So here's the deal: I'm looking for a good secondary phone, and my options are the G4 Plus and the 5.5 inch ZenFone 3. They both have 5.5-inch 1080p displays, 16MP cameras, and 3000 mAh batteries, but that's where the similarities end. The G4 Plus boasts the name of a much more proven OEM behind it, stronger software support, cleaner software and for me, a better location for the fingerprint scanner, as well as a cost about $50 less where I live. The ZenFone has the newer, more powerful CPU that's leaps and bounds more efficient, likely a better camera, and a prettier design.
Software really is quite important for me, but then again, I love the idea of having a phone that doesn't need babying of its battery (a relative has the ZF3, and he can get two days of heavy use from it).
If you care about software experience, go with the G4 Plus. The ZenFone 3 has a much better SoC (Snapdragon 625) that doesn't overheat and is very efficient. From my experience, ASUS will update it Nougat but it's gonna take some time. It also has OIS.
AB__CD said:
The ZenFone has the newer, more powerful CPU that's leaps and bounds more efficient, likely a better camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CPU i snot "leaps and bounds" more efficient, that's just marketing, In normal usage I bet that the 625 it will just eat the battery faster. Think what you use mostly the phone for - benchmarks?
Better camera - debatable. 23Mpix means that the low light capability will suffer. Sure you have supposedly some stabilization, but that won't stabilize the movement of the people, you will still see blurriness. That's my guess...
I had the previous Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE551KL) phone and it had some issues that made me sell it:
1. Used 64 bit Android. Took more space on the phone storage and RAM memory for no good reason. Unless the device has more than 4GB of RAM (mine had only 3), 64 bit is just dead weight.
The Moto Plus that I have has 4GB and is always under-occupied (true with 32 bit the apps and OS are smaller so they take less room).
2. The phone had so much extra software that needed to be rooted and bloatware removed. It was running warm from all the processes in the background and battery life sucked. Also, some it used non-standard system code that made things difficult (unstable) for the CM developers.
3. No band 12 in US, even if the FCC registration was showing that they had approval for it. The VoLTE came only via the upgrade to the MM, but was useless without band 12.
What I didn't like at the new Zenfone 3 is the fact that the LTE bands are not universal. I do travel between US and EU often, and I swap SIM cards.
What I like is that they kept the FHD resolution. The Quad HD from other manufacturers is just stupid use of resources and brings nothing extra to the table.
SoNic67 said:
The CPU i snot "leaps and bounds" more efficient, that's just marketing, In normal usage it will just eat the battery faster. Think what you use mostly the phone for - benchmarks?
Better camera - debatable. 23Mpix means that the low light capability will suffer. Sure you have supposedly some stabilization, but that won't stabilize the movement of the people, you will still see blurriness. That's my guess...
I had the previous Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE551KL) phone and it had some issues that made me sell it:
1. Used 64 bit Android. Took more space on the phone storage and RAM memory for no good reason. Unless the device has more than 4GB of RAM (mine had only 3), 64 bit is just dead weight. The new Asus has 6GB... what for? Just for bragging rights?
The Moto Plus that I have has 4GB and is always under-occupied (true with 32 bit the apps and OS are smaller so they take less room).
2. The phone had so much extra software that needed to be rooted and bloatware removed. It was running warm from all the processes in the background and battery life sucked. Also, some it used non-standard system code that made things difficult (unstable) for the CM developers.
3. No band 12 in US, even if the FCC registration was showing that they had approval for it. The VoLTE came only via the upgrade to the MM, but was useless without band 12.
What I didn't like at the new Zenfone 3 is the fact that the LTE bands are not universal. I do travel between US and EU often, and I swap SIM cards.
What I like is that they kept the FHD resolution. The Quad HD from other manufacturers is just stupid use of resources and brings nothing extra to the table.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not talking about the Deluxe, I'm talking about the normal ZenFone 3 with a 16MP IMX298 sensor, 4GB RAM/64GB ROM, and the CPU is more efficient. 35% according to Qualcomm. Proven by the insane battery life from the Moto Z Play.
I edited the post before you quoted me.
However... marketing. Once you will start using the Asus you will see that is not that way. My Asus was based on 64 bit, memory usage was at least 30% higher, bloatware was eating into my battery - had to constantly kill processes. Using their camera app (very nice BTW) was a huge drain, phone was getting sooo hot. Can't tell if the newer Asus will suffer from the same, but I absolutely hated the constant feeling of a warm phone in my pocket.
However the LTE bands/compatibility for me is the most important thing and it seemed (3 months ago, when I was looking) that the Moto G4 Plus was better. I am not playing games on my phone, I do that on my desktop at home (if I have tiime) and when I travel, I have a tablet and a laptop with me.
SoNic67 said:
The CPU i snot "leaps and bounds" more efficient, that's just marketing, In normal usage I bet that the 652 it will just eat the battery faster. Think what you use mostly the phone for - benchmarks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might not be "leaps and bounds" more efficient, but it's a LOT more efficient. The 617 in G4 Plus is made with 28nm while 625 is made with 14nm. Just take a look at this
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Not to mention the better GPU and noticeably better processing speed (4x1.5 GHz + 4x1.2 GHz vs 8x2.0 GHz).
