Earlier this year, Asus announced the ZenFone 2, a budget friendly Android smartphone with decent hardware that fit right in the middle of the pack in terms of design and performance. The camera on that phone showed its age and was one of the least impressive aspects of the design.
Today, Asus is releasing a follow-up to that device, called the Asus ZenFone 2 Laser. This release appears to target some of the original ZenFone 2’s shortcomings, especially the camera, while keeping the price at a very reasonable $269 CAD for the 16 GB model. The device keeps the 5.5 inch 1080p display from its predecessor, and the overall design is effectively identical.
The ZenFone 2 Laser features a 13-megapixel camera with PixelMaster 2.0, giving it laser autofocus which should let you get quicker focused shots than the original. The Laser will keep the dual-SIM hardware and removable battery from the previous generation, while switching up the CPU to an octacore Snapdragon 615 processor with Adreno 405 graphics from Intel’s Atom Z3560 or Z3580 chip.
Elsewhere, the device comes with 3GB of RAM, microSD support, Bluetooth 4.1, an improved antenna design for better reception over the original ZenFone 2, a 3,000mAh battery, and Corning Gorilla Glass 4. Unfortunately, it still ships with Android 5.0 Lollipop, with no word on an upgrade to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, or even a newer version of Lollipop.
The device will be available this month for $269 CAD at Staples, Canada Computers, NCIX and Memory Express.
Read more: Asus ZenFone 2 review
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