AsusZenFone 3 Laser is backed by a 3,000mAh battery with support for fast charging as well. Connectivity Features. The connectivity options available with the smartphone include dual-SIM support, 4G, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Wi-Fi Direct. The smartphone also features a rear fingerprint scanner with 0.3 second fast unlock. Usability3.5/5. Value 3/5. Asus launched the ZenFone Max back in January of this year with an aim to address the battery woes faced by most smartphones. The distinguishing feature of the ZenFone Asushas made a big deal out of the Zenfone 3 Deluxe's camera technology. There's laser autofocus and phase detection autofocus, with either used depending on lighting conditions. Asus reckons Vay Tiền Nhanh. The Zenfone 3 line-up is diverse and covers the gamut of price ranges. At the top there is the Zenfone 3 Deluxe and at the opposite end is the Zenfone 3 Max, rounded out with a number of models that fall in between those price ranges. The Zenfone 3 Laser is a step above the Zenfone 3 Max so think of it as the second cheapest Zenfone 3 model available. Paying top dollar for a phone and having the latest processor with top benchmark results is not a priority for everyone out there. This is the target market for the Zenfone 3 Laser. It’s obvious to say, but there is some give and take when it comes to budget smartphones. I looked at the cheaper Zenfone 3 Max initially but paying around $50 more for the Zenfone 3 Laser made more sense. After all, the Zenfone 3 Laser is packing a FHD 1920 x 1080p display which is a big selling point for me. I didn’t just get the Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL for the sake of a review. This was a $249 CAD purchase I made out of necessity. I wanted to get a second smartphone which meant price was more important than having the latest and greatest hardware. As an overall value I thought this was a great deal for an unlocked Android smartphone. I’ve been using the Zenfone 3 Laser over the past couple of weeks and here are my thoughts and experiences. Quick Specs 5-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 display 500 nits brightness Snapdragon S430 2GB RAM 32GB Storage expandable to another 128GB via microSD card slot 3,000mAh battery 150g weight 149 x 76 x WxDxH Android upgradeable to Android Nougat Dual SIM card 13MP rear / 8MP front cameras Note see for full details Design and Features Asus has a knack for creating beautiful hardware. Even with its cheaper price point, the Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL is not a bulky or ugly looking. It’s very attractive with subtle design features. There are chrome accents and comfortable to hold rounded edges. It comes in either silver or gold color and the model I’m reviewing is the silver version. Speaking of the edges and comfortable design, Asus makes use of “hyperfine” sand blasting to polish the metal surface of the phone. I can attest to the benefits. It’s a nice phone to hold. A metallic body provides a premium feel which almost seems counter intuitive to suggest. Although the Zenfone 3 Laser is a device, it feels very light in the hand. Keep in mind that the iPhone 6 Plus weighs in at 172g oz in comparison to the Zenfone 3 Laser’s 150g oz. The iPhone 7 Plus weighs even more than the iPhone 6 Plus! In fact the Zenfone 3 Laser is lighter than the newest Galaxy S8 and last year’s Galaxy S7 models. Of course the lower specs of the Zenfone 3 Laser are part of this weight advantage but still it’s an interesting tidbit. On the rear is a finger print sensor which is snappy to unlock the phone. Location wise I’m not a fan of the rear placement simply because I often have my phone sitting on a table. If it’s charging for example, it’s going to be laying flat. A rear facing finger print sensor means I have to pick up the device to access the finger print sensor. At that point the path of least resistance is to simply use your alternate unlock method. The Zenfone 3 Laser is budget friendly so rather than having a USB-C port, it comes with a standard micro-USB charging port. If this means saving a few dollars it’s well worth the compromise. I’m sure most of us know how to orientate the micro-USB cable when connecting the phone so the real benefits of the USB-C are just limited to faster data transfers. A big design breakthrough for Asus in their Zenfone 3 line-up was having invisible antenna lines. I bet some of you don’t know what that really means. The antenna lines run horizontally across the back of mobile phones. This has been a necessary design from mobile phone manufacturers over the years. However with budget in mind, the Zenfone 3 Laser comes with the antenna lines on the rear of the phone. In my opinion these do not create an eye sore. These lines have a chrome look and feel and could be thought of as part of the phones design. The volume rocker and power button are nice and punchy. They have good response and the engraved concentric circles make them less slippery or more tactile. When it comes to subtle design features Asus rarely misses the mark. The Zenfone 3 Laser also features a microSD card slot for up to 128GB additional storage. If you want to store movies, videos and music, this additional storage can save a bit of hassle. The 32GB of local storage is great for this price, but if you’re keeping your