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ASUS’s CES 2015 press event is going down right now, and the company has just announced the ZenFone 2. The biggest immediate takeaway? 4 full gigabytes of RAM stuffed inside, which is the first smartphone to do so.
That nugget was tucked in with a bevy of other interesting features ASUS wanted to highlight, including the device’s 64-bit quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 chipset, a 13 megapixel front and 5 megapixel rear camera setup that features improved HDR and a dual-toned flash and more.
The display comes in at 5.5 inches and has 1080p resolution, and it’ll be surrounded by a chassis that takes up just 28% of the overall viewing area of the device’s front-side. As we expected, the buttons on the rear are for volume adjustment purposes — no dual cameras here — but they, of course, couldn’t call that an innovation considering LG has been there and done all of that.
Software-wise we’re getting Android 5.0 Lollipop, but not without an updated ZenUI to sit atop. ASUS doesn’t have the worst user interface in the world so that shouldn’t be much of an issue if you can tolerate the stuff that goes on top of other manufacturers’ Android builds.
When’s it coming? As soon as March, though we’re sure there will be varying degrees of availability depending on which market you’re in. What we won’t have to wait for more information on is pricing, with ASUS proudly announcing it’ll come in starting at a cool $199.99. Not too bad for everything you’re getting. Let’s just hope it won’t be a pain to get your hands on once it finally makes its way to store shelves.
[Note]: The word “starting” could indicate that $199.99 is the contract pricing, though ASUS wasn’t initially clear on the matter and we’ll be trying to get some confirmation to clear things up.
me likey….
Me likely alot..
the back looks like HTC and LG had an off-spring together. 4gb of ram is killer, need the rest of the specs.
As long as the firmware doesn’t cause it to burn its own LTE antenna out like the PadFone X.
Nice!
THAT is how you do it. 1 improved layer adding to multitasking heaven.
So many bloatware needs, multitasking needs, and OS hog that 3-4gb is key. Companies fooling with 2gb on flagship 2015 phones = fail.
2GB is fine as long as you’re dealing with pure android. Any less would be problematic. If you’re talking about bloated phones that aren’t pure android 3-4gb really is ideal.
3.5 gb lol
ATOM Z3580 is 64-bit.
13mp front and 5mp rear?
Cueing up the guys that say.. “oh, 4gb is so overkill… 2gb is just fine”.
thats pretty bada$$
I’m assuming that’s $199 with a 2-year contract, obviously. It should be mentioned, or at the very least you could include the source.
see above
The source = ASUS press conference. He said “starting” at $199.99, but didn’t say what, exactly, start meant. So you may be right. I’ll mention the possibility of it being a contract price in the text until we can get a more clear statement.
Ah, I see. Sorry for being a McDouche about it. Thanks for you’re hard work Quentyn
Just read that this is 200 outright….no way
I just read up on Android Police that it’s starting at $199. Probably for GB of RAM and you can upgrade from there(?)
Either way, that’s awesome. Way to go, ASUS!
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/01/05/asus-rocks-ces-with-the-low-price-high-spec-zenfone-2-4gb-ram-lollipop-and-flagship-looks-starting-at-199/
I just read your comment on there, I was on there trying to figure this out too! that is awesome, 200 bucks outright is crazy for this nice of a phone!
Yeah I saw another source that says starting at 199. Not sure if that means contact pricing or outright
outright! Amazon should have taken this approach with the Firephone
I’ve now seen a source claim the 199 price is for a 2gb version of the phone
Of course it’s with a contract. Its not 200 outright. Cmon people!
It’s not going to be 200 outright. Cmon.
I speculate that the Z3560 (1.8ghz) Proc with 2gb ram and 16gb Storage will be $199. the Z3580 (2.3ghz) with 4gb will be more $$, but that’s still a great entry price-point.
If that Intel Atom CPU + 3000mAh battery can deliver excellent battery life, and they provide a model with AT&T LTE bands, sign me up!
The base model has Band 2, 4, and 17, so you’re good to go for AT&T.
Damn that thing is sexy… looks very stylish. only drawback is the back speaker. i am running with the nexus 6 and i don’t think i can go back to back mounted speakers. who knows I MAY BE WRONG!!! http://youtu.be/KhusltpwMIQ LOL
All that oodle of RAM and I’ll bet you there’d still be lag in the U.I…oh Android…
iDoubtit
Nope. Not a drop of lag in sight. This thing is as smooth as butter
You got one already or played with one i assume..? Everything is “as smooth as butter” i believe on day one… Fingers crossed anyway.
Yup. Intel booth at ces
Finally, a phone that uses 4gb of ram with a 64 bit processor. Much better than others that put it with say 1 gb of ram, not to mention any names.
Do you know the difference between entry level and flagship… Yea I’m sure u referring to that new announced HTC phone, what is it…. the 320, its entry level
he is talking about the iPhone 6
Oh, lol, ma bad, F apple
You missed the joke about the iPhone, eh?
I dam did, apple is really that irrelevant to me
With Android Lollipop 5.0, 4GB is overkill. Not needed at all
Are you kidding me? this is perfect for Lollipop. 5.0 is the first 64 bit version of android, you put a 64 bit chip inside a phone and 4 gigs of ram they will play extremely nice together when compared to 3 gigs of ram and a 64 bit chip and os.
ASUS please release a T-Mobile bands compatible version and I will buy.
*Fix* camera specs in this article are reversed.
I hate Asus always have quality issues with their products but I am really considering getting this. I hope they don’t let me down as they have in the past.
“Asus always have quality issues”? I’m not trying to doubt you Chuckles87, but they have a damn solid reputation. Until they started releasing their own branded products they supplied the leading edge parts in many of the most respected brands of computers and electronics.
I know they’ve had a couple issues, but they are on top of issues when they arise unlike some companies.
yeah they are actually known for having good quality. LG, Moto, Samsung, HTC and apply all have an issue or two. if every manufacturer got it right on every device, there would be no room for improvement on the next installment of what they create :)
Couldn’t have said it better myself
I’ve had two bad motherboards I have bought from them and my nexus 7 had a loose screen. All I hear is about their quality. The thing is they have a 75% fail rate by my personal experience.
Cool
World first Smartphone having 4GB RAM apart from that it have various high end features which becames its a flagship device. But one thing i don’t understand why the name os this device is Asus Zenfone 2. If we look behind the history of zenfone series smartphone we easily get 2 results Asus zenfone 4 & Asus Zenfone 5 Series of zenfone smartphone named in increasing order of price and features like Zenfone 4 comes under Rs. 6000, Zenfone 5 comes under Rs. 12000. But the Zenfone 2 comes in Under Rs. 26000.It seems this time Zenfone wants to do something different.
Video Asus Zenfone 2/Zoom by Asus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQJAOD0-OE
if they sell it $200 off contract I’ll for sure buy that