US- ASUSTek Computer Inc., (NASDAQ: ASUS) The Taiwanese technology giant has just revealed the latest addition to its ZenFone lineup for the United States, the ZenFone 2 Laser ZE550KL, running on Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system.
The ZenFone 2 Laser comes with a slew of interesting features, a competitive spec sheet and good looking hardware, so let’s take a closer look at the handset.
Design
Asus has been flaunting about the smartphone’s looks since it unveiled it back in August, stating that its design strategy has turned the ZenFone 2 Laser into the most beautiful smartphone currently in the market.
We cannot safely justify the aforementioned suggestion, since the matter is rather objective, though its looks are definitely elegant and Asus has incorporated some notable changes that have enhanced the ergonomy of the device.
The ZenFone 2 Laser features an all metallic removable shell, with the same material wrapping the lower end of the glass front, and round edges which the company calls Ultra Thin.
Asus has consolidated all the necessary physical buttons, that were formerly located on the perimeter of the device, into one -as part of its trademarked Ergonomic Arc Design- placed on the back of the handset, right underneath the camera. The particular button allows the user to adjust the volume, power on and off the device, snap photos and alike.
The company also claims that besides the button relocation, it has also compressed the Qualcomm processor that powers the handset, in order to attain the remarkable 3.9mm thickness -at the thinnest edge.
When it comes to dimensions, the smartphone measures at 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.8 mm (6.00 x 3.04 x 0.43 in) and weighs 170 g (6.00 oz).
Specifications and software
Besides the exciting design, the ZenFone 2 Laser comes with a powerful specifications spec sheet.
The handset sports a 5.5-icnh IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a 720 x 1280 pixels (~267 ppi pixel density) covered by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 4 scratch and shatter-proof protection glass.
Underneath the hood, the ZenFone 2 Laser rocks Qualcomm’s MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 processor, housing a quad-core 1.7GHz ARM Cortex A53 CPU and a quad-core 1.0GHz ARM Cortex A53 CPU, coupled with Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage capacity is 16GB or 32GB, both expandable via microSD up to 128 gigs.
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ZenFone 2 Laser’s marque and much-touted feature is its primary camera. It is a 13 MP 4128 x 3096 pixels sensor, featuring laser autofocus- hence the moniker Laser-, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, HDR and Full HD 1080p video recording.
In a nutshell, it is an improved PixelMaster 2.0 camera that packs laser auto-focus technology for very sharp images. Moreover, it comes with a wide-angle F/2.0 aperture lens that is composed of 5-elements to take crystal clear photos.
The secondary camera, located on the front, shoots at 5-megapixels.
In terms of connectivity, the ZenFone 2 Laser is fitted with LTE antennas, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and microUSB v2.0. In addition to those, Asus has included Dual-SIM capability feature, though it is obviously more sophisticated than the average dual-SIM system, as it allows the user to maintain concurrent connectivity to both SIM cards, fundamentally merging two separate phone lines into one.
Furthermore, in order to accommodate the 5.5-inch HD display, ASUS has bumped a removable 3,000 mAh battery into the smartphone, which should be fair enough for the spec sheet at hand. The fact that it is removable is a major advantage as well.
The ZenFone Laser 2 is powered by Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop mobile operating system straight out of the box, with a layer of Asus’ home brewed Zen UI placed upon it.
Pricing and availability
Asus launched the device a few hours back, though it has already hit the shelves.
The company confirmed during the respective press event that the ZenFone 2 Laser will be available for purchase through its own online store or Newegg retailer.
As far as pricing goes, the 16GB edition will set you back US$199 while the 32GB one US$249. The handset comes in a selection of color options as well; including black, white, red, gray and gold.
Are you planning on picking up the Asus ZenFone 2 Laser smartphone? Let us know in the comments below.
