ASUS' assault on the mid-range market looks set to continue as the company recently announced the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser for the US market. It's a slightly cheaper and less powerful version of the ZenFone 2, albeit one with a renewed focus on camera quality. The manufacturer confirmed the phone's arrival in an official press release, and promises excellent performance from an affordable smartphone.
Looking at the spec sheet, there's a lot to admire about the camera-focussed ZenFone. On the front, there's a 5.5-inch 1080p display protected by Gorilla Glass 4. Inside, it's powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor paired with Adreno 405 graphics and 3GB RAM. On the back, the wide-angle 13MP camera boasts an f/2.0 aperture and laser-guided autofocus to make focussing really quick.
You'll be able to buy the phone in either 16GB or 32GB storage variants, both will be expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD and are equipped with a 3,000mAh capacity battery to offer all-day use, and then some. It also has dual SIM support for added flexibility. It's compatible with all US GSM LTE networks, including AT&T, T-Mobile and their respective prepaid brands and MVNOs. Other notable specs include full HD video recording, a 5MP front facing camera and a front facing flash.
ZenFone 2 Laser runs Android 5.0 with ASUS' ZenUI 2.0 custom launcher on top and will be available to order from Newegg or ASUS.com at some point this month. $199 gets you the 16GB, while $249 gets you 32GB.
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