ASUS ZenFone 4 Smartphone - Hands On Review

The Asus Zenfone 4: A Smartphone Worth Noticing

In recent years, the term "Isis" may bring to mind images of ancient Egyptian mythology, but this is not the case when it comes to smartphones. The Asus Zenfone 4 is a phone that is worth paying attention to, mainly due to its unique camera lenses at the top.

The camera lenses on the Zenfone 4 are an interesting feature, and they do produce wide-angle shots, which is different from what we've seen before. When looking through the gallery, it's clear that these lenses can produce some impressive results. The standard view of the camera takes a regular 12-megapixel photo, while the wide-angle lens captures a shot with an 8-megapixel sensor at the same location. This shows that there is a considerable difference between the two lenses.

The Zenfone 4 also comes equipped with various technologies for its camera, including optical image stabilization, 4K video recording, face detection autofocus, and more. The front camera takes pretty good selfies, utilizing both a selfie app and a built-in selfie mode with numerous beautification effects if that's your preference. However, there are some notable differences in the phone's design, particularly when it comes to its bezels.

Compared to other recent smartphones, such as the 1+5 T, the Zenfone 4 has significantly thicker bezels at the top and bottom than we see on more modern devices. This is somewhat mitigated by a sleeker profile when considering the side of the phone. On the front of the device, there's also an enormous display taking up most of the space. The screen itself measures 5.5 inches in size with 1080p resolution.

The Zenfone 4 runs on Android 7.1.1 but comes preloaded with Asus's own user interface called Zen UI. While it works well enough, users may find certain aspects to be less than ideal due to minor annoyances that can arise when using this third-party interface. Notably, notification clearing has been moved from its traditional location at the bottom to the top of the screen in the Zen UI. This change might not immediately register with all users but is another example of how Asus's version of Android differs slightly.

Another notable feature of the Zenfone 4 is the use of a fingerprint sensor located beneath the screen. This technology works quickly and smoothly, providing users with an efficient way to access their phone. The fingerprint sensor also includes additional features that make it easier to navigate back to the main menu.

When holding the phone in one's hand, there's a slight thickness to its body at approximately 8 millimeters. This is somewhat thicker than some of its competitors, but the phone still looks well-made and solidly built despite this extra dimension. The glass rear panel of the device also utilizes Gorilla Glass 5 for protection against scratches and drops.

Perhaps one of the most charming features of the Zenfone 4 is its design element: a starburst effect created around the logo on the back of the phone when held up to light. This adds a touch of visual appeal that distinguishes the Asus Zenfone 4 from other devices in its price range. An accompanying case is also provided for the device, giving users an additional layer of protection for their investment.

