ASUS’s Zenfone 4 series definitely shook the market with its arrival. The vanilla Zenfone 4’s arrival only meant for us that it needs to be compared with various smartphones, and going with it for this comparison is its super mid-range younger sibling, the Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro.
Table of Contents
Included Accessories
ASUS has already standardized with what accessories come with their phones, no matter the price range they’re meant for. If there are any significant differences between the two’s packaging, it would be the boxes’ colors.
ASUS Zenfone 4’s included accessories:
- 3.5mm in-ear headset
- Eartips
- 10-18W variable USB power adapter
- 1m USB Type-C cable
- Soft Jelly Case
- SIM ejector pin
ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro’s included accessories:
- 3.5mm in-ear headset
- Eartips
- 10W USB power adapter
- 1m USB Type-C cable
- Soft Jelly Case
- SIM ejector pin
Winner: None
Design
If the Zenfone 4 was the father, the Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro is a spitting image of it.
Off the front, we’ll see that the Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro is jam-packed with its dual front camera setup with a dedicated flash. By the sides, the Selfie Pro is thinner by .7mm. Button-placements and ports aren’t any different, save for the design of the buttons themselves.
They have the same hybrid single-tray slot and different routes of antenna lines.
On the back, the concentricity of the Zenfone 4 outshines the Selfie Pro’s rather dull and familiar layout.
And to sum it up, the more-prominent chamfered edges on the Zenfone 4 definitely tells everyone who looks at it that it’s premium.
Winner: ASUS Zenfone 4
Display
Even though they seem to have an identical panel, differences can be found between the two. For instance, brightness is the Zenfone 4’s. Its display can go up to 600 nits while the Selfie Pro’s can only go ’til 500 nits.
Not to mention, the Zenfone 4’s IPS LCD display has a more dynamic color contrast, allowing for proper blacks and whites even when both are in the same frame.
And on the Screen Color mode, the Zenfone 4 has ‘Balance’ in which the Selfie Pro has ‘Super Color’. What is set to ‘Standard’ on the Selfie Pro is ‘Vivid’ the vanilla Zenfone 4.
‘Vivid’ and ‘Super Color’ may be same in theory, but the Zenfone 4’s is better.
Also, to mention, the Zenfone 4’s display is much, much warmer or yellowish than the Selfie Pro’s at vertical angles.
Winner: ASUS Zenfone 4
ROM/UX
Since both basically run the same ZenUI, it is the loading times that will differ because of their respective specs.
Now, the major difference here can be seen in the Camera UI. Note that the Selfie Pro only has two main windows while the Zenfone 4 has three – with the rightmost one for filters. I don’t know about you, but Instagram people may use this in lieu of presets in-app.
Winner: ASUS Zenfone 4
Camera
| Phone | Rear Camera | Front Camera |
| ASUS Zenfone 4 | Dual 12 MP (Sony IMX362), f/1.8 + 8 MP (OmniVision 8856), f/2.2, 25mm, 120-degree VA, Dual Pixel autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flashVideo recording: 2160p@30fps, 720p@120fps | 8 MP (OmniVision 8856), f/2.0, 84-degree VA
Video recording: up to 1080p@30fps |
| ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro | 16 MP, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
Video recording: 2160p@30fps |
Dual 12 MP (Sony IMX362) + 5 MP, LED flash
Video recording: up to 2160p@30fps |
Rear Camera
The Zenfone 4’s rear camera and the Selfie Pro’s front camera are technically the same, that may make you think that this ends in a tie.. not. A discussion is still due, and I would like to commend that ASUS went for the flagship IMX sensor, the 362. Results vary from both phones, but the advantages of the base model outweigh this similarity. The option of going for wide angled-shots in well-lit scenarios is always great for those into landscapes and large-group mobile photography.
Front Camera
As the name suggests, selfies are the Selfie Pro’s specialty, and it shouldn’t be much of a mystery as to why the IMX 362 is better than the OmniVision 8856.
Winner: ASUS Zenfone 4
Performance
SPECIFICATIONS
| SPECS | ASUS Zenfone 4 | ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro |
| Display | 5.5″ 1920×1080 AMOLED (~401 ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 4 front & back |
5.5″ 1920×1080 Optic AMOLED (~401 ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Dimensions & Features | 155.4 x 75.2 x 7.7 mm, 165g, Hybrid dual-SIM tray | 154 x 74.8 x 7 mm, 145g, Hybrid dual-SIM tray, Dirac HD sound |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 | Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 |
| CPU | Octa-core (4×2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260) | Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | Adreno 512 | Adreno 506 |
| Memory | 64 GB, 6 GB RAM, microSD <256GB |
64GB, 4GB RAM, non-expandable memory |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, BT 4.2, GLONASS, BDS, A-GPS NFC, USB 3.1 Type-C 1.0, 3.5mm audio jack | Wi-Fi n, BT 4.1, A-GPS, microUSB 2.0, FM Radio, 3.5mm audio jack |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3300mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 3000mAh battery |
| Price | PhP 27,500/$550 | PhP 18,995/$380 |
The $170 of difference between the two may not justify it that much on paper, but you’ll see a world of difference in the benchmarks.
BENCHMARKS
| Benchmark | ASUS Zenfone 4 | ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro |
| AnTuTu | 112406 (~4.09pts/PhP) |
66057 (~3.478pts/PhP) |
| Geekbench (Single Core) |
1611 | 881 |
| Geekbench (Multicore) |
5815 | 4290 |
| PCMark Work 2.0 | 6277 | 5613 |
| Androbench | RR: 55.2MB/s RW: 15.63MB/s |
RR: 38.53MB/s RW: 14.43MB/s |
| ManilaShaker Battery Rating | 44h 48m | 32h 56m |
| Charging Time (0-100%) | 2h 54m | 2h 50m |
The vanilla Zenfone 4 crushed its sibling with ease, thanks to its SD660 and Adreno 512 combo. Even just casually browsing on the phone, the snappiness and fluidity of opening and using apps is definitely better on the Zenfone 4.
Winner: ASUS Zenfone 4
Audio
Here are the songs that I’ve listened to on both IEM’s and speakers:
– ‘The Heart Never Lies’ by McFly
– ‘Tukso’ by Eva Eugenio
– ‘Give ‘Em Hell, Kid’ by UNVRS
– ‘Tadhana’ by UDD
– ‘Knuckles’ by Moose Blood
Leaving the EQ at flat, quality and room volume belong to the base model’s speakers. Quality would’ve been identical if it weren’t for the earpiece-speaker combo being used to enable stereo channels.
ASUS remade AudioWizard in a very intuitive but lacking way, wherein you could do the same fine-tuning in most music player apps, like Poweramp.
Winner: ASUS Zenfone 4
Results
ASUS Zenfone 4‘s Pros:
- Display
- Design
- ROM/UX
- Performance
- Camera
- Audio
ASUS’s absurdly-priced mid-ranger definitely is a league above its smaller brothers. Still, with the Zenfone 4 family’s pricing for what they offer may dissuade consumers looking into buying a new phone. How about you? Are you for the super midranger Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro or ASUS’s new face and base model, the Zenfone 4? Let us know in the comments below!
