The Asus Zenfone 5 was announced in February but it’s only now that we’re learning when you’ll be able to buy it, and the date to mark is July 9 in the UK.
It’s set to cost £349.99, but if you pre-order on the Asus webstore between June 26 and July 8 you’ll get a £50 discount.
That’s probably worth doing if you want the Zenfone 5, especially as whether you pre-order or not the phone will initially only be available from Asus direct – though Carphone Warehouse and John Lewis will apparently be stocking it shortly.
Of course, one reason to wait is to see what we say in our full review of the Asus Zenfone 5. In our hands on we praised the shimmery glass rear and the bright, 6.2-inch, 19:9 Full HD+ display, but had concerns about the internals, which are a bit more middling, as the phone sports a mid-range Snapdragon 636 chipset and 4GB of RAM.
A smarter smartphone
There are also questions over the camera, as we haven’t properly tested that, though it’s a dual-lens snapper with AI skills, so it sounds solid on paper.
Speaking of AI, the Asus Zenfone 5 is heavily imbued with the stuff, as its chipset can also use AI to optimise performance.
Given that the phone also sports a fingerprint scanner, face unlock, stereo speakers, a 3,300mAh battery and a 90% screen-to-body-ratio it could be a real competitor to the likes of the Honor 10 if it lives up to its specs.
Though be aware that if you do want something with higher-end specs there’s also the Asus Zenfone 5Z, which was announced at the same time and sports a top-end Snapdragon 845 chipset and up to 8GB of RAM, however there’s no confirmed release date for that yet.
