Overview of the smartphone ASUS ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition

The desire to stand out is inherent in the overwhelming majority of people. All this manifests itself in its own way: someone rushes to high positions, someone wants to shine on the stage, someone carefully selects outfits, and someone warms the soul recognition of the professional community. It is human nature to desire to be in something better than others. So we satisfy this desire as one can. For example, with the help of bright, noticeable, colorful and generally unusual phone cases (let's not touch the mechanical protection function). However, not everyone likes covers, because they increase the size of devices and change tactile properties. Where it is more convenient to simply change the back panel of the smartphone, if the design allows. It is this approach that demonstrates - literally - ASUS ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition. However, we are not talking about the banal replacement of panels on the old model. There are more differences from the original ZenFone 2, and their combination really allows to consider the novelty a “special edition”.

Specifications

Platform : Android 5.0
Dimensions : 77.2 x 152.5 x 3.9 ~ 10.9 cm (L x W x H)
Weight : 170 gr.
Processor :
Quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 (2.3 GHz) with PowerVR G6430 graphics core (support for OpenGL ES 3.0)
Intel Atom Quad Core Z3590 Quad Core
RAM : 4 GB LPDDR3 RAM
Data Storage : 128 GB eMMC
Memory slot : micro SD up to 128 GB
Modem : Intel 7262 + Intel 2230
Wireless :
WLAN 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac
Bluetooth V4.0
Cellular communication : UMTS / WCDMA / TD-SCDMA / TDD-LTE / FDD-LTE
Data transfer rate :
HSPA +: reception - 5.76 / upload - 42 Mbit / s.
DC-HSPA +: reception - 5.76 / upload - 42 Mbit / s.
LTE Cat4: Receive - 50 / upload - 150 Mbps.
2G: EDGE / GPRS / GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G: WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G: FDD-LTE: 2100/1900/1800/1700 / AWS / 850/2600/900/800
Navigation : GPS / GLONASS / QZSS / SBAS / BDS
Display : 5.5-inch Full HD IPS-display (1920x1080 pixels)
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Battery : built-in lithium-polymer, with a capacity of 3000 mA · h
Cameras :
Front: 5 megapixel
Primary: 13 megapixel
Two-color flash
Sensors : Accelerometer / electronic compass / gyro / proximity sensor / light sensor

Appearance

The smartphone is packed in a black and red box-box of the original design.





Included are headphones with extra ear cushions (their photos can be viewed in the ZenFone Zoom review ) and a removable back panel. By default, the smartphone is wearing a panel with a black carbon texture. Imitation looks very high quality. The surface to the touch is rather rough and allows you to securely hold your smartphone. In the beam of light, the texture beautifully "plays", as if truly woven from carbon fiber.



Above the camera is a two-color flash, and below the lens is a volume control button with a contrasting red border and a concentric texture.





On the top of the smartphone is the power button and audio jack.



On the opposite side - microUSB connector.



On the side faces of any connectors or controls.





In tonal edging volume buttons made and the frame around the front panel. The original ZenFone 2 has a black frame that merges with the front panel. Edging volume control is made of silver, the color of the buttons. And in the Special Edition, on the contrary, the emphasis is on color contrast.







It's time to change the panel. Remove our carbon. On the back of the panel was found one of the antennas.



Included with the smartphone already comes a 128 GB memory card. Deluxe Special Edition, so.



Clicking on the smartphone comes bundled removable panel. For my taste, it is even more beautiful and unusual than carbonic - a sort of faceted polished graphite.

Display

In my opinion, the combination of characteristics is ideal: the diagonal is not too small and not too large (small hands do not agree with me), the resolution of 1920 * 1080 (480 ppi) makes me look at complete monitors with the same resolution with perplexity - they have pixels with fist size! With the color and even more so all is well. Gorilla Glass 3 is used as a protective glass. Although not the fourth version, it is also good.

Software

Like all the latest ASUS smartphones, ZenFone 2 Deluxe runs Android 5.0 with the ZenUI GUI. But do not forget, this is Special Edition: in addition to the additional removable panel and a 128 GB memory card, the smartphone boasts an exclusive theme that you can’t download from the Play Market.





If you ever get bored of the panels that come with your smartphone, you can use ASUS View Flip Cover:



The Truecaller application allows you to manage the black list of subscribers and identify unfamiliar incoming calls.





Also installed on the smartphone:

• ASUS Mobile Manager is a utility for memory optimization and autoload management.
• Traditional Link Application Series - Party Link, PC Link, Remote Link, Share Link
• SuperNote - an application for creating a variety of notes and records.
• ASUS Splendid - utility to manage the color profile of the image.
• Mini Movie is a slideshow application.
• PhotoCollage - the name speaks for itself.
• ZenFlash Camera is a utility for photographing using branded external flashlights.
• UP is a well-known utility for retrieving data from Jawbone fitness bracelets.
• The game Asphalt 8 is casual racing, a direct allusion to carbon and the black and red design of the smartphone. When you first start offers to download almost 1.5 GB of data.
  
  

Performance and work experience

ZenFone 2 Deluxe runs on a fairly recent Intel Atom Z3590 quad-core processor, which began production in September 2015. Two of its cores can operate at frequencies up to 2.5 GHz. Graphics chip - Power VR Rogue G6430 . The amount of RAM - 4 GB. The total memory capacity reaches 256 GB (128 internal + 128 on the memory card).

The performance of all this iron is enough to pull the said racing game without brakes, which is very dynamic and generously flavored with special effects. With a couple of other heavy games, too, there were no difficulties.


The battery is quite large capacity - 3000 mAh. It supports the function of fast charging, allowing for 40 minutes to fill the battery by 60%. And if you are in a hurry, it’s enough to connect the smartphone to the outlet for 10 minutes, and this will be enough for a couple of hours of telephone conversations. Please note that the fast charge function must be supported by the charger itself.

PCMark stress test results:


As for the practical tests, in a mixed mode - surfing, music, videos, casual games - the smartphone lasted about 9 hours and 40 minutes.

Conclusion

ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition is a kind of restyling of the “ordinary” ZenFone 2 , with an improved processor, increased memory, an additional interchangeable panel, headphones, and a large-capacity memory card. The smartphone looks much more stylish and original than the original model. He has a particularly masculine design in the best sense of the word: not a dull black or gray box, but a bright combination with the taste of selected colors and textures. In other words, this gadget is for those who are tired in general of the monotonous design of modern smartphones.

At the same time, the exterior is not the only advantage of the ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition. Compared to the original model, the smartphone has a more powerful processor, and many people will envy its memory. You can take very long photos and videos, as well as install heavy toys (1.5 GB each, yeah), without worrying about the free space at all.

The result is a beautiful and unusual smartphone with modern features and good battery life. Add to this the exclusive design of the operating system, unusual packaging and a nice bonus in the form of the game. In my opinion, all these changes and additions fully deserve the epithet “exclusive publication”.

Recommended retail price: 42,990 rub.