Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL Smartphone Review

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe supports dual-SIM (1x nano-SIM, 1x micro-SIM). However, the second SIM slot is a hybrid slot that will possibly be occupied by a microSD card. All German mobile network frequencies are supported. Data transmission is possible at up to 600 MBit/s (download) and 100 MBit/s (upload) in the LTE network. However, only the SIM card set up for the data service can dial into them.

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe transmits in the latest Wi-Fi ac standard, and is also equipped with MIMO technology. Thus, gross data speeds of up to 867 MBit/s are possible. However, the connection with our Linksys EA8500 router recurrently was interrupted in the 5 GHz network and we could only perform reliable tests in the 2.4 GHz frequency band. With real transmission rates of 75.5 MBit/s in send and 70.4 MBit/s in receive, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe cannot keep up with other premium-range devices that we tested in the 5 GHz band. Furthermore, we noticed that the 5 GHz Wi-Fi range was not as good as with many other high-end rivals.

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe located our position with an accuracy of 3 meters (~10 ft) without significant delays outdoors. Indoors, this was at around  10 meters (~33 ft). The GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou satellite networks are supported. Qualcomm's lZat location service can also be enabled optionally.

As usual, we took the review sample alongside Garmin's Edge 500 GPS system on a bike ride and logged the results. The smartphone does a relatively good job: The outcome of the total route recorded with both devices deviates by less than 2%, making the ZenFone 3 Deluxe quite suitable as a navigation system. In detail - for example, the crossing at the bridge just before the turning point in the west - most smartphones tend to take shortcuts.

Asus does not use the standard Android phone software. Instead, a proprietary app is installed. It offers the standard features, such as a call list, keypad and direct access to the contact database. In addition, it can be fitted with a dark skin, a different background, and individual fonts to meet personal preferences.

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe convinces with good intelligibility and effective noise suppression during normal calls. However, a moderate background noise could occasionally be heard during the test. The strong speaker ensures decent clarity, even in hands-free mode, but recurrent short interruptions are heard on the contact’s side. The included headset also makes a useful impression: Both sides understand each other impeccably, and again, a slight noise is present only on the contact's side.

The primary camera in the ZenFone 3 Deluxe has an aperture of f/2.0, optical image stabilizer and a high resolution of 23 megapixels. A laser and phase detection autofocus are used for focusing the picture as fast as possible. In practical use, this intricate system still functioned reliably to a large degree, even under difficult conditions. As our sample photos show (scene 1 & 2), lots of details could be captured with the high-resolution sensor in bright ambient light. However, a slight blurriness can be seen in the outer corners. Furthermore, some image areas present a certain graininess that becomes even more evident in poor light conditions. Smartphones with a lower resolution sensor are often superior to our review sample in low light situations. Asus has a trick up its sleeve, though: This shortcoming is hidden well via a special low-light mode that halves the photo's resolution horizontally and vertically. The opposite is the case in the super-resolution mode: Here, several photos are combined into one photo with twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the automatic mode. This equates to a high 90.3 megapixels, even though Asus states 92 megapixels. In fact, landscape photos shot in this mode display a few more details. Overall, Asus has installed a primary camera suitable for the premium range. Its strength lies primarily in its high resolution under ideal conditions.

The smartphone's front-facing webcam has an 84-degree wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a resolution of 8 megapixels. This component does not give much reason for complaint: Relatively high-detail selfies can be taken in both good and bad light conditions - although inherently its resolution is lower than that of the primary camera.

The primary camera records videos with a maximum resolution of 3840x2160 pixels at 30 FPS. Videos at 60 frames per second are possible in Full HD quality. It is rather too bad that autofocus is disabled, and thus the touchscreen has to be used for changing the plane of focus. The front-facing camera records Full HD videos that are astonishingly focused for a selfie camera.

Asus has installed a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED panel with diamond matrix into the ZenFone 3 Deluxe. According to the manufacturer, it only needs an extremely narrow bezel. A specification of 1.3 millimeters (~0.05 in) is stated. However, we measured approximately 3.3 millimeters (~0.13 in) between the active screen surface and the outermost edge - not a bad rate, but not outstanding either.