videos on local storage along with apps and games, it can fill up rather quickly. Even with the 32GB listed storage, it’s less than that out of the box because of the pre installed apps and software. Display Lower resolution displays mean better battery life and a cheaper device price. However the Zenfone 3 Laser brings the cheap price without sacrificing on the display. The Zenfone 3 Laser provides 500nits brightness from its 1920 x 1080 FHD display. To me the FHD is worth the price of admission. You can enjoy those 1080p videos and movies which should be enticing for most users these days. More and more we live in an HD world. Maximum brightness is measured in nits and is something to think about. At 500nits, the Zenfone 3 Laser is lower than the 600nits of the Zenfone 3 ZE552KL model. In a side by side comparison there would only be a slight difference between the two. If you are hoping for an ideal mobile phone for use with bright sunlight, the Zenfone 3 Laser is going to do a decent job but it’s pretty much like most other similarly priced phone on the market. Usable, but not ideal. Audio The Zenfone 3 Laser provides good audio from a single mono speaker. Asus markets this speaker as being “5-magnet for up to 40% better performance”. What that means in real terms, I can’t say. In reality though, the phone can handle volume at its maximum without resulting in crackling or distortion. If you have an external speaker or headset the results are excellent and volumes are punchy. If you are in a pinch and need even more volume or clarity you can also set the audio to “outdoor mode”. Keep in mind with outdoor mode that you get a volume boost but it will not always provide a better or more clear audio experience. A small issue is that it’s easy to accidentally activate outdoor mode so I often needed to check my audio settings to ensure that it was disabled. Asus has their “Audio Wizard” app which gives you some audio presets and EQ settings. This app has far more use when you are using some type of external audio hardware because the EQ and presets are far more noticeable. Battery There is always lots to talk about when it comes to a mobile phone battery. I’m going to break this down into various sections to make it easier. Also please appreciate the wide range of variables which can alter results such as background apps, signal strength, room temperatures, case on or off, among other factors. Battery > Video Playback I ran a variety of video playback tests and used to brightness settings. This should provide you with a good idea on how long you can play videos for without needing to worry about charging the phone. I enabled airplane mode and ensured that all other apps were closed while running these tests. When playing a 1080p movie from local storage, at 100% brightness the battery would drain by approximately 20%. In theory, that would allow you to play around four 2-hour 1080p movies before needing a charge. When playing this same movie under the same conditions with 50% brightness, the battery would drain by approximately 16%. Theoretically that means you could play somewhere around six movies on a single charge provided you dim the brightness to 50% or less. Streaming video via wifi is generally a bit different and more taxing on a battery but the test results didn’t support this theory. I used an online streaming service similar to Netflix for these tests. So wifi was turned on but all other apps were closed during these tests. When streaming the video at 100% brightness, the battery drained by around 22%. When streaming the video at 50% brightness, the battery drained by around 16%. So the streaming aspect of this test wasn’t particularly more draining to the battery than when running a movie off of the local storage. Battery > Gaming I ran a variety of gaming tests under a few different settings. Largely I went either 100% brightness or 50% brightness using the “Normal” performance mode. If you are playing a graphically intensive game it may be best to use the “Performance” mode. For what I was doing the normal mode was sufficient. If you go performance mode obviously the phone will push hard, get warmer and use more battery. Playing a variety of game, you can expect to drain about 8-10% of the battery in 30 minutes of gaming while using full 100% brightness. If you play under the same conditions but lower the brightness to 50%, you can expect the battery to drain about 6-8%. Even at 50% brightness you could lower it even more and still see the screen clearly depending on the lighting conditions. Overall the Zenfone 3 Laser warmed up during gaming sessions but it wasn’t hot. If you put a chunky case then certainly expect a warmer phone and greater battery drainage. I was quite happy with the battery life while gaming. Keep in mind that if you’re using mobile data or have multiple games running in the background then your battery usage is going to be greater. There are lots of variables to deal with but hopefully my testing gives you a good perspective on what to expect. Battery > Standby When you phone sits idle, you hope the battery is around the same level when you pick it up. I ran a variety of standby tests over a couple of weeks. Standby battery drain is a tricky measurement. Any apps in the background can cause issues as can a weak wifi or network connection. I’ve