REVIEW: Zenfone 5Z, the top of the line with the best cost-benefit in Brazil

Launched in Brazil as a more powerful alternative to Zenfone 5, Zenfone 5Z is already the darling of many, for being the cheapest device in the country to have the Snapdragon 845 - the same processor of models as the Galaxy S9 and Xperia XZ2. At the indicated price of R$2.499, in the version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, the device still has a 6,2-inch screen, premium finish and a very promising set of cameras.

But as the manufacturer already says, “man will live not only on specifications” – therefore, we decided to test the Zenfone 5Z to see if it really deserves all this merit and, above all, to say whether or not you should bet on it instead of the Zenfone 5, which is considerably cheaper.

That said, let's get to the analysis?!

Zenfone 5Z at a glance:

Pros

• The best cost benefit among the tops of the line;
• Modern and well-finished design;
• Revamped interface;
• Kept connection for headphones

Cons

• Battery is not the best;
• Protection against water and dust is sorely lacking

Design

Despite being identical to the Zenfone 5, the design of the Zenfone 5Z It's unlike anything we've seen before. Asus in past generations. It is a fact, the device continues to bring the beveled sides of the Zenfone 4 and the characteristic concentric circles on the back cover. But other than that, everything about the new devices is unprecedented. - at least if we disregard the iPhone X, which was a strong inspiration for this year's entire line.

Starting from the front, the first thing you notice is the huge use of screen - this because 90% this part is pure . The 10% remaining are distributed between very small edges on the sides, a slightly larger edge on the bottom and the notch, which you may have noticed as soon as he hit his eyes on the Zenfone 5Z.

Although it does not house any scanner state-of-the-art facial notch; horn; little mustache of Asus is home to a lot of important components, like the front camera, the speaker for calls and the other sensors. - of luminosity and proximity - plus a notification LED.

By adopting the look of a device that is a reference around the world, the Zenfone 5Z not only enters the fashion of the current market, but also inherits some of the status that the iPhone X represents - something that is not bad at all, let's say- if in passing.

On the back of the device, in turn, Asus was a little more conservative, changing only the location of the cameras, which are now positioned vertically. It is also on the back cover that we find the biometric reader, which although it serves very well to leave the front of the device free – and with that 90% frontal use that we mentioned – it ends up being far from the reach of the finger, as it is in a very high position.

Overall, the Zenfone 5Z is also pleasant to hold in your hands. It is worth noting that the device has a great size. for your 6,2 inches fabric, enough weight to give a feeling of solidity and, finally, it has quality materials in its construction. Still, due to the minimal size of the edges and the glazed back, I wouldn't recommend using it without the cover. that comes in the box or any other form of protection. 

Finally, in addition to falls, another risk that plagues the Asus device is water and moisture damage - this is because, unfortunately, the manufacturer did not include no specific protection for accidents of the type. In this regard, it can be said that the device lags behind competitors, as even much cheaper models bring this feature.

Fabric

Using the same dashboard 6,2 inches and the Zenfone 5's Full HD+ resolution, the Zenfone 5Z's screen does not disappoint, bringing good levels of brightness, vibrant colors - as long as the user adjusts it to that - and black surprising for an IPS LCD screen. I even venture to say that, among the models below R$2.499, excluding devices such as the LG G7, the Zen5 itself and the imported ones, there is no better screen than this at the moment.

I say this because the is one of the most expensive components in the manufacture of a smartphone, making using a high-end screen - with OLED technology, QHD resolution and extremely high brightness levels - Asus had to charge a lot more for the Zenfone 5Z. And if the device's proposal is to have the highest cost-benefit in the category, it cannot invest in “luxuries” of the kind.

But even so, make no mistake: the screen of the Zenfone 5Z fulfills with praise all the expectations of those who buy a top of the line, with a generous size, a well-calibrated color and contrast, a huge front benefit and a brightness level that, although only average, ensures that the screen remains readable even in strong sunlight.

And if you're worried about the notch, once again: don't worry! In addition to being something that sets your device apart from others, getting used to the notch is pretty easy, and as a last resort, you can disguise it with a quick adjustment in the settings.

Furthermore, the fact that this screen is Full HD + (1080 x 2246 pixels)and no more than that is practically indistinguishable to the eye. Particularly, I even prefer this lower resolution, as it contributes to better performance, especially in game processing, and also uses less energy.

