Best Nexus 5X cases
It’s possible that your phone is among your most valuable possessions. So you need to protect it from drops, spills, and any other potential damage. The Nexus 5X has a plastic build, meaning it’s not quite as durable as other aluminum-built phones on the market; therefore, purchasing a case is a smart way to ensure the phone remains in good shape for its entire run with you.
The following are the best cases from top brands to keep your Nexus 5X protective while still looking good.
Spigen Ultra Hybrid Case
Spigen, a personal favorite accessory maker of mine, has a simple option for protecting the Nexus 5X while keeping its body visible. The back of this case offers you the more prominent visibility of the phone. Why? Because it’s an absolutely clear case. It costs around $14 and the hard material gives ideal protection to the Nexus 5X. If you want to show off your Nexus 5X but still want to protect it, this case from Spigen is easily the must-have.
- Colors: Clear
- Price: $14
SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle Series Case
This case from SUPCASE has been introduced as a member of the Beetle Series, and it’s a slim hybrid protective accessory. The cutouts for the volume rocker are sized just right, and the thermoplastic material has been utilized as a part of its making. The best thing about this case is that it solidly holds the phone, yet gives excellent impact protection.
- Colors: Frost/Black, Black/Black, Frost/Blue
- Price: $17
[Amazon]
Verus High Pro Shield Case
On the off chance that you need quality in style and durability with great value, you’re at the right place because Verus’ case for the Nexus 5X gives the greatest protection to your phone against any slippages and impact brought on by the dropping. The polycarbonate material gives the toughness and the protection to the phone while the brushed metal look is high-end and unique.
- Colors: Electric Blue, Red, Satin Silver, Shine Gold, Steel Silver
- Price: $20
[Amazon]
DGtle Bumper Rubber Case
From DGtle comes case for the Nexus 5X which guarantees your Nexus 5X won’t be scratched due to its rubber build. Even better is that the TPU material makes it very light, so you’re getting protection in a simple way. The amazing point of interest of purchasing this case is that it assimilates the more prominent shocks when compared to other cases.
- Colors: Mint, Matte-Clear, Matte-Black, Purple, Hot Pink, Clear, Black
- Price: $9
[Amazon]
Adopted Microfiber Hard Case
This slender tough case from Adopted was introduced together with the Nexus 5X, featuring a distinctive microfiber support that is guaranteed to improve grip. The front frame even helps to keep the display screen raised when faced down on a table. It has a price tag which is a bit high, but you’ll be getting a very quality case to improve the look and safety of your Nexus 5X.
- Colors: Emerald, Quartz, Carbon
- Price: $35
J&D Clear Back Bumper Case
J&D’s Nexus 5X case simply aims at providing protection with style (while really leaning to the former). It gives you the anti-scratch rear and the fit is tight while allowing you to grasp the phone securely.
- Colors: Fusion Black, Transparent Clear, Fusion Blue, Fusion Champagne, Fusion Red, Fusion Purple
- Price: $10
[Amazon]
Closing
Going through sites in search of a case for your Nexus 5X, it’s likely for you to come across other cases not contained in the list above. You may even already own another one. Cases really come down to preference, and so I welcome you to leave a comment below with the case you’re currently using on the Nexus 5X.
Come comment on this article: Best Nexus 5X cases
‘Need for Speed’ hits PC in March with steering wheel support
When the latest Need for Speed drifted onto consoles, racers noticed that a few features were missing. No manual transmission option? No racing wheel support? Admittedly, the game isn’t a sim racer like Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but both of these omissions still felt a little odd. It’s taken a while, but soon Electronic Arts will be righting a few of those wrongs. First of all, the game is coming to PC on March 17th. More notably, it’ll have manual transmission and support for “a selection” of wheels by Logitech, Thrustmaster and Fanatec. Oh, and it’ll also run with “an unlocked framerate” and up to 4K resolution. Sounds promising.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners will get manual gear-shifting too, although it’s not clear exactly when this update will arrive. If nothing else, it’s a sign that EA is listening to player feedback and trying to support the community — which is pivotal, given the game is an online-centric experience that thrives when everyone is happily racing together.
Google ramps up recruiting for its self-driving car project
How do you know what a company is planning to achieve a year or two down the road? Look at who they’re hiring right now. It was that idea that led Reuters to Google’s recruitment website and spot that the search engine needs engineers for its self-driving car project. Not just any engineers, either, but ones with practical, real-world expertise in the sort of fields you’d need to mass-produce a vehicle. The firm has always denied that it’d make the vehicles itself and will instead partner with an established auto maker. But, the fact that it’s now looking to get people with this sort of experience suggests that the day is coming.