SoNic67 said:
I edited the post before you quoted me.
However... marketing. Once you will start using the Asus you will see that is not that way. My Asus was based on 64 bit, memory usage was at least 30% higher, bloatware was eating into my battery - had to constantly kill processes. Using their camera app (very nice BTW) was a huge drain, phone was getting sooo hot. Can't tell if the newer Asus will suffer from the same, but I absolutely hated the constant feeling of a warm phone in my pocket.
However the LTE bands/compatibility for me is the most important thing and it seemed (3 months ago, when I was looking) that the Moto G4 Plus was better. I am not playing games on my phone, I do that on my desktop at home (if I have tiime) and when I travel, I have a tablet and a laptop with me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. I see your point, but I don't have a very positive impression of Moto QA either, as my previous Moto phone, the 2nd Gen X, suffered so many issues I replaced it within 4 months: faulty power key that broke within a month of use, issuing a defective Android 5.1 update that soft bricked my phone on the first install, and after resetting and losing all my data but successfully installing the update, bringing a lagging camera that persisted through factory resets (it would take 3 seconds every time the camera opened to be ready for a shot, which is just inexcusable in a modern phone), battery consistently shutting off at 20-30% as well as on one occassion, lasting a whole 8 minutes from a full charge to zero percent, and getting crazy hot in the process, and then an utterly rude phone agent from Motorola UK when I asked if I could have my Singapore-bought unit replace its battery (with me paying for the battery) in the UK (not that them not entertaining the replacement is new or strange, but the completely rude agent was).
Haha... MotoX was my previous phone (still works with my kid) and I had no issues. But mine was US-assembled (had a offer for it to be customized for free, ordered from Moto directly). That's what made me go back to Moto. Ah, the Zenfone 2 Laser - besides being warm most of the time in my pocket, the camera wasn't that great in low light either, the Moto G4 Plus camera is really good IMO.
Well, if you decide for Asus please come back here (or post a link) for your observations. I am curious.
Well I think you should go for Asus......
As you said this will be your second phone.
Asus phones are pretty solid and damn hard.My sis has Asus zenfone selfie(Good Camera) and Moto G2.Both seems to be solid as compared to G4 Plus.So you can expect Asus zenfone 3 to be solid.
As far as the chipset is concerned the SD 625 is way better than SD 617.You can check that out in benchmarks.
Software updates is a problem for Asus.
That's cool, more power to you. For you, maybe the Asus 3 (ZS550KL) is worth the extra $100 (33%) price premium.
To me it was not worth it, in 6 months something else will be shiny. After all... it's just a phone. That's all.
I had a zenfone 2 and I replaced it (actually warranty replacement 3 times (once for no wifi/bad touchscreen, once for overheating, and once for no charge condition.
>>> I WILL say that the Warranty process with Asus was QUITE Delightful, and PAINLESS!!! <<<
best warranty repair process I ever had.
I replaced the ZF2 with this MotoG4Plus, and I hate both of them. given the choice, having less problems with the G4Plus.
ehh. I would have bought the new google pixel, but I believe they STILL have no external storage (drats to you GOOGLE...)
Perfect would be: Pixel xl, with REMOVABLE battery, and external storage for $400-500 USD.
.. PS.. ONE MAJOR improvement of ZF2 over this G4Plus is the fact that the 'tethering entitlement' bull**** is NOT present, and thus did not have to bypass on the ZenFone ... THIS is a huge pain for me, as I am unlimited ..grandfathered on at&t.
Why do you mean by tethering entitlement? I have Cricket and, with the unlocked phones, it just works, so I assumed that it is disabled too.
Plus I couldn't find the build.prop settings for that.
Not that I am using it, since it would be against the TOS
Related
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/droid-turbo-battery-life,news-19846.html
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The HTC One M8 with it's 2600mAh battery is kicking the Droid Turbos 3,900mAh battery's ass?
Jesus Motorola, no one gives a damn about 565 vs 400 pixels per inch on a mere 5.2 inch screen... simply put a 1080p screen in there and give us MOAR battery life!
[
I saw this too. Makes no sense to me. I mean, I get that the D.T. has more pixels to light up but the battery is 50% larger and comes with a near stock version of Android. How does HTC do it? Is there a trade off I'm not hearing about?
Just said this in another thread lol:Tom's Hardware is a great site, but I've never held a lot of stock in their battery test. 50 random "popular" websites browsed on a data network, screen on the whole time. This allows for variables in the graphics of the websites over time, what websites were used, the network's traffic and the device's proximity to a tower. It only tests the phone's screen on battery performance, nothing to do with standby. You might say that doesn't matter, but then you've never owned a Touchwiz device.
That being said, there's no way it will as good on battery as the Maxx. The 805 is an efficiency improvement in design, but this is a 2.7ghz quad-core processor with biggest GPU Qualcomm's ever released, compared to the dual-core modified S4 Pro in the Maxx. Oh and 4 times as many pixels but only another 400mah added? No way it's holding up. Still, if the Turbo charger is as fast as it's supposed to be, I'm not really worried.
