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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
147 Comments
View All Comments
quiksilvr - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
I bought a third party Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 charger for $15 on Amazon for my Zenfone 2 and it works just fine.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OVD3FEU/
grusin123 - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Camera review focuses just on the asus camera app, which clearly is the weak point. Could you please test it with google camera app? you can download it or any kitkat+ device.It would be interesting to see how it compares against nexus 5 and 6, which both use google camera app.
Kepe - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Using a different camera app doesn't fix problems with the ISP. Camera apps don't process images, the ISP does. Well, some camera apps may do some extra post-processing after the ISP has done its processing, but still if the ISP oversharpens the images in the "opimized" mode and leaves them blurry in the "no optimizations" mode, there's very little a different camera app could do to change image quality in any significant way. You'll probably end up with less choice for camera settings using a 3rd party camera app, because an app made by someone else probably doesn't know about the "optimized" and "nonoptimized" modes the ASUS camera has.A camera app basically just tells the phone to take a picture with a certain set of parameters, and those parameters are within the same limits no matter what app you use. Some apps may have settings that seem to exceed what the OG app has, but those are usually just some software tricks that make horrible looking images. For example, I've got an app that lets me choose a 20s exposure time, but using that makes images horribly grainy, causes weird light effects and as such produces images that are completely useless. Max exposure in the original camera app is 1s, so the other app probably tries to take multiple images and combine them to a single one, or then it records a 20s video and compresses that into a single image. It's similar with apps that let me choose a higher ISO level than what is offered by the original app. They just use software post-processing to brighten the image after it has been taken.
Kepe - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
*optimized. Still need an edit button... How hard can it be?tmc - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Can you please comment on cell signal reception? Possibly compare with other phones as well - like you have done for other features. The reason I am asking is that - a new phone (not mentioning the device/brand) that I purchased has like approx 10dBm lower reception than my earlier device (nexus 4) - and this significantly affects LTE. Where I used to get LTE, now I don't. I would think cell reception should be a very important criterion. Thanks.Brandon Chester - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
It didn't seem to be any worse or better than other devices. For reference, I put the phones in a certain spot in order to make sure the LTE signal is strong during the battery life test. The signal strength was basically the same as the iPhone 5s or the Galaxy S6 in that same spot.tmc - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Thanks. That helps.velanapontinha - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Hi, Brandon.Any ETA on the review of the "regular" MX4? MWC is long over.
AnandTech still doesn't have one single review of a Mediatek based device. Mediatek is no longer a Cyrix kind of thing, you guys should give it the spotlight it is starting to deserve.
Maxpower2727 - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
I hate to be "that guy," but....G4 review?re2onance - Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - link
Thanks for the detailed review of the battery life. Did you use the Asus web browser or Google Chrome for the web browsing battery test?