For instance, the news agency pointed out that Google is looking for a Manufacturing Process Engineer. That’s someone who is an expert at assembly-lines who would be capable of designing a factory floor that’s perfect to build autonomous vehicles. The firm also needs people like noise-reduction specialists and mechanical engineers capable of taking elements of automobile design and making them Google-friendly. Given that the project is now being led by the former head of Hyundai of America, John Krafcik, we can imagine his desire to fill his team with people who know the industry from the inside.
Via: Reuters
Source: Google Jobs
‘Need for Speed’ hits PC in March with steering wheel support
When the latest Need for Speed drifted onto consoles, racers noticed that a few features were missing. No manual transmission option? No racing wheel support? Admittedly, the game isn’t a sim racer like Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but both of these omissions still felt a little odd. It’s taken a while, but soon Electronic Arts will be righting a few of those wrongs. First of all, the game is coming to PC on March 17th. More notably, it’ll have manual transmission and support for “a selection” of wheels by Logitech, Thrustmaster and Fanatec. Oh, and it’ll also run with “an unlocked framerate” and up to 4K resolution. Sounds promising.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners will get manual gear-shifting too, although it’s not clear exactly when this update will arrive. If nothing else, it’s a sign that EA is listening to player feedback and trying to support the community — which is pivotal, given the game is an online-centric experience that thrives when everyone is happily racing together.
Microsoft’s wacky AI app matches you with a dog breed
Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting pretty good at identifying people, but before it starts looking for Sarah Connor, Microsoft’s Garage team is having fun with it. Last time, the group released an app that (poorly) guessed your age, and the latest app, Fetch, determines what dog breed you’d be based on your photo. It sometimes makes canny matches, but on the other hand, three different pictures of the same person (below) yielded three different breeds of dog — an Afghan hound, a Cairn terrier and a Beagle, so it’s lacking in consistency.
On the other hand, the app is excellent at identifying actual dogs. It correctly identified our family Bull Terrier “Harpo,” even though he was wearing a cone of shame. It also correctly identified a part German Shepherd as such. “We use one of the hottest machine learning techniques available, called deep neural networks,” said Microsoft Research director Mitch Goldberg. “You don’t train it on a particular dog breed. You give it numerous images, and it, in the training process, determines what’s unique in each of the dogs.”
Inputting other animals, including humans, into the app was a hoot, of course. The app related our friend’s pet duck to a Bull Terrier as well, no doubt because of its similar “beak.” Our scraggly cat, meanwhile, was a Malamute that’s “problematic with other dogs,” which is true because it’s, well, a cat. A few of us at Engadget took a spin and found that the dog breeds did line up with our personalities, though we’re suspicious that like horoscopes, it may have been telling us what we want to hear. To see all the results, check the gallery below.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Microsoft
Microsoft’s wacky AI app matches you with a dog breed
Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting pretty good at identifying people, but before it starts looking for Sarah Connor, Microsoft’s Garage team is having fun with it. Last time, the group released an app that (poorly) guessed your age, and the latest app, Fetch, determines what dog breed you’d be based on your photo. It sometimes makes canny matches, but on the other hand, three different pictures of the same person (below) yielded three different breeds of dog — an Afghan hound, a Cairn terrier and a Beagle, so it’s lacking in consistency.
On the other hand, the app is excellent at identifying actual dogs. It correctly identified our family Bull Terrier “Harpo,” even though he was wearing a cone of shame. It also correctly identified a part German Shepherd as such. “We use one of the hottest machine learning techniques available, called deep neural networks,” said Microsoft Research director Mitch Goldberg. “You don’t train it on a particular dog breed. You give it numerous images, and it, in the training process, determines what’s unique in each of the dogs.”
Inputting other animals, including humans, into the app was a hoot, of course. The app related our friend’s pet duck to a Bull Terrier as well, no doubt because of its similar “beak.” Our scraggly cat, meanwhile, was a Malamute that’s “problematic with other dogs,” which is true because it’s, well, a cat. A few of us at Engadget took a spin and found that the dog breeds did line up with our personalities, though we’re suspicious that like horoscopes, it may have been telling us what we want to hear. To see all the results, check the gallery below.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Microsoft
Channel 5’s Demand 5 becomes My5
Another day, another rebranded streaming service. Following ITV and Channel 4, the folks at Channel 5 have decided to throw out the name Demand 5 and introduce a new service called My5 in the UK. You can find it on the web or through the accompanying iOS and Android apps, where shows such as Gotham, The X-Files and Heroes Reborn lie in wait. There’s one small problem though — according to Pocket-Lint, everything is stuck in standard definition. In this day and age, that’s just unacceptable.
