ASUS Announces ZenFone 5 with LTE

ASUS strengthens its smartphone line-up with the first LTE ZenFone

ASUS today announced the ZenFone 5 (A500KL) with Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication, a first for the ZenFone range as ASUS looks to cater to global market demands. The A500KL has a 5-inch HD IPS display, a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 quad-core processor, and is a 2014 Red Dot Award-winner thanks to its iconic ASUS concentric circle design and a ceramic finish. The A500KL features ASUS ZenUI, the all-new mobile interface developed around the concepts of freedom, expression and connection. Prices start from an affordable US$229.

A high performance smartphone

The ZenFone 5 (A500KL) features a 5-inch HD 1280 x 720 IPS display, a Qualcomm MSM8926 quad-core processor running at 1.2 GHz, up to 2GB LPDDR3 RAM and an Adreno™ 305 graphics processor. The display is made of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 for added toughness and damage resistance; while an anti-fingerprint coating on the display provides extra protection against scratches and fingerprint smudges. GloveTouch technology increases display sensitivity and responsiveness, making it responsive enough to be used with a gloved hand.

The A500KL has DC-HSPA+ to give users data download speeds of up to 42Mbit/s and upload speeds of 5.76Mbit/s. LTE Cat 4 connectivity ensures super-fast connections with blistering mobile downlink and uplink speeds of up to 150Mbit/s and 50Mbit/s respectively. The A500KL has 16GB or 32GB of onboard eMMC flash storage which can be further expanded by a 64GB microSD card, as well as a lifetime 5GB ASUS WebStorage account.

The A500KL has two built-in cameras, with the main 8-megapixel PixelMaster camera for professional-looking photos. This camera boasts a backside-illumination (BSI) sensor and wide-aperture f/2.0, 5-element lens with exclusive ASUS PixelMaster technology to capture images that are on par with most standalone digital cameras; while the 2-megapixel front camera comes with an f/2.8 lens. PixelMaster technology improves camera performance and comes with features like Selfie, Depth of Field, and Low-light modes as well as the Time Rewind burst mode.

ASUS ZenUI — fluid, intuitive and beautiful

The ZenFone 5 (A500KL) features ASUS ZenUI, the all-new mobile interface developed around the concepts of freedom, expression and connection. It has a new visual design with modern 'flat' icons, vivid color themes, animations, new ringtones and notification sounds, and a clean layout to present information clearly.

ASUS ZenUI also includes two features — What's Next and Do It Later. What's Next puts important information like upcoming appointments, new messages and missed calls from VIP contacts, weather at the next destination, and more — front and center on the lock screen, the home screen and in the notification drawer.

Do It Later frees the user to focus on the task at hand, without forgetting about other important things on their agenda. If a user is in the middle of writing an email and receives a phone call, a simple button tap automatically creates a reminder to call that person back. Users can also save interesting items, like articles, YouTube videos, or any web page, to read later. Each reminder and saved item is collected in the separate Do It Later app and includes a shortcut to perform the related action, such as call a contact or view a webpage.

ASUS ZenUI also makes file sharing easier thanks to a host of apps. Party Link improves on the sharing experience by letting users share files or photos with up to three parties simultaneously, with images immediately shared the moment they are taken with the ASUS ZenUI Camera app. Share Link lets users easily share files stored in their ZenFone easily with other devices when in Wi-Fi hotspot mode.

Award-winning lines

The ASUS ZenFone 5 (A500KL) features a stunning, Red Dot Award-winning design that weighs just 145g and tapers to just 5.5mm at its thinnest edge. It features the iconic ASUS concentric circle design, a tactile ceramic finish, and is available in five colors – Charcoal Black, Pearl White, Cherry Red, Champagne Gold, and Twilight Purple.