Zenfone 2: 12 Great Features You Need to Know

ASUS ZenFone 2 is the 2015 flagship Android smartphone of the company. It comes with many new and useful features that you want to know about. Read on to learn more.

Tell us which is your favourite ZenFone 2 feature in the comment.

(Note: “ZenFone 2” here is referring to ZE551ML variant with 4GB RAM.)

World’s first 4GB RAM smartphone

ASUS ZenFone 2 is the world’s first 4GB RAM smartphone while other more expensive Android flagship smartphones have 2GB or 3GB RAM.

Plenty of available RAM means that you do not need to worry about phone’s memory usage. The system does not need to kill apps to allocate free memory for new running apps. You do not need to remove background apps to make your phone runs faster.

The result is better multitasking and faster app switching.

Powerful 64-bit Intel Atom processor

ZenFone 2 is powered by Intel Atom Z3580 processor. It is a 64-bit Quad-core processor with 2.3GHz speed and supports up to 4GB DDR3 RAM with Dual 32-bit channel. ZenFone 2’s PowerVR 6430 graphic processing unit (GPU) supports OpenGL 3.0 and up to 7x faster than ZenFone 5.

The result? You get up to 3x better performance and 7x faster gaming experiences than its predecessor.

PixelMaster Camera 2.0

PixelMaster Camera 2.0 is a combination of the ASUS-developed imaging system and camera hardware to deliver high-quality photos. ZenFone 2 has 13MP rear camera with F/2.0 aperture and dual-color LED flash, 5MP front camera with 80-degree wide-angle lens.

PixelMaster Low-Light mode allows the camera captures 400% brighter photo and video in low-light conditions.

PixelMaster Backlight (HDR) mode able to capture clear photos of backlight objects by automatically merging multi-shots with different exposures with ASUS Pixel Enhancing Technology.

5.5-inch Full HD display

ZenFone 2 is 5.5-inch Super Bright IPS Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) display with 403 pixel per inch (PPI). Thanks to the high 72% screen to body ratio, the 5.5-inch display fits into the body of a traditional 5-inch device.

The IPS panel reaches the 72% of the NTSC allows you to see more precise colors. The 400 nits brightness display allows you to read the screen under sunlight outdoor.

250Mbps 4G LTE-A with Carrier Aggregation

ASUS ZenFone 2 is one of the few smartphones in the market that support latest 4G LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) to offer high download speed up to 250Mbps.

Carrier Aggregation allows your phone to use more than one carrier to increase transmission bandwidth. Watch the cute video by Qualcomm below to understand Carrier Aggregation:

Currently, up to 32 countries are supporting Carrier Aggregation and more in future. Hopefully, it will come to Malaysia soon.

Supports 5 satellite navigation systems

ZenFone 2 supports 5 satellite navigation system with up to more than 60 satellites to pinpoint your position. According to ASUS, it works wherever you go, even you are under a bridge, or in the middle of skyscrapers.

The 5 supported satellite navigation systems are:

1. Global Positioning System (GPS): Global coverage. Owned by United States.
2. GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS): Global coverage. Owned by Russian.
3. BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS): Regional coverage, expanding to global coverage by 2020. Owned by China.
4. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS): Regional coverage with limited accuracy, viewed as GNSS augmentation service. Owned by Japan.
5. Satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS): “a system that supports wide-area or regional augmentation through the use of additional satellite-broadcast messages”

Rear key

ZenFone 2’s volume buttons have been moved to the back as a “rear key”. The concentric-circle design key is part of the phone’s ergonomic design, now you feel more natural to adjust the volume level and snap selfies by pressing the rear key, regardless you are left-handed or right-handed.

Fast Touch Response Time

ZenFone 2 has one of the quickest touch response time of only 60ms. Most smartphones have response time over 70ms. A shorter response time gives you no lag feeling when you tap or drag on the screen, as well as more smoothness gameplay.

Dual SIM Dual Active

You can use two SIM in ZenFone 2. It is not Dual SIM Dual Standby, but Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA). Dual SIM Dual Active is enabled by the dual transceiver, one for each SIM. Both SIMs are active at all the time. SIM1

For example, when you are calling a friend from SIM1, you can still receive messages or calls from SIM2 during the SIM1 call. You can hold a current SIM1 call and answer the SIM2 call.

In short, you can always receive calls from both SIMs and say bye-bye to miss an incoming call.

ZenUI Instant Update

ZenUI, the ASUS customized Android user interface, for ZenFone 2 has Instant Updates feature to always keep the system updated. ASUS made ZenUI into 30+ apps that can updated separately via Google Play Store. As a result, you do not need to wait for months for a big system update. Your ZenUI apps are always updated.

Privacy and Security

SnapView is your private space in ZenFone 2 to store personal photos, files and apps. You can easily switching in and out SnapView by unlocking the phone using different password/pin/pattern.

ZenUI Kids Mode allows you to manage apps, content and play time for children to play with your ZenFone 2.

Trend Micro Dr. Safety app is pre-loaded in ZenFone 2 to protect you against malicious websites, online threats and privacy risks.

Quick charge technology

ZenFone 2 non-removable 3000mAh Li-Polymer battery with BoostMaster quick charge technology. It can charge up to 60% in 39 minutes. After charged more than 60%, the system will slow down to maintain low temperature.