Gadget Review: ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie DC

New Delhi: With dual-camera phones fast gaining popularity in the cut-throat Indian smartphone market, ASUS recently introduced three smartphones in its Zenfone 4 selfie series in the country.

The Taiwanese company introduced a total of six smartphones -- Zenfone 4, Zenfone 4 Pro, Zenfone 4 Max, Zenfone 4 Max Pro and Zenfone 4 Selfie (two variants) -- in Taipei but brought only three selfie-centric devices to India. We received Rs 14,999 Zenfone 4 Selfie (Dual-Camera) and here is what we think of it. At 144 grams, the smartphone is impressively light and easy to operate with one hand.

It sports a unibody design with metallic finish with stripes at the top and bottom ends that give it an attractive look. We especially liked the design language used around the camera lens that reminded us of ASUS' trademark concentric circle design. The 5.5-inch HD LCD display topped with 2.5D curved glass blends well with the chassis. The display is bright with decent viewing angles. Above the display lies the LED flash, dual-camera set-up, earpiece and the proximity sensor. The fingerprint sensor sits below the display which was pretty quick to unlock the device. The selfie shooter of the device has a 20MP sensor (aperture of f/2.0) and an 8MP secondary sensor (aperture of f/2.4) that lets the user click decent selfies -- a high point of Zenfone 4 Selfie (Dual Camera) smartphone. The user can also select the portrait mode that adds "Bokeh" effect to the selfies.

In our opinion, the selfies taken in standard mode fared better than the wide-angle selfies. The front shooter also features "Live Beautification" mode that lets the user add artificial beautification to their image from level 1 to 10. The 16MP rear camera takes good images and close-up shots in proper lighting had enough detail. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage that ensures smooth everyday performance. The device runs its custom Zen UI based atop Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system (OS). ASUS has not bundled unnecessary pre-installed apps in the smartphone, which is a welcome change. The 3,000mAh battery lasted a little more than 12 hours on moderate usage with 4G running on one SIM slot, on a single charge.

What does not work?

The Snapdragon 430 processor does its job well in keeping the smartphone cool and gets daily tasks done, but considering the price, we would have loved to see a Snapdragon 625 chipset in this one. Photos taken in low-light conditions had much noise. The sunlight legibility of the display could have been better. Conclusion: With decent overall performance, Zenfone 4 Selfie (Dual Camera) smartphone is a competent attempt by ASUS to make a mark in the selfie smartphone race in this price range.

(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in ) --IANS