Some of you might be wondering about how come ASUS been announcing similar version of smartphones with plenty of variants? For example the Zenfone 2 era started with the few 2GB RAM variants and also few 4GB of RAM variants. Moving on with the introduction of Deluxe series which belongs to the Zenfone 2 family tree as well. Suddenly we got to know there’s the “Laser” series which start from 5-inch, went to 5.5-inch and now we have the Zenfone 2 Laser 6.0-inch. We asked ASUS about this and they’ve given a pretty good answer to us. According to them, we in Malaysia have our group of users whom are into the Camera while some are into Battery and Display. In order to fit most of Malaysian’s request, ASUS Malaysia have catered plenty of range to choose from such as bigger Display, huge internal storage and even a big package of similar family tree with difference price range. Since I have the 6-inch version of the Zenfone 2 Laser, it’s time for me to put into words on how this beast fits into my pocket perfectly.

The beauty of Zen

Zen is their keyword for their design. The volume button placed at the back is simply meant to reduce the thickness to about 3.9mm thinnest edge of the Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL. This is of course made to happen without sacrificing the comfort level of the user to have a great amount of grip while holding it. Not to forget this design actually have won the 2015 iF Design Award.

3.9mm
Ultra-Thin Edge

“ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE601KL) has an incredibly slim profile — it’s just 3.9mm at the thinnest edge. This is more than an impressive engineering feat that we compressed the powerful Qualcomm processor, the dual sim card, the thin design is so comfortable to hold, and makes using ZenFone 2 Laser easier. This also allows ZenFone 2 Laser to eliminate the visual and physical obstacle on the side, making it the best looking smartphone, ever.”

Trust me, based on my experience with the volume button placed behind; it makes snapping selfies and adjusting the volume feels much easier and natural compared to those with buttons on the side of the phone.

The iconic spin-cut concentric cirle design is still present which looks excellent and classy. It is not easy to actually do this design as diamond-cutting technology takes place here with a varying spin pitch of 0.13mm in order to get this design to look as attractive as possible. Another common feature on all Zenfone 2 series will be it’s screen to body ratio which is 72%. The bezel width is reduced in order to make this happen so that users can actually utilize the display size as much as possible.

Remarkable Performance

The Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL is powered by the newer and upgraded version which is the Snapdragon 616 64-bit Octa core processor. This is proven to be a better processor than the Snapdragon 615 with less heating issues and better overall performance. Not to forget, this smartphone has LTE Category 4 which simply means you have support up to 150Mbps for your data connection (although in Malaysia its pretty hard to get that fast of data connection on average ).

The display of this smartphone is Full HD (1920 x 1080) with 172-degree of wide viewing angles. It is fully protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. This means the Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL offers twice the drop-damage resistance of its predecessor, a 2.5X increase in retained strength and is 85% less likely to break in daily use which makes it safer and stronger than ever before. This does not mean you should use it without any protection on it. I strongly advice that you should get a tempered glass installed on it for a complete level of protection.

“ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE601KL) is equipped with 802.11ac Super Fast Wi-Fi, which is a supercharged version of 802.11n (the current Wi-Fi standard that your smartphone and laptop probably use). It offers speed from 433Mbps and operates in up to eight spatial streams (MIMO), employing an advanced technology called ‘beamforming’ to increase throughput and reduce power consumption.”

This smartphone is definitely travel friendly as it supports Dual SIM with Dual Standby. This reduces the hassle of carrying two phones where ever you go. In addition to that, you also get Dual 4G LTE connectivity on both the Micro SIM slots. Awesome much?

“Tuned by the renowned ASUS Golden Ear team to provide you with the very best smartphone audio, ZenFone 2 Laser’s SonicMaster technology delivers crystal-clear audio — always. Whether you’re on headphones or speakers, you’ll experience richer, more detailed audio in everything you do.”

In terms of audio quality, the ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL is exceptional!. This is because of its additional speaker on the back of the phone which makes it to a total of two speakers. The sounds gets extremely loud without any noticeable distortion as the quality remains great even on the maximum volume. ASUS do claim that they have world’s best smartphone speakers on this Zenfone 2. The dual-drive audio chamber is 50% larger than the rest as it comes with a five-magnet construction and metal voice coil to deliver extremely powerful sounds at a supreme quality level.

