrictions, everything works as usual. You can flexibly configure the backlight for videos or websites, set permissions for instant messengers to use the Internet.
In the evening I fully charged the phone and left it overnight without charging. During the day, I used Wi-Fi for a little over an hour to browse sites. Mobile Internet was also constantly turned on, messages came regularly to Viber and Gmail with auto-reception of letters, rather than checking the box at a certain time. There were voice calls for about 25 minutes. By 8 pm, the phone was almost completely discharged.
In general, the result is quite good, like most smartphones, the phone works one “light day”.
Conclusion
So, in the ranks of budget smartphones appeared symbolic representative of this class. For 3990 rubles, we get a compact and convenient smartphone with good performance. Although the screen resolution is not so big, but for a 4-inch diagonal this is enough, the picture looks good. It was also unusual to see the presence of protective glass. The new shell ZenUI is beautiful and works quickly, in general, only good feelings remain from use. Among the shortcomings, a small capacity battery can be noted, but it copes well with its task, and the phone remains in touch until the evening.
Recommended price is 3990 rubles.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/236317/
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