News & Reviews:   ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE announce

ASUS announced its ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE (A500KL) model back in June 2014. The device made it to Malaysian markets through third party resellers but up till now it was not available for purchase officially on the ASUS Malaysia online store from just RM709. It is now officially available online through the ASUS Store. Apart from the high speed 4G LTE support, the ZenFone 5 LTE does have some minor upgrades as compared to the non-LTE variant (A501CG).  The ZenFone 5 LTE packs in a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz instead of the Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core chipset. Other tech specs include 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage, 5-inch 720p display (294 ppi), 8MP primary camera with autofocus and LED flash, 2MP secondary camera and 2110 mAh battery. The device runs on Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box. The ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE version is available for sale in four different colors – red, white, purple and gold. The non-LTE version is also available on the website too for RM519 with a free Bumper case (for the first 100 customers per day). 

The ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE (A500KL) has already been on the market for some time but we finally got some more concrete numbers from Dynamics Distribution. While ASUS Malaysia have yet to come out with the official announcement, the main distributor in Malaysia has revealed that the local ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE will be priced at RM709, making it one of the more affordable 4G LTE devices in the Malaysian market. They also revealed the full tech specs list for the ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE which you can see below:

• 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8926
• 5-inch display (IPS, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution)
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB storage + 5GB ASUS Web Storage + up to 64GB microSD
• Supports Single-SIM, 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 8MP rear camera (F/2.0, PixelMaster) + 2MP front camera (F/2.4, PixelMaster)
• Android 4.4
• Comes in Black, Gold and White
• RM709.00

The ASUS ZenFone range of smartphones are selling quite well here in Malaysia, which could be the reason why they may be bringing in new models for it. This includes the ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE (A500KL) and the ASUS ZenFone 4 (A450CG). The major differences in these two new models is that the ZenFone 4 (A450CG) will sport a 4.5-inch display while the ZenFone 5 (A500KL) will have 4G LTE connectivity. Still no word from ASUS Malaysia on the exact tech specs for these smartphones but it could have tech specs that include an 8MP rear camera, 8GB storage, larger 1740 mAh battery and weigh in at 134g as opposed to the 115g of the ASUS ZenFone 4. Based on direct distributors, it seems that the ASUS ZenFone 4 (A450CG) is already available in the Malaysian market but the ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE has yet to be officially available.

The rumour mill continues as some chinese sites are suggesting that there could soon be LTE and customizable versions for the new ASUS ZenFone smartphones. According to them, this could be called the ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE and ASUS ZenFone DIY. This jives with what we have heard from our ASUS contacts and we could see the ZenFone 5 LTE come in Q2 of 2014. While some sites are suggesting that this 4G LTE enabled version could be powered by a Qualcomm processor and not the current Intel Atom processors, we think that the ZenFone 5 LTE could still be powered by an Intel Atom processor and SoC as Intel announced their Intel LTE for Atom chipsets back in February 2014 at the Mobile World Congress expo.