ASUS Zenfone 4 (A450CG) Review

When ASUS launched its Zenfone series smartphones, they announced 4 different Zenfones, namely the Zenfone 4 (4 inch version and 4.5 inch version), Zenfone 5 (Review) and also Zenfone 6. While the Zenfone 4 (review) with 4 inch device was released along with Zenfone 5 and 6, the 4.5 inch variant was only made available in the first week of September.

The Zenfone 4.5 inch variant comes with Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box while rest of the Zenfone run Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Zen UI. The 4.5inch variant is powered by the same dual core Intel Atom processor found on the 4 inch variant. It also comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage. ASUS has upgraded the camera on this device to 8MP with LED flash and there is also a front facing camera.

Here is the detailed review of the device with respect to design, build, software, performance, camera and the battery life.

Here is the video review of the device.

Design, Build and Display:

Design wise, the Zenfone 4.5 is pretty compact as it comes with 4.5 inch display and pretty easy to hold in hand and operate as the size is ideal for most users. The device is also light in weight compared to the competition (like Moto E and Unite 2). The build quality of the device is again good with a matte finish back panel similar to the 4 inch model. The back panel is again removable. The buttons on the device have a chrome finish with an engraved pattern which feels good. The same pattern is also available below the touch buttons. Overall, the build quality is really good.

Above the display you have the ASUS logo along with front facing camera and earpiece. The bottom portion of the display has three capacitive touch buttons but they are not backlit. At the bottom you have the microUSB charging slot and the right side is occupied by power and volume keys. The top portion houses the 3.5mm audio jack. The rear panel has the 8MP camera and the speakers along with the ASUS and Zenfone logo.

The display on the device is 4.5inch and has FWVGA resolution which is better than the 4 inch variant. It comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The colors on the display is pretty good and we would say it looks much better than the 4 inch display on A400CG. The viewing angles and sunlight readability is also much better on this phone and there is a huge improvement over the 4 inch model. Overall, we are pretty happy with the display being offered on this device.

Software and Performance:

The Zenfone 4 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat and the UI is mostly similar to the Jelly Bean version of Zenfone 4. The UI on the Zenfone is called Zen UI which is highly customized but does not take a toll on the performance. The UI is actually usable and offers lots of customizations. The notification center and the quick launch icons are well arranged and you can even customize them.

You can sort the apps based on the ones you have downloaded and also the frequently used ones. It also offers options to lock apps so that other users do not have the option to access apps unless you enter the password. The notification center is really useful and one of the best we have seen on a budget smartphone.

In the settings, there are quite a lot of ASUS customized options and Power Saver along with the ability to view the apps which are using the battery. The phone also comes with a easy mode which makes it easy for elderly people with bigger icons and lesser options.

The phone comes with 8GB of internal storage which is really good considering most of the Android phones in this price point have only 4GB internal storage. The internal storage can be expanded to 32GB via micro SD card and you can also move apps to SD card. This is useful if you have installed too many games on the device.

The speakers which are located at the back and the quality is just average, but the call quality on the device is really good. The phone also supports USB OTG functionality out of the box which comes handy.

The gaming performance of the device is also pretty decent although the graphic quality is not great on the FWVGA display, but there is no lag while playing games. Overall, the performance on the device is really good and we seldom had any issues using this phone as it was really responsive even with the highly customized Zen UI.

Camera:

The camera on the device is a 8MP auto focus shooter with LED flash. There is also a front facing camera for selfies and video calls. The camera on the device has pretty good UI and is different from most of the entry level smartphones. There are quite a lot of settings available including filters which can be selected before taking the photo and it is a feature rich app.

The camera also comes with variety of modes like night, HDR, Panoroma, miniature effect, Smart remove, GIF animation, depth of field, beautification etc. The photo quality from the 8MP shooter were a bit over saturated at times. We were also not able to get good color reproduction on the photos taken with this camera. Some of the colors weren’t close to the real colors.

The low light photo capabilities are also average and with the low light mode, the photos were softened.

The phone can also record videos in 1080p and the quality was pretty decent for its price. Overall, we would say that the phone has pretty decent camera for its price and it beats the Moto E, but Redmi 1S has a better camera in this price.

Battery Life:

The device comes with 1750mAh battery which has pretty decent performance. We can say that the performance is better than the Zenfone 4 variant. Probably this has to do with KitKat on Zenfone 4.5 inch variant when compared to 4.3 Jelly Bean on 4 inch variant. You can get a day of usage with the battery on this device if you are average user with calls, SMS, browsing, social media and a bit of gaming.

ASUS has done pretty good job with power management tools included in the Zen UI which comes handy if you are running on low battery.

Verdict:

Priced at Rs 6999, the new ASUS Zenfone 4 (A450CG) is an great buy for the price with excellent performance, good build quality, a decent display and a camera. Although the Redmi 1S (review) from Xiaomi has better specs in the price point, it has the low memory issue while playing games. Moreover, Zenfone 4.5 has the latest software. If you are looking for an all around performing budget device, ASUS Zenfone 4 (A450CG) is totally worth the money.