The rest of the hardware specifications are also highly competent. A 5.5-inch Full HD display dominates the front of the handset. The rear case comes in several colours and features an interesting 3D cut-glass effect that gives the device a unique design, another way in which it sets itself apart from the crowd.
The processor is a quad-core 64-bit Intel Atom unit, an alternative to the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips found in most other modern phones. It runs at 2.3GHz and will easily keep the phone ticking along. A massive 4GB of RAM makes multitasking between even the most intensive apps a breeze.
Camera technology is fairly standard but competent. A 13-megapixel rear shooter should capture decent photos while a 5-megapixel front-facer provides adequate selfie abilities.
The star feature for many is likely to remain the 256GB of storage though. Most modern handsets have 32GB or 64GB with only a few ranging up to the 128GB mark. With app sizes, music libraries and photo collections growing ever larger, a phone’s storage can quickly fill up. Owners of the ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition are unlikely to experience this issue for a very long time.
256GB of storage is a lot for a tablet or even a laptop. Many cheap Windows netbooks and tablets make do with 32GB or 64GB while a 256GB SSD is a fairly standard option for a Microsoft Surface Pro 3. To top it all, the ZenFone 2 retains a micro SD card slot – a feature that many competitors are quickly shedding – allowing the user to add another 128GB of storage if, for some reason, they so choose.
The ordinary ZenFone 2 is a comparative bargain and is more powerful than other more costly smartphones. Asus is not expected to dramatically raise the price with the Deluxe Special Edition, although it is currently confined to Brazil only.
T3 notes that the company has not stated any plans to bring the device to Europe or North America although it’s easy to see a 5.5-inch, Intel-powered phone with 256GB of storage and 4GB of RAM becoming a hit in other markets besides Latin America.
