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The recently released ASUS smartphone zenfone 2 has hit a new price/perf benchmark point with an MSRP of $199 but mid-high range specs:
-4G LTE
-Quadcore x86 processor
-5.5 inch IPS 1080P screen with gorilla glass
-2GB of RAM
-16GB storage
-3000 mAh battery
The low price is in part because Intel has been desperately trying to get a foothold in the mobile market and likely playing contra-revenue games. Unlike past low-cost options like the oneplus phone, this phone has wide release being sold at online retailers like Amazon.
Is this setting a new standard in low-cost, high-performance phones, or is this a temporary ploy until Intel starts charging for their SoCs? Will this lead to a price war between Mediatek, Qualcomm, and Intel? All of which have already released phones this year for the North American marketplace supporting the 4G spectrum. How low-priced can these smartphones with laptop-like specs go?
Reviewed here: http://anandtech.com/show/9251/the-asus-zenfone-2-review
[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]
(Score: 1) by Shimitar on Friday May 29 2015, @05:20AM
I have owned a lot of asus device: laptops, small sized computers, tablets, headphones.
All of them are great devices, innovative and unique, and that's why I choose them. For example the eeepc (the first net book ever ) or the transformer tablet (keyboard hardware-coupket optional tablet!)....
Every single one has been associated with terrible build quality and hardware which in a way or the other would be massively disappointing for the great specs it supposedly had.
Like top of the line state of the art tablet... amazing specs... so slow to almost crawl unless heavily hacked?
... or top line very expensive tomorrow - specs laptop with plastic keyboard where after two months backspace key just broke in half?
... or top notch very expensive and fancy bluetooth headset that could not even hold a charge for ONE day?
So, no, i tend to stay away from asus nowadays, but they still push somehow the boundaries of the anonymity and push into experimenting new stuff. Which is great, just remember, there is a flaw you just don't see it.
Coding is an art. No, java is not coding. Yes, i am biased, i know, sorry if this bothers you.