(ThyBlackMan.com) Many people will probably consider buying the Asus ZenFone 6 for its motorized flip camera, but there’s so much more that makes it a value for money phone. Its performance, battery life, display, and design are what truly make the ZenFone 6 worth buying.
Design
The body of the Asus ZenFone 6 is made of glass and metal. Asus has used Gorilla Glass for the body and an aluminium frame for the rim. The phone looks stylish and premium and surprisingly, it isn’t slippery, however, using a case would make the grip better. The phone sports an all-screen design with no notch, hole-punch or cutouts on its display. Asus has crammed a big display by taking the screen to the edge. There’s no wireless charging in the device and the body is also not water resistant because of its unique camera system.
On the edges, the Asus ZenFone 6 sports volume keys, a power button, and a quick action button which is, by default, set to launch Google Assistant. The button’s functionality can be reconfigured to change its actions. So, you can launch other features such as camera, screenshot, or sound mode directly by pressing the button.
On the left side of the phone, there’s a Sim card tray that also accommodates a slot for a microSD card. There’s a speaker, a USB-C port, and a headphone jack on the bottom of the device. Look wise, the Asus ZenFone 6 is a pretty decent phone.
Display
The main attraction of the ZenFone 6 is its 6.4-inch edge-to-edge display. It’s big enough for gaming and media consumption as the absence of notch makes it more appealing. The only drawback is that the phone doesn’t have an OLED display as it sports a 2340 x 1080 pixels IPS LCD screen. The 600 nits brightness makes the display look beautiful and on-screen objects also look sharp, but an OLED could be better.
Camera Features
You can’t help but notice the dual camera system on the ZenFone 6. Asus has worked on a unique camera mechanism that makes ZenFone 6 standout. The ZenFone 6 doesn’t have separate front and rear cameras. The camera system, when stays back, gives you good regular shots and if you switch to selfie mode, the camera system flips around.
An interesting thing about this new camera system is that it supports both motorized and electronic controls. It consists of 48MP and 13MP sensors. It is arguably the best phone for selfie lovers as the 48MP main sensor and the 13MP ultrawide sensor take amazing shots together.
The motorized camera can rotate up to 180 degrees and you can even control its movement with the help of volume buttons or with the on-screen option available in the camera app. In simple words, you can control how much the camera rotates. This is good if you want to take pictures from different angles. One more interesting thing about the camera system is that it follows the moving subject during video recording. This is good for YouTubers who create videos content and it’s also a helpful feature for those who do a lot of video recording.
Headphone Jack
Now when most of the smartphone companies are ditching or have already ditched the headphone jack, Asus ZenFone 6 has retained this feature. The phone also comes with a pair of Asus earbuds. The ZenFone 6 has a dual-speaker on the bottom edge. The overall sound quality is good, but like many other smartphone speakers, it lacks proper bass.
Price
Asus ZenFone 6 is priced very smartly. Starting at $499, it undercuts the price of comparable OnePlus 7 Pro. This makes the ZenFone 6 the best value for money Android phone in 2019 so far. It packs a lot of good features, powerful hardware, a big 6.4-inch all-screen NanoEdge display which is bright enough for outdoor use. Most importantly, you get a unique camera system which is the best among the rest and it also packs a headphone jack which is rare to find these days.
Performance
Previous Asus phones had terrible software. They were filled with unwanted stuff which nobody asked for and the experience with UI was degraded due to several design issues. It’s good that Asus realized this early, and with the ZenFone 6, which uses the ZenUI 6, the company has made some much-needed improvements on the software part. The software now looks a lot more organized and neat than it was before.
Although some Asus apps still remain on the software, the overall experience has improved. On the hardware front, the ZenFone 6 doesn’t disappoint at all. It has Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 CPU which is the most powerful chipset currently available for Android phones. There are three storage options 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. The phone also supports microSD card up to 2TB, which means you will likely never run out of storage space. Also, you can choose 6GB or 8GB of RAM depending on the configuration.
We should note that the ZenFone 6 software update also improves camera performance. As mentioned earlier, the company has used a flip camera system to achieve a full-screen display. This new camera system can survive up to 100,000 opens and closes. Another huge improvement with the ZenFone 6 is its battery life. With a 5,000mAh battery, which is one of the biggest batteries currently found in smartphones, the ZenFone 6 lasts a whole day and even more.
The Asus ZenFone 6 has all the elements we expect from top-end smartphones in 2019. It has very powerful hardware, the software looks clean, the body is just amazing, and most importantly, it has a unique camera system which has helped Asus achieve its all-screen phone dream. The best thing is, you don’t pay a premium $1000 price for this phone, as it is available for $499.
Staff Writer; Corey Shaw
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