News & Reviews:   ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE

Confirming rumours and appearances at the recent Computex 2014, ASUS have officially announced the ASUS PadFone S and an ASUS ZenFone 5 with 4G LTE capabilities. A refresh of the earlier released ASUS PadFone X, the ASUS PadFone S now offers a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, wireless charging and a splash-proof coating. It still retains the same sleek features of a 5-inch smartphone and 9-inch tablet dock along with Android 4.4 KitKat. The 4G LTE ASUS ZenFone 5 on the other hand gets a different processor altogether. Unlike other ZenFone smartphones, this version is running a 1.2GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 2GB RAM, 8GB storage, 5-inch display with 720p pixel resolution 8MP PixelMaster rear camera and 2110 mAh battery. It will come with support for 4G LTE and Android 4.4 KitKat right out of the box. Both the PadFone S and 4G LTE ZenFone 5 are set for release in Taiwan for now, with the PadFone S going for about $500 (RM1588) while the 4G LTE ZenFone 5 is going for $234 (RM743). No news on Malaysia release dates or pricing but we expect the 4G LTE ZenFone 5 to come soon so stay tuned for more information.

It seems the race is on for more affordable 4G LTE devices as Samsung have officially announced the Galaxy Core Lite for just TWD7990 (RM853). Other tech specs for the Galaxy Core Lite include a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, 4.7-inch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and 2000 mAh battery. Running on Android 4.3 the Galaxy Core Lite is available for Taiwan in June 2014, but there are still no details on Malaysia release dates or pricing. In related news, a number of other below RM1000 4G LTE smartphones are coming to Malaysia including the Huawei Ascend G6 and we should be able to expect the OPPO R1S or the ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE eventually.

ASUS has recently announced the global release for the ASUS PadFone X, which was earlier tied to AT&T in the US. Looking much like a PadFone Infinity, the PadFone X has tech specs which include a 5-inch smartphone combo with an 8.9-inch tablet. Other tech specs for the PadFone X include a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, full HD display resolution, microSD support, a 13MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, 1MP front camera for the tablet and 2300 mAh battery. The tablet gets a 4990 mAh battery while the smartphone can also support certain 3G and 4G LTE bands.

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.