Asus Zenfone 2 Laser Review ZE550KL | Top 3 Reasons Why I prefer Asus Zenfone 2 Laser for Blogging

Asus Zenfone 2 Laser Review:

I am not someone who inordinately scrutinizes the technology behind my gadgets. As a blogger, I always it to meet both my personal and blogging needs. Yes, I don't like to manage multiple gadgets for different purposes. But, mobile was the one thing which was not much helpful for my blogging needs as I chose one with a not so good quality camera.



Different people expect different features from their smart phones. With the market being loaded with a wide range of smart phones, you have to be reasonably smart when you choose a smart phone for you.

I am here going to review Asus Zenfone 2 Laser which is awarded with iF design awards for 2015. Model number is ZE550KL. Below is the photo of the mobile taken with Asus Zenpad 8.0 in low light.

About Asus:

• Worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor
• Maker of the world's best-selling, most award-winning mother boards.
• broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktop and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, servers, multimedia devices, wireless solutions, networking devices, tablets and smartphones
• ASUS won 4,326 awards in 2014
• Company revenue for 2014 was approximately US$14.5 billion

I would definitely love to talk about the reasons why I prefer my new Zenfone for blogging right now. But before that, I would like to feature the highlights of the phone. Though I don't pay much attention to all technical details, I really like to know the important specifications at least. Hope many of you might be on the same page.

Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE550KL Highlights:

Design:

• iF DESIGN AWARD
• Metallic hairline finish
• 3.9mm thin edge

Display:

• Retina screen 13.9cm(5.5)
• 72% screen to body ratio 
• Corning Gorilla° Glass 4
• Bluelight filter for eye protection - Bluelight filter provides eye care function and less color distortion comparing to 3rd party app. It reduces 30% bluelight from LCD(depends on the image content).

Performance:

• 2GB RAM
• 64-bit CPU, 4G LTE
• 60ms touch response time
• 4 LDS (Laser direct structure) antennas for best call / data quality
• GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDSS
• Google drive 100GB free space (2 years)
• Micro SD card support, up to 128GB
• DSDS (Dual SIM, Dual Stand by): SIM1/SIM2 support 2G/3G/4G

Audio:

• Sound: Magnificent sound experience by next-gen SonicMaster 2.0 technology - Louder sound volume, enhanced bass effect, minimum sound distortion.
• Five Magnet Speaker for up to 40% better performance
• Dual microphone with noise cancellation for best call quality
• AudioWizard 2.0 - Dedicated powerful software to maximize the full potential of FIVE magnet speaker.
• 5 Modes for different scenarios - Music, Movie, Gaming, Speech and Smart Mode.
• Built-in equalizer for more detail adjustment.
• High degree of freedom - Bass, Treble and Dialog can be enhanced by user.

Touch:

• Industrial leading 60ms touch response time
• Anti-fingerprints coating, friction reduced by 23-34%
• Supports glove touch

PixelMaster Camera:

• Front 5MP Camera f/2.0, 85° wide view lens Rear:
• 13MP Camera f/2.0, 5P Largan lens
• 0.03 second Laser Auto Focus
• Dual color real tone LED flash
• Super HDR for up to 400% better contrast photos
• Low Light mode for 400% brighter photos and videos
• 52MP photos with Super Resolution mode
• DSLR-like Manual mode
• 140° Selfie Panorama
• Real time Beautification
• MiniMovie / PhotoCollage / ZenCircle

A random click with Asus Zenfone Laser 2

Battery:

• 3000mAh Li-Polymer removable battery
• Stand by time: up to 28 days
• Talk time: up to 32 hours
• Web browsing (WiFi): up to 17 hours

User Interface:

• ASUS ZenUl 2.0 with over 1000+ software enhancements:
• Themes store
• Easy mode / Kids mode / SnapView
• ZenMotion /Tap tap to wake up and sleep
• 24/7 ZenUl apps instant update from Goog le play store
• ZenUl apps with over 300 million downloads

Quality:

• Corning° Gorilla° Glass 4: Anti scratch, better drop-resistance,
• strong glass durability
• Side button tested: 250000 times
• Twist test 10000 times

Accessories:

Sold separately - View Flip Cover/ ZenPower / DSLR-like ZenFlash / LolliFlash.

Top 3 Reasons Why I prefer Asus Zenfone 2 Laser for Blogging:

Now let us move onto the reasons why I prefer my new Zenfone for blogging.

1) 13 MP Camera With Laser Auto Focus:

Though I blog on several topics, food blogging is my personal favorite. Working on recipe posting is fun and close to my heart. I love each and every stage of the food photography process starting from taking step-by-step photos till uploading the edited photos in my blog.

Initially I was using a basic Canon Point and Shoot camera with good resolution. But it has a lot of limitations. You cannot take good photographs espeically in the low light. My kitchen does not have enough sunlight coming inside. Even photos taken with the help of tube light or chimney lights did not come out well. 2 Years back my hubby gifted me NIKON DSLR D5100 surprisingly.

I was happy with the outcome of DSLR. But I continued to use my canon camera for taking step-by-step photos as I felt DSLR is too heavy to carry throughout the food preparation inside the kitchen. I used DSLR only to take final photos of the cooked food.