* Sound pressure level testing of ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE601KL) is up to 97.4 dB, and frequency response measure result also surpass L Brand (under 1KHz > 3dB, upper 1KHz > 2dB) and A Brand (under 1KHz > 5dB, upper 1KHz > 10dB).*

Iconic Laser Camera

As identical with the rest of Zenfone 2s camera, this 6-inch Laser has the same 13-Megapixel f2.0 aperture camera. It has Toshiba sensor with Blue Glass Filter and Dual LED Real Tone Flash paired with a lightning fast Laser Auto focus. Meanwhile, the front selfie camera comes with 5-Megapixel and f2.0 apeture which is able to capture great selfies during low-light situations. It is definitely possible to take “wefies” (group photos) via the front camera as it supports wide angle up to 85-degrees. The Laser Auto focus is as fast as 0.03 seconds which means it has zero shutter lag. Zero shutter lag means when you press the “capture” button, the photo will be captured immediately without you having to wait for a while to ensure that it captures properly.

ASUS ZenUI

Some of you are not aware of what the ZenUI is capable of providing you. ZenMotion is something that most of us will be using on our ASUS smartphone. It simply means you could draw any gesture in order to open a specific application. For example, drawing “E” opens the Email application while drawing “C” opens up the Camera application. You could also configure it towards your comfort and towards your own preferred applications. Also, you could take full advantage of saving the usage of power button by double-tapping the screen to wake and to sleep.

You can also personalize the UI up to your maximum tuned and preferred way of how you want it to look like. This includes the font, theme and even the icons.

ASUS SnapView is part of the ZenUI as well. What can you do with the SnapView feature?

” SnapView, which can be regarded as a new user, provides an extra space where you can store photos, files, and apps separately. All photos, files, and apps that are stored in SnapView can not be accessed when you are in an account of owner or other users. “

Features as such should be fully utilized and avoid installing third-party apps. You should follow ASUS’s ZenUI website by clicking here to get more Tips & Tricks on how to fully utilize the hidden features which could ensure to make your life much easier.

“Your ZenFone 2 Laser comes with 100GB of Google Drive storage, free for 2 years.Enjoy the amazing benefits of accessing files on-the-go with your ZenFone 2 Laser and Google Drive. Redeem this offer in the Google Drive app by April 1, 2018.”

Something to take note is when you’re setting up this smartphone, do ensure to claim the free 100GB of Google Drive storage. Of course its not permanent and expires after two years. But a user like me who changes mostly few phones within few months or even within a year will be actually making well use of this free storage space. By the time you get another ASUS smartphone, you be getting extra Google Drive storage space too depending on what and how much of capacity they offer in the future. Pretty useful right?

RAM and Storage Capacity

The ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL comes with 3GB of storage on board. This is the most you can get out of all the other Laser variants. Since I have tried all of them, this variant is the smoothest of them all. The 3GB of RAM plus the Snapdragon 616 processor makes a huge difference when it comes to real-time performance and multi-tasking capabilities. We can’t deny that the more RAM we have the smoother it gets right? The internal storage of this smartphone is 16GB. Fret not as you can also expand it up to 128GB with the micro SD card slot.

Battery Life of the ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser ZE601KL

First of all, the battery capacity of this beast is capped at 3000mAh. This battery is removable and you can quickly swap to another 3000mAh of battery if you have the extra budget to purchase the spare battery. On a decent usage pattern you can easily get through-out the entire day without any issues. Unfortunately, you do not get the fast-charging charger or its capability to charge with the fast-charger as I have tried with it as well. However, it takes roughly about 120 minutes for a full charge from 0-100%.

Final Verdict

If you require a big display smartphone with ability to handle multitasking, performance, great audio/video experience and a super fast camera; this is your definite choice. 6.0-inch display, 3GB of RAM, Laser Auto focus and Dual Speakers – The AIO (All in One) in smartphone has now begun.