Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe hands-on: a more stylish version of the world's first phone with 4GB of RAM
Yesterday, Asus held its IFA 2015 keynote, at which it unveiled its brand new smartwatch, the ZenWatch 2, but apart from showing us its new wearable, the large Taiwan-based company also allowed us to play with a large host of its latest smartphones in the demo area. One of these is the Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe, a stylish version of the ZenFone 2 that comes with the same hardware but with different exterior design. Let's check it out!
Design
The design of the Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe is definitely the highlight of the phone. It comes with a rear cover that sports a multi-faceted rear cover and a chameleon-like coating that tends to change the different color hues of the phone as you tilt it around.
All things considered, it sits comfortable in the hand for the device with such a display size. Apart from the rear cover, the rest of the design screams "Asus ZenFone 2". This means that we have a power button at the top frame of the phone, as well as a volume rocker at the back.
Size-wise, the phone is a bit on the thick side. Clocking in at 6.00 x 3.04 x 0.43 inches (152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9 mm) and 6 oz (170gr), the ZenFone 2 Deluxe is one of the larger 5.5-inch phones you can lay your hands on.
Display
At the front of the ZenFone 2 Deluxe, one can find a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3 on top. With a pixel density of 401ppi, it's a decent screen with more than acceptable sharpness, all the while definitely not the best we've seen around.
Despite that we'll have to extensively test it out, the display of the Deluxe seems mostly similar in terms of properties with the one that can be found on the Asus ZenFone 2. The screen of the Deluxe exhibited very good contrast and an acceptable, despite a bit colder color temperature.
The viewing angles also seemed good, with little to no distortions in the color representation when viewed at a 45-degree angle.
Interface
With ZenUI aboard, the Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe is running Android 5.0. Asus' interface is a bit overwhelming. While it's full of added features and options that are not present in stock Android, we still find it a bit hard to get around and feel "at home" with Zen UI. Still, we really like that Asus has made the UI utterly customizable: You can download themes and personalize a plethora of the interface's aspects. There's also a handy double-tap-to-sleep/wake feature that might come in handy to all those not feeling at ease with the top-positioned power button.
Processor and memory
The Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe comes with either a 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z3560 or a beefier, 2.3GHz Atom Z3580 quad-core chipset. Depending on the version, you get either 2 or 4GB of RAM on board, with the more amount of operational memory naturally fitted inside the phone with the faster chipset. Judging from the ZenFone 2's performance, this particular setup is by no means impressive, yet it gets the job done. Actually, we found out that the ZenFone 2 fares on par with other devices of its ilk (Oppo N3, HTC Desire 820, Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3), so it's safe to believe that the Deluxe will do so, too.
Camera
We have a 13MP rear camera with a dual-tone LED flash on the Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe, while at the front we find a 5MP one with fixed focus. We can't say whether this one is good or bad, but if it's anything remotely similar to the unit on the ZenFone 2, it will most probably be a camera that performs very well.
Conclusion
The Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe is a certainly oriented towards those who liked the Asus ZenFone 2, yet aspired for a device that stands out a bit. The Deluxe seems like the perfect match for those who are indeed on the hunt for a more stylish variation of the ZenFone 2.
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