done my best here to recreate common scenarios. With the Android Nougat update, I found the Doze feature to make a big difference. If your phone is entirely motionless the doze feature will just work. So this works well during overnight situations. If your phone is in your pocket and you’re out and about, the doze function will not activate. Asus has a handy performance app which gives you some options to save battery life. For example, you can set a time frame with a power saving setting such as super saver mode. So if you sleep from 11pm to 7am you can simply choose that time along with your preferred power saving mode. If you close out your apps, use “Normal” performance mode with wifi ON, you will see 3-4% battery loss. If you enable airplane mode then you are going to see even less battery loss during standby. Some apps work in the background when wifi is enabled so the best option is to enable airplane mode if you really want to see minimal standby battery loss. Battery > Battery Charge Times There is no fancy Quick Charge technology inside the Zenfone 3 Laser. As I’ve experience on other devices, the Quick Charge technology is only partially useful anyways. To fully charge the Zenfone 3 Laser from a dead battery state, you’re looking at just over 3 hours. I’m sure most users don’t drain their battery though. You can charge 30% of the battery in under an hour. If you’re charging with the battery around 50%, it’s going to take less than hours to fully charge the battery. Overall these charge times are respectable even though there is no Quick Charge technology on the Zenfone 3 Laser. Cameras It’s interesting that the branding of this phone includes “laser” which refers to a super quick laser auto focus. Keep in mind that this technology is employed on the other more premium priced Zenfone 3 models. Asus has made a big push on photography in every model with the exception of the Zenfone 3 Max but let’s see if the cheaper Zenfone 3 Laser can get the job done. Let’s talk capabilities. Video wise the Zenfone 3 Laser is capable of shooting full HD 1080p 30FPS video with 3-axis EIS electronic image stabilization. The front camera is 8MP with a f/ aperture and the rear camera is 13MP with a f/ aperture, 5 P lens. With the “laser” branding, this means a focus time of seconds according to Asus marketing materials. I can verify that it’s very fast. The Asus camera app offers quite a lot of flexibility for either auto settings photographers or for the more courageous manual settings photographers. The number of presets for the auto mode are varied and can help you in certain settings or help you create a particular effect. As I’ve mentioned in other Zenfone reviews, I quite fond of the “Depth of Field” preset which blurs out the background to create a lens blur effect similar to what’s found on expensive dSLR cameras. A good number of the presets will be enjoyable for the younger users in your family as you can create some wild, wacky and funny effects as well. I am in the process of assembling various photos and video samples taken with the Zenfone 3 Laser. These will be added in the next day or two. Overall though, I found the cameras to be a solid performer and the video recording was particularly excellent. Photography wise, I’m a complete amateur who relies on auto modes and presets. I can say on that basis that I found the Zenfone 3 Laser camera to perform admirably in brighter outdoor environments. To be expect though, the camera would prove challenging in those less than ideal environments, namely low light. Certainly this is not an exclusive issue to the Zenfone 3 Laser as most cameras have their struggles with poorly lighted environments. The photo below gives you an idea of how excellent the auto mode photography can be with the Zenfone 3 Laser. This is one of my favorite photos. Bright outdoor conditions allow the Zenfone 3 Laser camera to work its wonders. It has an ability to catch details. Most times the HDR mode resulted in excellent and more accurate outdoor photos. Contrast just seems better and details are more pronounced without getting washed out by too much brightness or contrast. See the sky and contrast in the photo below. Depth of Field is my favorite Asus camera app preset. Here is an example of what’s possible The front facing 8MP selfie camera does a good job at focusing in on faces and even offers a “beautification” mode which some of us may want or need more than others. As with the rear camera, the front facing camera will struggle with focus and proper lighting as the environment is dimmer. Outdoors? No problem. Indoor selfies can prove challenging with less light. Operating System and ZenUI If you have done any research online about the Zenfone 3 models, often you will hear negativity around the ZenUI software and the lack of Android updates. This negativity is largely unfounded based on my experience but let me explain. First, Asus has rolled out Android Nougat for most of the Zenfone 3 models already. In addition, there have been frequent software updates rolled out which improve various performance aspects of the phones over the year since their release. So to me, Asus is not forgetting about or abandoning the Zenfone 3 series at all when it comes to software updates. When I first powered up the Zenfone 3 Laser I was greeted with a software notification