Asus Zenfone 2 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: A technical comparison

The ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2015) witnessed the launch of the Asus Zenfone 2 high-end smartphone, which had generated much pre-launch hype as its predecessor, the Asus Zenfone series, was highly appreciated across the world.

The original Asus Zenfone series was a hit, considering that it catered to all categories of smartphone buyers and to prospective buyers with varying budget options.

The Asus Zenfone 2 seems to have amalgamated the above factors.

Though not released commercially, the Zenfone 2, inevitably draws up comparisons to high-end smartphones manufactured by some of the big names in technology.

And to compare the Zenfone 2 to Samsung's Galaxy S5 seems appropriate as the latter had also generated a lot of pre-release hype, but fell short of user expectations.

Here's a look at how the Asus Zenfone 2 and Samsung Galaxy S5 stack up against each other, technically.

Asus Zenfone 2 vs Samsung Galaxy S5

Display

Asus Zenfones 2 features a 5.5in IPS capacitive display with resolutions of 1080x1920 and pixel density of 403 pixels per inch (PPI). The smartphone's touchscreen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

While, the Samsung Galaxy S5 incorporates a comparatively smaller 5.1in AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with resolutions of 1080x1920 and 432 PPI. Like the Asus Zenfone 2, the Galaxy S5's screen is also protected by the Gorilla Glass 3.

Both smartphones have multi-touch support.

Since the Galaxy S5 has a higher pixel density, it should support comparatively sharper images. However, the screen size of the Zenfone 2 is larger.

Hardware

The Zenfone 2 will be available in two variants depending on the market. One uses a quad-core 2.3GHz Intel Atom Z3580 chipset with PowerVR G6430 GPU, while the other uses a 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z3560 quad-core chipset.

The onboard RAM also varies, as the Zenfone 2 supports both 2GB and 4GB RAM.

The Galaxy S5 boasts a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, and is supported by a 2GB RAM.

The Asus Zenfones 2 emerges a clear winner taking into consideration its 4GB RAM variant, as it leads to faster indexing thus giving the device a comparatively faster instruction processing capability.

Both the Zenfone 2 and Galaxy S5 will provide for good multi-tasking and gaming capabilities.

Memory

Asus Zenfone 2 comes in three internal storage variants including 16/32GB, with expansion (via MicroSD card) of up to 64GB.

The Galaxy S5 has internal storage options of 16GB and 32GB, expandable by up to 128GB via microSD card.

Camera

The Zenfone 2 features a 13MP autofocus rear camera with dual-LED flash and a 5MP front camera. The rear camera offers additional features such as geo-tagging of images, touch focus, panorama mode, HDR and face detection.

Users can shoot 1080p videos at 30 frames per second (FPS). While the front camera will allow users to indulge in a comparatively intuitive degree of video calling.

The Galaxy S5 features a superior 16MP rear camera which should give amateur photographers plenty to cheer about.

However, the S5 incorporates only a dismal 2MP front camera which puts the spotlight on Asus' Zenfone 2.

Battery

The Asus Zenfone 2 comes with a fixed 3,000 mAh Li-Polymer battery, whereas the Galaxy S5 features a 2,800 Li-Ion battery which is claimed to offer a talktime of up to 21 hours, along with a music playback time of up to 67 hours.

Software

Asus Zenfone 2 runs the latest Android 5.0 (Lollipop) straight out of the box.

Though the Samsung Galaxy S5 runs on the Android 4.4.42 KitKat operating platform out of the box, the device can effectively run the Android 5.0 which has started seeding to Galaxy S5 users in multiple countries as an OTA firmware upgrade.

Release date and price

Asus Zenfone 2 has been officially launched at CES 2014 and will be commercially released in the near future. Its price tag is speculated to start from £132 ($199) for the 2 GB RAM/16GB internal storage variant.

On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S5 is available all over the world, and pricing starts from £465.00 for an unlocked variant in the United Kingdom.