ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE550KL) review: A ZenFone 2 on a budget

A budget ZenFone phablet

Wait, haven’t we already reviewed a ZenFone 2?

Yes, we did review the ZenFone 2 and the more recent ZenFone Selfie.

But wait, there’s actually a total of 7 different variants under the ZenFone 2 family, which include the 5-inch ZenFone 2 (ZE500CL), the 5.5-inch ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML), (ZE550ML), the 5.5-inch ZenFone 2 Deluxe (ZE551ML), the 5-inch ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE500KL), the 5.5-inch ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE550KL), the 6-inch ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE600KL), and (ZE601KL).

With such diverse options under one master ZenFone 2 branding, it’s easy for people to get confused as they not only differ in screen size, but also various configurations. Despite being over half a year old now, it’s also one of the most popularly searched phone series on our site. As such, we decided to review yet another variant to see if it can still live up to its value for money and performance proposition.

In this particular review, we focus on the 5.5-inch ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE550KL) which is a budget variant of the highly successful ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML). Priced at just S$279, it is one of the few phones in ASUS’ portfolio to come with laser autofocus, which can focus as fast as 0.2 of a second. Is the ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE550KL) the ultimate cameraphone in its category? Let’s find out! But first, here’s a quick overview of its specs:

• From S$279

• Android 5.0 Lollipop with ASUS ZenUI

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2GHz

• 2GB RAM

• 5.5-inch / 1,280 x 720 pixels / IPS

• Rear: 13-megapixel, autofocus, PixelMaster and LED flash

• Front: 5-megapixel, autofocus, PixelMaster

• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 +EDR

• 16GB internal storage space

• microSD support up to 128GB

• 3,000mAh

• 152.5 x 77.2 x 3.9 ~ 10.8mm

• 170g

Build and features

ASUS did not break the mould with the ZenFone 2 laser; it inherits the best and the worst of the ZenFone 2 design traits. For example, we are still annoyed that ASUS places the power button on the top of the device which is not intuitive for a phone of its size, though a double tap gesture on the display mitigates the issue. The three capacitive navigation buttons also lack backlighting, making it a pain to use in the dark. To add on, some right-handed users may not like the fact that the back button is located on the other end of the display.

The rear volume control has a metallic finish and provides good tactile feedback .

On a more positive note, the ergonomic rear arc design makes the ZenFone 2 Laser very comfortable to hold in the hands. Adjusting the volume during music and video playback is convenient thanks to the rear volume controls. Our review unit comes in red and the rear cover has a matte finish, which provides additional grip. The rear cover is also removable so that you can access dual-SIM card slots and microSD memory card slot.

The micro-SIM card slot 1 and microSD memory card slot are located on the left of the rear volume controls while the micro-SIM card slot 2 is located towards the right.

The SIM card slot 1 is located together with the microSD memory card slot, and you have to remove the battery to access the former. Both micro-SIM card slots support 3G and 4G although only one SIM card can be connected to 4G network at a time.

5.5-inch HD Display

For ASUS to price the ZenFone 2 Laser this low, some corners had to be cut. As the display is usually one of the most expensive component on a phone, it is only natural that this aspect receives the least attention. The ZenFone 2 Laser comes with a HD display (1,280 x 720 pixels resolution) which does a decent job for web surfing and most normal usage needs, but pixelation is apparent especially after our eyes have gotten accustomed to sharper displays of more premium devices. Like most recent ZenFone devices, there is a screen color mode to adjust the color temperature and an option to enable Bluelight filter.

You can adjust the screen color mode via Settings > Display > Screen color mode.

ZenUI and Android 5.0.2 Lollipop

It’s concerning to see the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser running an Android security patch level dated in Dec 2015.

ZenUI is the custom overlay that ASUS installed on its mobile devices running Android OS since 2014. You can check out the core features of the ZenUI here: 5 notable features of the ASUS ZenUI. Over the past year, ASUS has added more than 1,000 new features to the ZenUI which include ZenMotion, ZenUI launcher, Themes and SnapView. Some of the features were discussed in our review of the ZenFone 2.

You have about 7.66GB of available storage space out of the box after installing the app updates.

Performance benchmarks

The ZenFone 2 Laser is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2GHz processor and 2GB RAM. The Snapdragon 410 was unveiled in December 2013, which makes it a three-year-old processor. For this review, we compared other budget phablets that compete with the ZenFone 2 Laser such as the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (2GB RAM), the ZenFone Seflie and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. It will be a tough fight for the ZenFone 2 Laser as the others sport newer processors.

• From S$279

• From S$349

• From S$399

• From S$299

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• From S$315

• From S$298

• Android 5.0 Lollipop with ASUS ZenUI

• Android 5.0 Lollipop with ZenUI

• ASUS ZenUI based on Android 5.0 Lollipop

• Android 5.1.1 with MIUI 7

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2GHz

• Intel Atom Z3560 quad-core 1.8 GHz

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa-core 1.8GHz

• 2GB RAM

• 2GB RAM

• 3GB RAM

• 3GB RAM

• 5.5-inch / 1,280 x 720 pixels / IPS

• 5.5-inch / 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (403ppi) / IPS

• 5.5-inch / 1,920 x 1,080 pixels / IPS

• 5.5-inch / 1,920 x 1,080 pixels / IPS

• Rear: 13-megapixel, autofocus, PixelMaster and LED flash

• Front: 5-megapixel, autofocus, PixelMaster

• Rear: 13-megapixel, f2.0, 5-element lens and PixelMaster technology

• Front: 5-megapixel, f/2.0

• Rear: 13-megapixel with f/2.0 aperture and dual-LED Real Tone flash

• Front: 13-megapixel with f/2.2 aperture, wide-angle 88-degree lens with dual-LED Real Tone flash