Are all these phones running the EXACT same apps at the EXACT same time for the EXACT same length of time (not just "we surfed the web the exact same way - what was running in the background)? Was the strength of signal IDENTICAL for each phone's test (post claims iphone6 was on AT&T, not VZW)? Too many variables left out in a simple graph.
El Perfecto said:
I saw this too. Makes no sense to me. I mean, I get that the D.T. has more pixels to light up but the battery is 50% larger and comes with a near stock version of Android. How does HTC do it? Is there a trade off I'm not hearing about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No clue really Will need to see what more good review websites have to say.
Here's Gizmodo's claim on the battery life: http://gizmodo.com/droid-turbo-is-here-but-about-that-battery-1652801400
Yes, the new Droid Turbo has curb appeal. It has a massive battery, a 2K display and a blazing fast mobile processor, but it's also basically just a beefier Moto X that's locked to Verizon's network. The battery is the biggest difference. And in early tests, it looks like that battery may not deliver.
After setting up my 64GB ballistic nylon reviewer's unit, downloading my usual apps and logging into way too many accounts, I slipped the Turbo on its charger and filled up to 100 percent overnight. In the morning, off the cord at 8 AM, I've used the smartphone quite a bit, but still well within the realm of normal use. I listened to Spotify on my commute, used Google Maps to find my way to a meeting, snapped some photos at said meeting, recorded about an hour of audio, and Google Maps'ed my way back to the office. Now all of that may seem like a lot, but I didn't stream any video or play any games. For the rest of the day, I checked a few messages, took a few more pictures, and pretty much just let Moto Display blink on and off in standby mode. By the time I left work, I was at 35 percent.
After that, I listened to some more music, did some light web browsing, and traversed through a few Vines. My phone was dead by 11am the next day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if all this is true what going to be the battery life on Nexus 6 with larger display and smallest battery, can MOTOROLA faild with this issues
I can't put much stock in a test this fast unless they had it a week already. Needs time to settle in. Google now alone is a battery killer until it learns your habbits.
joshm.1219 said:
Just said this in another thread lol:Tom's Hardware is a great site, but I've never held a lot of stock in their battery test. 50 random "popular" websites browsed on a data network, screen on the whole time. This allows for variables in the graphics of the websites over time, what websites were used, the network's traffic and the device's proximity to a tower. It only tests the phone's screen on battery performance, nothing to do with standby. You might say that doesn't matter, but then you've never owned a Touchwiz device.
That being said, there's no way it will as good on battery as the Maxx. The 805 is an efficiency improvement in design, but this is a 2.7ghz quad-core processor with biggest GPU Qualcomm's ever released, compared to the dual-core modified S4 Pro in the Maxx. Oh and 4 times as many pixels but only another 400mah added? No way it's holding up. Still, if the Turbo charger is as fast as it's supposed to be, I'm not really worried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow 4x the pixels. I didn't do the math but .2" larger screen and stepping up from 720 to quad hd, I believe you. I can understand the advantage in having the most ppi as a selling point, personal taste and all I would rather have had better battery life and a 1080 screen. We'll see though. Everyone here is saying be patient, wait a couple weeks and check reviews on how the battery is holding up. I can do that.
El Perfecto said:
Wow 4x the pixels. I didn't do the math but .2" larger screen and stepping up from 720 to quad hd, I believe you. I can understand the advantage in having the most ppi as a selling point, personal taste and all I would rather have had better battery life and a 1080 screen. We'll see though. Everyone here is saying be patient, wait a couple weeks and check reviews on how the battery is holding up. I can do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah well at least a week. I'll be posting my charging and battery findings in a few days, you do need to give new lithium-ion cells some time to settle in. I would definitely rather have 1080p, QHD is the dumbest spec grab that the industry has had in awhile. Why these companies are spending so much more money on the display panel, which is already the most expensive part of the device, just to up its resolution is beyond me. A resolution that almost no apps support, almost no content supports, and isn't even technically discernible to the human eye. But whatever, still a lovely screen.
Startes at 81% 8 hrs ago...instakled all apps and 2 hrs screen time and i am at 50%...just overall it seems the turb is sipping battery. Early but much better than note 4 so far
"Google Pixel C 10.2" Tablet With 308ppi, Detachable Keyboard, Lightbar, And Android Marshmallow Coming Later This Year"
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Specs:
10.2-inch 2560 x 1800 308 PPI touch display with a brightness level of 500 nits
Tegra X1 processor with Maxwell GPU
32 or 64 GB storage
3GB RAM
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Price:
32 GB - $499
62 GB - $599
Keyboard
$149
http://pixel.google.com/
Fool me twice google?
It has a 10.2in, 308ppi screen with a bright backlight capable of 500 nits. It is powered by an Nvidia X1 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM and a Maxwell desktop-class GPU.
Should I start taking bets on full OpenGL 4.X support?
I would sell my N9 at a huge loss in a heartbeat if I thought the PixelC would have full library support for the X1 from Nvidia. :crying:
So, why don't call the Pixel C-> Pixel Nexus?. It's Google thinking of leave the Nexus Tablet program, or they're just waiting to release a better product?.
