Asus Zenfone 5 (16GB)

The Zenfone 5 (16GB) is the middleman of Asus' Zenfone lineup of affordable yet high-end smartphones, with a display that is neither too small nor too large and overall specifications that make it a great buy in the sub-Rs. 10,000 market.

The device features a display that is 5 inches in size, with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels. It's not the best display in the segment, but Asus' offers control over the display modes through the software, letting users choose between a vivid, balanced and power-saving mode. The phone comes with three capacitive buttons for home, back and multitasking functions, but these buttons are unfortunately not backlit and can hence be difficult to use in the dark.

Performance on the Zenfone 5 is not an issue thanks to its dual-core Intel Atom processor. Clocked at 1.6GHz, the Intel processor is more capable than some quad-core processors in the same segment, and its PowerVR GPU ensures even high-end games run without nary a stutter or lag. The Zenfone 5 is among the first smartphones in its price category to have 2GB of RAM, also making it great for multitasking in addition to being very adept at general performance.

It has an 8-megapixel rear camera that comes with Asus' PixelMaster technology, which lets the camera capture up to 400 percent more light than other cameras. It doesn't always work well in practice, but the Zenfone 5 certainly does better at low-light imaging than competing smartphones. There is a 2-megapixel camera on the front, and the device comes with a fully featured camera app that lets users take control over what the final result is when they are out and about capturing those special moments.

The Zenfone 5 has 16GB of inbuilt storage (there is also a cheaper model with only 8GB storage), a microSD card slot, and 5GB of free cloud storage from Asus. Its battery isn't too large with a capacity of 2,110mAh, but regular usage that includes things like calling, WhatsApp and a bit of browsing shouldn't empty the battery too quickly. It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box, but is upgradeable to both Android 4.4 KitKat and Android 5.0 Lollipop.