ASUS Unveils ZenFone 5, A Blatant Notched Android Clone Of The iPhone X
ASUS isn't ashamed of the comparison, and actually invites it. "Some people will say it’s copying Apple,” said ASUS Global Marketing Chief Marcel Campos in a statement to The Verge. "But we cannot get away from what users want. You have to follow the trends.”
We had a feeling that such design trends would start filtering into the Android world, and the Essential Phone also gave us a display notch, although in a much less pronounced form. In addition, Google is reportedly making API changes within Android P to help developers take full advantage of notched displays on their smartphones.
Other than the iPhone X-inspired design (which even includes the vertical dual-camera “pod” on the rear of the device), the ZenFone 5 features a 6.2-inch LCD (2246 x 1080 resolution) and a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio (which allows the phone to have a footprint similar to a traditional 5.5-inch smartphone). The standard ZenFone 5 doesn't quite live up to the lofty performance aspirations of the iPhone X, however, as it features just a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor that is paired with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM.
On the camera front, the ZenFone 5 features a rear dual-camera system using a Sony IMX363 sensor with 1.4µm-sized pixels, an f/1.8 wide-aperture lens, and a 120-degree secondary camera. Four-axis optical image stabilization and AI-enhanced features (like AI Scene Detection and AI Photo Learning) are thrown in for good measure.
There is also a high-performance variant called the ZenFone 5Z, which adds in a flagship-worthy Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It also incorporates the Snapdragon X20 Gigabit LTE modem, 2x2 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.
ASUS hasn't yet announced pricing or availability for its ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z, but we'll be sure to update you once we're privy to those details.