• Rear: 16-megapixel with 5-element lens, f/2.0, 78° wide-angle lens and a two-tone flash

• Front: 5-megapixel with f/2.0 and face recognition

• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 +EDR

• 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, EDR

• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0

• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands

• Bluetooth 4.1

• Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Direct

• GPS, AGPS, GLONASS and BeiDou positioning

• 16GB internal storage space

• microSD support up to 128GB

• 32GB internal storage

• microSD support up to 64GB

• 32GB internal storage space

• microSD support up to 128GB

• 32GB internal storage space

• microSD support up to 32GB

• 3,000mAh

• 3,000 mAh

• 3,000mAh

• 4,050mAh

• 152.5 x 77.2 x 3.9 ~ 10.8mm

• 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9 mm

• 156.5 x 77.2 x 10.8~3.9mm

• 150 x 76 x 8.65mm

• 170g

• 170g

• 170g

• 164g

Quadrant

Quadrant evaluates a device’s CPU, memory, I/O, and 3D graphics performance. As expected, the ageing Snapdragon 410 processor failed to match up to the newer processors found in the other handsets.

3DMark (2013)

Originally developed as a PC gaming benchmarking tool, 3DMark now supports multiple platforms including Android. The Ice Storm benchmark is designed for smartphones, mobile devices and ARM architecture computers.

For an in-depth understanding of 3DMark for Android, do head over to our article, “3DMark – Android Device GPU Performance Review.” In a nutshell, it is an OpenGL ES 2.0 benchmark test that uses fixed off-screen rendering to run two graphics tests designed to stress the GPU performance of your device and a physics test to stress its CPU performance. The benchmark consists of three test portfolios: Standard (720p resolution rendering), Extreme (1080p resolution rendering with higher quality textures and post-processing effects), and Unlimited (disabled v-sync, display scaling and other OS factors that make it ideal for chipset comparison).

Since all the recent flagship smartphones max out the scores for the Standard and Extreme tests, we will only be comparing results for Ice Storm Unlimited. Once again, the ZenFone 2 Laser stood no chance against the competition with the three-year-old processor.

SunSpider JavaScript

SunSpider JavaScript helps measure the browsing performance of a device when processing Javascript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is at delivering a high-speed web browsing experience. Like the other benchmarks, the Snapdragon 410 chipset performed poorly in the SunSpider Javascript.

Synthetic benchmarks aside, we found the user experience on the ZenFone 2 Laser to be decent for its specs. While it was generally smooth, the phone did lag and freeze momentarily when switching between apps or when too many apps are left running in the background.

Camera performance

The ZenFone 2 Laser has a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, laser autofocus, a dual-LED Real Tone Flash and PixelMaster technology. You can find out more about PixelMaster in our dedicated article here. On the front is a 5-megapixel camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 85-degree wide angle lens. For an entry-level smartphone, these imaging specs seem really good! Do they translate into great performance? Check out the photos below:

Under normal lighting conditions, the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser can take pretty decent photos.

Low light photography has always been a challenge for mobile phones and this is no different for the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser. Although the wide aperture contributed to an overall brighter photo, details can get murky.

Even while using the camera at night with just street lighting, the ZenFone 2 Laser packs a decent showing, especially when compared to what Xiaomi’s new Redmi Note 3 could muster.

Battery performance

Our standard battery test for mobile phones includes the following parameters:

• Looping a 800 x 480-pixel video with screen brightness and volume at 100%

• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on

• Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

In our standard video battery test, the ZenFone 2 Laser lasted 11 hours and 37 minutes which is one of the best timings we’ve seen so far. Its good battery mileage is attributed to the lower display resolution which is lower than the rest (Full-HD) as shown in the power consumption chart where it sipped the least amount of power. This is basically a tradeoff between superior screen resolution as opposed to a long battery life. Considering the fact that the brand new Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has a much better display and processor while still managing the second best battery life figure in this comparison, we would say Xiaomi has an advantage here.

Portability

We measure the portability of a device by calculating its battery life to (weight x volume) ratio. Due to its superior battery mileage, the ZenFone 2 Laser is naturally able to top the Portability Index. So if you don’t really care much for the HD resolution display and need the best battery life possible, perhaps the ZenFone 2 Laser could be a reasonably choice despite some other areas that it falls short.

Conclusion

Although the ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 2GB RAM model is more than a year old now and still trumps the newer ZenFone 2 Laser in pure performance matters, the newer entrant’s core focus is to deliver an even more affordable ZenFone 2 for those considering a quality smartphone shooter at a more friendlier price point. As such, the ZenFone 2 Laser drops the screen resolution, built-in storage capacity and the processor model to offer all the other goodness of the ZenFone 2 at just S$279. In addition to a low price point, the design specifications allow it stay powered for a much longer period – more than any of the compared phones in this review.

Are the tradeoffs worthwhile? Its main rival is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 which has a few advantages such as a fingerprint sensor, better benchmark performance, a more premium design, great handling and a higher resolution display. The price difference of just S$20 makes it even harder to decide between the two and it really boils down to whether a longer battery life and better camera performance is a priority to you.

The ZenFone 2 Laser is available for purchase at S$279 without line contract on ASUS Online Store. It comes in three colors – white, red and black.

Also note that the ZenFone 2 Laser is available in a 5-inch variant – the ZE500KL – for just S$239 and it shares all of the attributes of the 5.5-inch reviewed version, making it a more value for money counterpart if price is a strong consideration. Futhermore, its smaller screen size would allow it to have a higher pixel desnsity, thus making its HD resolution screen even more usable and bearable.