Despite having a somewhat dated processor compared to some more modern phones, such as the 1+5 T which boasts a newer Snapdragon processor, the Zenfone 4 still manages to offer interesting features at a price that's hard to beat.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIsis isn't the name that we always associate with smartphones perhaps more with computers but this this is the zenfone 4 and it's worth paying attention to mainly because of these two camera lenses at the top we know what you're thinking you've seen these many many times before it produces that blurred background effect right well no not so much in this case asus has decided to take out a leaf out of LG's book and these lenses produce wide-angle shots and it's a little bit different to what we used to so let's have a look at what it can do we'll go into the gallery and we'll have a look at some of the pictures we've taken before so this is your standard view for your gap from the normal 12 megapixel camera and that's a wide-angle shot same location but taken with the 8 megapixel wide-angle camera so there's a considerable difference between the two Isis also packs this camera with technology there's optical image stabilization there's 4k video recording this face detection autofocus there's tons of stuff the front camera also takes pretty good selfies and it does that using a selfie app and within the camera itself there's a selfie mode with a lot of beautification effects if that's your thing yeah we're looking at the front you can see this doesn't quite all of the same trick as we're seeing from many other smartphones over the last year which is minimizing the bezels sure they're not very thick at the side but they're absolutely enormous at the top and the bottom certainly when you compare it to something like the 1 + 5 t then there's a lot of difference between the screens and the bezels this is a 5.5 inch screen with 1080p resolution it runs Android 7.1.1 but it uses Asus is Zen UI over the top it's their own user interface and it's fine but it's not the most pleasant experience little things just tend to frustrate particularly if you're used to regular Android for example to clear the notifications you'd normally see a little button down here but no Isis has put it right at the top up here and if you don't know what you're looking for it's easy to miss otherwise the system looks fairly as we'd expect from a third-party user interface that's a little fingerprint sensor below the screen here which works nice and fast and also has various different features for zipping you back to the main menu just like a home button the phone is relatively thick at just under 8 millimeters there's a glass rear panel and it produces this really cool sort of starburst effects that sent it around the ISIS logo we really like that it's a great little touch and this is also a Gorilla Glass 5 rear panel the same glass that's over the top of the screen so it's fairly tough but there is a a useful case that comes in the box the price for this is $400 in the US but considerably more expensive in the UK it's good value so me in regard to the camera we've had some fun shooting with that although it does struggle in the in low-light however for the price it's decent value however we'll come back to this the 1 + 5 T which is only a little bit more expensive and vastly superior not just in its modern design but also in power this has the latest Snapdragon processor inside whereas the Asus phone makes - with an older and the slower snapdragon 616 however if you're looking for a phone that's much less than $500 that still does something interesting with the camera and it isn't exactly the same as every other phone out there the Asus zenfone 4 is worth a look youIsis isn't the name that we always associate with smartphones perhaps more with computers but this this is the zenfone 4 and it's worth paying attention to mainly because of these two camera lenses at the top we know what you're thinking you've seen these many many times before it produces that blurred background effect right well no not so much in this case asus has decided to take out a leaf out of LG's book and these lenses produce wide-angle shots and it's a little bit different to what we used to so let's have a look at what it can do we'll go into the gallery and we'll have a look at some of the pictures we've taken before so this is your standard view for your gap from the normal 12 megapixel camera and that's a wide-angle shot same location but taken with the 8 megapixel wide-angle camera so there's a considerable difference between the two Isis also packs this camera with technology there's optical image stabilization there's 4k video recording this face detection autofocus there's tons of stuff the front camera also takes pretty good selfies and it does that using a selfie app and within the camera itself there's a selfie mode with a lot of beautification effects if that's your thing yeah we're looking at the front you can see this doesn't quite all of the same trick as we're seeing from many other smartphones over the last year which is minimizing the bezels sure they're not very thick at the side but they're absolutely enormous at the top and the bottom certainly when you compare it to something like the 1 + 5 t then there's a lot of difference between the screens and the bezels this is a 5.5 inch screen with 1080p resolution it runs Android 7.1.1 but it uses Asus is Zen UI over the top it's their own user interface and it's fine but it's not the most pleasant experience little things just tend to frustrate particularly if you're used to regular Android for example to clear the notifications you'd normally see a little button down here but no Isis has put it right at the top up here and if you don't know what you're looking for it's easy to miss otherwise the system looks fairly as we'd expect from a third-party user interface that's a little fingerprint sensor below the screen here which works nice and fast and also has various different features for zipping you back to the main menu just like a home button the phone is relatively thick at just under 8 millimeters there's a glass rear panel and it produces this really cool sort of starburst effects that sent it around the ISIS logo we really like that it's a great little touch and this is also a Gorilla Glass 5 rear panel the same glass that's over the top of the screen so it's fairly tough but there is a a useful case that comes in the box the price for this is $400 in the US but considerably more expensive in the UK it's good value so me in regard to the camera we've had some fun shooting with that although it does struggle in the in low-light however for the price it's decent value however we'll come back to this the 1 + 5 T which is only a little bit more expensive and vastly superior not just in its modern design but also in power this has the latest Snapdragon processor inside whereas the Asus phone makes - with an older and the slower snapdragon 616 however if you're looking for a phone that's much less than $500 that still does something interesting with the camera and it isn't exactly the same as every other phone out there the Asus zenfone 4 is worth a look you\n"