Asus Zenfone 5Z vs OnePlus 6 Comparison: Battle of Budget Flagships

Updated on 2018-07-12 by Tejas Upmanyu

If you thought that the odd notch won’t enter the Android world, Asus proved you wrong, long back at MWC 2018. Asus Zenfone 5 & 5Z became the first Android smartphones to go into history books with the iPhone X style notch, although Its a brazen iPhone X ripoff, that’s not all this device is known for or should be known for because its not denying the fact that both the smartphones look extremely gorgeous both with looks and prices. and you know what if you are a OnePlus 6 fan, well suffice to say Asus has put enough in these smartphones to make you think. Asus launched Zenfone 5 as a mid-range while the flagship grade Zenfone 5Z as an aggressively priced flagship under 30,000 to give OnePlus 6, Honor 10 and a few more a taste of their own backyard.

Asus Zenfone 5Z is about to enter the Indian markets in all Its glory, exclusively on Flipkart starting July 4th, If you are looking for an amazing smartphone without paying a fortune, rejoice as OnePlus 6 isn’t the only option. So before this lower-priced flagship clash catches market heat, let’s decide which smartphone is actually better for the price with our neck to neck comparison of Asus Zenfone 5Z vs OnePlus 6. 

Also, if you wish to read about the comparison of Asus Zenfone 5Z vs Honor 10, we have got you covered.

1. Design & Build Quality

We are gonna hit at it out straight - both the smartphones have quite similar looking front fascia with little notches up top in the vastness which is the screen. There are no side bezels on both the smartphones but the chins are quite noticeable on both. Both the smartphones look no scream premium with glass metal sandwich build, OnePlus 6 is also available in a matte finish which takes away a little shine but sure makes the smartphone less breakable.

OnePlus 6 has a vertically stacked camera housing, placed at the horizontal centre of the rear, followed by a flash and rounded rectangular fingerprint scanner. Asus Zenfone 5Z has a vertically stacked dual camera arrangement followed by a flash and a circular fingerprint scanner at the centre. Both the smartphones are quite similar in grip, and in gloss.

OnePlus 6 is slightly heavier at 177grams compared to 155grams of Zenfone 5Z. The aluminium rim on the OnePlus 6 provides a bit of reinforcement and the smartphone looks a bit sturdier. Both the smartphones are quite sleek and of course fingerprint magnets, there is no escaping those smudges.

The chamfered metal below the glass on Zenfone 5Z looks refreshing and razor-sharp stunning.  In all, both the smartphones don’t fall an inch short of premium and feel so too in hands. So, for this round, it is a tie when comparing the design and build quality of the Asus Zenfone 5Z vs OnePlus 6. 

2. Display

Things are not really far apart in this department as well as both the devices pack entirety of display on their lean fronts. Displays which are more or less same, on paper and off paper as well. For the record, Asus Zenfone 5Z features a 6.2 inch, IPS LCD Panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2246 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18.7:9, thanks to that notch.

The math gives a pixel density of ~402 PPI which is quite fair for flair this display shows with deep blacks, nice contrast, plenty of brightness, crisp, punchy colours and legit sunlight readability, yeah Its not an OLED panel but we really don’t miss is that much as the panel is quite a satisfying experience.

While comparing the OnePlus 6, it has a 6.3-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels at 19:9 aspect ratio, with a pixel density of ~402 PPI. Since Its an OLED panel, the contrast levels are amazing and the colors just feel so natural and crisp. Also, this display goes super bright and gives solid sunlight readability.

Frankly, there is not a staggering difference between the display on both the smartphones but for what Its worth the OLED panel on OnePlus 6 is better than the IPS LCD on Zenfone 5Z. And in the display comparison of the budget flagships, we will give OnePlus 6 an edge. 

3. Internals & Performance

Both the smartphones pride themselves on being low-cost ‘flagships’ and the spec sheet aligns with thins claim. Asus Zenfone 5Z, as well as OnePlus 6, have the beast of highest order named Snapdragon 845, which is an octa-core SoC with 4x2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold cores & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver cores. OnePlus 6 is available in two configurations boasting 6 and 8 GB of RAM along with 64 GB / 128 GB of storage respectively. While the newly launched Zenfone 5z comes in three variants 6GB-64GB priced at Rs 29999 only, 8GB-128 GB priced at 32999 and 8GB-256GB priced at 34999. We don’t need to highlight the fact that you won’t find a better spec sheet at the price and that is probably the most delightful aspect of these smartphones.

The ‘flagship’ grade performance can be felt in everything you throw at these smartphones, whether it be tons of apps, intense multitasking or even hours of heavyweight games, Snapdragon 845 can take it all.

You won’t be complaining about the performance of these smartphones let alone little issues like stutter or lag even after a couple of years, they are gonna age well. So, If you wanted to see some fight in the performance segment, well both the smartphones have similar internals and there is not really a difference in real life performance either, so this round is quite easily a draw.