With a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a pixel density of 386 PPI, the smartphone does not stand out positively in today's high-end sector - many competitors already use higher resolution QHD panels. Only Huawei's Mate 9 phablet has slightly less to offer here. Nevertheless, individual pixels can hardly be seen away from VR applications. When looking closer, light color fringing can be seen at the edges on single-colored surfaces.

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe achieves an average maximum brightness of 468 cd/m² with the ambient light sensor on a completely white surface. It even climbs up to 619 cd/m² when dark and bright areas are distributed evenly over the screen (average picture level / APL 50). On the other hand, a maximum of only 334 cd/m² is possible when adjusting the screen's brightness manually. These rates place the review sample roughly on par with Lenovo's Moto Z, but overall, cannot quite reach the level of Samsung's Galaxy S7 Edge or Huawei's Mate 9. Furthermore, the screen's illumination of 85% is not as homogeneous as in most rivals, even though this is not visible in practice. The black level is 0 cd/m² thanks to the underlying AMOLED panel technology, and thus high contrasts are achieved.

The screen's color reproduction can be adapted via the app "Splendid". Asus sets the color profile to "Super Color" ex-factory. It delivers rich, cool colors and seems to be geared to the AdobeRGB color space. The setting "Standard" is aimed more at the more common sRGB color space and reduces the color saturation visibly. Nevertheless, the color temperature of 7518 K remains clearly over the ideal rate of 6500 K. We could reduce the color temperature to almost ideal 6590 K by pushing the corresponding slider in "Super Color" mode. At the same time, the DeltaE rates also dropped to 3.2 (colors) and 1.4 (grayscale).

Asus states that it has installed a special 5-magnet speaker design that is especially strong into the ZenFone 3 Deluxe. However, our Pink Noise assessment is not particularly high at a maximum of 78.9 dB(A). Nevertheless, the subjective sound when playing music is loud enough to fill small rooms with sufficient sound and without significant distortions. The handset sounds relatively thin as typical for smartphones, which is illustrated by the Pink Noise frequency curve: It drops audibly toward both the trebles and low tones. Thus, the speaker should be sufficient for many users in everyday use, but it cannot quite compete with the best sound solutions in the mobile sector.

The metal finish of the included 3.5-mm jack looks attractive, but music sounds very bass-heavy and muffled ex-factory. Fortunately, the preloaded audio assistant provides an equalizer and, with a few tweaks, a more balanced sound impression can be achieved.

Already the feel of Asus' ZenFone 3 Deluxe is pleasing when held for the first time, thanks to its high-quality and particularly solid metal casing. This conceals a 128 GB UFS 2.0 storage and generous 6 GB of RAM besides the Snapdragon, and thus the smartphone is quite capable of competing with other high-end devices from 2016 in terms of performance. The connectivity with a USB Type-C port, optional Always-On display and a dual-SIM/microSD hybrid slot, among other things, is also appropriate. Both high-resolution cameras can reap in bonus points. Furthermore, the primary camera benefits from an especially fast autofocus system. However, it has some room for improvement, particularly in low-light situations and the often grainy picture texture. The high-resolution AMOLED panel's size of 5.7 inches is big, but the handset is only partially suitable for VR applications due to the Full HD resolution. Asus' modified ZenUI 3.0 user interface offers various extra functions - but not every user will like the fact that 19 GB of the admittedly relatively generous storage capacity is reserved. Furthermore, some rivals offer considerably longer battery life.

Users who do not need virtual reality capabilities and like the extensively modified user interface will find a high-quality premium-range smartphone with only a few real shortcomings in Asus' ZenFone 3 Deluxe.

However, it is debatable whether the review sample has enough highlights to justify the current starting price of 799 Euros (~$840), especially when compared to the now falling prices of the rivals. It cannot serve with a curved edge like Samsung's Galaxy S7 Edge or with the modular extensions of Lenovo's Moto Z. It does not have the iconic status of Apple iPhone and its Android is not updated as quickly as Google's Pixel XL smartphone. And users looking for as big a screen as possible will find a bigger screen with roughly the same external dimensions in Huawei's Mate 9. Nevertheless, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is an interesting alternative that will find friends in the premium smartphone range, thanks to its solid technology, dual-SIM functionality and the successful design.