which was the Android Nougat update. Regarding ZenUI the Asus layer running on top of the Android OS I have not run into issues. Bloatware is a common and often misused term. For the sake of experimentation, I took the default apps and settings out of the box and diabled and removed every Asus related app on the Zenfone 3 Laser. So the OS at that point was unobstructed and only consisted of the default Google apps that are pre installed on the phone. The Asus keyboard was necessary to leave installed because otherwise there is no way of typing. So the point of that experiment was to prove that removing or disabling pre installed apps is possible and takes only a matter of minutes. I’m not suggesting that it’s essential to disable or remove the Asus apps, but I am saying you have ultimate say in what apps are used. You could in theory install the Google apps to run the dialer, messaging, clock, keyboard, etc. There isn’t a lockdown on the Zenfone 3 Laser operating system. With that out of the way let’s talk about what’s good and what’s bad about ZenUI. The level of customization is excellent and with the ZenUI online store it makes it easy to check out other customizations. Some themes are free, others cost money. You can choose icon sets, themes and wallpapers. You can mix and match an icon set with a different theme as well. When using the online store you can preview themes and icon sets to see what it looks like prior to downloading which saves some time and hassle. Asus also has a settings menu which is accessible with a swipe up when you’re on the home screen. This gives you access to various customizations but also it gets you a way into system settings. This is a seemingly minor feature but with the phones size, it is one way you can get into system settings when you are using one hand. Of course you could move a shortcut to system settings to make it accessible on the home screen but I personally find home screen real estate to be at a premium. The Asus ZenUI keyboard is good and bad. It’s very good with its level of customization. You can truly make this a bigger size and you can also reposition it so that it’s easier with one handed usage. Keep in mind that size adjustments need to be made separately for portrait and landscape modes. The bad is in the keyboard AI. If you are not a skilled touch typist and often add a letter where it shouldn’t be, the Asus keyboard is not that smart in offering the corrected word as a suggestion. Those times when you have two words stuck together, the keyboard AI often fails to identify that it’s two words stuck together and offer them with a space as a suggestion. Over time this can be frustrating if you are sloppy at touch typing like I am. ZenUI offers a lot of paths to the same destination which can add some unnecessary bulk to the software. There are perhaps too many settings in too many areas. Some settings require drilling down through menus which can lead to some confusion if you don’t have a good memory. There is a lot of flexibility and customization within ZenUI which can be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Themes, icon sets, wallpapers, Asus has you covered and they have convenient online stores where you can shop for new looks. Both free and paid options are available. There is a very good system in the online store that allows you to swipe the various screens of each theme and icon set so you can see what the changes will look like prior to downloading. It’s an excellent preview system! Performance and Benchmarks The hardware inside the Zenfone 3 Laser has been chosen with budget in mind. Inside are 2GB RAM along with a Snapdragon 430 with an Adreno 505 GPU. As a point of reference, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus comes with 1GB RAM and processor. Apple has a pretty optimized operating system to work with their hardware but this comparison should illustrate the fact that the Zenfone 3 Laser isn’t exactly a slouch when it comes to hardware. When doing benchmarks for the Zenfone 3 Laser I’ve decided to choose wisely on comparison devices. It’s certainly not relevant to compare the Zenfone 3 Laser to the current flagship phones. So price is an important factor and also I thought it would be fun to add some flagship phones from last year. Today’s phones with slower processors and hardware would be considered flagship phones sometimes as recent as twelve months ago. You can see from the various benchmarks that the Zenfone 3 Laser basically falls in the middle of the pack. This is ultimately as it should be. The Zenfone 3 Laser cannot bring a low price yet be near the top of benchmark results. It doesn’t work this way. In real terms it’s certainly fast enough for the apps and media that you will be consuming on the phone. Bars in a chart don’t speak to how a device is in real terms. All the phone compared in the benchmarks above are all fully capable in their own right. Conclusion First and foremost the Zenfone 3 Laser ZC551KL is an affordable unlocked Android smartphone. It’s even more affordable because these days you’re going to find price drops of around $30 to $40. In Canada it’s as low as $249 and in the US it’s a low as $197. You will see this pricing trend continue into mid 2017. I think of the Zenfone 3 Laser as an all around performer. It doesn’t have top end hardware and