For what Its worth, OnePlus 6 scores a whopping 264200 in AnTuTu 7 while Asus Zenfone 5Z seems to shatter skies with 274499 points on AnTuTu. So the performance is similar and this round of comparison between Asus Zenfone 5Z vs OnePlus 6 is a tie.

4. Camera Comparison

Anyone can stuff a smartphone with lots of RAM and the best SoC but one thing that is not that easy to master is cameras and that’s where these so-called ‘affordable flagships’ usually fall behind the real heroes like iPhone X or Pixel 2.

Getting out camera specifications before proceeding ahead - Asus Zenfone 5Z packs a vertically stacked dual camera setup with a primary 12 MP (f/1.8, 24mm, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, PDAF) sensor with a secondary 8 MP (f/2.0, 12mm, 1/4", 1.12µm), gyro EIS, and dual-LED (dual tone) flash. OnePlus 6’s camera housing, on the other hand, is built of a primary 16 MP (f/1.7, 27mm, 1/2.6", 1.22µm, gyro-EIS, OIS) with a secondary 20 MP (16 MP effective, f/1.7, 1/2.8", 1.0µm) and dual-LED flash.

Jumping to what these numbers actually translate to in real life - Zenfone 5Z’s camera performs quite impressively in daylight and natural lighting conditions but the noise is quite observed in low-light conditions and the pictures lack detail in such conditions. Autofocus is forte of this camera unit and it works amazingly well, if you are into zoom shots, Zenfone 5Z is not much of a performer there. Overall, It is a decent mid-range camera, which is quite far from what we expect in a device touted as a flagship.

Comparing the camera of Zenfone 5s vs OnePlus 6, the sensor choices are yet to be explained with both the sensors identical and the secondary sensor being of higher resolution that primary sensor. The camera is an improvement over OnePlus 5T. The amount of detail in the images is immense, the colours are vivid but not oversaturated. Low light performance is quite better and the noise is not over the top, It is still away from toppling iPhone X or Pixel 2 for that matter but yeah, Its a pretty impressive offering at the price.

Selfie game has become quite an integral part of our lives and OnePlus brings a 16 MP (f/2.0, 25mm, 1/3", 1.0µm), gyro-EIS, Auto HDR capable sensor which takes stunning selfies and is quite decent in low-light as well. Asus Zenfone 5Z packs an 8 MP front sensor (f/2.0, 24mm, 1/4", 1.12µm), gyro EIS which captures beautiful selfies but the level of detail is not as much as OnePlus 6.

Summing it up, OnePlus 6 is quite better in cameras than Asus Zenfone 5Z. Given the pricing, both the camera perform well and have that budget flagship behaviour. But OnePlus 6 convincingly outperforms Zenfone 5Z in camera comparison. 

5. Software

When the fight is so close, Software can be the defining factor for a smartphone. And It is not only about that, a neat and snappy software experience can be quite the cherry. Both the smartphones run on the latest Android Oreo with Asus Zenfone 5Z using a custom skin named ZenUI which is quite close to stock Android with some great add-ons by Asus. Oxygen OS on OnePlus 6 is another much loved and close to stock Android skin.

While ZenUI is quite snappy and responsive, so is Oxygen OS and feels a lot more sizzling due to solid work done by OnePlus on animations and transitions, which make the experience feel faster and slicker. There are some amazing features on both the skins such as the customary face unlock, which is quite speedy on both the smartphones. The gestures on both the skins are also fluid. While ZenUI has some amazing features and is quite bloatware free,  so is Oxygen OS.

In all, the software on both the smartphones is clean and performant with OnePlus 6 offering feeling a nanosecond faster. ZenUI is quite neat as well, but Oxygen OS feels slightly more mature and developed with no clutter yet a lot of meaningful UI embellishments and features. We won’t really tell, which one is better here because frankly, no one is, It all depends on your choice and preferences.

6. Battery & Charging

Asus Zenfone 5Z contains a non-removable 3300mAh battery which is well enough for a day but if you are a heavy user, keeping a charger with is a wise option as that giant LCD panel can take up of a lot of juice. There’s fast charging via USB-C port on the bottom of the device. OnePlus 6 has a similar story with a 3300mAh battery which lasts easily for a day thanks to that OLED panel which saves a lot of power. OnePlus’ famous Dash charging is onboard with a USB-C based port. 

Both the smartphones keep the 3.5mm jack which is quite pleasing with Zenfone 5Z featuring DTS sound via headphones, powering rich, balanced sound for a satisfying listening experience. Now this one is important to note as well - There is no formal IP rating for any of these smartphones but OnePlus 6 is said to be splash proof since OnePlus doesn’t say anything about It, we’ll request you to refrain from taking these smartphones close to water. 

7. Pricing & Availability 

This is where these smartphones beat others - pricing. OnePlus 6 is already out there as an Amazon exclusive with a price tag of Rs 34,999 to start from for the 6GB RAM model and 39,999 for the 8GB model.  Asus Zenfone 5Z launched on 4th July comes at a very competitive pricing as follows

Given this competitive pricing from Asus, it looks like it is going to be a hit in the budget flagship market and the users with budget of under 30000 are surely going to rejoice a great value for money smartphone.

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