ZenFone 5 Lite Review (A502CG)
As the race to the bottom heats up, smartphone vendors try to woo consumers, particularly in emerging markets with affordable mid-range devices. The Asus Zenfone 5 Lite is another entrant to the budget-conscious market recently announced in the Philippines. It is a slightly cheaper variation of the Zenfone 5 in which at first glance, it is hard to tell the difference. But of course, some compromises have been made in order to reach a lower price point. Regardless, the ZenFone 5 Lite is still a very capable device on a budget.
Out of the Box
However, it is hard to tell which variant is in the box because there is no mention in the literature if that is indeed the “Lite” version of the ZenFone 5 series. The only indication is the model number ASUS_T00K (A502CG) on the back of the box.
The ZenFone 5 A502CG is the “Lite” variant |
Included in the package are the actual smartphone unit, charger adapter and USB cable. Unfortunately, austerity takes its toll here because there is no headset included out of the box.
Build Quality
Though mostly made out of plastic, you cannot fault the ZenFone 5 Lite in the build quality department because the phone feels robust. There are no creeks and signs of flimsiness. It doesn’t look cheap at all while the metallic strip at the bottom of the panel is a nice touch. However, what we would rather do without are the generous bezels.
Volume and power button located on the right side |
The tapered edges create an illusion of slimness but in reality, this is 10.8 mm in its thickest. The back cover can be removed to access the SD memory card and dual sim slots but the battery is not user-replaceable so don’t fancy carrying a spare battery pack in this one.
Located on the right side are the volume button and power button. They are pleasantly made out of metal with circular ridges which adds a nice shiny detail to it. On a side note, the placement of the side buttons of the “Lite” variant is very different from the elder ZenFone 5 wherein the power button is placed above the volume button. The effect of this button switcheroo is you just can’t swap protective cases with each other.
Display
The screen resolution is a qHD (960 x 540 pixels) and yes, you can easily make out pixels with its 5-inch display. The low pixel count is redeemed by its IPS display which brings decent viewing angles. The good color reproduction is also a high point for this device in my books. Overall, the screen quality still manages to impress us, thanks to its good IPS screen.
5 inch display has only low qHD resolution. But IPS panel is quite good for this price point. |
User Interface
Running on top of Android is Asus’ very own ZenUI skin- a flat and simplistic UI that is among the more pleasant interfaces out there. Asus has done a great job utilizing a smooth user experience, unlike some other Android phones’ heavily skinned and overbearing UIs out there.
The quick setting panel in the notification can be easily organized according to the toggles you frequently use. The recent update also brings a very useful feature in the form of quick access to notifications by simply swiping down anywhere on the home screen.
Oh, and not to forget, if there is one thing I didn’t like about the custom Asus UI is the presence of bloatware. The are quite too many installed apps out of the box and they are firmly embedded in the system because there is no way to delete that nuisance.
The ZenUI overlayed on Android for the ZenFone 5 Lite |
Performance
The onboard Intel Atom Dual-core CPU clocked at 1.2 GHz and 1 GB RAM may not sound much, but it is quite enough to run Android KitKat with aplomb. I don’t know if it’s because of the light UI or the capable albeit ‘only’ dual-core processor, but opening and running day-to-day apps and games is very snappy, as the ZenFone 5 Lite took it all in stride. The only time I experience a lag is when playing resource-intensive 3D games that cause a drop in framerates. All things considered, first time smartphone buyers or most smartphone users for that matter, will find the Asus ZenFone 5 Lite delivers in terms of performance.
AnTuTu Benchmark yields a result of 18635. May not be the top tier in terms of performance, but for real-world usage, this result is enough to deliver a satisfying experience. |
Camera
Digital photography is not the ZenFone 5 Lite’s strongest suit. The 8-megapixel camera at the back produces grainy pictures which lack detail due to an aggressive sharpening algorithm. The picture taken may look good on the screen, but once zoomed in, pixel-peepers will bemoan the lack of details.
The camera’s dynamic range is not that good either with shaded areas appearing really dark. If that is the case, you can turn on the HDR but it doesn’t exactly produce the best result.
There are many camera presets if you like to tinker with your photos. There’s Auto, HDR, Panorama, Night, Low light, selfie, and depth of field among others. It can also take video of up to 720P 1080P resolution after an update.
Check out some picture samples below.
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For moderate users, a nightly trip to the power outlet to charge the unit is very likely. But good thing there is a power saving mode just in case you need to squeeze a bit of juice while you are out and about.
- I am really glad that they didn’t skimp on sensors that typically wouldn’t make it in a phone at this price range. The inclusion of the ambient light sensor is highly appreciated. There is also the handy LED light notification that blinks every time a message or email arrives while the phone’s screen is idle.
- The speaker at the back is very weak. It is very easy to miss alerts because the sound gets easily drowned by outside noise.
- The capacitive button is not backlit but it only takes a little while to get used to the position of buttons. The annoying vibration of capacitive keys can be turned off by going to Settings, Sound, then unchecking Vibrate on touch
- We haven’t encountered any problem making calls or sending SMS. The sound quality of the voice on the other end is good.
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