it doesn’t have that big battery that the budget Zenfone 3 Max series has. There are no glaring shortcomings and there are no eye bulging features or qualities. It’s right there in the middle as it was meant to be. What you do get though is an excellent FHD 1980 x 1080 resolution display along with a brilliantly light and thin build quality. The Zenfone 3 Laser offers premium looks and that counts for something. It’s budget in price but not in looks. In terms of hardware there is enough processing power and RAM to get the job done. The Zenfone 3 Laser will not struggle to play your 1080p videos or stream content online. It can also manage mobile games without issue. However if you push the hardware like leaving many apps open in the background, the performance can suffer. That’s expected though. Simply close out the open apps running in the background and the performance and battery life will thank you. I don’t generally let customer reviews guide my views on a product but I found the various big retailer customer reviews to be quite telling. As a whole the reviews from customers are extremely positive. It validates my own experience with the Zenfone 3 Laser. The price is right with the Zenfone 3 Laser and I need to emphasize that point. It’s ideal for anyone who wants to get into smartphones and isn’t going to be needing premium hardware performance. The freedom of having an unlocked phone means you can use it on any carrier of your choice which can also save you money. The Zenfone 3 Laser means you can enjoy Android and everything it brings without having to over spend. Prices, Shopping, Availability US Link Canada Link Onde Comprar As melhoras ofertas para o Asus ZenFone 3 Laser Comentários Asus ZenFone 3 Laser As especificações e dados técnicos 6 anos atr?s Smartphone Barato é Aqui. ver m?s arielgracelli 6 anos atr?s Gabriel, o aparelho funcionou normalmente na Vivo? Minha namorada quer comprar um para mim que está sendo vendido na Amazon! ver m?s Gabriel_Carvalho_ 6 anos atr?s Eu utilizo TIM, creio que não tem problema com relação a isso. Cara, se você quiser, eu te vendo o meu usado por um preço bem camarada hahahaha Abraço. ver m?s Gabriel_Carvalho_ 6 anos atr?s Eu tenho este celular, veio dos EUA. Vou fazer meu review para auxiliar o o Zenfone 3 Laser de 32GB Câmera muito boa para fotos tanto a traseira como a frontal, com muitas funções;- Leitor de digital muito rápido;- Resolução da tela e as cores são ótimas!- Acabamento do celular é muito bonito;- É possível customizar os temas do celular de inúmeras maneiras achei isso bem legal;- Pelo meu celular ter vindo do exterior não tive nenhum problema com as redes telefônicas, inclusive uso internet Android consome muita memória RAM;- Não vem com fone de ouvido;- Superaquecimento;- Processador foi um item que me desapontou, esperava mais deste celular neste SO com alguns bugs;- Bateria não é lá grande coisa mas dá pro gasto duração de +/- 12hrsConsiderações É um celular bom, muito bonito com diversas funções legais e com uma câmera eu esperava mais dele com relação a memória RAM e velocidade. Eu daria uma nota de 7, Pra quem é da região de SP, estou vendendo o meu usado! ver m?s Asus ZenFone 3 LaserThe Zenfone 3 Laser offers a good value with its premium design, excellent battery life, and dual-SIM card support. However, it doesn't really stand out against competing options, some of which offer a better their latest refresh to the ZenFone lineup, ASUS is offering consumers several different options to choose from. We already reviewed the ZenFone 3 Deluxe and ZenFone 3, and have also covered the more recent and less traditional ZenFone 3 Zoom and ZenFone we’re taking a look at ASUS’ entry-level ZenFone 3 Laser. So does the ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser bring enough to the table to stand out from competing options? Let’s find out with our comprehensive ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser review!DesignWhat’s perhaps most interesting about the third generation of ZenFones is ASUS’ sudden departure from their past design language. When we thought about the ZenFone lineup previously, we thought of metallic plastic, ergonomic curves, and rear-facing volume buttons, features which were showcased excellently on the ZenFone 2 its predecessor, the ZenFone 3 Laser is constructed of an aluminum body with plastic top and bottom caps, presumably to help with wireless reception. We’ve seen designs quite similar to this countless times in the past, but it remains difficult to ignore the high-quality in-hand feel of the rear curve isn’t as dramatic nor ergonomic as it was in the past, we’re happy to see this bring the replacement of practically awkward slim side edges with larger curved side continuations of aluminum, which makes the phone easier to grip, especially with a single not just the materials and shaping that make this a nice design, however, as other components like the satisfyingly tactile side buttons and seemingly engraved antenna lines are also quite nice. Of course, there are some minor compromises too, like the three capacitive navigation keys, which are ugly and do not illuminate. The rear camera hump can also be annoying when using the phone on a flat surface. Still, this design is well on par with what we expect to see from an entry-level Zenfone's reader is in the form of