We reviewed the Asus Zenfone 3 (ZE552KL) a few days ago. And now we’re looking at another phone option for those looking for an alternative to the OnePlus 3 (Review). The company recently launched the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) in India, which will be available online only before becoming available through offline retail channels.
Like other Zenfone 3 models, the new Asus Zenfone 3 Laser runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This phone is made of metal body. In this phone, an attempt has been made to eliminate the shutter issue with faster autofocus and a better camera. Will this phone be able to maintain its identity by proving itself different from the competition? Today we will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of this smartphone through the review.
Design and appearance of the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser
The ZenFone 3 Laser is a smartphone with a metal body and it has 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass on the front for protection. Its dimensions are 149x76x7.9mm and it weighs 150 grams. Despite the 5.5-inch screen, the ZenFone 3 Laser fits easily in one hand. While the Asus Zenfone 3 (ZE5552KL) with the same screen size, we did not find it comfortable to use with one hand.
The front of the phone sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display with a front-facing camera on top. According to Asus, the screen-to-body ratio on the phone is 77 percent. There is a capacitive Android navigation button below the screen. The navigation buttons aren’t backlit, so it wasn’t easy for us to use the phone in the dark. Our review unit was in a gold color and this phone will also be available in a silver color.
The back of the phone is also made of metal, and like the Zenfone 3, it comes with a glass back. There are two lines at the top and bottom at the rear which is like Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Asus says that this phone also has a fingerprint sensor and such a coating has been applied to it, which leaves no marks.
The rear camera of the phone is etched and its design is similar to other Zenfone 3 series smartphones. There is a dual LED flash and laser autofocus ammeter on the rear near the camera lens. The fingerprint scanner is located just below the camera. And there is the Asus brand at the bottom. The power and volume buttons are on the right side of the phone, while the hybrid SIM slot is on the left side. The phone has a 3.5mm audio jack at the top, while a standard Micro-USB port and speaker grill are included at the bottom.
One issue we encountered during the review process is that the Micro-USB port has slightly sharp edges. Because there is a slight scratch on the hand when using the phone.
The 5.5-inch Full HD (1080×1920 pixels) IPS screen is vibrant and has good color production. The brightness level of the screen is also very good. Text and images look sharp. Users can adjust the color temperature via Asus’ Splendid app. The phone can be read well even in bright sunlight and we didn’t have any problems using the phone in daylight. Viewing angles weren’t an issue when watching movies, videos, and other media.
We notice that the screen is a fingerprint magnet and we have to clean it from time to time. Like the ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL), the ZenFone 3 Laser has a blue light filter that is supposed to protect the eyes. During our review, we didn’t find any issues with screen touch and we can use the phone even while wearing gloves.
Asus Zenfone 3 Laser Specifications and Software
The ZenFone 3 Laser is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor. There is Adreno 505 for graphics. There is 4 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. This phone has a built-in storage of 32 GB which can be increased up to 128 GB via microSD card. Asus, in partnership with Google, is also offering up to 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage for two years, which you can use to store photos, videos, and other documents.
This phone features a 13-megapixel rear camera with F/2.0 aperture and dual-tone LED flash. Supports video recording up to 1080p at 30 frames per second. The phone also has an 8-megapixel camera with an F/2.0 aperture. As for connectivity, the ZenFone 3 Laser has Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, GPS/A-GPS, GLONASS, and 4G. The phone comes with a hybrid SIM slot, which means that users will have to choose between dual SIM cards or a SIM card and a microSD card.
Asus claims that both slots support 3G and 4G networks, but only one can be active at a time. ZenFone 3 Laser supports LTE. The phone has a 3000 mAh non-removable battery.
The Asus ZenFone 3 Laser runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the company’s ZenUI 3.0 skin on top. ZenFone 3 Laser runs on the same software as ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL). You can read more about the Zenfone 3 in our review. Its most notable feature is the real-time animated clock and weather widget.
Asus has greatly improved the ZenUI interface in the recent past. The new version is lighter, clearer and cleaner than before. However, there are some Asus apps like Themes, Photo Collage, Mini Movie, ZenCircle, ZenSync, Weather, Do It Later, Game, Zen, Zenfone Care and Covers that bother us a bit. Apart from this, third party apps like Amazon Shopping, Saavn, TripAdvisor, Instagram, Amazon Kindle and Facebook are also installed on the phone. Many of these can be uninstalled.
asus zenfone 3 laser camera
On this Asus phone, the camera app can also be quickly opened from the lock screen. The application interface is easy to understand. The functions are user manual, HDR Pro, beautify, super resolution, low light, QR code, night, depth of field, effect, selfie, GIF animation, panorama, thumbnail, time rewind, slow motion and time lapse. It is worth noting that all these modes have been provided on all Zenfone 3 series smartphones.
The most discussed feature of this phone is the laser autofocus technology that is included, which is claimed to lock focus in 0.03 seconds. During our review, we found that this feature works very fast. Laser autofocus plays an important role when taking close-ups.
The Zenfone 3 Laser captures great photos in good lighting conditions with great detail and excellent color reproduction. When zooming in on the images, we noticed slight noise and blur at the edges. We were particularly impressed with the low-light images it captured.
We shot 1080p video with the ZenFone 3 laser, and the results were excellent. The Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) function is helpful when shooting videos and shoots smooth videos even when your hand isn’t steady.
The front camera of the phone is also excellent and can take instant selfies. ZenFone 3 Laser automatically opens beautification mode when the front camera is opened. However, it can be disabled. We have to say that the phone can take great pictures.
asus zenfone 3 laser performance
Multitasking is smooth with the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser, but the phone slows down with too many apps running in the background. Due to the quality of the screen, it is pleasant to watch movies on the phone. We do not face any heating issue on the phone. However, the phone does get a bit warm while charging, gaming, and recording 1080p videos. Like any other metal device, the Zenfone 3 Laser also tends to slip, especially if your hands are sweaty. During our review, the Zenfone 3 Laser slipped out of our hands several times, but the good thing is that the device did not suffer any damage.
The fingerprint sensor worked fine for the most part while using the phone. The fingerprint sensor can unlock the phone even when it is in standby mode, which is very convenient. The absence of USB Type-C is now an issue on this phone. The speakers provided on the phone are loud and the accompanying headphones have good sound as well.
The Asus Zenfone 3 Laser scored decent numbers in benchmark tests.
This phone has a 3000 mAh non-removable battery. The phone’s battery lasted 12 hours and 25 minutes in our video loop test. At the same time, the Zenfone 3’s battery lasted 13 hours and 45 minutes. ZenFone 3 Laser lasts more than a day on short calls, Internet browsing, photography, watching YouTube videos, and using apps like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Unlike other Zenfone 3 smartphones, the Zenfone 3 Laser does not support fast charging.
our verdict
Asus has priced the Zenfone 3 at around Rs 20,000. Xiaomi Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime (Review) also feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor and are priced under Rs 10,000. The performance of the Zenfone 3 Laser is lower than other smartphones in this price range.
It’s a tough task to recommend this phone for purchase. The phone competes with Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime (Review) and Lenovo Z2 Plus (Review) which perform very well according to the price. The Zenfone 3 Laser’s camera is pretty decent, but it doesn’t justify its high price. With features like metal body, decent screen and software improvements in this phone, it would be better if the price of this phone was Rs 15,000 or less.
Those who wish to buy Asus Zenfone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) can purchase it on Flipkart. The phone will be available exclusively on Flipkart for the first month.
