We reviewed the Asus Zenfone 3 (ZE552KL) a few days ago. And now we are looking at another option for those looking for an alternative to the OnePlus 3 (Review). Recently, the company launched the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) in India which will be available online only before being made available in offline retail channels.
Like the other models of Zenfone 3, the new Asus Zenfone 3 Laser runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This phone has a metal body. An attempt has been made to solve the shutter problem with fast autofocus and better camera in this phone. Will this phone be able to prove itself different from the competition and maintain its identity? Today we will know about the advantages and disadvantages of this smartphone through review.
Asus Zenfone 3 Laser design and look
The Zenfone 3 Laser is a metal body smartphone and comes with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass for protection on the front. Its dimensions are 149x76x7.9 mm and it weighs 150 grams. Despite having a 5.5 inch screen, the Zenfone 3 Laser fits easily in one hand. On the other hand, the Asus Zenfone 3 (ZE5552KL) with the same screen size did not feel comfortable to use with one hand.
The phone has a 5.5-inch full HD display on the front with a front camera above it. According to Asus, the handset has a screen-to-body ratio of 77 percent. Below the display are capacitive Android navigation buttons. The navigation buttons are not backlit so we did not find it easy to use the phone in the dark. Our review unit was gold in colour and the phone will also be available in silver colour.
The rear of the phone is also made of metal and like the Zenfone 3, it comes with a glass rear. There are two lines on the top and bottom of the rear which is similar to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Asus says that this phone also has a fingerprint sensor and a coating has been applied on it which does not leave any marks.
The rear camera is raised and its design is similar to other smartphones in the Zenfone 3 series. There is a dual LED flash and laser autofocus emitter on the rear near the camera lens. There is a fingerprint scanner just below the camera. And there is Asus branding at the bottom. The power and volume buttons are on the right side of the phone while there is a hybrid SIM slot on the left. The phone has a 3.5mm audio jack on the top while a standard micro-USB port and speaker grill are provided at the bottom.
One problem we faced during the review process was that the edges of the micro-USB port are a bit sharp. Due to which, while using the phone, the hand gets scratched a bit.
The 5.5-inch Full HD (1080×1920 pixels) IPS display is vibrant and the colour reproduction is good. The brightness level of the display is also quite good. Text and images look crisp. Users can adjust the colour temperature via Asus’ Splendid app. The phone is well legible even in sunlight and we did not face any issues while using the phone in daylight. Viewing angles were not a problem while watching movies, videos and other multimedia content.
We noticed that the display is a fingerprint magnet and we had to clean it from time to time. Like the Zenfone 3 (ZE552KL), the Zenfone 3 Laser also has a blue light filter that is claimed to protect the eyes. During our review, we did not notice any issues with the touch of the display and the phone was usable even with gloves on.
Asus Zenfone 3 Laser specifications and software
Zenfone 3 Laser has an octa-core 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor that runs at 1.4 GHz. There is Adreno 505 for graphics. There is 4 GB LPDDR3 RAM. This phone has 32 GB inbuilt storage which can be expanded up to 128 GB via microSD card. In collaboration with Google, Asus is also offering up to 100 GB of cloud storage on Google Drive for two years, which you can use to store photos, videos and other documents.
This phone has a 13-megapixel rear camera with aperture f / 2.0 and dual tone LED flash. It supports video recording up to 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. The phone also has an 8-megapixel camera with aperture f / 2.0. Talking about connectivity, Zenfone 3 Laser has features like Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Wi-Fi Direct, GPS / A-GPS, GLONASS and 4G. This handset comes with a hybrid SIM slot which means that the user will have to choose between two SIM cards or one SIM card and one microSD card.
Asus claims that both slots support 3G and 4G networks but only one can be active at a time. The Zenfone 3 Laser supports LTE. The handset is powered by a 3000mAh non-removable battery.
The Asus ZenFone 3 Laser runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the company’s ZenUI 3.0 skin on top. The ZenFone 3 Laser runs the same software as the ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL). More details about the ZenFone 3 can be read in our review. Its most notable feature is the real-time animated weather and clock widget.
Asus has improved the interface of ZenUI a lot in the past few years. The new version is lighter, clearer and cleaner than before. However, many of Asus’s apps like Themes, Photo Collage, Mini Movie, ZenCircle, ZenSync, Weather, Do It Later, Game, Zen, Zenfone Care and Cover bother us a bit. Apart from this, third party apps like Amazon Shopping, Saavn, TripAdvisor, Instagram, Amazon Kindle and Facebook also come installed in the phone. Many of these can be uninstalled.
Asus Zenfone 3 Laser Camera
In this Asus phone, the camera app can be opened quickly even from the lock screen. The interface of the app can be easily understood. There are features like user manual, HDR Pro, beautification, super resolution, low-light, QR code, night, depth of field, effect, selfie, GIF animation, panorama, miniature, time rewind, slow motion and time lapse. It is worth noting that all these modes have been given in all the smartphones of the Zenfone 3 series.
The most talked about feature of this phone is the laser autofocus technology given in it, which is claimed to lock focus in 0.03 seconds. During our review, we found that this feature works really fast. Laser autofocus plays a big role while taking close-up shots.
The Zenfone 3 Laser can take great photos in good light with good detail and excellent colour reproduction. When we zoomed in on the images, we noticed some noise and blurring at the edges. We were particularly impressed with the photos taken in low light.
We recorded videos with the Zenfone 3 Laser at 1080p and the results were great. The Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) feature comes in handy while recording videos and it records good videos even when hands are not steady.
The front camera is also great and lets you take quick selfies. When you open the front camera, the Zenfone 3 Laser automatically activates the beautification mode. However, this can be disabled. We would say that the phone can take some great photos.
Asus Zenfone 3 Laser performance
Asus Zenfone 3 Laser is a great multitasker but it does tend to slow down when there are too many apps running in the background. The display quality makes watching movies on the phone a breeze. We did not face any heating issues. However, the phone does get a little warm while charging, playing games and recording 1080p videos. Like any other metal device, the Zenfone 3 Laser is prone to slipping, especially if your hands are sweaty. During our review, the Zenfone 3 Laser slipped from our hands a few times but luckily the device did not suffer any damage.
While using the phone, the fingerprint sensor worked well for the most part. The fingerprint sensor can unlock the phone even when it is in standby mode, which is quite convenient. The lack of USB Type-C is a hindrance in this phone. The speakers provided in the phone are loud and the earphones that come with it also produce good sound.
The Asus Zenfone 3 Laser performed decently in benchmark tests.
This phone has a 3000mAh non-removable battery. The phone’s battery lasted 12 hours and 25 minutes in our video loop test. The Zenfone 3’s battery lasted 13 hours and 45 minutes. With short calls, internet browsing, photography, watching videos on YouTube and using apps like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, the Zenfone 3 Laser lasts for more than a day. The Zenfone 3 Laser does not support fast charging like other Zenfone 3 smartphones.
Our verdict
Asus has priced the Zenfone 3 at around Rs 20,000. The Xiaomi Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime (Review) also feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processors and are priced under Rs 10,000. The performance of the Zenfone 3 Laser is less than other smartphones in this price range.
It is a tough phone to recommend. It competes with the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime (Review) and Lenovo Z2 Plus (Review) which are excellent performers for their price. The Zenfone 3 Laser has a very good camera but its high price is not justified. With features like a metal body, decent screen and software enhancements, this phone would have been better priced at Rs 15,000 or less.
Those who want to buy the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) can buy it on Flipkart. The phone will be available exclusively on Flipkart for the first month.
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