Via: Pocket-Lint
Source: My5
Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead
Premium build, 4GB of RAM, 3x optical zoom, and $399 price tag – is this the smartphone to beat?
Asus has been trying to crack the market’s smartphone code for a while now. Prior to its current lineup, the company tried again and again to get consumers on-board with an unconventional but innovative smartphone/tablet integration concept with the PadFone. Alas, the Taiwanese manufacturer finally gave in to the lackluster sales and redirected its smartphone efforts to the ZenFone.
2015 was a good year for Asus; when the ZenFone 2 managed to catch the market’s attention with its newfound value. It packed bangin’ specs for the competitive price. Asus phones were finally selling. But while the company later used this success as an opportunity to introduce ZenFone 2 variants, one of its offering quietly slipped out of view – the ZenFone Zoom.
First announced at CES 2015, Asus boasted a smartphone with a camera that could optically zoom. In hindsight, it seems like that project was a bit too ambitious for the manufacturer, as it’s taken a whole year of extra development to finally get it into our hands.
Is the ZenFone Zoom better late than never, or should it have remained as a concept? Let’s find out.
Design
If you recall the ZenFone Zoom’s CES 2015 announcement, you may notice that the back cover is slightly different to the production unit. The former had a smooth plastic cover while the latter looks leathery. Due to the Zoom’s aggressive pricing, I suspected that we would actually be dealing with faux leather.
When I got a hold of the review unit, I was convinced that my assumption was correct. The entire back cover feels like a leather-textured hard plastic. However, Asus states that it is in fact a “premium”, burnished leather. Because the material doesn’t quite feel the part, I’m left ambivalent about the effort.
Nonetheless, the texture and rounded back feels great in hand. Yes, the phone is in no way trying to be slim, but it’s not a brick either. OEM obsession over phone thinness is overrated in my book (especially when it’s traded for features), and the Zoom’s extra girth is no way impugns phone ergonomics.
Thickness comparison between the LG V10 (left) and ZenFone Zoom (right)
We can’t talk about the back of the phone without addressing the elephant in the room – that large circular camera housing. I’m not quite sure why the camera component has to take up so much space, but I won’t question the engineering magic that Asus had to pull off to gain 3x zooming from a lens that doesn’t telescope (more on the camera details later). I do appreciate that the odd module is just about the same thickness as the thickest portions of the phone. It doesn’t have that disruptive appearance that previous optically zooming smartphones have beared (i.e. Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series)
The camera lens is recessed, so you don’t have to worry about the protective glass getting scratched and ruining your pictures. However, on a usability note, the len’s placement on the back isn’t conventional (it’s lower than on most phones). I find myself often touching it with my index finger, then having to swipe off the fingerprint smudge before taking pics.
Because the curved back tapers on the sides, towards the bottom you’ll see a raised lining for stability (it keeps the phone from wobbling when set on a table). Subtle leather stitching surrounds the protrusion, for that convincing look. Right below it is a rear-facing, mono external speaker.
Oh, and that back cover is removeable. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you’ll have access to the battery (it’s barricaded in), but you will get a micro-SD slot. This is where the SIM slot lives as well.
Before receiving the Zoom, I wasn’t aware that Asus had now evolved the ZenFone’s build with a metal frame. It’s excellent and as premium as they come. It’s rounded, similar to the iPhone, and feels great in-hand. The finish is smooth and matte, the color has an interesting deep purple-ish tone. The metal is chamfered on both edges of the frame to show off its shine. The whole presentation says classy and complements the leathery backing well.
Regarding ports, you’ll find the headphone jack on the top and micro-USB port on the bottom. And because the Zoom is camera-centric, Asus included a lanyard opening on the bottom-left corner, for safety from drops during all those photo shoots.
The physical buttons are all on the right side (there’s nothing on the left side). Asus not only fitted a camera shutter button but also a record button adjacent to it. Holding down on either button launches the camera app whether the phone is off or on. Cleverly, the volume buttons double up for zooming when you’re in the camera app. They even have “T” (Telephoto) and “W” (Wide Angle) labels etched on them, like on a dedicated camera.
The front of the phone keeps traditional ZenFone fashion. There’s an Asus logo squeezed in between the earpiece and display, capacitive buttons, and the signature bezel plate along the bottom (which has a circular texture that produces a light ray effect from the center of the pattern). The Zoom’s bezel size is fairly average; it’s not the best screen-to-body ratio. It is just about as tall as the LG V10, which isn’t a good thing. The V10 has a 0.2″ larger display and a secondary screen on top of that.
