Asus Zenfone 5 Lite ZC600KL

Asus Zenfone 5 Lite is the lighter model of the Asus Zenfone 5. Priced at Rs. 24,990, the phone comes with four cameras which gives it a premium touch.

However, the signature four cameras do not turn out to be Asus Zenfone 5 Lite’s strong point. It falters in the camera department, but it keeps everything right in performance and display area, making it an ideal phone for regular users who are not into intense photography or selfies.

The Asus Zenfone 5 Lite looks fantastic. It has 2.5D glass panels that cover the body, and the rounded frame makes it a comfortable phone to hold and manage, the glass back has a signature pattern to it, concentric circles that move out from the centre and gives out a unique effect in the angle the lights fall on it. On the front, the bezels are slim, and due to the oleophobic coating, it can be easily Keith neat with a little wiping. The phone does have one flaw. It is, quite understandably, a fingerprint smudge magnet. Listen, it is quite slippery, which brings up the question of how durable the glass covers are. You also get the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack which many premium phones are ditching. However, at the bottom, you get the old USB Type-C port and not the newer USB Type-C port. Along with the port, the phone couples it with a speaker and the primary microphone point.

ZenFone 5 Lite arrives with a 6-inch display with the 18:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2160×1080. The pixel density is a suitable 402 ppi. The colours are quite well-reproduced, and the phone is plenty bright l the viewing angles are decent and does not distort the colours of the phone. Even outdoors, the phone display tends to hold itself well. The only issue is with the automatic brightness control which fails to accurately judge the light conditions and therefore, it gets into extreme levels with minimal light condition changes.

The ZenFone 5 Lite gets its power from the  Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor which is paired with the Adreno 508 graphics chip and a sizeable 4 GB of RAM. Though it is a midrange chipset, it remains quite a powerful one, primarily due to the presence of the generous RAM. Daily tasks are fast, and there is no stutters or lags present during app switching. The ZenFone 5 Lite can also handle graphics-heavy games though you have to lower the graphics to either medium presets or low presets. Heat dissipation is satisfactory since the phone remains mostly cool, and will only get slightly warm during extreme conditions.

The ZenFone 5 Lite comes with four cameras, making it one of the unique features of this phone. The phone has a 20MP selfie camera with an f/2.4 aperture along with a supporting 8MP wide-angle camera of 120 degrees and aperture of f/2.4. The rear panel has a 16MP primary camera and an 8MP supporting camera. The cameras are quite good when you have adequate light conditions. The pictures are clear, and the colours are punchy. However, in twilight and low-light conditions, the picture quality drops terribly. Hence, overall, the phone has average photo quality.

The selfies are quite good, and there are beautification options too. Combining the two, you get social-media usable shots.

ASUS ZenFone 5 Lite can shoot FullHD videos at 60 fps and 4K at 30 fps. It shoots average videos.

The Asus ZenFone 5 Lite arrives with a 3300 mAh battery which is quite common and an adequate battery for a mid-range handset. With moderate to heavy working, the phone can keep chugging for about 12 hours, and light use can keep holding for a whole day. Plus, the Asus phone has PowerMaster application to manage the battery, which helps with keeping the juice for a long time. However, the phone does support fast charging, which means it will take 2 and a half hours to replenish a dead battery to 100%.

It turns out that the best stand-out feature of Asus ZenFone 5 Lite is the cameras, but it turns out to be just about medium. In general, the ZenFone 5 Lite keeps an even score in terms of performance, battery and a decent display. It has an extravagant design which will attract you too. So if you are not looking for a set for photography, then this phone can please you with its fabulous performance and design.