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When Asus introduced the Zenfone 5Q (aka Zenfone 5 Lite and Zenfone 5 Selfie Pro) in 2018, the device ran Android 7.1.1 Nougat, which is one of the main reasons we couldn't recommend it to anyone. But the company has been doing a good job with updates lately, and has now started fulfilling its promise to bring Pie to the phone.
It's been about six months since Android Pie launched, and we're still waiting on updates for quite a few phones. Some OEMs haven't even talked about which phones will get the update, but Asus has finally spilled the beans on its OTA plans. Well, some of the beans. There's a list of phones that will get Pie, but we don't have a specific timeline.
At MWC, Asus showed off its 2018 Zenfone lineup. Most of the attention fell on the 5Z and 5, with their display notches and fresh designs. Perhaps left to the wayside was the lower-end device of this family, the Zenfone 5Q (or Lite, depending on where you are). It doesn't resemble its brethren whatsoever, right down to even lacking a notch.As is typical with Asus, the focus on this budget phone is on cameras, namely four of them. We've seen this same story before; Asus even says "We <3 photo" (with the heart being two phone silhouettes crossed in a V-shape). And while the photography performance is actually quite good, the Zenfone 5Q suffers from other, larger problems.The first and foremost is that, at time of writing, the phone ships with and remains on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, a year and a half old OS version. For some of us enthusiasts, that's enough to reject this device from the outset. And while not nearly as egregious, it has microUSB, unlike its closest GSM competitor, the Nokia 6.1 (or even the Moto G6). To top it all off, Asus has slapped a $300 price tag (though you can get the white model for $285 from Amazon) on the 5Q, $30-$50 more than its other budget rivals.
ASUS's latest generation of ZenFones was introduced at MWC in February, and three months later, we're finally starting to hear about US availability. The ZenFone 5Q, which is called the ZenFone 5 Lite in other markets, has arrived stateside for $299. It can be purchased from B&H, Best Buy, Newegg, and several other retailers.The ZenFone 5Q is the lowest-end model of the bunch. It sports a 6.0" 1080p IPS display, a Snapdragon 630, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with microSD expansion, a 16MP dual rear camera setup, a 20MP dual front camera setup, and a 3,300mAh battery. Unfortunately, it has a microUSB port, but it does have dual-SIM capabilities, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's running ZenUI 5.0 atop Android 8.0 Oreo.Two colors are available for the $299 ZenFone 5Q: Midnight Black and Moonlight White. The Midnight Black model is available at Abt, Amazon (not in stock), B&H, Best Buy, and Newegg (not in stock), but the Moonlight White version can only be purchased from Amazon (again, not in stock), B&H, and Newegg (not in stock).Source: ASUS
ASUS' Android phones might slide under the radar for most, but the company's new ZenFone 5 series probably won't. The company has had some trouble historically trying to penetrate the US phone market to any great depth—perhaps a result of its crowded, sometimes confusing product portfolio—but nonetheless it persists. Some of its phones have even been pretty good. But now that the wraps have been taken off its latest line of phones, it seems like ASUS has found a successful way to attract the attention it wanted: by copying the iPhone X's notch.
Asus, as we expected, showed off the new ZenFone 5 family at MWC. Unlike years past, the Taiwanese company is keeping in step with modern smartphone trends, in some cases to the point of plain copying the iPhone X. Regardless, some of the new devices look fantastic and our initial impressions are relatively positive.