I only just bought the Nexus 9 during HTC's most recent 40% of sale both because of the good price AND because I thought that there was no new tablets from Google this year.
If the Pixel C isn't called a Nexus, even though it runs Android, it probably means that it won't be running strictly AOSP. On the positive side, maybe this means it will have vendor-proprietary performance optimizations. On the negative side, it might not be as developer-friendly as a Nexus.
nVidia chipset? Yeah, good luck with those updates.
kinda funny how everybody is suddenly slapping a keyboard onto their tablets haha
I've used the surface and other convertibles before, having a detachable keyboard really is not all good, and if you really consider getting work done on the road a laptop would almost be better in every way possible
but there has to be target audience who will want to have those, I'm just wondering who?
also, I'm interested in the price, whether it will be priced like a nexus or like a pixel
This is the first Google tablet that has caught my attention in quite some time. Although, I sort of wish it was going to be released with 4GB ram. Perhaps 3GB is enough though...
EDIT: Does Android Marshmallow have improved RAM management? I was just reading how you can now view how the RAM is being used app by app but wasn't sure if how the OS actually handles RAM management has changed any.
Let's see here...
nvidia tegra SoC.... yep.. won't even consider buying this thing.
Seriously though, what kind of productivity can we expect to do on an Android tablet?
The only thing I can think of is Microsoft's office apps.
From personal experience, a cheap intel powered chromebook is way batter for productivity than an Android tablet.
darkchazz said:
Let's see here...
nvidia tegra SoC.... yep.. won't even consider buying this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is so horrible about the Nvidia Tegra X1?
michaelearth said:
What is so horrible about the Nvidia Tegra X1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say anything about the X1.
But previous Tegras were hyped by nvidia yet mostly failed to deliver.
Latest being the K1 Denver in the Nexus 9. Benchmark scores are off the roof but performance in day-to-day usage is nowhere near as good.
Power consumption is also quite high and the chip heats up like crazy once you start doing anything more than just scrolling through pages.
best tablet for me for heaving gaming
Is this a joke? No stylus support, no mention of improved software interface for tablets. How is this different from a Samsung Tab S2 with a cheap 40 dollars Bluetooth keyboard?
True to that. I bought a Nexus 9 about half a year ago but sold it again 1 month ago. It can be razor fast however I feel the OS (kernel?) is badly optimised to properly support the powerful processor. The Nexus 9 felt laggy most of the time. At 1 point it bugged me so much I sold it off again. Felt like a beast in a cage
CheCorchete said:
So, why don't call the Pixel C-> Pixel Nexus?. It's Google thinking of leave the Nexus Tablet program, or they're just waiting to release a better product?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google actually manufactures the Pixel line. They are typically made with stellar quality, design, and materials (and generally priced to match). Nexus devices are manufactured by other companies (LG, Asus, etc). They are made in partnership with Google and offer the clean Android experience. They're also typically very reasonably priced for the hardware offered (the N6 being the exception).
Here is the spec sheet for the Tegra X1 "Super Chip"
It is a 64-bit octa-core processor, according to Nvidia, with an Nvidia 256-core Maxwell GPU and full DX-12 and OpenGL 4.5 Support
darkchazz said:
I can't say anything about the X1.
But previous Tegras were hyped by nvidia yet mostly failed to deliver.
Latest being the K1 Denver in the Nexus 9. Benchmark scores are off the roof but performance in day-to-day usage is nowhere near as good.
Power consumption is also quite high and the chip heats up like crazy once you start doing anything more than just scrolling through pages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ehh, makes me wonder if you actually own the Flounder or if you're just going based off of what you read on the internet lol.
I've got zero issues with power consumption or heat dissipation with my Nexus 9 (Flounder). :laugh:
So all the kiddies in this thread led to me having no choice but to post, as I have been saying this for months over on G+. If you are having any "issues" with the Nexus 9, it is the way you are going about it, and not the tablet. As @NYCHitman1 can attest, the Nexus 9 is very battery efficient, and mine (at least) NEVER overheats, or even gets close to a point where i would consider it "hot". I get about a MONTH of standby time, and routinely see over 10 hours of screen on time when streaming media, and close to 6 hours of SOT when gaming. Never once has it heated up doing either. I love my Nexus 9, and the only way I would consider going with ANYTHING else, would be if Google decided to release another 10 inch Nexus (f the Pixel). I want the ability to let developers improve my device, I want the bigger screen size (after using the N9 for almost a year, I could never go back to a 7 inch screen like my Flo had), and I want to be able to rely on my tablet having battery left even if I don't charge it for a couple days. In my opinion, the Flounder is leaps and bounds an improvement over the 2013 Nexus 7, and I think Google hit a homerun with it. Just my lousy two cents. (Also, I just recently got 900+ hours of Up Time on my N9, with no lag issues, no freezing, and no dip in performance. The attached screenshot is with about 650 hours of Up Time, and it was still going like a champ)
test
love <3
PivotMasterNM said:
kinda funny how everybody is suddenly slapping a keyboard onto their tablets haha
I've used the surface and other convertibles before, having a detachable keyboard really is not all good, and if you really consider getting work done on the road a laptop would almost be better in every way possible
but there has to be target audience who will want to have those, I'm just wondering who?
also, I'm interested in the price, whether it will be priced like a nexus or like a pixel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I will never buy another 10"+ Android tablet that doesn't have at least an option for a keyboard dock. Ever since my Asus T101, I absolutely must have a keyboard dock for any "large" Android tablet. I'm currently using an HP Slatebook 10 x2, which I LOVE. It's super fast, has a great keyboard dock and it just a great device (love the stereo front-facing speakers too!). ANd you can find the Slatebook for about $200 brand new (with keyboard dock).
The problem with this Google device is that they keyboard dock doesn't have a trackpad, any special function keys, a battery in the keyboard dock, etc - it's just missing way to much functionality that a tablet with a keyboard dock should have (the Slatebook x2 has all of this, plus a full sized USB port, full sized HDMI port, etc).
Even when I'm sitting in front of my PC at home, I still use my Slatebook x2 for everything! Android apps just allow you do things so much quicker than using a web browser - and the keyboard dock makes typing a breeze. Love having the extra battery in the keyboard dock as well....
I also have an Asus T100 (Windows 10 tablet/keyboard dock), but it's nowhere near as useful as my Slatebook x2 for day-to-day tasks. Even the T100 is only $200!
I would love a tablet with a REAL keyboard dock from Google, but this device just isn't it...
Just my two cents!
Sent from my HP SlateBook 10 x2 PC using Tapatalk 2
NYCHitman1 said:
Ehh, makes me wonder if you actually own the Flounder or if you're just going based off of what you read on the internet lol.
I've got zero issues with power consumption or heat dissipation with my Nexus 9 (Flounder). :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 32gb white WiFi variant since release back in November. And before that, a Tegra 3 powered 2012 Nexus 7.
Performance of the Nexus 9 has been fine for me.
It can be amazingly fast at times, then there are some occasional stutters
But unless all I do is read books and documents on it, I could never get more than ~5 hour SoT.
The SoC gets quite hot, felt on the back near the camera, on a daily basis for me, especially when browsing the web.
It's been a while since the ZF2 is released.
ZF2 is not a flagship killer. It was never advertising as such. The selling point of the ZF2 is the biggest bang for the buck.
So, why did you buy it? Did the phone impressed you in those aspects?
blazzer12 said:
It's been a while since the ZF2 is released.
ZF2 is not a flagship killer. It was never advertising as such. The selling point of the ZF2 is the biggest bang for the buck.
So, why did you buy it? Did the phone impressed you in those aspects?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I only bought it cause I know and trust Asus as a brand and as far as updates go it's been pretty good
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
Bang for the buck, I came from S2 then S4. When the S6 came out at exorbitant contract price and no micro sd slot, I looked around and did the maths. The Zenfone 2 gave me twice the ram and 4 times the storage of my S4, it was faster, gave me the micro sd slot that the S6 lacked.
On top of that I could get it for less than half the price of a S6, that meant that going sim only and buying the ZF2 I will have saved enough on my old contract terms to cover the cost of the phone in 7 months(or 5 compared to the S6 contract).
I concur with BigDavy. This phone has such bang for the buck. The specs are better than phones at twice the price. Still loving it after 8 months.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
found the incredible (almost literally).
i bought this phone because of a reviewer saying, that this phone has very good cell reception.
The house I live in right now (temporarily) has very thick stone walls (around 100cm, 400yrs old house) and many phones I tried, struggled to get 2G reception (Xperia Z2, Medion x5004, HTC One m8 to name a few..)
When the ASUS.. well.. I still cant believe.. it has 3 constant bars for 2g (others had barely one) AND in most parts of the house also 4G LTE. that was incredible.
I know that the Intel chipset isn't very battery friendly, but now that I tried it.. it is snappier than a snapdragon 800 series. my next phone? anything with an Intel chipset.
I moved from Galaxy S2, it had Dual 1.2GHZ (max over clock to 1.6 but it will burn the chip soon) with 1GB Ram. So you guess what, to me it felt like moving from a dying horse to a Lamborgini.
It's really incredible that I got this holy awesomeness for $200 ;D Unfortunately, there isn't too much support for the 5" models around here, so I selected the second option. I would like to see more support for it
pecholino said:
found the incredible (almost literally).
i bought this phone because of a reviewer saying, that this phone has very good cell reception.
The house I live in right now (temporarily) has very thick stone walls (around 100cm, 400yrs old house) and many phones I tried, struggled to get 2G reception (Xperia Z2, Medion x5004, HTC One m8 to name a few..)
When the ASUS.. well.. I still cant believe.. it has 3 constant bars for 2g (others had barely one) AND in most parts of the house also 4G LTE. that was incredible.
I know that the Intel chipset isn't very battery friendly, but now that I tried it.. it is snappier than a snapdragon 800 series. my next phone? anything with an Intel chipset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The house I live in right now (temporarily) has very thick stone walls (around 100cm, 400yrs old house)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool house you live in!
i bought this phone because of a reviewer saying, that this phone has very good cell reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My place too has bad reception; but the dude abides with his ZF2.
