Review – ASUS ZenFone 4: The Ambitious One
8 min read
ASUS ZenFone 4
RM 2099
Pros
- Great built quality
- Fast fingerprint scanner
- Excellent 5.5-inch Super IPS+ display
- Wide-angle + Standard angle dual camera setup
- Great performance
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- Slippery glass back
- No IP-rated water and dust resistance
- Mushy power button
Camera
Camera App
The ASUS camera app has all the functions that you’ll need, ranging from the standard Auto mode to Pro mode, with panorama, time lapse, GIF and others in between. The overall user experience is fine and I particularly like how informative is it in the Pro mode. Just one thing I would complain is that the app’s responsiveness drops when you’re trying to use it in low light condition.
Rear Camera
The dual camera at the back is consists of 2 different sensors and lens combination:
- f/1.8 25mm standard angle lens on 12-megapixels Sony IMX362 sensor
- f/2.2 12mm wide angle lens on 8-megapixels Omnivision 8856 sensor
Frankly speaking, I always supported the idea of putting 2 different lenses on a smartphone, especially when the other one is an ultra-wide angle lens. That allows the user to create images that we don’t usually see.
If we take a closer look at the 2 images taken from the same angle, it is quite obvious that the Standard lens has a sharper looking photo. Well, they are having different lens configuration and sensor in the first place.
Then again, while the standard angle camera has better image quality, still I won’t judge the wide-angle camera too harshly because you don’t see any smartphone with 120-degree wide-angle lens that often.
Front Camera
Interestingly, the front camera has the same sensor as the ultra-wide angle camera at the back – 8-megapixels Omnivision 8856. It has a 24mm f/2.0 lens which is reasonably wide for a front-facing camera.
Photo quality is decent even though the noise level is a bit on the higher side. If you’re into taking selfies, perhaps the ASUS Selfie Master app could help with the beautification.
Gallery
Full-size photo samples are available in our Flickr album.
Standard Lens
Wide Angle Lens
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