ASUS Zenfone Selfie Review

Performance and Benchmarks

Asus has always relied on Intel to provide them with the chips to power the Zenfone. This is the first time that Asus is actually using a Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm for their Zenfone line-up (though we remember the Asus PadFone back in 2012 used a Snapdragon S4 processor).

The Antutu scores of the Zenfone Selfie topped only at the 26,000 range. That’s still below the 30+k range of the Atom Z3560 quad-core processor. Even the low-end Intel Atom x3-C3200 1.33GHz quad-core processor of the ZenPad S 8.0 scored 31,962 with just 2GB of RAM although the Quadrant Standard score are almost even.

We had problems running 3DMark benchmark on the phone — experiencing random freezes and crashes during the test. We think this could probably be a compatibility issue, but apart from this app, the handset didn’t show the same crashes on other software that we ran.

Here are the benchmark scores:

• AnTuTu: 26,113
• Quadrant Standard: 14,835
• Vellamo: 1,496 (Multi-core), 955 (Metal), 1,923 (Chrome Browser)
• PCMark: 2,226

In real-life usage, however, it was able to perform decently as we used it for browsing the Internet, social media sites, and playing light games to pass the time. Running some task-intensive apps, we noticed a slight change in temperature on the handset, although not to the point where it’s alarmingly hot.

Connectivity, Call Quality and Battery Life

The Zenfone Selfie can surf the web via cellular data on 4G LTE. It easily connected us online but experienced intermittent connection depending on the place we were in. We also noticed the device getting a bit warm after browsing and being continuously connected online thru data.

As for calls, there were no issues encountered and the quality was pretty clear for both lines. The volume could use a little more volume, but this is just us nitpicking.

As we’ve mentioned previously, the battery life test was where the Zenfone Selfie was able to shine, getting an impressive 9 hours and 20 minutes in PCMark Battery Test. That’s over an hour better than the ZE550ML and a solid 2 hours over the ZE551ML. The Snapdragon 615 with its low-power ARM Cortex A53 running at 1.1GHz made this possible.

Among all the Zenfone variants that we have reviewed, the Zenfone Selfie scored the highest in terms of battery life (updated: the Zenfone 2 Laser scored higher).

Conclusion

The ASUS Zenfone Selfie has almost all the things you love from the Zenfone 2, with the addition of a capable front camera and a laser autofocus at the back. You have dual-tone LEDs at both sides, making sure you have a good color for your images, and its Camera app is populated with features that should help you, however you want your shot to look like.

Priced at Php11,995USD 204INR 17,328EUR 195CNY 1,489, it’s a solid performer thanks to its 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, LTE, and a tandem of Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor and 3000mAh battery which are both responsible for over 9 hours of continuous usage.

ASUS Zenfone Selfie (ZD551KL) specs:
5.5-inch full HD IPS display @ 1920 x 1080 resolution, 403ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor
Adreno 405 GPU
3GB LPDDR3 RAM
32GB internal storage
Expandable up to 64GB via microSD
13MP rear camera with dual-tone flash with laser auto-focus
13MP front camera with dual-tone flash, 88-degree wide-angle lens, and f/2.2 aperture
3G, 4G FDD-LTE
Dual-SIM, Dual standby
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.0
Android 5.0 Lollipop
3,000mAh Li-Po battery
170 grams (weight)

What we liked about it:

• Gorilla Glass 4
• Decent performer
• 13MP cameras with dual-tone flashes
• Laser autofocus/88-degree wide-angle lens
• Night mode effectively brightens the image
• 4G LTE
• Long-lasting battery life

What we didn’t like:

• Display brightness lacking at times
• Viewing angles easily suffer