“We unbox and take a first look at the entry-level ASUS Zenfone 4”
The ASUS Zenfone range of smartphones were recently launched in the country, and caused quite a stir, mostly thanks to their killer pricing. We’ve already reviewed the Zenfone 5, which sits in the middle of the lineup. Today, we’ve got our hands on the Zenfone 4, the smallest and most affordable of the lot. Priced at Rs 5,999, the smartphone hits the sweet spot between affordability and specifications, and is likely to give the Moto E (review), the current king of the budget arena, a run for its money.
Just to clarify, the Zenfone 4 is available in two variants. The device we have is the entry-level model with a 4-inch display. There’s also a 4.5-inch model, which is mostly identical, except that it runs KitKat and boasts an improved primary camera and battery.
Now that we’ve got the device in our labs, we’re going to start with an unboxing and first impressions.
The Zenfone 4 ships in a compact box. The side has neat, circular cutouts to display connectivity icons like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, etc. Sliding out the inner compartment reveals the handset right on top. Below this, you’ll find a warranty guide and user manual. Inside, there’s a 1,600mAh user replaceable battery, a compact 2-pin wall charger and a USB cable. 
If you’ve seen our unboxing video of the Zenfone 5, you’ll notice that the Zenfone 4’s packaging lacks a stereo headset, which is usually a staple in most smartphone retail boxes. We’re not complaining much though, given its price.
Coming to the device itself, the Zenfone 4 looks very similar to its larger sibling. In front, the smartphone features a row of Android capacitive hardware keys below the display. The fascia dons a metallic finish with ASUS’ signature concentric circle pattern, which instantly lends a classy air to the device. The right side sports the volume rocker and power button, which feature the same metallic finish. Unfortunately, the buttons are quite tiny and don’t offer firm feedback.
The left side holds the rather unusually placed micro-USB port, while the 3.5mm audio jack is on top. The bottom is bare except for a tiny hole for the microphone. Above the display, you’ll find ASUS branding, and the regular array of earpiece, sensors, LED notification light and front camera. 
The back panel and sides sport a soft-touch rubberised finish, which feels quite grippy. The 5-megapixel primary camera is embedded just inside the back panel, which safeguards it when the phone is placed on a flat surface. The Zenfone 4 lacks a flash, and the only other adornment on the rear is a loudspeaker and more branding.
Although it doesn’t look like it, the back panel can be pried open (with great difficulty), to reveal the removable battery, microSD card slot and dual micro-SIM card slots.
The Zenfone 4 is very compact, making it ideal for one-handed use. It’s not the slimmest device, measuring 11.5mm in girth, but its small screen size and featherlight weight of 115g make up for this.
The screen bears a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 233ppi. A layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shields it against scratches. The screen isn’t the sharpest we’ve seen, but is bright with good sunlight legibility. On the plus side, it’s extremely responsive and fluid to the touch, which is a big advantage on a budget device.
The smartphone is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2520 processor, paired with a gigabyte of RAM. It’s available only with 8GB of internal storage, out of which about 4.4GB is available for storage. The microSD card slot can add an extra 64GB of memory. Among the connectivity features on offer are 3G, Wi-Fi, Miracast, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS.
The smartphone runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, overlaid with ASUS’ ZenUI. Despite the heavy skin, the UI isn’t sluggish or overbearing, and comes with several features are actually useful.
In terms of the user interface, the Zenfone 4 is identical to the Zenfone 5. It comes with several preloaded apps, like Do It Later, SuperNote, AudioWizard, Splendid, PowerSaver, Omlet Chat and What’s Next, among others.
Apart from the icons and widgets, the pull-down notification tab has also been tweaked, with a handy toggle to display several quick settings.
The 5-megapixel rear camera is autofocus enabled, unlike the Moto E, and comes with ASUS’ PixelMaster technology. From what we can gauge, the camera can take a decent daylight shot, but we’ll elaborate on image quality when we review the camera. The VGA front shooter isn’t really suitable for selfies, but is fine for video chats.
For a quick overview of the ZenUI, check out our first impressions of the Zenfone 5, where we’ve gone into a little more detail.
We’ll be back with more on the performance of the device in our review, so stay tuned for more updates.
