ASUS Philippines has recently given us an opportunity to experience one of the phones from the newest 5 series, the Zenfone 5Q.

Specs

• Dimensions: 160.52 x 76.06 x 7.75 mm (LxWxH)
• Weight: 168.3 g
• Processor: 64-bit Qualcomm® Quad-Core Processor Snapdragon™ 630
• Display: 6 inch FHD (2160 x 1080) IPS display, 2.5D Contoured Glass
• Memory: 2GB / 4GB RAM
• Storage: eMCP 32GB, Micro SD Card up to 2 TB
• Battery: 3,300mAh (non-removable)
• SIM Cards: Dual Nano SIM card
• Camera: 16 MP front x2, 20 MP rear x2

Build and Display

The Zenfone 5Q has a 6.0 in display in relation to the 6.2 in body length, which maximizes the space available for the screen. Its 168 g weight makes it easy to bring around, almost negligible when put in the pocket or bag. The lack of a bezel gives a smooth appearance, but a weird touch feel, perhaps because it takes a lot of getting used to.

While the screen output is going above and beyond, the sound department tries to catch up. It may have the Outdoor Mode wherein the volume levels are increased when in outside settings, but the output still sounds thin and metallic to the ears. When on earphones, however, it improves.

Battery

A lot of new mobile phones nowadays boast of a longer battery life, and the Zenfone 5Q is no exception with its 3,300 mAh power. But, as proven on other phones, the battery life Is highly dependent on the usage. It may have a long standby but, once in use, the battery depletes easily, the culprit usually being high screen brightness, constant network connection, watching media and playing games, and programs that tend to run on the background.

Pictures

Living up to its claim of being a good camera phone, the Zenfone 5Q delivers. Its most remarkable feature that’s new to phones nowadays is its 16:9 to 18:9 wide aspect ratio, which leaves more to the eye of the viewer.

The downside, however, is as the images go wider, the noise increases, making the photos grainier when zoomed. But, aside from this, the camera delivers in its functionality and features.

Final Thoughts

For the affordable price of 16,995 php, the Zenfone 5Q is a quality purchase. It has the bare necessities with a number of value-added features, as expected from a mid-range phone. Aside from the aforementioned comments on the unit, the security of the phone is also impressive, with many options to choose from such as a PIN, pattern tracing, fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, and a mixture of the previous options. This makes the unit very secure (while it is not theft-proof, any data in the phone will be hard to access).

More information the the Zenfone 5Q can be found here.