UPDATE: The ASUS ZenFone 5 appears to be priced at RM1,299 in Malaysia.
Apart from the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro that’s launching in Malaysia very soon, the Taiwanese smartphone maker is finally introducing their ZenFone 5 series in Malaysia as well. Revealed at MWC 2018, this is their premium smartphone lineup that looks like an iPhone X.
According to ASUS Malaysia, the ZenFone 5 will launch at the same event as the affordable ZenFone Max Pro that also runs on the same processor. The higher-spec ZenFone 5z that has a flagship Snapdragon 845 processor will be announced at a later date.
To recap on the specs, the ZenFone 5 comes with a 6.2″ Super IPS+ display that pushes a FullHD+ resolution of 2246×1080. Under the hood, it is powered by a 14nm Snapdragon 636 processor that’s mated to either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. There’s 64GB of storage which is expandable up to 2TB via microSD.
In the camera department, it comes with a 12MP dual-camera setup with f/1.8 aperture, 4-axis OIS and it offers 120-degree wide-angle shots via its secondary camera. For selfies, it comes equipped with an 8MP f/2.0 camera.
The ZenFone 5 also gets dual-speakers and it is juiced up by a 3,300mAh battery that charges via USB-C. For audio enthusiasts, it retains a 3.5mm headphone jack, Dual Smart AMP and it supports DTS Headphone:X with 7.1 surround sound. Out of the box, it runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with ZenUI 5 skin on top.
In Indonesia, the ZenFone 5 with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage is priced at 4,300,000 IDR (about RM1,207). Meanwhile the ZenFone 5z is going for 6,500,000 IDR (about RM1,825) for 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 7,500,000 IDR (about RM2,106) for the higher-spec 8GB RAM + 256GB storage.
We will be attending the Malaysian launch so stay tuned to us for local pricing and availability.
If the ZenFone 5 is priced at RM1,299, would you get this or the ZenFone Max Pro that runs on stock Android? Let us know in the comments below.
For further reading, you can check out our first impressions or watch our hands-on video below:
