Asus Zenfone 2 vs OnePlus One vs Motorola Droid Turbo: Smartphone With The Best Specs And Light On Your Pocket

When it comes to smartphones, cheap doesn't always mean low-quality. Just because the iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 cost a mini-fortune doesn't mean anything that costs less than those two devices aren't worth your money.

There are, in fact, several handsets on the market that will give you more bang for your buck than you expected, and some of these devices even boast of specs and features that let them stand up to the market's most popular flagships.

Three of these phones are the Zenfone 2 from Asus, the OnePlus One and Motorola's Droid Turbo. None of them cost as much as the iPhone 6 or the Galaxy S6, but more often than not people who buy one of these phones hardly regret their purchase. In fact, these phones have built such solid names for themselves on superior specs and high-quality construction that they enjoy a largely, utterly loyal following of their own.

Asus Zenfone 2

At first glance, you'll know the Zenfone 2 is not a looker. It's in fact a hulking piece of equipment that is unfortunately wrapped in a plastic case. But for people for whom smartphones are meant to be used and not showed off, plastic shouldn't be a major problem. And the size of the phone is for it to house the huge 3,000 mAh battery that lasts more than a day or even up to two days, depending on how much you use it.

For a mere $199, the Zenfone 2 lets you lug around your mini-computer in your pocket. Being the first smartphone to sport 4 GB of RAM, and running on a 1.8 GHz quad-core 64-bit Intel Atom processor, it's a multitasking pro that lets you surf the web, play videos and run apps at the same time. This model only offers 16 GB of storage, but if you throw in an additional $100, you get 64 GB of storage and a faster 2.3 GHz Intel Atom processor to go with it. That's $299 and still much less than the flagships.

And if you're looking for a phone that runs on Android Lollipop, Asus is currently undergoing testing for Android 5.1.1 for the Zenfone 2, so it shouldn't take long before you get the latest version of Lollipop running on the phone. It's not stock Android, no, but Asus' own ZenUI custom Android skin does come with some nice features, such as the ability to restrict access to certain apps and several gesture controls that make navigating the phone faster and easier.

By the looks of it, the Zenfone 2 will give you the perfect lesson in not judging a smartphone by its appearances. However, there are quite a few kinks that Asus still has to smooth out. The camera, for instance, is a decent 13-megapixel shooter with a lot of features that you would consider gimmicks in more expensive smartphones. It's not something you'd find sitting on top of a list of best smartphone cameras, but it's an okay camera if you're not bent on having the best pictures on social media.

Also, some people might be turned off by the amount of bloatware in ZenUI. Some of the preinstalled apps, such as Zinio, ZenCircle and Omlet Chat can be deleted, but Asus' replacements for Google's Hangouts, Calendar and Chrome will be on your phone forever. Still, if you can stand a few unused apps in the way, we recommend the Asus Zenfone 2 for every Android power user out there.

OnePlus One

When Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus announced the One in 2014, demand grew so fast that the startup had a hard time matching it with its meager supply. That is one of the worst things you can possibly get with this smartphone. You have to be lucky enough to get an invitation or chance upon one of the company's flash sales.

That said, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on the $249 smartphone, it'll be easy to forget the hassle of getting one. One of the most compelling features of the OnePlus One is CyanogenMod, a highly popular open-source Android MOD that is backed by a community of devoted developers. Cyanogen is jam-packed with interesting customization features that lets you make your OnePlus One phone your own, while at the same time still being able to run all the Android apps from the Google Play Store. Currently, the phone runs on CyanogenMod 12.1, which is based on Android 5.1 Lollipop.

The OnePlus One features a full HD display with natural colors and runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. It has 3 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage and a 13-megapixel rear camera with support for shooting RAW images, although like the Zenfone 2, this is still not the best smartphone camera on the market. If you want more storage, you can get the 64 GB variant for $349.

Droid Turbo

The Droid Turbo's claim to fame is its massive 3,900 mAh battery life that lasts up to two days, all while managing to keep the phone a relatively compact 5.2 inches. That and the distinctive premium durable body made from ballistic nylon and Kevlar that makes it water-repellent and breaks away from the conventional glass and metal design of most high-end smartphones.

You'll find a 21-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and the ability to shoot videos in 4K at the back. Under the hood, meanwhile, is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, slightly newer than what's running on the OnePlus One, and 3 GB of RAM. The Droid Turbo is more expensive than the Zenfone 2 and OnePlus. On Amazon, the 32 GB version is still selling for $599, while the 64 GB is available at $649. On Verizon, however, which has an exclusive partnership with Motorola, you can get the 32 GB version for $499 contract-free.

The only downside we can think of about the Droid Turbo, and it actually is a major setback at the moment, is the phone is facing battery problems after receiving the firmware update to Android 5.1 Lollipop, which took a long time coming, by the way. Sadly, the Droid Turbo's biggest selling point is currently undermined by Android Lollipop, so until Motorola or Verizon releases a fix, don't get the Droid Turbo just yet.

Check out our quick comparison of specs for each of the three phones below.

Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr