Can a $300 smartphone stand up with the best Android devices out there from heavyweights like Samsung, LG, and HTC? That's what Asus is trying to answer with the ZenFone 2. It's not alone either - a whole host of smaller smartphone manufacturers are trying the same thing this year.

Appealing low price; Fast; lag-free performance; Asus' software allows deep customization

Disgusting amount of bloatware; Camera falls apart outside of ideal conditions; Generic design with bad button layout

The Zenfone 5 was the most successful device in Asus first wave of smartphones. Little wonder then, Zenfone 2 has big shoes to fill. The new phone comes in three variants, and the one with 4 GB RAM costs more than double the Zenfone 5. Let's find out if Asus has another winner in its line-up.

Ideal for multitasking; Crisp screen; Solid multimedia performance; 4G LTE support

Average camera; Battery life could have been better

You can leave it to Asus to be even more confusing than you expected, with multiple models within the ZE550KL sub-model of the ZenFone 2 Laser. The device we have for review has a 5.5-inch 720p screen, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC and 2GB RAM on board, while there is also a Snapdragon...

Asus launched as many as three variants of the Zenfone2 across storage capacities and price points. The inaugural Zenfone series in India which was launched last year, was a success and Asus managed to sell more phones in the Zenfone series than in its previous avataars.

The Zenfone 2 is half of the price of a top-tier smartphone and offers, thankfully, far more than half the performance. Its power finishes just behind the current pack of best phones.

Inexpensive Android 5.0 phone; Spacious display; Lots of RAM; Two SIM card slots; Full of customization options; Its best features are a large 5.5-inch display; a solid CPU provided by Intel and 4GB of RAM.

Cheap look and feel, Dim screen, Poor camera quality, Weak power button, Zenfone 2 may have inner peace, but its cheap plastic shell doesn't add up to outer beauty; The display isn't bright enough for sunny outdoor conditions, which is ironic, because ample light is required to make its shoddy...

I was lucky this phone malfunctioned during warranty. I ended up buying an iPhone 6 plus since I didn't want to invest any more money in this phone with the short warranty and history. I felt like I wasted enough time and money on this phone.

Great value for the price Speedy and feature rich Screen was nice and vibrant until it started to flicker for no reason; even on the bios screen Warranty service was easy; but lengthy

Loads of bloatware on phone OS Short warranty with a cost if you want replacements asap Support takes up to 2 days to respond and was by email only I wasn't told what was fixed

After a month of use the device star having problems with the touchscreen, so I decided to start a research and there's a lot of people with the same problem...... [...]

battery back up is good as compared to others.. camera is great as per the price value..no heating issue.. good call quality..only asus software upgrades files are large (385 mb - 289mb) great phone at this price..

i dont know if issues is limited to this particular one i received...my issues are (1) phone dont have side volume buttons (2) when place a call phone black out, so you dont have options of pressing any buttons..

World domination was surely on the mind of at least one top exec over at Asus headquarters, when the crew gathered to outline the Zenfone 2 game plan. The smartphone will be sold globally, and the stores in a few lucky countries already have their shelves well stocked.

5.5-inch IPS capacity touchscreen with 1080p resolution and 403ppi density; Gorilla Glass 3 protection; Intel Atom Z3560 chipset with a 1.8GHz quad-core processor; PowerVR G6430 GPU; 2GB of RAM; 16GB of storage and a microSD slot for further expansion; Dual-SIM; Dual Call capability; LTE Cat.4; NFC,...

No 2160p video recording; Non-removable battery despite the removable back cover; Rather large and hefty; Zenfone 2 has a confusing naming convention - not only are there several of them; but ZE551ML comes in two hardware versions