Zenfone 6

The Asus ZenFone 6 belongs to a new class of attention-grabbing models slightly different from other models on the shelves.

Price and availability of the Asus ZenFone 6

  • From USD 499 / GBP 499 (approx. AU $ 725)
  • TBC start date

The Asus ZenFone 6 was announced in May 2019, but it’s not the first phone to bear that name:

  • Asus made a ‘ZenFone 6’ in 2014. You probably won’t confuse them unless you make a serious mistake on eBay. This phone has a motorized camera. The older version was sold years ago.
  • The new ZenFone 6 is priced at $ 499 (about AU $ 725). OnePlus 7, Honor 20 Pro and Google Pixel 3a XL are among the obvious alternatives at this price point.

Screen

  • 1080 x 2340 IPS LCD
  • HDR10 support
  • DCI-P3 cover

The Asus ZenFone 6 has a 6.4-inch screen. It’s an LCD screen so that you won’t get the Galaxy S10 or OnePlus 7 Pro colour saturation or contrast:

  • However, it’s hard to imagine who exactly would want more color than you are getting here.
  • The wide color gamut of this phone has an OLED-like richness that seems too much to us.
  • It is based on the DCI-P3 standard, the color gamut used by cinema color sorters.
  • When you switch to “Standard” mode, the Chrome and YouTube app icons appear more subtle and less noticeable.
  • You can go further if you want. The Asus ZenFone 6 has a form of Splendid, the screen customization software Asus installs on many of its tablets and laptops.
  • You can manually change the saturation and even the hue. At most, the screen looks ridiculously alive. Not good.

Key features

  • Top specs for the money
  • The dual-lens camera flips around from the back

If you forget the Asus ZenFone 6’s flip camera for a moment, it seems a typical ‘challenger brand’ mobile:

  • It wants to lure us away from the likes of Google, Samsung and Huawei. And to do that, Asus offers a lot of tech for relatively little money.
  • Here the ZenFone 6 has a high-end Snapdragon 855 chipset. However, it has 128GB or 256GB of storage, a huge 5,000mAh battery and a hole-free 6.4-inch screen.
  • Altogether the core elements of a top-end phone are here. Nonetheless, you pay what they used to cost years ago, not today’s prices.

Design

  • Gorilla Glass 6 and aluminium
  • Also 159.1 x 75.4 x 9.2mm
  • Rear fingerprint scanner

Persons after a mid-price Android phone are spoilt, as there are plenty of models that don’t look any cheaper than the top-price ones:

  • Here the Asus ZenFone 6 is not one of the cutest around. Its surface is plain, and its motorized camera housing looks a bit odd.
  • We’re willing Asus didn’t use an ‘out there’ finish. It doesn’t need whatever else to stand out. If anything, we wish it was plainer. However, what’s with the blue logo and rear writing, Asus?
  • Here the Asus ZenFone 6 feels good, though. Its back is curved Gorilla Glass. The sides are curved aluminium with bevelled edges.