a tall rectangular cutoutASUS has placed a fingerprint reader on the back of the Zenfone 3 Laser, just below the camera module. Unlike traditional circular fingerprint readers, however, the Zenfone’s reader is in the form of a tall rectangular cutout. In fact, the Zenfone 3 lineup seems to be the first to feature this unique design. With that said, we didn’t notice a difference in speed nor accuracy when using the phone; overall, the reader performs well enough for the price. DisplayFor the display, we’re looking at a respectable 1080P IPS panel coated in Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Color reproduction is great, viewing angles are decent, and the display is generally fairly good. It’s worth mentioning that you’ll be hard-pressed to find something significantly better at this price. With that said, we still have some notable biggest complaint has to do with maximum brightness, as it can be frustratingly difficult to use the phone outdoors. The auto brightness feature also tends towards lower settings, effectively requiring manual input for appropriate levels. ASUS has consistently failed to impress us in display brightness, and it’s a shame that the Zenfone 3 Laser continues that much more insignificant issue, but surely a point of contention, is the black border around the display. Evidently, this grinds gears for people at varying levels, so we’ll keep this as objective as possible the borders are reasonably small, unnoticeable day-to-day, but clearly don’t contribute to a stylish look. And with that, we’ll let you make your own a positive note, ASUS’ standard color customization options are included with the Zenfone 3 Laser. These options allow you to make adjustments to color temperature, enable a bluelight filter or “night mode,” or customize hue and saturation for a different look. These options are always nice to have, so we’re happy that ASUS has included it’s not going to wow anyone with its benchmark scores, the Zenfone 3 Laser still performs well day-to-day. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 is, of course, an entry-level processor, but that hasn’t prevented ASUS from offering a well optimized experience. For example, some system animations have been sped up to give the illusion of a snappier device. Unfortunately, the Zenfone 3 Laser is only available with 2 GB of RAM, which is a major bottleneck when attempting to multitask. Consider this situation you’re listening to some music on Spotify and would like to do a quick Google search. Unlike virtually every device with more memory, the Zenfone 3 Laser will likely stop your music once you load a would have liked for ASUS to step up its game hereThis can be quite frustrating, but it’s important to keep in mind that many competing options also skimp on memory. Still, we would have liked for ASUS to step up its game here, especially considering ASUS launched the very first smartphone with 4 GB of RAM just a couple of years things considered, the Zenfone 3 Laser is quite tolerable to use in the real world. It’s far from the best out there, but if you manage your expectations and recognize the compromise, this should be absolutely fine ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is an unlocked dual-SIM smartphone, meaning that you can use it with up to two different GSM carriers simultaneously. We rarely see this feature here in the so this could be a major selling point for some prospective buyers. Since it’s being sold officially, you can expect it to work with 4G LTE on both AT&T and T-Mobile, with support for band can use the Zenfone with up to two different GSM carriers simultaneouslyIf you only plan on using one SIM card with the Zenfone 3 Laser, you can take advantage of the other slot’s microSD card expansion option, which supports cards up to 128 GB. For most users, however, the 32 GB of onboard storage should be to many other options in this price range, the Zenfone 3 Laser does not include NFC, so you won’t be able to use tap-and-pay apps like Android Pay. Considering that over half of our readers polled said they used mobile payments at least occasionally, this is a pretty big omission. Combined with a lack of support for it’s understandable how ASUS was able to keep the phone’s price throw away your existing wired headphones just yet, as the Zenfone 3 Laser includes a headphone jack. This is still wonderful to have, and although the output volume is slightly low, many users will appreciate not having to make a transition to alternative we were very disappointed with the Zenfone 3 Laser’s speaker. I have personally reviewed over fifty primarily entry-level smartphones, and I can say with complete certainty that this is one of the worst I have ever heard. It’s not only relatively quiet and distorted, but also flat and tinny. Audio quite frankly sounds awful with the Zenfone 3 Laser, so you’ll definitely want to keep your headphones LifeThe ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is packing a 3000mAh battery, which translated to excellent battery life during our testing. Even when using the phone for more than twenty-four hours, we were still able to achieve over four and a half hours of screen on time. When we used the phone more heavily, we were still able to achieve twelve hours of use with six and a half hours of screen on time. Although the