First Look: ASUS ZenFone 4, The RM 299 Intel-Powered Android Smartphone

Featuring a 4-inch 800×480 display, the ASUS ZenFone 4 is the smallest device in ASUS ZenFone series. Similarly, the ZenFone 4 is also the most affordable model in the family since it will be priced at only RM 299 once it goes on sale in Malaysia later this month.

So, what does the ZenFone 4 is able to offer you in exchange for your hard-earned RM 300? Jump in for a brief look at the brand new affordable smartphone from ASUS.

Let’s talk about the display first. Apart from it being a 4-inch WVGA backlit LED display, ASUS has also covered it with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 together with an anti-fingerprint coating which are features that you usually heard on smartphones that cost much higher. However, ZenFone 4 does not feature the ultra-sensitive setting that exists on ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6 which allows their displays to be operated while wearing gloves.

Moving on to its physical design, the Asus ZenFone 4 features a removable back cover that is made from polycarbonate and it is available in several vibrant colorways including Cherry Red, Solar Yellow, and Sky Blue together with Pearl White and Charcoal Black although actual available colors varied from market to market. With a thickness of 9.9mm, the device is said to weight around 115 grams.

Meanwhile, ASUS has also brought over the concentrated circular polished metal design from ZenBook laptop series to ZenFone series. This particular physical trait is implemented on the lower front area, just underneath of the front control butons of all ZenFone models including ZenFone 4.

Being a ZenFone, the device is equipped with ASUS own ZenUI on top of its Android 4.3 operating system. The Taiwanese company also chose to equip the device with a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2520 dual-core quad-thread (since it is built with Intel Hyper-Threading tech) processor together with 1GB of RAM.

For Malaysian market, the ZenFone 4 comes standard with 8GB of internal storage and it also supports MicroSD card of up to 64GB. Not to forget, the ZenFone 4 supports two Micro-SIM cards as well download speed of up to 42Mbps thanks to its DC-HSPA+ capability which is also another feature that it shared with ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6.

While the 5-megapixels autofocus rear camera on ZenFone 4 doesn’t come with the fancy F2.0 5-elements lens and flash as per its two bigger siblings, most of the ASUS PixelMaster camera modes from ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6 are actually available on ZenFone 4. This is with the exception of the Low Light Mode and Time Rewind.

At the same time, the selfie job on ZenFone 4 is handled by a 0.3-megapixels front-facing camera. Last but not least, the ZenFone 4 is powered by a 1200mAh removable battery.

As far as a first impression goes, the build quality of ZenFone 4 is rather excellent. In addition to the features that ASUS has equipped into the device, it might be possible for some users to forgot that they are looking at a RM 299 smartphone. It is going to be interesting to see how Malaysian consumers will react to this highly affordable, yet feature-packed smartphone once it is released into the market later this month.

ASUS ZenFone 4 is expected to arrive in Malaysia by the end of April. Pre-order is now open at Storekini with a special pre-order price tag of RM 279 and each pre-order from Storekini will be accompanied by a Lowyat.NET merchandise.