Asus Zenfone Lite L1 review: Decent budget phone with clean interface

Asus had launched the Zenfone Lite L1 along with the Zenfone Max M1 in mid-October with prices starting at Rs 6,999.

It comes with a decent set of hardware including the time-tested Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, decent cameras and a full day's battery life. I had the chance to check out the Asus Zenfone Lite L1 and here's my take on it.

Design, build quality and display:

I received a black hued model and it's beautiful and sturdy too. The Zenfone Lite L1 comes with candy bar-shaped body with curvaceous corners and it cascades smoothly into the edges. The company has done a superb paint job, as it is really hard to tell the shell is made of polycarbonate material similar to the Zenfone Max M1 (review). When held in hand, I felt the toughness it has.

The phone is compact and light, which is good, as it offers a good grip for the fingers to hold on it and also slips into the pocket so seamlessly.

On the front too, it has a gorgeous display having 5.45-inch HD+ (1440x720p) IPS FullView screen and comes with 2.5D glass, which adds more visual appeal to the phone. The display is bright and was able to reproduce near natural colours of multimedia content and thanks to 18:9 aspect ratio, as I had a pleasant experience watching videos on it, despite having a small screen size.

The readability of the screen is also good, as I faced no issue while reading or viewing content with direct sunlight above.

Performance:

Asus Zenfone Lite L1 is powered by Android 8.1 Oreo-based ZenUI with Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. It performed smoothly in terms of such as opening apps, switching between multiple apps, loading camera, browsing the internet and other normal day-to-day activities.

I even played games such as Angry Birds, it worked without any sign of lag-ness, but don't expect it to perform well with high-end graphics-intense games. This is not at all a big issue, as many devices in this entry-level are not made for heavy users. But, for beginners who are new to touch-screen phones, the Zenfone Lite L1 is still a good choice.

Also, there some un-required third-party apps in the phones, but Asus have given the option to uninstall them and I appreciate this effort for putting consumer interest over the internal revenue.

Camera:

Asus Zenfone Lite L1 comes with a 13MP primary camera with 4P lens, F2.2 aperture, 1.12µm pixel size, 0.03s PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus), LED flash, Camera modes: Auto, Beauty, Pro, Panorama, Time Lapse, Portrait and HDR. It takes decent pictures in the bright light conditions.

The captured images were sharp and had near-accurate natural colour. But its auto-focus loses speed and also struggles to put the focus on the subject in a dark environment. It was really hard for me to get a proper picture in the night.

On the front, it houses 5MP with a 3P lens, F2.0 aperture, 1.12µm pixel size, LED flash, Auto, Beauty, Portrait and HDR. The Zenfone Lite Lite L1 took decent selfies even in controlled light conditions of the indoor environment. Thanks to dedicated LED flash, it was able to get good photos in the night.

Battery:

It ships with the 3,000mAh non-removable battery. For a compactly sized phone, it is more than enough to run for a whole day and did live up to the expectations. During the testing phase (active hours 6:30 am to 10:00 pm), I browsed the internet, used the camera for video recording, pictures, even played games, watched videos on YouTube and other usual activities.

It had little over 20-per cent before I could retire to bed. So, rest assured the Zenfone Lite L1 will offer one-day battery life under mixed usage.

Final thoughts:

Asus has done a decent job with the Zenfone Lite L1. It has equipped the device with a good time-tested Qualcomm processor, a full-day battery and most importantly, reduced number of third-party apps, thereby taking a hit in terms of revenue. I appreciate Asus for this commendable act of giving more priority to the consumer needs. But the camera, particularly its ability to take a decent photo in the night, is an arduous task. However, this shortcoming can be fixed by a software update.

Pros:

• Decent build quality.
• Time-tested Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core.
• Day-long battery. 

Cons:

• The camera needs some work, as I had to struggle a lot to get good snaps in the low-light condition. But it's not a deal breaker, as this issue can be fixed with a software update.

Key specifications of Asus Zenfone Lite L1:

Stay tuned. Follow us @IBTimesIN_Tech on Twitter and on Google News for the latest updates on Asus.