Audio

If the audio experience is not usually valued in the most cost-effective smartphones, it is worth noting that the story is completely different in the Zenfone 5Z. This is because, in addition to the device having a considerable sound quality, it is remarkable that Asus did not forget about this point when manufacturing the smartphone - so much that kept the dedicated port for headphones.

And not only that, the device also features a great quality equalizer and two loudspeakers stereo. This last point, however, is more in theory than in practice, since the speaker for calls, activated when playing music and other sounds, ends up being very low and almost makes no difference in sound.

The main speaker, while in a bad location (right next to the USB port, being easily obstructed when holding the phone), is loud, clear and has a lot of depth – which is not as common as we would like on smartphones.

Finally, on both the Zenfone 5Z and the Zenfone 5, the headphones included in the box are also of high Fidelity (Hi-Fi), capable of reproducing great bass and treble. The accessories are even compatible with the surround da DTS, which causes a very pleasant feeling of fullness and spaciousness in the audio, as if it were much more deep than it really is.

For the resource to be perfect, it only needed one soundproofing better, since the headphones don't block out external sounds very well. Still, I would say that this type of feature is beyond the proposal of this model, and can only be charged on more expensive devices.

Cameras

It is impossible not to mention the Zenfone 5 when evaluating the Zenfone 5Z. After all, as I have said thousands of times in this review, both share most of their components and the story is no different when it comes to cameras. On the front, for example, the 5Z features the same 8-megapixel camera, f/2.0, pixels of 1.12 microns and a sensor with 1/4 inch in size.

Both on paper and in practice, this set cannot compete with models such as the Galaxy S9 and iPhone X, that produce selfies best in all light conditions. As for the camera front, specifically, the results of the Asus device are closer to a mid-range than a high-end.

While the front camera isn't entirely bad, the issues I've encountered with it can be troubling. THE noise reduction, for example, is very aggressive, taking away the natural texture of the skin and hair. The front camera interface, on the other hand, is extremely basic, no longer offering basic manual adjustments (ISO, exposure and white balance) to putting beautifying features in place – which only make the noise reduction problem worse, by the way.

A few weeks ago, both the Zenfone 5 and the 5Z had their camera software updated, to please the Brazilian public more. With that, the abuse of noise reduction and beautifying features has decreased, but they continue to bother.

leaving for the rear cameras, it is possible to find a sensor principal of 12 megapixels and a secondary of 8, which in addition to having lenses wide-angle, able to capture a scenario 200% higher that the main one (according to the manufacturer), also allows the Zenfone 5Z to have portrait mode. As with most devices, however, this secondary camera is much “weaker” than the main one – being suitable only for capturing landscapes with a lot of light.

See photos taken with the device

The main camera, in turn, manages to compensate for all this with very good specifications. The sensor used in this camera, a Sony IMX 363, has its opening in f/1.8, pixels of 1.4 microns, dual-pixel focus (the same that is successful in the Galaxy line), optical stabilization (OIS) to 1/2,55 inch in size. As a result of all this, the Zenfone 5Z also has the best camera among the devices that cost less than R$ 2,5 thousand.

For those who enjoy recording videos, it is worth remembering that both the 5 and 5Z record in 4K at up to 30 frames per second. At lower resolutions, the FPS is higher, reaching up to 240 frames per second in HD definition.

As you can see in the images, all captures with the main camera (default) have great levels of detail and vivid colors. In addition, the focus, as with any dual-pixel sensor, is very fast, allowing you to capture good images even in fast-paced situations. To make everything even better, the only thing missing was the HDR being more predictable, since on all three cameras it switches between very strong or almost imperceptible effects.

To end the camera chatter, I would also like to commend the rear camera software. This is because, contrary to what happens with the front, their manual mode is complete – not to mention that other interesting features are also offered, such as capturing panoramas, GIFs and slow motion videos.

Performance

The main difference between Zenfone 5 and Zenfone 5Z is here, in hardware. This is because, while the first one brings an intermediate processor, this one brings a top-of-the-line chip from Qualcomm, the powerful Snapdragon 845. By the way, it is worth remembering that the device is the cheapest model in Brazil to equip this component.

As a result, even though it costs a lot less, the 5Z is on par with devices like the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 when it comes to processing. In fact, as the processor is a set of chips, encompassing the 4G modem, the CPU, the GPU and other components, the 5Z is expected to match these two models even when transmitting mobile data and playing games – if differing only by the way each manufacturer's software controls the chips. 

