Latest Mobile Phone from ASUS – Asus Live (G500TG)
ASUS recently released their latest mobile phone, the ASUS Live (G500TG). If you like affordable smartphones with a decent display quality, camera, and processing power, mid-range smartphones like ASUS Live is what you need.
ASUS is a Taiwanese multinational company and the 4th largest PC vendor in 2015. They are currently a big influence in the mobile markets with their quality smartphones. They also make good designs that may fit your taste.
With that said, let’s take a look at the capabilities of the ASUS Live (G500TG).
Device Type: Smartphone
Display: 5.0 inches (720 x 1280 pixels)
Camera: 8MP
Hardware: Mediatek MT6580, Quad-core 1.8 GHz, 2GB RAM
Battery: 2070 mAh
Expected Price: US$218
Design
The most noticeable design aspect of the Asus Live smartphone is its color. It has lively and trendy color combinations of Blue & Black, Yellow & White, or Red & Black. The color accents of Black, Yellow, or Red are located on the sides and on the camera lens. I like the blue design, how about you?
The sides do not only have colors accents, it also has engraved patterns that will provide you a more comfortable grip. I like that it is beveled at the back like most recent smartphones because it will feel good on the hands.
For a 5-inch smartphone, it weighs only 140 g which is the average weight of smartphones with the same display size. It is only 9.9 mm thin. It’s not a very thin profile but not too thick as well. Most smartphones would range from 7 mm to 9 mm in thickness, so it is only slightly thicker than the average.
Display
The ASUS Live has an HD display with 294 ppi pixel density. With this level of display sharpness, it can compete with the best US$200 smartphones. It is already close to the 326 ppi pixel density of a normal iPhone, so it is not too sharp but it’s almost there, and iPhones are three times more expensive anyway.
It also uses IPS LCD display technology which has better viewing angles and less power consumption compared to TFT technology in ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser. IPS LCD is also used by other flagship smartphones.
The quality of ASUS Live display is similar to the best smartphones under US$200 such as Lenovo P70, Huawei P8 Lite, and Huawei Honor 4c. If you like a smartphone with the best display sharpness in the same price range, the HTC Desire Eye would be the best choice.
Performance
The ASUS Live runs on Android OS 5.1 (Lollipop). The quad-core 1.3 GHz clock speed, Mali-400MP2 GPU, and 2GB RAM are not the best hardware specs compared to the other US$200 smartphones which can run way faster. The ASUS Live is not the fastest around, but it’s fast enough to get a good Android experience.
Compared to the best smartphones within the $US150, it is twice higher in terms of RAM. This means the ASUS Live can multitask more without degrading its performance.
The internal storage is 16 GB which you can expand even up to 64 GB using a microSD card. That is twice more expansion than most $200 smartphones.
Camera
The camera is at 8MP with f/2.0 aperture size and LED flash. The best $200 smartphones have 13MP camera resolutions with the same aperture size. The 2MP front camera is also not the best around for the same budget. You can get a 5MP front camera resolution within the same price range.
The good thing about the camera is that it has many good features such as HDR, panorama, Time Lapse, Selfie Mode and more. The camera has a video recorder but the video recording quality is still not yet disclosed.
Battery
The battery capacity is 2070 mAh which can provide 11 hours of talk time and 321 hours of standby time. For a 5-inch mid-range smartphone, the battery life is again not the best, but it’s not too bad either. Other smartphones that cost more or less can last even up to 20 hours of talk time.
The good thing about the battery that you will like is that it is removable. So you can just put in some extra battery if you will not be able to charge for a while. The amazing thing about removable batteries is that you can replace them when their performance had significantly degraded after years of use.
Other Features
The ASUS Live does not have LTE capability. That is a major turn off for a user who likes super faster network connectivity. If you like to use the internet and stream HD videos, it can connect to a 3G network. 3G is fast but not as fast as LTE.
LTE connectivity is just one of the ways to connect to the internet. The ASUS Live can connect to Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) so you can stream and download from the internet with the maximum speed that your ISP can provide. It can also function as a hotspot.
If you need to use GPS when driving, the ASUS Live has GPS with A-GPS technology. It also has FM radio if you like to listen to music without streaming. Streaming can consume more battery and sometimes with added cost.
Conclusion
The ASUS Live is a mid-range smartphone that should cost a little less than US$200 to get the most out of your bucks. The camera is decent but not the best around. It has no LTE connectivity and the battery life is a little shorter than the average.
It has a stylish design and a good form for a comfortable hold and the display quality can compete with the best smartphones within the same expected price range. The processing power is not the best around as well, but it’s not that bad either.
What do you think of this latest ASUS smartphone? I would love to hear from you.