The ASUS ZenFone 2 Review
by Brandon Chester on May 26, 2015 8:00 AM ESTWiFi Performance
While 802.11ac is still very much a cutting edge WiFi technology with limited adoption, it's rapidly becoming a necessity in the smartphone space just to remain competitive with the specifications of other manufacturers. Because of this, both the $199 and $299 models of the ZenFone 2 sport 1x1 802.11ac WiFi. It's funny to see this included in such an inexpensive smartphone when it's left out of $700 laptops like the ASUS UX305.
The ZenFone 2 uses Broadcom's BCM4339 WiFi + BT4.0 module. A single spatial stream 802.11ac implementation means that it's limited to a maximum speed of 433Mbps. To see how fast the ZenFone 2 can send UDP packets I've run it through our standard iPerf test for mobile devices.
Theoretical maximum speeds are rarely able to be achieved in real world testing due to interference, distance, and other factors. 293Mbps is pretty good for a 1x1 802.11ac implementation on a phone, and much better than some other inexpensive devices like the Lumia 735 which only support 802.11n. 802.11ac isn't very widely adopted yet among consumers and so I don't think ZenFone 2 users will be disappointed in their WiFi performance now or in the future.
GNSS
Thanks to a tip from a reader, I can confirm that the ZenFone 2 uses Broadcom's BCM4753. This is different from most devices which use the GNSS solution built into Qualcomm's Gobi modems. Despite this, I didn't notice any issues with the accuracy or speed of the GNSS implementation on the ZenFone 2. With GPS assistance data cleared and the device in airplane mode I was able to achieve a 3D fix in around 55 seconds. This will obviously vary depending on weather conditions, the positions of satellites, and various other factors. With GPS assistance info getting a lock took less than five seconds.
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piaw - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
I don't want Windows Phone on this, I want full on Windows 10 with a telephony app! This will eliminate the "app gap" (sure, might have to use desktop mode, but for something like say, Garmin Express, I don't need to even see the UI after installation). With 4GB of RAM, this will outrun any number of existing full Windows tablets!mkozakewich - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
If needed, it's also possible to have Windows and Android on at the same time with a button on each desktop to switch to the other OS.(Unless MS was brilliant and enabled Continuum to switch from a Windows Phone UI to a Desktop UI?)
darkich - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
The only possible reason why this is a $300 device, is the giveaway from Intel.Their most advanced Atom yet couldn't be sold for its real price and the fact that it can only compete with old 28nm and 20nm ARM chips explains why is that the case.
Speedfriend - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
This isn't the most advanced Atom yet, it is the last generation phone SOC.Intel doesn't give away any chips, it helps OEMs use intel SOCs by contributing to the higher bill of materials that using an Intel SOC entailed. As it adds features to its SOC, the contra revenue will go down.
SunLord - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Technically this is the current generation phone SOC as they've not launched an airmont based phone SOC yetmenting - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
The CPU being free or not won't make more than $50 difference though....lefty2 - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
The ZenFone is cheap because of Intel's contra revenue scheme. Basically, Intel sells the SoC to Asus for $0.tipoo - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
I read Asus ends up paying 5 dollars per chip rather than the 30+ some SoCs sell at, but yeah, close enough.CrazyElf - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
For it's price, it's not a bad phone to be honest.I'd love to see what Asus can do in future generations and what a flagship that can rival high end phones like the Galaxy Note X would be able to pull off.
Equally interesting will be what future Intel SOCs do. I would like to see an even bigger GPU loaded onto the phone.
UltraWide - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
What good is all this performance if the phone has ran out of batteries and you can't use it?