Our Opinion

The ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser is an interesting variant of the ZenFone 2 series. Unlike the other ZenFone 2 models, it skips the Intel Atom for a Qualcomm processor. The model we received was powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, which is about par for this price segment.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 is slower than the Intel Atom Z3580 / Z3560 processors powering the other ZenFone 2 models, but faster than the low-cost Intel Atom x3-C3230 that powers the ASUS ZenPad 7.0 tablet, or the MediaTek processors that are popular with many smartphones of this price segment.

If you are not going to play 3D games on the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser, the performance advantage of the higher-end ASUS ZenFone 2 models is not going to matter. On the other hand, going with a slower processor gives you a much longer battery life - 12 full hours in the case of the ZenFone 2 Laser!

ASUS appears to have improved the 13 MP PixelMaster 2.0 camera used in the ZenFone 2 Laser. It no longer exhibits the yellow cast we saw in the flagship ZenFone 2 model. It has better exposure control - the subject is always well-exposed, although it overexposes bright backgrounds. The overexposure with bright backgrounds is also seen in the videos we recorded. The good news is the subject remains well-exposed. We hope ASUS can address this issue in a future firmware update.

The ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser's hallmark laser focusing system only works for objects that are less than 50 cm away. It falls back to its contrast detection method for objects that are further away. Even with the range limitation, it's very useful if your subject is in range... especially if there are subjects nearby that may interfere with the autofocus.

To use it properly, you should enable Touch Shutter so that when you touch on the screen, it will fire the laser, focus on the subject you just selected and take the shot - all in one go. This is especially useful for product shots where you want to focus on a particular part. The laser focusing system will guarantee that the part you want is in focus.

As such, we would recommend the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser to those who do a lot of product or miniature photography. The laser focusing system would be very helpful in this aspect. The small storage capacity is a minor hindrance - one easily solved by adding a microSD card.

The ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser is also great for those who don't need the higher performance and higher resolution display of the flagship ZenFone 2 models. They would be getting the same ambidextrous ZenFone 2 design and build quality, just with a longer battery life and a tougher screen. All for just RM 799 (~USD 189). That's a hard deal to ignore.

Samsung Galaxy Note5 - Unboxing & First Impressions

Lowest Prices

If you are interested in purchasing the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser outside of Malaysia, try Amazon.com.

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Questions & Comments

If you have a question or comment on this editorial, please feel free to post them here!