We were lucky to have the ZenFone Zoom soon after the launch and try our hands on the device. Here is our unboxing and gaming experience with the device, and yes, if you want to know more about the camera performance, read Zenfone Zoom detailed Camera Review for more.
Asus Zenfone Zoom Specifications
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Asus Zenfone Zoom Unboxing
Asus has chosen a totally different box this time to pack its camera-focused smartphone. Usually we saw a rectangular shaped box which was very identical to almost all the phones from Asus but the Asus Zenfone Zoom comes inside a bigger black coloured box with almost no text or picture around it. Only Zenfone Zoom branding can be seen on the top and the product details on the back.
Inside the box, the first thing that comes in vision is the handset with the camera facing upwards and a lanyard loop that obviously adds up to the camera like flavor to the phone. There are two compartments; the larger compartment has the handset, and the documentations like user guide under it. The other compartment has the lanyard loop on the top and other accessories under it.
Asus Zenfone Zoom Box Contents
Asus ZenFone Zoom comes with a USB 2.0, Charger, In-ear headphone, a lanyard loop, documentation and the handset.
Asus Zenfone Zoom Unboxing, Quick Review, First Impressions [Video]
Physical Overview
The Asus Zenfone Zoom looks pretty much like the usual Asus phones from the front. It comes with a camera bulge on the back which looks beautiful but makes the body look a bit thicker. It has curved back which is made of soft quality leather and the edges are round. Sides are made of good quality alloy, which are finished in metal. The phone feels a little bulky but rests pretty nicely in the palm.
The front is protected using a Gorilla Glass 4 panel and has broad bezels around the display. You will find the speaker on the top with the front camera and proximity and light sensors. On the bottom, you will find the silver coloured touch navigation keys.
The volume rocker and lock/power keys are on the top of the right side. Moving downwards, you will notice a dedicated camera shutter and instant video shoot button.
3.5 m audio jack is located on the top with a dedicated microphone.
This phone has got a beautiful back, which has the big circular ring with shiny chrome finish. The camera is the main highlight of this device and the dual-tone LED is located just below the lens with laser autofocus on its right.
Moving downwards, you’ll find the Asus branding and the loudspeaker grille on the left.
Asus Zenfone Zoom Photo Gallery
User Interface
It comes with Android 5.1 skinned with company’s very own ZenUI on top. ZenUI looks completely different from the stock Android experience and offers a lot of extra apps and features other than the one we find on stock Android. The notification panel is totally skinned and the app launcher has its own style. You have theme options to choose from and also a few hand gestures for smarter functioning.
The UI is fully loaded with features and customizations but it feels good to use and does not lag at any point of time. Switching between apps and navigation was also a buttery experience.
Gaming Performance
The device works quite well while doing random tasks on it but as far as the gaming is concerned, we expected a much better experience with that 4 GB RAM and PowerVR G6430 GPU. We do not complain about the games with above average graphics but when it comes to hardcore gaming, ZenFone Zoom loses some points. We played Asphalt 8 first, the game was running smoothly with no lags or glitches but after a point of time we started noticing few frame drops when there was too much happening on the screen. Other than this we played Modern Combat 5 and the gam-play was smooth but some parts of the game took too long to load. Note:- The gaming tests were done under an atmospheric temperature of 12 degree Celsius.
[table id=332 /] As far as the heating is concerned, we are happy to say that the heating was well under control and we did not experience abnormal heating while using it for any of the purposes. May be we need to test the device once again in summers when its very oftenly more than 35 degrees here.
ZenFone Zoom Performance and Benchmark Scores
The device performs really snappy in day to day usage, and does not show any sign of glitches while gaming, browsing and off course while using the camera. It could have offered a little more power if we consider the price, we must not forget that it is a smartphone with a special camera features and not a camera with smartphone features. Asus has implemented Intel CPU Z3590 with 4 GB of RAM to offer breakthrough performance in almost every condition. Our initial thoughts about the performance are positive and we have not faced any issues until now. The benchmark scores of the Asus Zenfone Zoom are:
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Verdict
Asus Zenfone Zoom is a great phone as far as its camera is concerned, but it has a few drawbacks as well, which every other phone has. The price is INR 37,999 which is quite a hefty price tag for Indian market and that is the only factor that may confuse the consumers between this and other competitors. But I must tell you that the camera capabilities of this phone are seriously very professional, photography enthusiasts must test this device once if they are looking to buy a camera phone or love clicking pictures with their smartphones.