But I suppose that when you factor in the $399 price and optical zoom, it can be forgivable.
Performance
Asus continues its partnership with Intel on the ZenFone Zoom. It packs an Intel Atom Z3580, which is comprised of a quad-core processor (running at 2.3GHz), PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, and 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Yes, you heard correctly – 4GB in a $399 smartphone.
But do those specs mean as much as they sound like they mean in the real world? Mostly. The Zoom is a speedy animal. Even despite the heavy ZenUI, it still manages to chug through Android without hesitation.
However, there were moments that frame rate drops were noticeable. I’m not talking about lags or delays, but rather, the fluidity was interrupted at times. In digging around, I noticed that ZenUI’s default “Normal” power management system says that it “Smartly adjusts CPU performance and brightness”. You can switch it to the “Performance” mode, in which it will utilize the entire CPU’s capability (at the cost of battery life).
A great thing is that the standard internal storage capacity of the Zoom is 64GB. I wish that every OEM would follow suit. And what makes that even sweeter is that micro-SD expansion is supported. You can only add on 64GB more, but at least you can.
Audio performance on all front is nothing to write home about. The rear placement of the external speaker is not ideal, and it’s thin-sounding. And there is nothing special to my ears from the audio out of the headphone jack.
Display
The ZenFone Zoom has a 5.5″ sized IPS LCD screen. Its resolution isn’t saturated with the QHD pixel count that many flagships boast these days, but 1080P is sufficient (403 PPI). I don’t find the difference between QHD and 1080P on a 5.5″ display that telling anyways, and would much rather not waste the extra battery life on something that frivolous.
The panel’s quality is above average. It particularly excels at keeping its composure at even extreme viewing angles. Colors look a tad dull to my eyes, but that’s just me being nit-picky.
The brightness does leave to be desired though. I feel like the max brightness should be able to go an extra 20-30% further (based on my experience with other phones). This mostly becomes a concern outside on a sunny day. But in digging around, I did find out that you can gain more brightness from within the Battery settings. Putting the phone in “Performance” mode increases the max brightness slightly (we’ll talk about this more in the Battery section).
Camera
Now the moment you’ve probably been waiting for – the ZenFone Zoom’s camera performance. Asus boasts a lot of technological achievement about the Zoom’s sensor on paper, but all that awesomeness deliver in real world use? We’ll get to that.
Firstly, something to know about the Zoom’s optics is that the lens doesn’t telescope like with traditional optical zooming. I didn’t know that upon receiving the phone. So when I opened her up and stared at the lens while zooming, you can probably guess the look on my face.
Asus says that the 3x optical magnification is achieved by some 10-element HOYA periscopic lens arrangement trickery. You can get more details about the technology (which Asus dubs PixelMaster 2.0) on the manufacturer’s site.
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The sensor itself has a 13MP capture resolution. It is also supplemented by 4 stops of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and an ultra-fast (0.03 seconds) laser auto-focus. The len’s f/2.7 aperture isn’t particularly great (compared to significantly larger sizes from the latest flagships), but Asus tries to assist the low-light performance from the software side with a Low Light shooting mode.
Without further ado, let’s get into the photo samples. Click on the collection below to see zoomed in (3x) and out samples.
The optical zoom does work, and the camera quality is maintained when zoomed. Check out this comparison with the LG V10, both zoomed at 3x (but the V10 can only do digital zoom).
LG V10, 3x zoom
Asus ZenFone Zoom, 3x zoom
To my eyes, the Zoom’s camera performs fantastically in good lighting. But the results can take a dubious turn otherwise. Areas of concentrated lighting can too easily be overexposed.
HDR helps to a point (mostly to even out the overall contrast), but the blown-out areas will still be there. On the other extreme, there is an expected struggle when light is taken away. But the camera doesn’t try to force it and give you grainy images, things are just less visible. Thankfully, there is a Low Light shooting mode in the camera interface, which produces decent results.
Auto shooting mode
Low Light shooting mode
There’s no strings attached to the optical zoom’s use. It still works in special shooting modes, such as HDR and Low Light, as well as while recording. If you find that you need to zoom more than 3x, the len’s mechanism also allows it to go all the way to 12x (but via digital zooming).
Speaking of shooting modes, Asus makes sure the hardware is well supported on the software front. On the bottom-right corner of the camera interface is a shortcut to a barrage of modes.
