ASUS ZenFone 5Q Unboxing, First Impressions

ASUS announced three of their reboot ZenFone 5 smartphones in Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. Two of the devices adopted the now-trending notch design while the other remains true to the standard format. Today we’re going to take a look at the company’s quad-camera mid-range ZenFone 5 reboot — the ZenFone 5Q or globally known as the ZenFone 5 Lite.

Author’s Note: The only variant that will be available in the country is the Snapdragon 630, 4GB RAM, and 64GB internal storage variant. Before reading any further, take a look at our unboxing video for the ZenFone 5Q below.

We were also given the opportunity to test out the ZenFone 5 Lite (ZenFone 5Q in the Philippines) during its unveiling at MWC 2018. Here’s our hands-on video of the device in Barcelona.

The ZenFone 5 reboots took quite a turn in terms of their design since they’ve abandoned the capacitive buttons making way for thinner bottom bezels. The ZenFone 5Q looks premium due to its design similarities with the ZenFone 4 (SD630 variant), particularly the glass-covered front and back panel. Aside from that, its black-colored body and curved edges made it smoother and pleasant to the eyes.

At the front we’ll see the 20MP main camera, LED flash, call speaker, 8MP 120-degree angle secondary camera, and the LED notification light sitting above the 6-inch full HD+ display with an 18:9 screen aspect ratio. The ZenFone 5Q can be considered a selfie-centric device due to its high front camera resolution that is capable of taking clear selfies or group shots.

On the left is the lone dual-SIM card (nano) and dedicated microSD card tray while the power button and volume rockers are placed on the right.

Looking at the top, we have the 3.5mm audio port and the noise-canceling microphone.

Placed at the bottom are the main microphone, micro USB port, and the loudspeaker. It’s quite disappointing that the device isn’t using a USB Type-C port.

Finally, the dual 16MP main + 8MP 120-degree wide-angle rear cameras, LED flash, and the fingerprint scanner is all located at the back of the device. ASUS reverted back to a rear placement of the fingerprint scanner, which is alright.

The ZenFone 5Q feels very solid and relatively heavy in the hands which is a good sign that it is well-built. While the device looks good, having 2.5D glass panels on both sides can be a disadvantage as it easily attracts fingerprints and smudges. If you’ll not use a case, you’ll find yourself cleaning the back part quite often.

The device is powered by a Snapdragon 630 processor paired with 4GB RAM and a 64GB internal storage. However, we’re surprised to see that it is still running Android 7.1.1 Nougat instead of Oreo. In any case, the ZenUI 5.0 is responsive, snappy, and provides a clean and organized user interface. Running AnTuTu benchmarks, the ZenFone 5Q got a score of 87,722 which is not bad for its class.

The ASUS ZenFone 5Q is yet to be priced in the Philippines. We will be discussing more of the device’s features and performance in our full review, so stay tuned.

ASUS ZenFone 5Q (ZC600KL) specs:
6-inch18:9 Full HD+ IPS display @ 2160 x 1080px
2.5D curved glass
2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 octa-core
Adreno 508
64GB internal storage
4GB RAM
Dual-SIM card slot
expandable up to 400GB
dedicated microSD card slot
16MP + 8MP 120-degree wide-angle rear cameras
20MP + 8MP 120-degree wide-angle rear cameras w/ LED flash
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (SD630)
NFC
FM radio
Micro USB 2.0
Face Unlock
Fingerprint Scanner
Gyroscope
Android 8.0 Oreo (ASUS ZenUI 5.0)
3,300mAh battery
160.6 x 76.2 x 7.8 mm
168 g