Asus 6Z

Asus Zenfone 6 is the premium progression of the Zenfone series. Priced at Rs. 31,990, the phone looks good and has an ultra-tech addition to the Asus lineup.

With a flip camera that functions almost like a phone from the future, the Asus Zenfone 6 is packed enough to grab anyone’s attention. It does not falter in its performance stats either, making it a well-rounded phone all over.

The Zenfone 6 comes with a clean design without any aggressive look that will draw you suddenly. However, it does have one thing that sets it apart from most phones – it’s flip camera. The blue accents and the robotic look of the flip camera give it an extra edge. The body of the phone is made of glass, and there is an aluminium frame around the rim that gives it sturdiness. However, at 190g, it does feel hefty and a bit metallic. Despite having a glass build, the phone does not come with wireless charging. On the right edge, the phone gives you a power button and the volume rocker key. Plus, there is a dedicated quick action button for Google Assistant (default), which could be altered. On the left side, the phone is blank with only the SIM tray. The bottom of the phone holds a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and the speaker grill. On the rear panel, the phone has the rear fingerprint sensor and a dual camera module. The camera flips around the top part of the phone, giving it a next-gen feel. The phone does not have an IP rating for dust and water resistance, but that is expected since moving parts are hard to make water-resistant.

Perhaps, the most disappointing part of the Asus Zenfone 6 is its display. While most phones have gone for AMOLED screen, the Asus Zenfone 6 gives you a 6.4-inch LCD screen with a tall 19:5:9 aspect ratio. OLED displays can provide you with deeper blacks and economize on battery juice; two things were an LCD falls short. The brightness of the phone is maxed out at 600 nits, which drains the battery but makes it difficult to look at the screen outdoors. Regarding other aspects, the phone performs well. It has a Gorilla Glass 6 attached on top, so you get a scratch-resistant model. The chin at the bottom is quite thick, but otherwise, it is more immersive than Pixel 3. You also get 100% DCP-I3 coverage, which means it can show entire color space on this phone.

Zenfone 6 has one of the most powerful processors of modern times, the Snapdragon 855. It comes with 6GB or 8GB variant. As usual, the phone is fast – it can efficiently run multiple apps, and due to the RAM, you do not go out of memory. You can play many games on this phone, including high-end games which would largely be stutter free. However, the phone does tend to get a bit hot. For improved performance, you can go for the AI Boost Mode too. However, it drains the battery a lot.

The Asus Zenfone 6 arrives with a 48MP primary camera along with a 13MP wide-angle camera. It is not a unique design in any way, but the unique part is – the camera double up to become a selfie shooter too. While many phones have gone for the pop-up camera and punch-hole camera to get you a full-screen display, Asus creatively brings the flip camera. Hence, now, you can get a 48MP selfie camera as well as the rear camera. The camera can swing a full 180 degree and therefore, you can take shots from any angle. The daylight shots of the phone is quite amazing. The Dynamic range is beautiful, and the sharpness turns out to be admirable. Low-light performance, however, was very average. It struggled, but with long-exposure, more light could be acquired in dark scene circumstances. Portrait modes turned out to be quite good. There was a natural look on the subject while the blur was adequate with proper edge detection. However, the skin smoothing seemed too much, though it did not deteriorate the quality of the picture.

The Zenfone 6 comes with a massive 5000 Ah battery, which surprisingly, does not perform well. It can only get a decent 6 and a half hours of screen on-time, though, for a battery of this size, it can get a lot more. You can get through a single day, but you will not be able to see it chug through two days like the P30 Pro. The phone seems to have a high-level of standby drain. Going to bed with 26 percent may make you wake up with a dead phone in the morning. Charging takes a lot of time, going for about 2 hours.

The Asus Zenfone 6 is a value-for-money phone. It may not have wireless charging or IP rating, but the phone turns out to be pretty reliable. The flip cameras doubling up to be a selfie camera is genuinely innovative and efficient. Plus, the phone has a fantastic processor which keeps the performance fast. However, the display of this phone seems quite weak and could have been much better with an OLED panel. However, the phone remains a fantastic phone, which can be a satisfying model in the hands of value-for-money phone seekers.