ASUS Zenfone Selfie Has Landed at the Unbox HQ!
We’re happy to report that we finally have the highly anticipated ASUS Zenfone Selfie here at the Unbox HQ! The variant we managed to pick up is the high end model — 32GB internal storage and a whopping 3GB of RAM. We’re definitely excited to put this through the paces and give this a thorough review. Comparisons with the original Zenfone 2 are unavoidable so watch out for that as well when we do the full rundown.
For now though we’d like to share with you guys our unboxing and initial impressions on the hardware design and build. Before anything though let’s take a look again at the specifications.
ASUS Zenfone Selfie Premium Model Specs
(Php13,500-Php14,000)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor
- Adreno 405 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 5.5-inch full HD display with Gorilla Glass 4, 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 32GB storage,expandable via microSD up to 64GB
- 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual LED real-tone flash, laser AF
- 13-megapixel front camera with f/2.2 aperture, wide angle lens, dual LED real tone flash
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- Android Lollipop
- 3000mAh battery
Okay with that out of the way let’s jump right into letting this beast out of the cage!
Time to Unleash the Selfie Beast
The box of the ASUS Zenfone Selfie is similar to the ASUS Zenfone 2. We slid out the main compartment by pulling it out and we were immediately greeted by the large 5.5-inch slab of tech covered in plastic. We picked up the phone, set it aside, and dug deeper into the box. Underneath it we found a wall charger and the micro USB to USB cable. We were initially surprised to find out that earphones weren’t included but when we clarified with ASUS Philippines they told us that the final commercial package will have one.
Moving forward we suggest that ASUS bundle a freebie or something in the box. Maybe a screen protector or a case? That would up the over-all value and make more customers happy, hehe.
First Impressions on Hardware Build and Design
The ASUS Zenfone Selfie will come in Teal, Pink, and White. As you can tell in the photo above, we got the Teal one and it is absolutely, stunningly, awesome. A comment from one of our teammates here though was that ASUS should ship a model with a darker shade of blue to make it a little more masculine.
In terms of over-all design, it is very similar to the ASUS Zenfone 2. We have the volume buttons at the back together with ASUS logo. Big difference at the back is the IR laser for autofocus. Up front the upper bezel is larger because of the 13.0-megapixel front-facing shooter with dual-tone LED flash. The front camera lens replaced the ASUS logo that the Zenfone 2 had.
Compared to the ASUS Zenfone 2, the ASUS Zenfone Selfie is slightly taller. Again this is due to the bigger upper bezel thanks to the front-facing 13MP camera. This means that your cases for the Zenfone 2 will NOT work with the ASUS Zenfone Selfie. You’ll have to buy new cases specifically for this model should you decide to “upgrade” from your ASUS Zenfone 2.
By the way, unlike the ASUS Zenfone 2, the battery of the ASUS Zenfone Selfie is removable. This means that you can buy extra batteries (should ASUS PH sell them) and just swap them out if you run out of juice. Or if that is too cumbersome then just bring an ASUS Zenpower with you.
Other than Teal model, we also had the chance to play around with the Pink one. It’s definitely for women and men who love pink. Check out the photo of the pink model below.
Hands-on and Full Review Coming Soon!
Over-all we’re okay with the build and design of the ASUS Zenfone Selfie. We can’t really say much yet on the performance but we will be focusing on that in the next few days. We’ll also spend a lot of time testing the front-facing camera to see if it actually can live up to it’s “Selfie” name. Lastly, we’ll try to get a video in as well for those of you who subscribe to us on YouTube. 🙂