I came from a Samsung S3 that was slower than a wet week
As the ZF2 isnt sold here in Australia I took a chance and it has turned out okay....I have had one problem of the camera not working but that was fixed under warranty (took 3 weeks to get it back) but the phone is powering along now...just waiting for the Marshmallow update to come to see whether I put a custom ROM on it or not...
cheers
col
I'm very satisfied. Moved from an iphone 5 to the 550ML (Z008) just after it was launched. Wanted the 551 with 4GB, 2.3ghz and 1080p but had to settle for the cheaper one with 2GB, 1.8ghz and 720p (in Japan ASUS only sold the 551 at inflated prices, and it was also a bit overpriced from importers). The 1.8ghz cpu is plenty fast enough for my needs and the 720p sceen is better than I expected. 2GB RAM is a bit short when using the stock 5.0 firmware that has memory management issues, but is plenty when using CM. I love the size, the feel of the phone in my hand and its snappy ux performance. Bang for the buck, even at a slightly high importer price, has been incredible, and going unlocked has enabled me to switch to an MNVO and save an absolute fortune every month in carrier charges (the phone had basically paid for itself in about four months). I'm now pretty tempted by the astonishing value some Xiaomi or LeTV devices offer, but have to keep reminding myself that I love my ZF2 and it still has plenty of life in it. Will use it until the battery starts going.
I was using G3 when I bought Zenfone 2 (I used Zenfone 5 before G3), and I have to say that Zenfone 2 will be my last phone made by ASUS, too much bugs, slow update (even 2 years old G3 got Android 6 for a month!).
ASUS is just promoting their new phones, they don't care about their old customers.
At first, i hesitated to buy the ASUS ZenFone 2 as it uses an Intel chipset, but after going through every review on the internet, i made my mind. This is the phone i was looking for. Best in class performance and features from a famous brand known worldwide for just under $200. I wanted to buy the 4gb ram model, but was tight on budget and opted for 2gb model. Was quite happy with my buy. Now i'm even more happy with the excellent custom rom support it has got, gets the same attention as the higher end model.
Just "IN SEARCH OF INCREDIBLE" for official OS update (MM 6.0.1) from ASUS.
64 bit processor + 4gb ram + 5.5 screen (optimal size in my opinion) + decent storage capacity + storage expansion + reasonable price.
Upgraded from Galaxy Note II.
Met my expectations so far (have it since Nov. 2015), only two problems - when I receive calls, people start hearing me with a delay, and the phone has been bent a little
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
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After 7 months still "okay" took some looks for an replacement, but at the moment nothing better in sight regarding price / value.
Waiting for android 6.0 and announcement of ZenFone 3
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
anything good (price & features) about ASUS ZF 2 except too much bloatware & rear speaker (crackling problem), so far ASUS ZF 2 is the best for the buck
Scored it 8. -2 for...
-Current gaming performance -- early videos show that this is a gaming beast for it's price. Unfortunately, I don't experience such smoothness right now, even after reflashing and playing on performance mode.
-Battery drain from the latest update -- Not sure if it's my fault or what, but I'm getting massive wakelocks from Calendar Storage. I think that's the culprit for my battery drain. **Already did factory reset and reflash, same thing**
mr_gourav2000 said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forgot honeycomb 3.x
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
Yum
With this phone it was never about finding incredible - it was about finding a good phone for less than $600, and this phone is great considering the price
I have been using the new Xiaomi mi5 since 1 Month now, and the LG G5 since 5 days. I can notice big difference for the favor of the Xiaomi. Its faster, smoother, no overheating, battery life extremely better. And even the 3GB version of the Xiaomi i have scored a higer score on the antutu benchmark
I wanted to share my experience with you guys, and we could discuss pros and cons of each device and maybe your votes to keep the Xiaomi or the LG
Thanks
i have both too and would say the LG G5 is a tad more fluid and software much more optimised.
mikey_sk said:
i have both too and would say the LG G5 is a tad more fluid and software much more optimised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't you notice the battery life difference between both for the exact same way of use? I found MIUI a totally different experience of android, not ideal, but different. The screen resolution under the sun light as well is favored by Xiaomi more than the LG. I am having this overheated LG which is not to be noticed on Xiaomi ( except when charging). Don't forget the price difference as well
Zaynoun said:
Didn't you notice the battery life difference between both for the exact same way of use? I found MIUI a totally different experience of android, not ideal, but different. The screen resolution under the sun light as well is favored by Xiaomi more than the LG. I am having this overheated LG which is not to be noticed on Xiaomi ( except when charging). Don't forget the price difference as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe the UK LG G5's are from a good batch beause i noticed none of the moulding or heating issues... also EE in the UK are selling the LG G5 for £399 which makes it as cheap as the Mi5 and at that price I'd go with the LG as it supports all European LTE bands.
Zaynoun said:
I have been using the new Xiaomi mi5 since 1 Month now, and the LG G5 since 5 days. I can notice big difference for the favor of the Xiaomi. Its faster, smoother, no overheating, battery life extremely better. And even the 3GB version of the Xiaomi i have scored a higer score on the antutu benchmark
I wanted to share my experience with you guys, and we could discuss pros and cons of each device and maybe your votes to keep the Xiaomi or the LG
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera ? That alone rules the mi out if it matters to you.