Some of these options are commonplace, but there’s a couple standout features. Super Resolution combines the detail from four simultaneous shots into a result that simulates 4x the capture resolution. Miniature mode gives the user finer tuning over the depth of field effect. Time Rewind takes simultaneous burst shots before and after the shutter button was tapped.
Battery
The ZenFone Zoom packs a modest 3,000 mAh capacity battery (non-removeable). It’s been sufficient in my use. I’ll go ahead to show you a battery usage graph, over a 9-hour period (the first half on T-Mobile’s network and the other half on WiFi).
50% battery drain over 9 hours is fine in my book. My usage covered a lot of use cases, such as internet browsing, music, maps/navigation, social media, and camera (screen brightness varied between max and 75%). But I didn’t play any games.
Do be aware that ZenUI packs battery modes that can largely determine what your battery life outcome will be. By default, the system is set to “Normal” (this is the mode that I used for the results above). It’s nice that Asus gives the user choices. Most UI’s have some form of Power Saving settings, but ZenUI actually lets you maximize performance if you want to (at the cost of battery life of course).
There are two tiers of power saving modes: “Power saving” and “Super saving”. The former disables networks when the phone is on standby, while the latter only keeps the basic phone functions going (calling, texting, alarm). Or you can select “Customized” and pick and choose the system behavior yourself, such as CPU performance, screen brightness, and network and app activity. Lastly, “Smart switch” allows automatic battery mode switching based on either a certain battery percentage or user-specified schedule.
Software
The ZenFone Zoom runs off of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Sadly, it’s not the latest version of Android and not even Android 5.1 (which was a crucial update in Lollipop). ZenUI is the user interface (UI) overlay and is no doubt as heavy as they come. But I will admit that after some time with the UI, I’ve started to open up to it. I don’t find that performance is hindered by ZenUI (which gives me confidence over Asus’s software competence), and I’ve discovered several useful functions that aren’t on other UI’s.
But I will always complain about unnecessary changes to Android’s aesthetics; it’s a waste of effort when changes don’t add any value. Things like the notification shade, app drawer, folder layout, and panel transitions all get a ZenUI fix. In fact, there’s no trace of true Android that I can spot.
Adding more insult to injury, Asus throws in a ton of home-brewed apps that get in your face. At the phone’s first startup, you get a barrage of notifications from these apps to let you know that they’re present (and they pop up again over time). The Asus apps range from system management (data cleaner, power settings) to media features/tools. Fortunately, if you’re like me and don’t care, the system allows you to disable the apps (but not uninstall).
But ZenUI does redeem itself through a couple ways. One of these is gestures (which stock Android has yet to implement).
There are two categories of gestures: Motion and Touch. There’s only a couple of motion gestures; shaking the phone to take a screenshot or bringing the phone to your ear to pick up a phone call. The touch gestures are far more interesting. Firstly, tap-to-wake is present (thank you, Asus!). What’s also cool is that you can draw a letter on the screen when it is off to launch one of the specified apps.
One other neat action is when you swipe up from the home screen. A “Manage Home” area pop ups, which contains various functions you may often use. You’ll also run into other nice useful features throughout the UI. For instance, you can set a tap and hold on Recent Apps button to take a screenshot or open up an app’s menu. The display’s coloring is alterable via presets or user customization. And there’s a useful “Auto-start Manager”, where you can save system memory by controlling which apps are allowed to run automatically.
Theming is something that I think every UI should be able to do. ZenUI has a “Themes” app with a vast library of free and paid options. This includes a library of icon packs and third-party support to grab a pack from the Play Store.
Final Thoughts
When I reflect on everything that the ZenFone Zoom offers and then recall its asking price of $399, I can’t help but think that the value is great. I could most definitely replace my daily driver flagship phone (which costs almost twice as much) and not regret it. That’s where the ZenFone line has the upper-hand, and the 3x optical zoom is icing that you won’t get on most cakes out there.
As long as your expectations aren’t sky-high, the ZenFone Zoom is definitely recommendable. I just emphasize that the camera’s general performance is good but not the best you’ll find, and that ZenUI may be too heavy for Android enthusiasts (although, it functions just fine).
We’d like to give a shout-out to B&H Photo for supplying our ZenFone Zoom review unit!
Asus ZenFone Zoom product page
The post Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead
Premium build, 4GB of RAM, 3x optical zoom, and $399 price tag – is this the smartphone to beat?
Asus has been trying to crack the market’s smartphone code for a while now. Prior to its current lineup, the company tried again and again to get consumers on-board with an unconventional but innovative smartphone/tablet integration concept with the PadFone. Alas, the Taiwanese manufacturer finally gave in to the lackluster sales and redirected its smartphone efforts to the ZenFone.
