Gadgetory

there's never been a better time to buy an inexpensive smartphone gone are the days of laggy forgettable throw aways replace with powerful handsets that give even top dollar devices a run for their money two such phones have been in the spotlight as of late but which one is the best for you let's find out I'm high on to houston with pocket now and this is the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 versus the asou then phone to the idol 3 in the zenfone 2 each feature of 5.5 inch 1080p display paired with an all plastic construction and roughly the same footprint but that's really where the similarities between the two phones end the idol 3 occupies part of its display with virtual buttons whereas the zenfone utilizes capacitive keys underneath to save space I prefer my controls on screen personally but this is all subjective the zenfone 2 goes to a greater length to emulate brush metal and even carries over the added heft of the material at 170 grams and nearly 11 millimeters thick this is a beefy phone by contrast the idol 3 at 141 grams feels almost as if they'd forgotten to install the battery it's thin and lightweight without feeling cheap or fragile neither phone has the most exciting design we've seen but each comes with its own charm the zenfone 2 features rear mounted volume controls and a dual SIM layout underneath its removable backing that's absent from our Idol 3 though a dual SIM variant is available the idol 3 is backed by JBL for both the front firing speakers and the phones included earbuds and despite the Zen phones impressive looking grille on the back there's no contest here a Suzy speaker just sounds bad it's quiet and horribly tinny and it's wildly overpowered by the idol 3s offering the idol 3 also brings a significantly better display both use IPS technology but the idol 3 has a more vibrant display that gets much brighter and it's easier to see outdoors when it comes to specs it's important to note that both of these phones are available in different configurations and we've been using the top-end model of each of them with that in mind the spec sheets on these phones make it hard to believe that they're each available for $300 or less the idol 3 is theoretically faster with its eight core Snapdragon 615 chipset versus the zenfone 2 squad core Intel Atom offering but a seuss packed a whopping 4 gigabytes of RAM into its product doubling that of Alcatel OneTouch the software experience is provided by a sous and Alcatel have a lot in common both feel a lot like stock Android with some added features that mostly benefit the user features like the zenfone theme ability or the idol threes fully rotatable interface they're both terrific ly fast and clean a nice change from back when using similarly priced phones felt like pulling teeth I like the il 3s miniature widgets like the weather app and the Zen phones ability to call down the notification shade with a swipe down from the homescreen should be made standard on every Android phone it's sort of a shame that neither of these phones has split-screen functionality especially when the zenfone 2 is one of the only phones around with 4 gigabytes of RAM but then again I'm just happy to see features like double tap to wake make its way to both devices there's just one thing that seems to have mostly skipped the idol 3 the bloatware the zenfone is packed full of excess apps a lot of them from a soos and while it's nice that you can uninstall most of them a cleaner selection in the first place like on the idol 3 would have been better so far this comparison has been pretty well balanced but that's about to change both of us have 13 megapixel primary camera x' but the zenfone absolutely spanks the idol 3 in the photo department colors are far more vivid on the zenfone and images turn out much sharper though it's worth noting that this is exaggerated a bit bias oozes over sharpening still the zenfone more accurately exposes shots and you can even use its super resolution mode get a noticeably more detailed image bring the phones into low-light and the difference is further made clear the zenfone 2 is capable of taking some really great looking night shots and it's night mode shooting make it even better so long as you're okay with the longer shutter speeds and the lower output resolution the idol 3 on the other hand struggles to focus on a subject in poor lighting and suffers from heavy digital noise if selfies are more your style the differences between the two cameras may not be quite as noticeable both front-facing cameras are actually pretty good but again the zenfone photos are significantly sharper and more detailed as mentioned earlier each of these devices is blazing fast and performance making full use of their internals and pumping out flagship performance they both run great for games but the idol 3 superior speakers and display definitely make it a more enjoyable device for media consumption and here's the best part both phones offer similarly great battery life - with over 4 hours of screen on time though the zenfone is the only one of the two with a rapid charging solution bringing the phone from 0 to 60 in roughly 40 minutes if you're still undecided it's probably because both of these phones are fantastic given their low price tags in fact even disregarding cost the zenfone 2 in the idol 3 are fast and powerful and they remind us that big brands aren't the only ones capable of making a great handset in short buy the zenfone 2 if you want to take great pictures and change up the back every once in a while for some added Flair by the idol 3 if you want a great screen and unbeatable speakers I'd take the idol 3 myself given my preference towards audio quality but regardless of which you choose there's no doubt that you're getting your money's worth and then some if you like these phones there's a whole lot more coverage on them both starting with their full-length reviews subscribe to the channel if you haven't already for more videos like this and visit us at pocketnow.com this has been add to Houston with pocket now thanks so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one