Snapdragon 430 can support Quick Charge ASUS has failed to implement it, meaning that you’ll be stuck with some relatively slow charging speeds. The charging port is also a reminder that microUSB is still a thing, despite the newer USB Type-C standard largely taking over the Android smartphone market. We do understand that some users do not want to make the transition, so we’ll let you decide whether this is an advantage or Zenfone 3 Laser’s 13 MP f/ camera captures images that are about average in terms of quality. Excellent cameras are pretty much unheard of at this price, so we can forgive many of the shortcomings can forgive many of the shortcomings hereASUS Zenfone 3 Laser camera samplesAs expected, you can get some fairly nice images when shooting in good lighting. For most of the time, dynamic range is decent and saturation levels are good. There are some glaring issues, however. Colors, for example, often appear muted see the image of the bananas above, which results in images lacking in vibrancy and contrast. There’s also some excessive oversharpening and considerable barrel claims that the laser autofocus offers focus in 30 milliseconds. While that estimate seemed to be pretty optimistic in our testing, the Zenfone 3 Laser does indeed focus quickly. However, the difference isn’t very noticeable in comparison to other smartphones, so you should avoid getting hung up on this particular things really go downhill when shooting in low-light. The oversharpening issue is exacerbated while noise still appears largely unchecked. Colors are even worse, too. The built-in owl mode can certainly help here, but at the expense of resolution. It goes without saying that you really do get what you pay for here, so if you want higher quality low-light images you’ll want to consider increasing your Zenfone 3 Laser’s camera app remains unchanged from previous models, but, as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” ASUS’ camera app offers a plethora of useful camera modes to choose from, while still providing an easy-to-use shooting experience. The phone’s manual mode is also one of the most comprehensive that we’ve of the box, the Zenfone 3 Laser runs ASUS’ ZenUI skin over Android Marshmallow. It’s evident that ASUS puts a lot of effort into its software, which can’t always be said about phones sold at this price point. All things considered, you’re getting one of the better software experiences out to other user interfaces, ZenUI looks outdatedWith that said, we feel that ZenUI is due for a design overhaul. We understand that this is very subjective, but, compared to other user interfaces, ZenUI looks outdated. The design team seems to have had a weird obsession with gaussian blurs, which have quite frankly gone out of style in favor of lower Zenfone 3 Laser screenshotsAdd in a unique but aging color scheme, harsh icons, and a general inability to instill feelings of empathy, and you end up with an arguably stale design. These criticisms are admittedly a bit nitpicky, considering how well everything works. However, we hope that ASUS will surprise us with a new design in the near may also find the number of ASUS branded apps to be overwhelming, but we’re mostly okay with this since each app works so well. Besides, ASUS has improved on this in the past, so it’s likely that they’ll continue to do so in the ASUS’ track record, we estimate that the probability of the Zenfone 3 Laser receiving an Android Nougat update within the next few months to be highly likely. During our time with the phone, ASUS has also been very good at pushing out minor improvements as well as bug fixes fairly frequently. Plus, they seem to be keeping up with security patches. GalleryPriceThe ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is on sale now for $200 in the United States. Since it is unlocked, you can purchase it from a retailer like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, or B&H Photo instead of going through your carrier. ConclusionThe ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is a good phone; for $200, you get a premium design, excellent battery life, and dual-SIM card support. With that said, there are also some significant drawbacks the camera performance is just average, performance is bottlenecked by 2 GB of RAM, and the software design appears the Zenfone 3 Laser feels more like a downgrade compared to its predecessor. Some aspects like software and display quality remain unchanged, but many others have been downgraded. For example, the display is now coated in Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Gorilla Glass 4, the amount of RAM has been decreased from 3 to 2 GB, the speaker sounds worse, and the camera is not as sharp. Considering that both phones were released at the same price, we’re disappointed that ASUS didn’t pack in more with this compared to competing options from other manufacturers, the Zenfone 3 Laser doesn’t really stand out. You may be better off purchasing the HONOR 6X or even the Nextbit Robin. If you’re willing to wait a bit, the Moto G5 lineup also might be worth you for reading our written review of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser. We’d love to hear your thoughts regarding this device; would you buy it over competing options? Do let us know in the comment section below!

asus zenfone 3 laser review