2015 was a good year for Asus; when the ZenFone 2 managed to catch the market’s attention with its newfound value. It packed bangin’ specs for the competitive price. Asus phones were finally selling. But while the company later used this success as an opportunity to introduce ZenFone 2 variants, one of its offering quietly slipped out of view – the ZenFone Zoom.
First announced at CES 2015, Asus boasted a smartphone with a camera that could optically zoom. In hindsight, it seems like that project was a bit too ambitious for the manufacturer, as it’s taken a whole year of extra development to finally get it into our hands.
Is the ZenFone Zoom better late than never, or should it have remained as a concept? Let’s find out.
Design
If you recall the ZenFone Zoom’s CES 2015 announcement, you may notice that the back cover is slightly different to the production unit. The former had a smooth plastic cover while the latter looks leathery. Due to the Zoom’s aggressive pricing, I suspected that we would actually be dealing with faux leather.
When I got a hold of the review unit, I was convinced that my assumption was correct. The entire back cover feels like a leather-textured hard plastic. However, Asus states that it is in fact a “premium”, burnished leather. Because the material doesn’t quite feel the part, I’m left ambivalent about the effort.
Nonetheless, the texture and rounded back feels great in hand. Yes, the phone is in no way trying to be slim, but it’s not a brick either. OEM obsession over phone thinness is overrated in my book (especially when it’s traded for features), and the Zoom’s extra girth is no way impugns phone ergonomics.
Thickness comparison between the LG V10 (left) and ZenFone Zoom (right)
We can’t talk about the back of the phone without addressing the elephant in the room – that large circular camera housing. I’m not quite sure why the camera component has to take up so much space, but I won’t question the engineering magic that Asus had to pull off to gain 3x zooming from a lens that doesn’t telescope (more on the camera details later). I do appreciate that the odd module is just about the same thickness as the thickest portions of the phone. It doesn’t have that disruptive appearance that previous optically zooming smartphones have beared (i.e. Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series)
The camera lens is recessed, so you don’t have to worry about the protective glass getting scratched and ruining your pictures. However, on a usability note, the len’s placement on the back isn’t conventional (it’s lower than on most phones). I find myself often touching it with my index finger, then having to swipe off the fingerprint smudge before taking pics.
Because the curved back tapers on the sides, towards the bottom you’ll see a raised lining for stability (it keeps the phone from wobbling when set on a table). Subtle leather stitching surrounds the protrusion, for that convincing look. Right below it is a rear-facing, mono external speaker.
Oh, and that back cover is removeable. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you’ll have access to the battery (it’s barricaded in), but you will get a micro-SD slot. This is where the SIM slot lives as well.
Before receiving the Zoom, I wasn’t aware that Asus had now evolved the ZenFone’s build with a metal frame. It’s excellent and as premium as they come. It’s rounded, similar to the iPhone, and feels great in-hand. The finish is smooth and matte, the color has an interesting deep purple-ish tone. The metal is chamfered on both edges of the frame to show off its shine. The whole presentation says classy and complements the leathery backing well.
Regarding ports, you’ll find the headphone jack on the top and micro-USB port on the bottom. And because the Zoom is camera-centric, Asus included a lanyard opening on the bottom-left corner, for safety from drops during all those photo shoots.
The physical buttons are all on the right side (there’s nothing on the left side). Asus not only fitted a camera shutter button but also a record button adjacent to it. Holding down on either button launches the camera app whether the phone is off or on. Cleverly, the volume buttons double up for zooming when you’re in the camera app. They even have “T” (Telephoto) and “W” (Wide Angle) labels etched on them, like on a dedicated camera.
The front of the phone keeps traditional ZenFone fashion. There’s an Asus logo squeezed in between the earpiece and display, capacitive buttons, and the signature bezel plate along the bottom (which has a circular texture that produces a light ray effect from the center of the pattern). The Zoom’s bezel size is fairly average; it’s not the best screen-to-body ratio. It is just about as tall as the LG V10, which isn’t a good thing. The V10 has a 0.2″ larger display and a secondary screen on top of that.
But I suppose that when you factor in the $399 price and optical zoom, it can be forgivable.
Performance
Asus continues its partnership with Intel on the ZenFone Zoom. It packs an Intel Atom Z3580, which is comprised of a quad-core processor (running at 2.3GHz), PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, and 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Yes, you heard correctly – 4GB in a $399 smartphone.
But do those specs mean as much as they sound like they mean in the real world? Mostly. The Zoom is a speedy animal. Even despite the heavy ZenUI, it still manages to chug through Android without hesitation.
