Gadgetory

for all the excitement on the high end some of the most interesting developments in today's smartphone world are found in the mid range we've just spent a little more than 24 hours with one of the most interesting of those developments so join us for our first impressions of the cheap but feature-packed a Seuss zine phone - the first thing you notice about the zenfone 2 out of the box is just how hefty it is it masses 170 grams nearly as much as Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 and with 5.5 inch screen it takes up almost as much space in the hand the styling and the rear mounted volume keys remind me of the LG g3 while the faux metallic finish and the plastic battery cover evokes the brushed hairline pattern of the HTC One assumes the zenfone the ultimate balance of beauty and strength but to be honest it looks and feels pretty generic thankfully you can swap out the battery cover for something more exciting if you want and while you do so take note of the dual SIM slots and micro SD expansion that make the zenfone so versatile I'm happy to see I don't need to deal with the top mounted power standby key to wake the phone up a double tap gets us right into the Zen UI easily one of the most elaborate Android interfaces I've ever used it retains the familiar layout of Android lollipop but makes almost every aspect customizable from icon packs to folder styles to keyboard sizes to scroll animations and beyond it also comes loaded with more bloatware than I thought possible though including virus scanners memory managers power consumption watchdogs and just folders upon folders of branded offerings some of the software comes naturally swiping down on the homescreen to deploy the notification shade for example other aspects like drawing a letter on the glass to quick launch into a specific app take more practice and the jury's still out on the efficacy of the built in RAM booster speaking of RAM our review unit is the deluxe variant with 4 gigs of the stuff backing up an Intel Atom processor running at 2.3 gigahertz this hardware drives the software very speedily from everyday interactions to graphically demanding games early impressions of the pixelmaster camera are good too despite its crowded and somewhat of an idle interface it's able to kick out some solid photos in daylight mode and our low-light tests are ongoing but encouraging not so encouraging battery life display brightness and external audio endurance has been an ongoing challenge with our Android reviews this year so we're loathe to blame the apparently short battery life on the zenfone 2 especially with its large power pack we suspect some third-party apps are to blame for this we'll keep close eye on it on the road to the full review in other news the full HD IPS screen doesn't get bright enough to overcome direct sunlight and despite the pronounced grill on the phone's backside the speaker itself is tiny and tinny it remains to be seen whether the zenfone 2 s 299 for this model and 199 for the stripped-down version can overcome these shortcomings we'll have the answer in next week's full review but considering what it's up against at these price points well like top guns maverick might say I don't know I'll tell you tomorrow but it's looking good so far - make sure you don't miss it subscribe to pocket now here on youtube visit us at pocketnow.com and leave a comment below after pressing that thumbs up button if you have a specific question you want answered about this n phone - until next time this has been michael fisher captain - phones on twitter urging you to find your Zen whatever that means to you thanks for watching everyone see you next time