If you happen to come across the hashtag #SeeWhat OthersCant See, well it’s not a campaign for the sequel of “Transformers” or “The Sixth Sense” nor about x-ray goggles, x-ray sunglasses or x-ray contact lenses. It’s the hashtag being used during the Philippine launch of the highly anticipated ASUS Zenfone 2 last Saturday, May 16, 2015, at the Experience 2Morrow press event held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Although I was not able to attend the launch because I’m in a bloggers fam tour at Johor Bahru, Malaysia last May 13 to 17, I was among the selected few chosen to try this new smartphone and make a review.

For every new gadgets being released the very first question that comes to mind is the price. How much is the ASUS Zenfone 2? What I can say for now is that its price range can be considered under the bracket of “budget phones” because it’s more than half the price of high-end brands such as iPhone 6 or the Samsung S6. But it doesn’t look and feel like a budget phone! There’s really more to it than what you can see from its exterior. That’s the hunch I felt while unboxing the device.

THE EXTERIOR

My ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML has a platinum curved case with brushed-metal finish and concentric-circle detailing that doesn’t accumulate finger prints. It’s sleek and easy to grip at the same time. Compared to Samsung S6 and iPhone 6, the Zenfone 2 has no buttons on the left and right edges, just a power button on the top edge while the volume-control key is located on the rear of the phone which can be controlled using your index finger. It boasts of a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS+ screen made of scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The screen-to-body ratio of Zenfone 2 is 72% making it an excellent device for watching videos and playing mobile games. It’s ultra-thin edges measure 3.9mm with concentric circle pitch of 0.13mm giving it the tactile effect. The overall look is so elegant that I murmured in my head–there’s no way this phone would cost less than P20,000. Or is it?

THE INTERIOR

Two words: Intel Inside! We normally see this phrase on the CPU casing of our desktop computers. Now it’s stamped on the casing of ASUS Zenfone 2, the first time I saw this on a smartphone. This is because it’s powered by a 64-bit 2.3GHz Super Quad-Core Intel Atom Z3580 processor for unprecedented performance. So when you are multi-tasking and you want to switch from one app to another, don’t ever expect this phone to slow down.

Another selling point of the ASUS Zenfone 2 is the 4GB of dual-channel of DDR3 RAM–the first smartphone in the world to have such. I tested the phone with various apps and response time is pretty fast compared with my previous android device. So you don’t need to keep on killing background apps this time for speedboost, this phone can manage to run multiple apps! Some people are even saying that the Zenfone 2’s CPU performance is at par to Apple’s iPhone 6 and Samsung S6 and it may even trump these two in some aspects like the WebXPRT, MobileXPRT and even the GPU (graphics processing unit). Well I will not be surprised. The specs speak for itself!

DUAL SIM

The Zenfone 2 has a dual SIM/dual active technology, meaning you can have two phone numbers and have both active at the same time. You can even answer calls and receive messages from both SIMs alternately, hold the first call on the first number and deal with the other one.

INTERNET

ASUS claims the Zenfone 2 has the 4G LTE advanced technology for the highest-ever mobile data speeds of up to a staggering 250Mbit per second at its peak. That’s faster-than-ever LTE capability by world standards. It is also equipped with 802.11ac Super Fast Wi-Fi with speeds of up to 433Mbit per second. I tried to open my site via wifi connection and I must say, the loading time is pretty fast.

BATTERY

It’s safe to say that the more powerful your phone is, the more energy it consumes. Just like its high-end competitors, the ASUS Zenfone 2 is hungry for energy. And unfortunately, this phone’s battery life doesn’t last for a day for heavy users like me. But the good news is, the phone’s 3,000 mAh non-removable battery can fully charge to as fast as 10 minutes.

THE CAMERA

Aside from calling/texting and entertainment, another reason why our smartphones are the most important gadget in our everyday lives is the camera. Today we usually don’t bring a separate digital camera in capturing everyday moments, the phone functions as such. This is one of the strengths of Zenfone 2, a 13 megapixel camera that can capture beautiful photos and it can also create HD videos as well.

They call it the “PixelMaster” because of its f/2.0-aperture lens that captures high resolution photos even in low light conditions. When you choose the low light mode, it can capture things we usually don’t see in the dark because it produces 400% brighter images. Hence the hashtag #SeeWhatOthersCantSee!

As for the front 5 megapixel camera, it has a wide angle of up to 85 degrees that even your selfies can be panoramic specially if you have a beautiful scenery in the background. And don’t worry if you’re against the light, the Zenfone 2 can expand the dynamic range of your shots by four times for improved color contrast and its wide dynamic range (WDR) enhances clarity and richness.

Here’s an outdoor shot using the Zenfone 2 in automatic mode:

Here’s a shot in macro:

And here are some shots using various special effects.

Lomo:

Snow:

Edge Detect:

Romantic:

Pixelize:

Negative:

The ASUS Zenfone 2 will become available this week. Here are the complete specifications and price:

With a price of P13,995.00, the 32GB ZE551ML ASUS Zenfone 2 is highly recommended to those who are looking for an alternative phone for the very pricey Samsung S6 and iPhone 6. In fact, this device can outperform these high-end competitors in a lot of aspects that I mentioned above. After testing the Zenfone 2, I must say, I’m impressed with its speed/response time specially when I play heavy graphics games and when I’m multi-tasking. The camera is quite impressive, too! The only unflattering aspect of this phone is the battery life. But for a heavy-performing phone like this, it’s understandable why it can’t last a day for non-stop usage.

For more details about the ASUS Zenfone 2, like the official Facebook page of ASUS Philippines here: www.facebook.com/ASUSph