However, there were moments that frame rate drops were noticeable. I’m not talking about lags or delays, but rather, the fluidity was interrupted at times. In digging around, I noticed that ZenUI’s default “Normal” power management system says that it “Smartly adjusts CPU performance and brightness”. You can switch it to the “Performance” mode, in which it will utilize the entire CPU’s capability (at the cost of battery life).
A great thing is that the standard internal storage capacity of the Zoom is 64GB. I wish that every OEM would follow suit. And what makes that even sweeter is that micro-SD expansion is supported. You can only add on 64GB more, but at least you can.
Audio performance on all front is nothing to write home about. The rear placement of the external speaker is not ideal, and it’s thin-sounding. And there is nothing special to my ears from the audio out of the headphone jack.
Display
The ZenFone Zoom has a 5.5″ sized IPS LCD screen. Its resolution isn’t saturated with the QHD pixel count that many flagships boast these days, but 1080P is sufficient (403 PPI). I don’t find the difference between QHD and 1080P on a 5.5″ display that telling anyways, and would much rather not waste the extra battery life on something that frivolous.
The panel’s quality is above average. It particularly excels at keeping its composure at even extreme viewing angles. Colors look a tad dull to my eyes, but that’s just me being nit-picky.
The brightness does leave to be desired though. I feel like the max brightness should be able to go an extra 20-30% further (based on my experience with other phones). This mostly becomes a concern outside on a sunny day. But in digging around, I did find out that you can gain more brightness from within the Battery settings. Putting the phone in “Performance” mode increases the max brightness slightly (we’ll talk about this more in the Battery section).
Camera
Now the moment you’ve probably been waiting for – the ZenFone Zoom’s camera performance. Asus boasts a lot of technological achievement about the Zoom’s sensor on paper, but all that awesomeness deliver in real world use? We’ll get to that.
Firstly, something to know about the Zoom’s optics is that the lens doesn’t telescope like with traditional optical zooming. I didn’t know that upon receiving the phone. So when I opened her up and stared at the lens while zooming, you can probably guess the look on my face.
Asus says that the 3x optical magnification is achieved by some 10-element HOYA periscopic lens arrangement trickery. You can get more details about the technology (which Asus dubs PixelMaster 2.0) on the manufacturer’s site.
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The sensor itself has a 13MP capture resolution. It is also supplemented by 4 stops of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and an ultra-fast (0.03 seconds) laser auto-focus. The len’s f/2.7 aperture isn’t particularly great (compared to significantly larger sizes from the latest flagships), but Asus tries to assist the low-light performance from the software side with a Low Light shooting mode.
Without further ado, let’s get into the photo samples. Click on the collection below to see zoomed in (3x) and out samples.
The optical zoom does work, and the camera quality is maintained when zoomed. Check out this comparison with the LG V10, both zoomed at 3x (but the V10 can only do digital zoom).
LG V10, 3x zoom
Asus ZenFone Zoom, 3x zoom
To my eyes, the Zoom’s camera performs fantastically in good lighting. But the results can take a dubious turn otherwise. Areas of concentrated lighting can too easily be overexposed.
HDR helps to a point (mostly to even out the overall contrast), but the blown-out areas will still be there. On the other extreme, there is an expected struggle when light is taken away. But the camera doesn’t try to force it and give you grainy images, things are just less visible. Thankfully, there is a Low Light shooting mode in the camera interface, which produces decent results.
Auto shooting mode
Low Light shooting mode
There’s no strings attached to the optical zoom’s use. It still works in special shooting modes, such as HDR and Low Light, as well as while recording. If you find that you need to zoom more than 3x, the len’s mechanism also allows it to go all the way to 12x (but via digital zooming).
Speaking of shooting modes, Asus makes sure the hardware is well supported on the software front. On the bottom-right corner of the camera interface is a shortcut to a barrage of modes.
Some of these options are commonplace, but there’s a couple standout features. Super Resolution combines the detail from four simultaneous shots into a result that simulates 4x the capture resolution. Miniature mode gives the user finer tuning over the depth of field effect. Time Rewind takes simultaneous burst shots before and after the shutter button was tapped.
Battery
The ZenFone Zoom packs a modest 3,000 mAh capacity battery (non-removeable). It’s been sufficient in my use. I’ll go ahead to show you a battery usage graph, over a 9-hour period (the first half on T-Mobile’s network and the other half on WiFi).
50% battery drain over 9 hours is fine in my book. My usage covered a lot of use cases, such as internet browsing, music, maps/navigation, social media, and camera (screen brightness varied between max and 75%). But I didn’t play any games.
