In front of dealers and members of the press from the South East Asia region, ASUS officially launched the ZenFone 2 at an event held on April 21, 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In true ASUS fashion, CEO Jerry Shen enthusiastically introduced their newest device that offers a premium user experience at an affordable price point.
“We are very excited to bring ZenFone 2 to consumers in Southeast Asia,” said Mr. Shen. “ASUS believes that the best technology should be used by a mass audience, and we have drawn on our considerable engineering expertise to create this empowering luxury for everyone to enjoy.”
Aside from the other top ASUS executives in attendance, Intel President and General Manager in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region, Robby Swinnen was also present to welcome the guests to the event.
“Intel is showing velocity across the full spectrum of mobility, and being chosen by ASUS for ZenFone is strong evidence of our progress”, said Mr. Swinnen. “We are proud that our long standing partnership with ASUS is delivering innovation again. With the ZenFone 2, ASUS is giving consumers a great mobile experience in a sleek form factor, combining the 64-bit Intel Atom processor with Intel’s LTE-Advanced Intel XMM 7260 solution.”
Here’s the spec sheet for the ZE551ML:
| DISPLAY | 5.5-inch IPS full HD 1920×1080, 403ppi with 178-degree wide view angle, 400nits 72% NYSC, ASUS TruVivid, 72% screen-to-body ratio |
| SCREEN | Gorilla glass 3 with 20nm oleophobic anti-fingerprint coating |
| GLOVE TOUCH | Ultra-sensitive touch screen with glove touch support, super facet 60ms touch response time |
| PROCESSOR | Z3580 2.3GHz Intel 64-bit Quad-core processor |
| REAR CAMERA | 13MP auto-focus, f/2.0 aperture, 5-element lens, blue glass IR filter with dual-color teal tone flash, supports manual mode and 52MP super resolution, PixelMaster Camera for up to 400% brighter photo and video |
| FRONT CAMERA | 5MP, f/2.0 aperture 85-degree wide angle, 5-element lens with 140-degree selfie panorama, supports PixelMaster low-light mode |
| NETWORK | 4G LTE Cat 4, with download speed of up to 150Mbps |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | 64-bit Android Lollipop |
| USER INTERFACE | Brand new ZenUI |
| MEMORY | 4GB 64-bit dual channel LPDDR3 |
| SIM | Dual SIM, dual active |
| NAVIGATION | GPS / GNSS / QZSS / SBAS / Beidou (BDS) |
| BATTERY | 3,000mAh with BoostMaster fast charging |
| COLORS | Gray, Black, Red, Gold and White |
Also announced at the event was the availability of compatible accessories such as the View Flip Cover Deluxe priced at Rp 159,000 (approx. PHP 550), the ZenEar (Rp 79,000 or approx. PHP 270) the ZenEar S (Rp 699,000 or approx. PHP 2,400) in-ear headphones, the ZenPower 10,050mAh power bank priced at Rp 269,000 (approx. PHP 920), and the Lolliflash and ZenFlash external flash attachments, priced at Rp 119,000 (approx. PHP 400) and Rp 239,000 (approx. PHP 818), respectively.
The ASUS ZenFone 2 is set to launch in the Philippines by mid-May. According to unofficial sources, only three variants will be available locally (ZE551ML 2.33GHz, ZE551ML 1.8GHz, and the ZE550ML), with pricing pegged at a little over PHP 9,000 for the base unit (ZE550ML) and under PHP 15,000 for the flagship model.