The only chinese company that has a chance here is huawei. Not xiaomi or opo.
if you're into performance and roming then stick to those two. They are great for the price.
Battery has been improving on the xiaomi's. The redmi note 3 is excellent for battery.
But sealed battery and no expandable storage are deal breakers for me.
One Twelve said:
Camera ? That alone rules the mi out if it matters to you.
The only chinese company that has a chance here is huawei. Not xiaomi or opo.
if you're into performance and roming then stick to those two. They are great for the price.
Battery has been improving on the xiaomi's. The redmi note 3 is excellent for battery.
But sealed battery and no expandable storage are deal breakers for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei? i won't be that sure dude. After my experience with Mate 8 i won't repeat this experience again with Huawei. I am not that into chinese handsets, but the Xiaomi mi5 changed my mind somehow. They did great in this device. I am not a camera guy, so i didn't even take it into consideration. Performance and personalized UI is what counts for me. Running both devices on antutu benchmark, the mi5 (32GB, 3GB RAM) scored 108K and fractions, and the G5 (32GB, 4GB RAM) scored 103K and fractions.
My personal opinion is that after the MI5, Xiaomi will overtake Huawei in selling numbers coming after Samsung and Apple. First sale wave 4 Mil. sold devices whereas G5 launching day in S. Korea 150K sold.
Last but not least, this opens the market more for competition among manufacturers which results in something good for us users.
Zaynoun said:
Huawei? i won't be that sure dude. After my experience with Mate 8 i won't repeat this experience again with Huawei. I am not that into chinese handsets, but the Xiaomi mi5 changed my mind somehow. They did great in this device. I am not a camera guy, so i didn't even take it into consideration. Performance and personalized UI is what counts for me. Running both devices on antutu benchmark, the mi5 (32GB, 3GB RAM) scored 108K and fractions, and the G5 (32GB, 4GB RAM) scored 103K and fractions.
My personal opinion is that after the MI5, Xiaomi will overtake Huawei in selling numbers coming after Samsung and Apple. First sale wave 4 Mil. sold devices whereas G5 launching day in S. Korea 150K sold.
Last but not least, this opens the market more for competition among manufacturers which results in something good for us users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, if you don't appreciate camera, don't care for expandable storage or replacable battery, then G5 isn't going to impress you.
Each device has its own forte. otherwise its like comparing a cow & a horse and saying the horse is better because it runs faster
xiaomi's & opo's forte is price. For the price you get x,y,z. Always this qualifier 'for the price' is used to describe these phones. This is why people run after them. Huawei isn't in the same price range so not much interest but this is a demographic that isn't going to look at flagships in the first place. Huawei has been creating waves of late and has the resources to pull it off. To sell in the west they are best placed. So they are also looking dangerous to the big 3. Your bad experience with the mate 8 is an anecdote. i can find any number of people in these forums that does not like a paritcular device for some reason or other. Does not make the device nor the company that made that device bad.
You go on about performance but anything with an SD800 and above has enough performance in 2016. People are not going to replace their phones because of low antutu score. They will do it if it lags and if the firmware becomes incapable for whatever reason of delivering what they want.
The competition is good but i would have preferred they not make sealed batteries and no expandable storage. Which flagship in 2016 will not have expandable storage. Only the nexus. Am surprised you did not even mention this. From what i can see all the big 4 have it. Cheaper phones have always included them and to not find them on flagships is odd. here its a reverse situation. When the flagships have it this so called affordable flagship refuses to have it. Why. because it looks pretty ?
As it is we are held back by OS upgrades .Anything less than a flagship means the device you buy dies with whatever OS it came with. To then add extra hardware limitations so as to force you to upgrade every couple of years isn't encouraging.
Oh i know that mi & opo are good with updates.Just have to be patient. When i hang out in those forums sometimes important bugs can take months to fix if at all. You don't get this with the bigger names. We will pretend the S6 memory fiasco did not happen. You have an idea what it is at the outset not several months later. You pay more because you are not a paying beta tester.
There is one thing i will grant these chinese phones and that is root is not a big deal. Click here to root. Amazing.The weird thing about phones compared to computers is you are not allowed to become admin for some reason. You are the owner of the device but you cannot really own it. No problems with locked bootloaders etc.
Whereas if you don't have a euro G5 there is no chance to root because all other bootloaders are locked by LG. Major deal breaker for some people. We're not even talking about roms here. Just root.
xiaomi is still slower than iphone 6 plus
mze1 said:
xiaomi is still slower than iphone 6 plus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again the theory or comparing horse and cow Who runs faster
One Twelve said:
Exactly, if you don't appreciate camera, don't care for expandable storage or replacable battery, then G5 isn't going to impress you.
