Asus Zenfone C First Impressions

Here’s your first look at the Asus Zenfone C, set to be released in the country soon. It’s posed to be the successor to the Zenfone 4, sporting almost the same internals albeit equipped with a larger display.

While the impending release may be a few weeks (or maybe months) away, the folks from Asus Philippines were kind enough to lend us a unit for review. The actual unit was enclosed in its original packaging, and does not come with any accessories to boot. The device also has a huge sticker at the back bearing its controls, as it is said to have come from their main headquarters.

The Zenfone C looks pretty much like any other Zenfone out in the market right now. It looks solid and feels great to hold. Despite its somewhat chunky appearance, it provides a comfortable grip, thanks to its arched back. It doesn’t really look that distinguishable from its siblings, as it sports the same design language seen on most Zenfones like the trademark concentric rings design at the bottom which catches light no matter which way you position it. Its bezels are thick for today’s standards, but is something that can be ignored given its budget price point.

To give you a quick roundup, it has unlit capacitive keys printed in a metallic silver finish on the front, and the textured metallic power and volume buttons are found at the right side with corresponding symbols engraved beside them. On top lies the 3.5mm socket for audio equipment. Down under the device are the microphone and the microUSB port.

Flip the device over and we’ve got the 5MP rear camera at the top-center, accompanied by an LED flash just underneath. The long speaker grills are seen at the bottom part. The polycarbonate back shell in a white matte finish looks respectable, but is susceptible to fingerprints and smudges. Inside the shell are the removable 2,100mAh battery and slots for two SIM cards and a microSD card.

We ran our initial benchmark tests and here’s what we got:

AnTuTu -18,743
Quadrant Standard – 7,145
Vellamo -1340 (Browser),  843 (Multicore), 592 (Metal)

ASUS ZenFone C specs:
4.5- inch IPS LCD, 800 x 480 @218ppi
Oleophobic Coating
Intel Atom Z2520 1.2GHz dual-core processor with HyperThreading Technology
PowerVR SGX 544 MP2
1GB RAM
Expandable 8GB internal storage
Supports up 64GB microSD
Dual-SIM
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
3G/HSPA
Bluetooth
5MP rear camera
VGA front-facing camera
2,100mAh battery
Android 4.4
136.5 x 67 x 10.9 mm
149g
Colors: Black, Red and White

The Asus Zenfone C’s local price and availability has yet to be announced. Our full review comes about in a week, so stay tuned.