Asus has launched a new variant of its ZenFone 2 Laser range of smartphones in India. While the previous smartphones in this lineup came with either 5 or 5.5-inch display panels, this particular one features a massive 6-inch screen. The device is simply called the ZenFone 2 Laser like all other handsets in the lineup, and comes with the model number ZE601KL. The one interesting thing about the availability of the device is that unlike all other smartphones launched by Asus in the country over the past couple of years, this particular model will not be exclusive to online retailer Flipkart. Instead, the ZenFone 2 Laser ZE601KL will be available for purchase both through online and offline channels.
To start off, the device will be available on the three largest online shopping sites in India – Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. Next week onwards, the handset will reportedly also be available from brick and mortar retail stores across the country. As for the pricing, the phablet will come with an MSRP of Rs. 17,999 ($265), and will be offered in three colors – Red, Silver and Gold. There’s no word on whether Asus will also make the more traditional Black and White color options available at some stage in the future. The company already sells a number of ZenFone 2 Laser models in the country as mentioned earlier, all of which come with laser-assisted autofocus for the rear-facing primary camera. The range currently includes a 5-inch model priced at Rs. 9,799 ($145), a 5.5-inch variant of the same device at Rs. 9,999 ($150) and a 5.5-inch handset with higher specs, costing Rs. 13,999 ($215).
Talking about specs, the latest ZenFone phablet from Asus features a 6-inch display, as mentioned already. It is a 1080p IPS panel that comes with Gorilla Glass 4 protection, as does every other model in the lineup. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 MSM8939 chipset, and comes with 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in storage, which can be expanded with the help of a microSD card of up to 128 GB in capacity. Connectivity options on the phablet include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+, LTE and Micro-USB, just like all other devices in the lineup. The smartphone packs a user-replaceable 3,000 mAh Li-Polymer battery, and has Android 5.0 Lollipop pre-installed, with the promise of Marshmallow in the future. The device sports a 13-megapixel primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture and LED flash, along with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies etc.