The ASUS ZenFone 5 will be officially launched in Malaysia pretty soon, alongside with the ZenFone Max Pro (M1), which we also unboxed a couple days ago. While waiting for the full review of both devices, as well as the launch, what better thing to do than reading our unboxing and the first look at the device?
Unboxing
Like the ZenFone 4, the ZenFone 5 comes in a black box, which looks premium. This time around, the “ZenFone 5” branding is in blue instead of gold.
Opening up the box, you’ll see the “We Love Photo” tagline, not the phone first. Not really sure why all manufacturers did this ever since Apple done it this way from the iPhone 7 onwards.
The box contains:
- ASUS ZenFone 5
- TPU Case
- Warranty and User Guide
- USB-C Cable
- Wall Adapter
- Earphones
- Extra Ear Tips
- SIM Ejector Tool
As always, having an included TPU case is always a good sign showing how the manufacturer wants you to take care the phone.
First Look
When I first got the ZenFone 5, I was like: “Oh man! This is beautiful!” Even though I’m not really a fan of the notch, but at least its bottom chin isn’t as big as certain phones, which have a fingerprint sensor below the display. The phone sports a 6.2-inch (2,246 x 1,080) Super IPS 19:9 display with DCI-P3 support, by the way.
It has a medium-sized notch, not too wide or too narrow. As usual, the notch is filled with the light sensor, earpiece, and front-facing camera. The LED notification on the ZenFone 5 is actually beneath the earpiece.
Unlike the ZenFone 4, the ZenFone 5 now comes with on-screen Android navigation keys. And look at that bottom chin, not really big, but definitely a lot bigger than the iPhone X.
Since there’s no fingerprint sensor below the display, ASUS decided to place the fingerprint sensor at the back of the phone. The fingerprint sensor is located in a good position, which is where your finger will naturally rest when attempting to unlock your phone. Additionally, the fingerprint sensor also supports swipe gesture for you to check the notifications.
The signature concentric circle design looks pretty nice, as usual. Both front and back of the phone use a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5. You have to be careful though since glass is slippery and will break no matter how tough it is. My advice is to put on the included TPU case to protect the phone.
At the top left corner, you’ll see the dual-camera setup, which placed vertically, similar to the iPhone X. The phone uses a 12MP Sony IMX363 sensor with large 1.4µm pixels, f/1.8 wide-aperture lens, and OIS + an 8MP 120° wide-angle secondary camera. According to ASUS, it features AI-enhanced camera features such as AI Scene Detection for 16 different scenes and objects, AI Photo Learning, Real-time Portrait, and Real-time Beautification.
The bottom of the phone houses a 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C cable, microphone, and speaker. Thankfully, this phone still comes with a 3.5mm audio jack, I’m still not ready to go all wireless.
The ASUS ZenFone 5 will be available in Meteor Silver and Midnight Blue. Unfortunately, the price of this phone hasn’t been officially announced yet. Stay tuned as we will be attending the launch!
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