The ASUS ZenFone 2 Review
by Brandon Chester on May 26, 2015 8:00 AM ESTGPU Performance
As I’ve already mentioned a few times, both models of the ZenFone 2 use the PowerVR G6430 GPU from Imagination Technologies. This is the same GPU used in Apple’s A7 chip, although the implementation in A7 likely has a max GPU clock of around 450MHz, while in Atom Z3560 and Z3580 it peaks at 533MHz. While one would think this would give the ZenFone 2 a lead over the Apple A7 based iOS devices, factors like driver optimization can also play a role.
The ZenFone’s performance in 3DMark is very good, and is one of the highest that we’ve seen. Much of this is due to the score in the physics test, which bests even the Galaxy S6 that had previously topped the chart, and second only to the Venue 8 7000 tablet. In the graphics test it achieves a score similar to that of the iPhone 6. The overall weighted average of the two tests puts the ZenFone 2 in fourth place, between the Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy S6 Edge.
In BaseMark X we see that the ZenFone 2 stumbles compared to the G6430 implementation in the iPhone 5s. Despite the higher clock speed on the GPU, it trails the iPhone 5s in both the Dunes and Hanger tests. The final score ends up right in the middle of the chart. It’s not as quick as the iPhone 5s and faster devices, but it’s quicker than those that use Snapdragon 801 and Adreno 330.
Our last benchmark is GFXBench. In the off screen 1080p tests we see that the ZenFone 2 is slightly quicker than the iPhone 5s in both Manhattan and T-Rex HD. The differences are small enough to be attributed to test variance, but the important point is that the G6430 GPU ends up being as quick as the implementation in Apple’s A7 SoC. The fact that it’s only as quick as the iPhone 5s despite its higher clock speeds indicates that PowerVR GPU drivers on Android are not as well optimized as on iOS, and it would be great to see GPU performance improve a little bit down the road via driver improvements.
Overall, the GPU in the ZenFone 2 is more than fast enough to run the OS smoothly and run any 2D or 3D games a user will want to play. The performance is substantially better than any other phone at this price point. It looks like there's still a gap between the optimization of PowerVR GPU drivers on iOS versus Android, but despite that the ZenFone 2 still delivers performance that I know won't disappoint any of its buyers.
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loimlo - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
My mom has been using 1st gen, Zenfone 5 for 10 months. ASUS SW update literally broke app compatibility several times during this period. At some time, my mom couldn't disconnect a phone call due to a nasty SW bug! I'd to lock the screen and unlock it again to disconnect. It's not the end of world, but still an alarming for potential 2nd gen, Zenfone 2 buyers. Fantastic HW value, but subpar SW update quality.ketacdx - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
I've been using the TW model since long before the NA launch and there have been a lot of software Updates and ZenUI updates but its not like a beta testing thing. They are fixing issues most manufacturers don't bother with. Little things that they are truly optimizing that a normal person would never notice. Aside from my worry about the quality of the gorilla glass when dropped (think nexus 4 outcomes), the QC elsewhere on this things feels prime. I have no concerns.Dawgmatix - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
Are there any phones with arm processors that use the same display? What does their battery life look like? How can we be sure its not the cpu or gpu that is eating up the battery?Brandon Chester - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
Because the SoC power usage is small relative to display power usage on any device during the browser test, and the ZenFone 2 performs worst of all in that test. In tests where the SoC has a greater impact and the display has a lesser one it actually achieves a battery life closer to that of other devices.YOUCANNOTDENY - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
Hello,I had a few observations/questions. I currently own the $199 version of the Zenfone 2, and have not noticed any dynamic contrast or CABC during my time with the device. This may be because I cannot recognize it, but I'm pretty sure something similar is used in my Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook with Intel's HD Graphics drivers (I promptly disabled the dynamic contrast shifts in Graphics Settings). I have, however, turned off "Smart Saving" in Power Management on the Zenfone 2, so that may be what is causing the difference. I am also on the latest 2.17.40.12 software version, which may have introduced changes.
One other thing, I noticed that in the "Splendid" app, owners can change the color temperature of the screen. I immediately noticed the overly cold white point of the screen when I first powered on the device, so I looked to the Splendid app to change the color temperature. I am currently on "Reading Mode" with default settings on the slider, which makes the screen more bearable to my eyes, but I am still unsure of the absolute color accuracy. If at all convenient, would it be possible to rerun screen accuracy measurements in the various color temperature modes offered in the included "Splendid" application? Perhaps, we may be able to find a setting that makes the most of the included panel and does it justice.
Thank you!
Brandon Chester - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
The CABC is there on both models. I made sure that ASUS's power saving features were disabled before I did my testing.While I could try and adjust vaguely labelled sliders in the Splendid app to fix the display's white point, the gamma and greyscale are not possible to fix because of the CABC. Because of this, there's no point in trying to fix the display.
Quad5Ny - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
@Brandon Chester ASUS stock theme looks like a copy of Solstice by John Bussell (@myeverydayghost) who based his theme on Apple's iOS 7. -- http://modmyi.com/info/solstice.php, http://cydia.saurik.com/package/com.modmyi.solstic...UtilityMax - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
The device is not without flaws, but the $200 model seems like a good value. However, the $200 model is a bit dubious proposition considering how close it is to the OnePlus One.Sammaul - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
Have the $300 model, and have used a OnePlus...frankly in real world usage it's kind of a wash. OnePlus has better battery life, camera, and speakers. The Zenfone is absolutely quicker and smoother, even with none of the bloat uninstalled. That 2 channel ram in it does wonders compared to other phones I have used.MoJo JoJo - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
I have been using ZenFone 5 for almost 7-8 months. There's only one thing that I don't like about ASUS is that software and software updates.Software:
ASUS ZenUI is buggy as hell. They provide some update to improve one area and ruins the other. They just cannot provide a single, practically stable, update/ROM. It irritates me a lot. Even now most of the ZenFone 2 users are facing so many issues of Shitty Battery" "Force Stop" "Worse Camera" "Heating under normal use (45 deg.C)
Software Update:
Like I said I have been using ZenFone 5 for 7 months, it seems like ASUS is very slow in updating their devices. First, ASUS launched the 1st gen. ZenFone series in July 2014 (in my country) with Jelly Bean 4.3 instead of KitKat 4.4
After almost 2 months of waiting (Aug-September) they released the KitKat update. That update messed up everything, literally everything. It took another 1-2 updates for ASUS to remove the bugs.
In November 2014 they announced that whole ZenFone series will get the Lollipop update in April 2014. It's almost the starting of June but no ZenFone (intel Version) has got lollipop yet! They are just delaying the update to sort out the bugs. But no use. In May Google has rejected their update during verification. So, still waiting for update, which will be 5.0 not even 5.0.2 (Though they have promissed to give 5.1 update, but it will take ages to come).
Moral of the Story:
No doubt, ASUS is great in providing high end specifications. But it ends there itself. The whole experience gets ruined by the software.