It looks like the selfie-centric smartphones are here to stay. Asus has recently launched 3 smartphones under the Zenfone 4 series in India. Interestingly all three were selfie centric phones which shows how much focus Asus is giving to this niche. One of these 3 smartphones is the Asus Zenfone 4 Selfie ZB553KL priced at Rs. 9,999 which I’ve been using since a few days now. So if you’re planning to buy this smartphone, this detailed Asus Zenfone 4 Selfie review will help you to decide if it is worth buying or not.
Zenfone 4 Selfie Specifications
5.5-inch HD (1280*720) display| 1.4GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 430 processor | 3GB RAM | 32 GB internal, expandable up to 2TB via dedicated SD card slot | 13MP front camera with Flas | 13MP rear camera | 3,000 mAh battery | Android 7.1.2 | Rs. 9,999
Zenfone 4 Selfie SAR Value
0.580W/KG@1G(Head) | 0.600W/KG@1g(Body)
Zenfone 4 Selfie Unboxed
Inside the box, you get pretty regular stuff like
- Asus Zenfone 4 Selfie Mobile phone itself
- A Power Adapter (5V-2A)
- Headphone
- Data cable
- SIM eject tool
- Quick Start Guide
Zenfone 4 Selfie Review: Build, Design and Display
In terms of design, the Zenfone 4 Selfie phone does look like a smartphone right out of 2016. I must say the design is pretty much uninspiring and has nothing new and reminds me of the Zenfone Live (Review) that was launched in the month of May. In fact, it looks very similar to other phones in this budget range. Although the phone is very light at just 140 grams thanks to the plastic body, it does feel nice in the hand, however, does not feel premium. The phone has rounded sides and edges that make it comfortable to hold and grip.
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The Zenfone 4 Selfie comes with a 5.5-inch HD display along with 2.5D glass that curves at the edges. On the front, you have a front-facing camera, selfie flash, proximity sensors and the earpiece above the display on the thick top bezel. The bottom chin has the regular Android back and multitasks keys, which sadly are non-backlit. The fingerprint sensor is located under the home button which is fixed.
The back is mainly made of plastic which has a metallic finish and houses the 16-megapixel rear camera with the flash and Asus branding. On the right inside you can find the volume rocker and power button while the triple sim card tray that can hold two nano SIM and one microSD card slot is located on the left. The micro USB charging port and speaker are located at the bottom while the 3.5mm audio jack and the secondary earpiece sits on the top.
The display sits on the top of the body of the phone however it lacks any protection what so ever. The display is brought and offers nice viewing angles hence has good outdoor performance. The phone feels a bit slippery and the back casing is prone to dirt and smudges easily. A protective case is highly recommended.
Zenfone 4 Selfie Review: Software, Battery, and Performance
Asus Zenfone 4 selfie runs on ZenUI 4.0 on top of Android 7.1.1 and the company has already promised Android Oreo update. While the previous generation Asus phones were crippled by bloatware, the company has heard the feedback and has cut down the number of pre-installed app from 35 to 13. The result is clearly visible with a responsive and slick UI. However, I still had 3 non-English useless apps which may irritate a buyer. Although not really sure if this would be a part of the retail unit or not! The clarification on this was still pending till the review went live.
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You have a lot of options for customization like themes, wallpapers etc present in case you want. There are different modes like easy mode for elders or kids mode that limits the usage of select applications in case you have a kid at home. It is nice to see the available storage, RAM and battery displayed right in the settings menu and saves you a couple of extra steps each time. You also have Twin apps should you need to run multiple instances of however it is limited to Facebook, Instagram, and messenger currently. Motion and touch gestures are also present in the settings menu.
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The Zenfone 4 Selfie comes with 32 GB internal storage which may feel less, however, thanks to a dedicated sim card slot it is easy to extend the storage. Asus is also offering 100 GB Free storage on Google drive.
The phone comes with a 3000 mAh battery and during my usage, I found that you’d be looking for a charger by the evening with a few calls, web browsing and Wi-Fi on every time. In case you play games or watch videos often then the battery would need to be juiced up at least couple of times in a day. Hope Asus improved the battery management with further updates. It takes close to 2 hours for the phone to charge from zero to full.
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The Zenfone 4 Selfie is powered by a Snapdragon 430 processor and with 3GB RAM it could play most of the games easily with very slight lags randomly or you need to set the graphics settings to run graphics intensive games smoothly however for this price you really can’t complain as the phone offers more than the value. In case you play games for a longer period of times the phone starts heating up from the back. The speakers on the phone are pretty loud and since the Asus has gotten rid of bloat the effect is clearly visible.
Zenfone 4 Selfie Review : Camera
The camera is a highlight of the phone and it comes as a pleasant surprise considering the price point. Like the UI of the phone camera app has also shed some extra weight. There are just the right amount of features present in the camera app that one uses regularly. There are modes like Pro Mode, Panorama, Super Resolution, Portrait apart from beautification option, in case you are a fan of beautification modes.
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The phone comes with 13-megapixel camera with f/2.0 both at the front and at the back. The rear camera is the weaker link here it captures a good amount of details with proper lighting however it does struggle with focus and takes a lot of time to focus correctly. Even the time it takes to get ready after clicking a shot is way too much. Portrait mode on the rear camera works well.
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During In my Zenfone 4 Selfie review period I clicked a few selfies too. The camera captures good details and the portrait mode that blurs the background works good. Since its an artificially created depth of field you can notice the lack of sharpness around the edges. For low light scenarios, the front flash comes to rescue. The biggest complain I had while shooting pictures on the phone is that the top part starts heating up considerably and the heat can be felt on the front side too.