Do be aware that ZenUI packs battery modes that can largely determine what your battery life outcome will be. By default, the system is set to “Normal” (this is the mode that I used for the results above). It’s nice that Asus gives the user choices. Most UI’s have some form of Power Saving settings, but ZenUI actually lets you maximize performance if you want to (at the cost of battery life of course).
There are two tiers of power saving modes: “Power saving” and “Super saving”. The former disables networks when the phone is on standby, while the latter only keeps the basic phone functions going (calling, texting, alarm). Or you can select “Customized” and pick and choose the system behavior yourself, such as CPU performance, screen brightness, and network and app activity. Lastly, “Smart switch” allows automatic battery mode switching based on either a certain battery percentage or user-specified schedule.
Software
The ZenFone Zoom runs off of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Sadly, it’s not the latest version of Android and not even Android 5.1 (which was a crucial update in Lollipop). ZenUI is the user interface (UI) overlay and is no doubt as heavy as they come. But I will admit that after some time with the UI, I’ve started to open up to it. I don’t find that performance is hindered by ZenUI (which gives me confidence over Asus’s software competence), and I’ve discovered several useful functions that aren’t on other UI’s.
But I will always complain about unnecessary changes to Android’s aesthetics; it’s a waste of effort when changes don’t add any value. Things like the notification shade, app drawer, folder layout, and panel transitions all get a ZenUI fix. In fact, there’s no trace of true Android that I can spot.
Adding more insult to injury, Asus throws in a ton of home-brewed apps that get in your face. At the phone’s first startup, you get a barrage of notifications from these apps to let you know that they’re present (and they pop up again over time). The Asus apps range from system management (data cleaner, power settings) to media features/tools. Fortunately, if you’re like me and don’t care, the system allows you to disable the apps (but not uninstall).
But ZenUI does redeem itself through a couple ways. One of these is gestures (which stock Android has yet to implement).
There are two categories of gestures: Motion and Touch. There’s only a couple of motion gestures; shaking the phone to take a screenshot or bringing the phone to your ear to pick up a phone call. The touch gestures are far more interesting. Firstly, tap-to-wake is present (thank you, Asus!). What’s also cool is that you can draw a letter on the screen when it is off to launch one of the specified apps.
One other neat action is when you swipe up from the home screen. A “Manage Home” area pop ups, which contains various functions you may often use. You’ll also run into other nice useful features throughout the UI. For instance, you can set a tap and hold on Recent Apps button to take a screenshot or open up an app’s menu. The display’s coloring is alterable via presets or user customization. And there’s a useful “Auto-start Manager”, where you can save system memory by controlling which apps are allowed to run automatically.
Theming is something that I think every UI should be able to do. ZenUI has a “Themes” app with a vast library of free and paid options. This includes a library of icon packs and third-party support to grab a pack from the Play Store.
Final Thoughts
When I reflect on everything that the ZenFone Zoom offers and then recall its asking price of $399, I can’t help but think that the value is great. I could most definitely replace my daily driver flagship phone (which costs almost twice as much) and not regret it. That’s where the ZenFone line has the upper-hand, and the 3x optical zoom is icing that you won’t get on most cakes out there.
As long as your expectations aren’t sky-high, the ZenFone Zoom is definitely recommendable. I just emphasize that the camera’s general performance is good but not the best you’ll find, and that ZenUI may be too heavy for Android enthusiasts (although, it functions just fine).
We’d like to give a shout-out to B&H Photo for supplying our ZenFone Zoom review unit!
Asus ZenFone Zoom product page
The post Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Runkeeper will soon be bought by Asics
Asics has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy all shares in FitnessKeeper, the development company behind popular fitness app Runkeeper, and turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary. With over 33 million registered users, RunKeeper will instantly put Asics at the front of the pack when it comes to sportswear-affiliated fitness communities.
While Asics isn’t commenting on how much the deal is worth, it is following in the footsteps of several other high-profile acquisitions in recent times. UnderArmor acquired Endomondo, MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal and Adidas bought Runtastic last year.
See also: 15 best Android fitness apps and workout apps
Runkeeper’s CEO Jason Jacobs noted that the partnership makes a lot of sense too, as the app’s Shoe Tracker feature means the company already knew that “Asics shoes are by far the ones that Runkeeper users run in the most.” With many of the major fitness apps now being acquired by individual brands, it will be interesting to see if the communities these apps developed splinter into brand-loyal followings or if their original brand-agnostic nature can be retained.
Which fitness app do you use? What do you think of them being bought by fitness companies?
AIVAnet 