By the way, when it comes to running games, it is expected that the Asus device even overcome the most expensive models. After all, as we mentioned earlier, the 5Z has a screen with less pixels to control, which should make the GPU's job a lot easier (Adreno 630) when processing complex graphics. Still at this point, it is worth remembering that the CPU and GPU are the fundamental difference between this model and the Zenfone 5, since, in addition to being much faster in tasks in general, the 5Z runs heavy games with less difficulty.

Leaving for the other points of the hardware, to finish, we must remember that the Zenfone 5Z is sold in several versions, with 4, 6 ou 8GB of RAM memory, in addition to, respectively, 64, 128 ou 256GB of internal storage. In terms of sensors and antennas, all available versions bring accelerometer, gyroscope, Bluetooth 5.0 (which consumes less energy), GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, compass, NFC, FM radio and the aforementioned fingerprint reader – which works well, by the way.

System

A ZenUI was one of the highlights of the launch of the Zenfones 5 and 5Z. based on the Android Oreo and in your 5th generation, the interface received several visual adjustments in the new line and is much more proactive, automating several system functions using artificial intelligence. Obviously, due to the hyping given to AI in recent times, some of the smart features are completely dispensable – but overall, the interface is smarter. 

For example, the Zenfone 5Z is able to sense when you are in a quiet environment and thus reduce the volume of notifications, and if you return to a noisy environment, the device also promises to raise the sound of alerts automatically. In addition to this and the other intelligent functions of the system, another interesting application of AIs is in the energy management, as the device also recognizes the times when you recharge it and uses this forecast to save battery life.

System screenshots

Apart from the new AI features, ZenUI also kept what was successful in its past versions, such as the Optiflex e Twin Apps. The first, for those who don't know, reserves part of the processing and RAM in the background for the applications you use the most, so the device opens them faster. The second, in turn, allows you to clone Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Twitter, Play Games and Whatsapp, so that the user can use two accounts different in the same service.

And if you liked to know that ZenUI is very complete, you will probably also enjoy the stability and look of this interface. Throughout our analysis period, the interface proved to be agile to execute functions and with very fluid animations. Although the appearance forms the icing on the cake, as it is quite pleasant, I agree with those who say that it could be most original – as it is very reminiscent of the current version of Samsung Experience.

Battery

The Zenfone 5Z is equipped with a battery similar to the one we see in the Zenfone 5, 3.300mAh, and for bringing a much more powerful processor, it was to be expected that it would not have the same autonomy as its brother. With that, during my tests, the top of the line from Asus reached an average of five hours of screen - one hour less than the Zenfone 5.

Although this average is nothing to be proud of, there are other devices that do similar, and that, like the Zenfone 5Z, only achieve more than that if the user give up something (like the most powerful CPU mode or the maximum screen brightness). Using the device under these conditions, it can reach up to 6h cloth, but it will hardly go beyond that.

So it's always good to have the charger close by at the end of the day, but that doesn't mean the Asus will let you down – that only happens if you abuse the firepower that the model offers.

As for the charger, Asus was smart to insert a more powerful accessory than the one seen in the weaker model (10W). As a result, the 5Z goes from 0 a 100% in just under two hours, which is also compatible with the average for other devices. Finally, if the user wants to use some type of wireless charging, it is worth noting that the 5Z does not have this feature - which should not be a big disappointment for many.

But then, is it worth it?

In my review of the Zenfone 5, I already stated that the device was among the models with the most cost-effectiveness in the range of R$ 2 thousand. It just wasn't elected the best because, among the tops of last year, there are devices like the Galaxy S8, which still surpass the model in terms of performance.

With Zenfone 5Z, on the other hand, the story is different. Starting from the R$2.499 in the version of 4GB / 64GB, Asus offers more than any other in this price range and only loses to imported models – which do not enter much into this comparison. It's a fact that for those who value battery life, fast Android updates and who don't like the notch, waiting until Samsung models drop in price is a more honest indication.

However, for the user who is looking for great cameras, excellent performance and doesn't care so much about the notch (or even likes it, as I do), I must mention that the Zenfone 5Z is the best choice to lowest cost – being, for us Brazilians, flagship killer that the line One Plus always been abroad.

So, if you fit into this last frame, you will hardly regret the purchase.

Complete specifications