Asus ZenFone 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy S6 : Which 2015 Android Flagship Smartphone Are You More Excited About?

Considering the stellar market performance of Asus Zenfone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S5 in the Philippines (and across the globe) in 2014, I'm inclined to believe that the 2015 follow-up to these best-selling handsets will again be two of the most popular mobile releases this year. That said, I want to ask you guys, 'Between Asus ZenFone 2 and Samsung Galaxy S6, which flagship Android smartphone are you more excited about?'

Asus ZenFone 2


The new flagship smartphone in the ZenFone family, the ZenFone 2 features an all-new design, has a 13 MP PixelMaster camera, and comes with uncompromising performance delivered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 processor with 4GB of RAM for the 32GB and 64GB models and a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3560 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM for the 16GB version, which will sell for only $199 (more or less Php 9,000 with current conversion) come March 2015. The other two, more powerful variants will obviously be pricier (probably in the range of Php 15,000 to Php 20,000).

According to Asus, "Building on the success of ZenFone and leveraging a quarter-century of engineering accomplishments, the highly-anticipated [4G LTE enabled] ZenFone 2 provides a wealth of exciting new features and a refined ASUS ZenUI experience to deliver a new level of empowering luxury to everyone."


ZenFone 2 has a gorgeous, all-new design that employs iconic Zen design elements, such as a sleek, brushed-metal finish and concentric-circle detailing, and introduces new refinements, including a graceful curved case that tapers to an incredibly thin 3.9 mm at the edges. The case provides a comfortable, secure grip, and features an intuitively-placed volume control key on the rear of the phone within easy reach of the user's index finger. This phablet's 5.5-inch Full HD IPS+ screen has an ultra-narrow bezel that reduces ZenFone 2's overall size yet provides a maximized viewing experience.

Samsung Galaxy S6

The upcoming top-of-the-line model is believed to feature an all-new design identity - said to be nothing like any of the handsets the company has released to date - and to have the best technical specifications of any device in Samsung's early 2015 product catalogue.

Update as of March 2, 2015 : Samsung Galaxy S6 has just been officially announced. You can learn more about the Korean Giant's 2015 flagship smartphone via our Samsung Galaxy S6 Philippines feature.

Expect Samsung Galaxy S6 to have a real metal frame just like Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Samsung Galaxy Alpha, and the new Galaxy A-Series. According to Business Insider, the Korean company intends to build the Galaxy S6 “from scratch” in order to spark some new momentum for the company’s flagship line of smartphones -- so whereas last year's flagship handset Samsung Galaxy S5 came with a plastic shell, its successor could very well come replete with lots of metal and glass design elements to make it look and feel more elegant and durable.


Various tech websites dedicated to disclosing insider information and updates about Samsung products have shared that the Galaxy S6 could come with a 5-inch Quad HD 2560 × 1440 pixels display, a 5 MegaPixel front cam, and a 16 MegaPixel main camera with Optical Image Stabilization. As for the internal hardware, it's said the phone could run Android 5.0 Lollipop (underneath the latest version of TouchWiz UI) with an Octa Core Exynos 7420 chipset, handle multitasking with 3GB of RAM, and have 32, 64, and 128 GB storage options.


Samsung will announce its 2015 flagship on March 1, 2015 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Previous flagships preceding the SGS6 were also announced at that major international tech event. As for the phone's SRP, I'm personally expecting the smartphone to land here by late March or early April 2015 with price tag in the range of Php 35,000 to Php 37,000, which is roughly similar to that of Samsung Galaxy S5 last year.


To answer my own question, I'm excited about both phones but for different reasons. You see, apart from Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (and the discontinued Samsung Galaxy Alpha), SGS6 will be the first flagship release of the Korean Giant to come with such high-end construction featuring glass and real metal. Also, its purported technical specifications could very well be the best that we can get from any smartphone for the first half of this year. In terms of those factors, I find Samsung Galaxy S6 a truly exciting release. But when it comes to 'value for money' - that is, getting far more than what you pay for - Asus ZenFone 2 (just like a handful of other 2015 releases from Chinese and local manufacturers) could well have an edge over the SGS6  -- and that's what I find particularly cool about the Taiwanese company's top-of-the-line model.