Asus has consistently thrown a few impressive announcements over the years, mostly along the affordable angle. The Zenfone 2's starting price of US$199 and the above average hardware that comes with it are head-turning, but as with all affordable smartphones, the caveat won't be known till we've...

With the ZenFone 2, Asus improves on most aspects of the Zenfone 5 except for the camera. The 4GB of RAM could come in handy if you often have multiple browser tabs open at the same time. Also, the PowerVR graphics chip is a solid performer and that is a boon for Android gamers.

Asus ZenFone 2 has 5.5 inch IPS display screen having 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) resolution at 403ppi. It is running on latest Lollipop OS. It is powered by Intel Atom Quad Core Processor running at 1.8/2.3GHz. It has front 5MP and rear 13MP camera.

Powerful processor; Good battery support; Good display resolution; Good camera configuration

Not user replaceable battery

I am using this phone for 7 days some very critical issues which take away its good look features. First, very high call drops, in my case its 95%. Call would drop within 2-3 mnutes….in few cases where call could go to 15-20 minutes call quality would deteriorate very badly….

Most people recognize Asus from its laptops and a smattering of Android tablets, but outside the United States, it also sells a lot of phones – 10 million to date, in fact. Its ZenFone smartphone lineup promises solid performance and a well-rounded feature set at an affordable price, and the ZenFone...

Outstanding value; Powerful hardware; Pleasing 1080p screen; Decent battery life

Pretty large; even for a phone with a 5.5-inch display; Bland design; Average camera; Software bloat

When it comes to smartphones, what drives your choices? If looks and materials are important to you, the bulky, plastic-shielded Asus Zenfone 2 won't make your shortlist. But if all the stuff under the hood counts for more points, then the gigantic, hulking shape of the device won't matter to you as...

Snappy and rare high-end Intel processors and plenty of RAM; Handy gestures can launch specific apps from standby; Fully customizable skin; Ultra-cheap, considering what you get; Comes with 5GB of free cloud storage forever, and 100GB of Google Drive storage free for two years

Large bezels, poor choice of materials, and too large of a body; So much plastic! Heavy, hard to work with one hand; Capacitive buttons are not illuminated; Comes with a ton of redundant apps that are a chore to get rid of

I can't believe the Asus ZenFone 2 costs $299. In terms of sheer power per dollar, it's unmatched. The ZenFone 2 has everything and the kitchen sink: 64GB of storage plus a memory card slot, two SIM slots, enough RAM to flip between several large games at once, and a surprisingly good camera.

Amazingly fast and powerful for the price; Good camera; Dual SIMs; Lots of memory

Big and heavy; Dim screen; Heavy Android skin; Too much bloatware

The rate at which the industry is pumping out smartphones these days is staggering. Even more impressive is the rate at which truly outstanding phones are shipping, even from names that weren't significant just a few years ago.

This is a great phone the draw on the battery is the android os, when do you ever see that its always the screen. 1080 p, yes on mobile I have proof 100 mbps, never seen a Samsung or iphone do that.

1080p; 100mbps on mobile; faster browsing internet; great phone

Removable battery only con

Can a $300 smartphone stand up with the best Android devices out there from heavyweights like Samsung, LG, and HTC? That's what Asus is trying to answer with the ZenFone 2. It's not alone either - a whole host of smaller smartphone manufacturers are trying the same thing this year.

Appealing low price; Fast; lag-free performance; Asus' software allows deep customization

Disgusting amount of bloatware; Camera falls apart outside of ideal conditions; Generic design with bad button layout