CES – Next onto the stage, the ZenFone 2

CES   Next onto the stage, the ZenFone 2With a catchy codename of ZE551ML this is perhaps better revealed using a rather beautiful introduction by the ASUS PR department, who tell us..

It’s an engineering marvel in the palm of your hand. The ASUS ZenFone 2 features all-new ergonomic luxe design with graceful curved case, ultra-slim edge, and 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display with 72% screen-to-body ratio

That’s better isn’t it?

Featuring a quad-core 64-bit CPU running at 1.8GHz / 2.3GHz (depending on the model), it also runs Android 5.0 with an ASUS UI called “ZenUI”. There’s 2GB or 4GB of RAM (model dependent) and a microSD slot for another 64GB plus 16, 32 or 64GB of ROM with 5GB of cloud storage which you can keep. That screen is a 5.5″ 1920×1080 full HD unit at 403ppi and there’s a 13 megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and a 5-element auto-focus lens with a flash that shouldn’t make your mates look like Casper the Friendly Ghost. Up front there’s a 5 megapixel shooter for your selfies and it’ll go up to 150Mbit/s 4G (LTE 4) with a fast-charging 3000mAh battery, WiFi, GPS, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0

It’s also going to be available in a range of rather lovely colours…

CES   Next onto the stage, the ZenFone 2 CES   Next onto the stage, the ZenFone 2

More on pricing and availability as soon as we get it, but for now here’s the specs..

Processor 64-bit Intel Atom Z3560/Z3580 Quad Core Processor (Running at 1.8/2.3GHz) PowerVR Series 6 – G6430, with OpenGL 3.0 support
Operating System Brand-new ASUS ZenUI with Android 5.0 Lollipop
Memory LPDDR3 2GB/4GB RAM/Micro SD card support, up to 64GB
Storage 16GB/32GB/64GB ROM ASUS WebStorage 5GB (lifetime)
Display 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 (Full HD), 403ppi IPS display/400nits brightness/ Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
PixelMaster Cameras Front: 5MP, f/2.0-aperture, wide-angle (85-degree) lens with Selfie Panorama
Rear: 13MP, f/2.0-aperture, 5-element, auto-focus lens with dual-color Real Tone flash
PixelMaster features: Low Light mode / Backlight (HDR) mode / Enhanced Beautification mode / Manual mode / Zero shutter lag
Network LTE speed: Category 4 maximum: 150Mbit/s / DL: 50Mbit/s
4G band: FDD LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/9/17/18/19/20/28/29
TDD LTE: 38/39/40/41(Network support varies by country)
Battery 3000mAh lithium-polymer, Fast-charging technology
Sensor Accelerometer, proximity, ambient-light, gyroscopic, digital compass and Hall-effect sensors
Navigation GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS
Wireless 802.11ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
Ports 3.5mm audio jack, dual micro-SIM, micro USB (support OTG)
Color Glacier Gray / Osmium Black / Glamour Red / Ceramic White / Sheer Gold
Dimensions 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9 ~ 3.9 mm
Weight 170g