Asus Zenfone 3 vs Galaxy A5 2016 Review + Camera Comparison

Two premium mid-rangers meet in our Ultimate Comparison, which from the new Asus Zenfone 3 ZE520KL and Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 makes a better smartphone? We find out in our review and camera comparison.

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Design

Both phones feature all-glass build. The front and back are beveled on each with the Zenfone mid-ranger having a more apparent curve and rounded corners. It also features a wider port array with its reversible USB Type-C and LED notification light. The speed, however, is stuck at 2.0.

Each supports a hybrid dual SIM and microSD card tray. Meanwhile, the home button on Galaxy A5 is flanked by two back-lit keys and embedded with a fingerprint scanner that’s behind on the snappy fingerprint of Zenfone 3 in terms of accuracy.

For the overall exterior, you can’t go wrong with either phone as both are the best in their class so we call this a tie.

Display

The two displays are measured at 5.2-inches with Full HD resolutions and backed by Gorilla Glass proofing. The Galaxy mid-ranger, however, has a stronger version 4.0 glass over the 3.0 of its rival.

Quality-wise, we have noticeably vibrant and over saturated Super AMOLED output on the Galaxy A5 whereas the Zenfone 3 retains some of the natural colors on its IPS+ LCD. Brightness level on the former is a bit higher but that’s hard to distinguish without putting them side-by-side.

Again, both panels are impressive in their respective categories so it’s a tie.

Camera

Taking a big step in camera department is the Zenfone shooter with a new 16MP f2.0 main shooter over the dated 13MP f1.9 of the Galaxy shooter.

The level of sharpness is different on each camera with the Zenfone leaning on finer and smoother algorithms with a more accurate colors and white balance. The Galaxy A5 gets crisp shots in low light and daylight despite the lower megapixels count, thanks to the wide f1.9 aperture. Both come equipped with optical image stabilizations.

The Zenfone 3’s 8MP front-facing snapper takes better selfie photos. The colors are well-preserved and the details stand out over the bland yet bright shots of its rival.

On the video, the Asus camera takes it to the next level with a 4K max resolution and 5 axes optical stabilization.

In overall camera, the Asus Zenfone 3 is unbeatable and wins this round.

Performance and benchmark

The faster Snapdragon 625 widens the lead of the Asus hardware in performance and benchmark over the Snapdragon 615 of the Galaxy A5. Both are octa-core processors but the latter is clocked faster, paired with more powerful graphics, and sports up to 4GB RAM compared to 2GB of the Galaxy A5.

So in this test, the Zenfone 3 definitely takes the cake.

Battery and charging

Despite having the same size, Samsung was able to squeeze a bigger battery cell with 2900mAh on the Galaxy A5 over the 2600mAh of the smaller version of Zenfone 3 ZE520KL. The former gets a longer battery life and easily lasts up to the second day while the latter scores averagely which are still enough for more than a day. Both can be charged for less than 1 hour and 30 minutes, thanks to the fast charging adapters.

Winning this round is the Galaxy A5 2016.

Audio

The amp-driven mono speaker on Zenfone 3 beats the Galaxy A5 in audio output and wins on the speaker. The bass and treble are cleaner and stronger on the former speaker while the latter sounds tinny yet as loud to its competition.

Pricing and verdict

With Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 priced for about P16,000 to P18,000 pesos or roughly $400 whereas the smaller Asus Zenfone 3 ZE520KL will set you back starting from P14k to P16k or as low as $300 USD with larger storage and more RAM.

Overall, we like the design of Galaxy A5 2016 but the Zenfone 3 is just better overall and offers more value for your money.
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