Later I felt quite difficult to handle two different cameras for a single recipe. I had to keep both the cameras charged well before taking the photos. Also, it was difficult to transfer the photos from 2 different cameras. So, I stopped using my point and shoot one and started using DSLR alone.

Handling DSLR is not a simple task. It is too heavy at least for me and taking step-by-step photos with it requires more effort. I had to keep it in the kitchen till I finish cooking as I could not run here and there. Also, I had to ask my hubby to clean it regularly as the food particles and flours easily stick to the body of the camera.

When I got my Zenfone, I felt quite convinced to try it as it has 13 MP rear camera. I started taking photos with it. Without the help of DSLR, I was able to take all the photos of Homemade Noodles Recipe with my Asus Zenfone 2 Laser.

Of course, I felt that the photos can be improved by little post-processing which I do for the photos taken with DSLRs too. I always use Picasa to adjust the brightness, contrast, shadows, highlights etc. I crop and resize them with Picasa or MS Paint. I watermark the pictures and add required texts. That's it.

Asus Zenfone 2 Laser has 5 MP front camera and 13 MP rear camera with laser assisted auto-focus that allows you to lock the focus on an object as low as 0.3 second. 

I have captured one of the steps of Homemade Noodles recipe using my previous phone(Samsung Galaxy Duos 2 GT-S5782), Current Phone(Asus Zenfone 2 Laser) and DSLR. I have cropped and resized the photos. Other than that, there is no editing done. All the photos were taken in very low light without any artificial lighting.

With Asus Zenfone 2 Laser - Taken in Auto Mode

With Nikon DSLR D5100 - Taken in Food Mode

With Samsung Duos 2 GT-S5782 - Taken in Auto Mode

As I have used food mode in my DSLR, it captured the object well even in the low light environment. But I feel that the Zenfone has captured the detail of the object better. Hope I can achieve the same thing by modifying the settings in my DSLR. But for me, it is a difficult task. So, I always go with the 'Food' mode. I wanted to check whether I could improve the photo taken with Zenfone by basic post-processing. And, the outcome is below. Please Note - I am an amateur photographer.

Photo taken with Zenfone - After post-processing with Picasa

Looks better, isn't it? So, I could give up my DSLR at least inside my kitchen. Few more photos are following which were taken again in low light environment.

Well, you might be wondering why I am just testing the phone mostly in low light environments. My kitchen always has low light. So, my main focus is on low light environments.

Taken With Asus Zenfone 2 Laser in Low Light - No Editing other than resizing

After post-processing in Picasa - Filled light and adjusted the contrast

Taken with Asus Zenfone 2 Laser - No editing other than cropping & resizing

After post-processing with Picasa - Filled light, Adjusted contrast and cropped

Zenfone 2 Laser could capture the details well even in the low-light environment. A little bit of post-processing could give my desired outcome.

With Asus Zenfone 2 Laser, you can easily play with more settings which is quite similar to DSLR. The difference is that you do not need to struggle to change the settings. With 2-3 clicks, you can change the settings and capture the photos. Yes, you just need 2-3 clicks to change the ISO settings, White balance, exposure value, optimization, Image quality etc.

There are lot of photographers who write about ISO, White balance, Exposure value etc. But I have never touched these features in DSLR. I think I can try them now with Zenfone as it looks quite simple.

There is another important reason why I love Asus Zenfone 2 Laser for blogging. With 13 MP camera resolution, everyone knows that it can take pretty photographs. Whenever I go to my native, I really feel for missing my DSLR. It is quite heavy to take it along with me while traveling.

My mom makes so many healthy, traditional and unique recipes there. My previous phone was not able to give quality pictures. So, I just had to take unintentional break for food blogging. Now, I am happy that I own a phone with good quality camera. I don't need to give anymore breaks for food blogging. Whenever I visit my native place, I promise to post some healthy traditional recipes like Kanji, Kazhi etc.

2) Durability:

Are you someone like me who let the phone slip down many times? With smooth curvature, Asus Zenfone 2 Laser provides you a more natural grip that does not allow the phone to get slipped easily. Otherwise it is possible for me to drop it several times especially while using it for taking step-by-step photos. Taking step-by-step photos is the most difficult part of food blogging as one of your hands will be busy with mixing the flour, one with spoon and yet you have to take some good photos.

Even accidental scratching can be avoided with with Anti-Scratch Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The phone has better scratch-resistance than any protection film for smartphones in the market.

3) Price:

There are newbie bloggers who might be waiting to buy DSLRs from the money earned through their blogs. As good DSLRs can cost you around 30,000, you can buy ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser initially. Not only you can use it for blogging, it will surely help you to meet your personal needs too like taking selfies, capturing your precious moments etc. With the stylish design, you will feel proud for owning this phone.

The revolutionary Zenfone 2 Laser 5.5 is priced at just 9,999 which is a great buy for customers. Their endeavor is to 'empower luxury to everyone'. Phone with high-end features. So, this phone doesn't burn a hole in your pocket.

You can buy it in Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and few more online shopping sites.

Overall Thoughts:

I strongly recommend Asus Zenfone 2 Laser for everyone who wants luxurious smart phone in smarter price tag. It is totally worth every penny you spend on this phone. You can check the reviews from different customers in Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal. I am sure you will be happy to own this stylish smart phone.

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