Each device has its own forte. otherwise its like comparing a cow & a horse and saying the horse is better because it runs faster
xiaomi's & opo's forte is price. For the price you get x,y,z. Always this qualifier 'for the price' is used to describe these phones. This is why people run after them. Huawei isn't in the same price range so not much interest but this is a demographic that isn't going to look at flagships in the first place. Huawei has been creating waves of late and has the resources to pull it off. To sell in the west they are best placed. So they are also looking dangerous to the big 3. Your bad experience with the mate 8 is an anecdote. i can find any number of people in these forums that does not like a paritcular device for some reason or other. Does not make the device nor the company that made that device bad.
You go on about performance but anything with an SD800 and above has enough performance in 2016. People are not going to replace their phones because of low antutu score. They will do it if it lags and if the firmware becomes incapable for whatever reason of delivering what they want.
The competition is good but i would have preferred they not make sealed batteries and no expandable storage. Which flagship in 2016 will not have expandable storage. Only the nexus. Am surprised you did not even mention this. From what i can see all the big 4 have it. Cheaper phones have always included them and to not find them on flagships is odd. here its a reverse situation. When the flagships have it this so called affordable flagship refuses to have it. Why. because it looks pretty ?
As it is we are held back by OS upgrades .Anything less than a flagship means the device you buy dies with whatever OS it came with. To then add extra hardware limitations so as to force you to upgrade every couple of years isn't encouraging.
Oh i know that mi & opo are good with updates.Just have to be patient. When i hang out in those forums sometimes important bugs can take months to fix if at all. You don't get this with the bigger names. We will pretend the S6 memory fiasco did not happen. You have an idea what it is at the outset not several months later. You pay more because you are not a paying beta tester.
There is one thing i will grant these chinese phones and that is root is not a big deal. Click here to root. Amazing.The weird thing about phones compared to computers is you are not allowed to become admin for some reason. You are the owner of the device but you cannot really own it. No problems with locked bootloaders etc.
Whereas if you don't have a euro G5 there is no chance to root because all other bootloaders are locked by LG. Major deal breaker for some people. We're not even talking about roms here. Just root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All your points you discussed are logical, but POVs' are relative. Otherwise if we all have same opinion or POV then all will buy same device, but each individual looks at things from different perspective.
I am not against any device or manufacturer, i am just reflecting my experience with the devices. I am not comparing paper values, rather personal usage and experience. This only reflects mu POV according to how i use and what i like to use in a phone.
Expandable memory? Mmmmm, Apple doesn't have, Nexus, Xiaomi as well. Maybe they have a marketing strategy behind it,thats why they are making devices with 128GB Internal memory. ( except Nesus).
I have the T-Mobile LG G5 and it will take quite looong time before any development will be out there. Unlocking bootloader, rooting, and ROM's.
Because i liked both devices, i am keeping both as well the G5 and Mi5 It's just the experience i have with MI5, it gave a new and different experience which i liked and respect from a company 6 years old, and i have been using android phones for the past 10 years.
mikey_sk said:
i have both too and would say the LG G5 is a tad more fluid and software much more optimised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get your mi5 from?
Also android police was very negative about the G5
mi5 scored higher due to fullHD display.... captain obvious here.
mze1 said:
xiaomi is still slower than iphone 6 plus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IT's actually faster, it does more things at once. Comparing the foreground app as an indication of a machine's "speed" is false on so many levels. It's very much possible on (any) android machine to do many things at once, something that iOS expressively disallows, apart from very few "approved" services (like music playing).
So yeah, things happen faster to an Android machine, even if it is 2 years old, it *feels* less fast though...
Market share as it stands right now. Xiaomi is going to have to vault past two other Chinese vendors that have more resources to get to 3rd place. Those two aren't standing still.
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Tough choice.
The Mi 5 is physically smaller than the G5. +1 for the Mi 5
The Mi 5 has a 1080p screen with a 3,000mAh battery vs the G5's QHD screen with a tiny 2,800mAh battery. +1 for the Mi 5
LG's custom Android ROM isn't as bad as the one from Xiaomi. +1 for the G5
The Mi 5 has a physical home button vs the on screen buttons of the G5. +1 for the G5
The G5 is made by LG while the Mi 5 is made by Xiaomi. +1 for the G5.
Mi 5: 2
G5: 3
But the combination of bigger battery and lower resolution of the Mi 5 is a BIG plus.
---------- Post added at 03:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 AM ----------
One Twelve said:
Market share as it stands right now. Xiaomi is going to have to vault past two other Chinese vendors that have more resources to get to 3rd place. Those two aren't standing still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, I'm really surprised how low LG is. I realize LG is smaller than Samsung and Apple but with Apple at ~18% and Samsung at ~24% I would have guessed like 10-12% for LG.
Just a 2800 mAh battery for a 5.3 QHD display phone ? Seriously LG ? Replacable battery is a plus but how often would you replace it ?
One Twelve said:
Market share as it stands right now. Xiaomi is going to have to vault past two other Chinese vendors that have more resources to get to 3rd place. Those two aren't standing still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, in Q1 the Mi5 had only the first selling wave which was i think somewhere between 9 -12 March. So we have to wait until Q2 to see how they do especially after they release all other colors and the 128 GB version as well.
Why would anyone want the Mi5 after seeing this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2jav7UdQtE
It breaks like a toothpick.
3000 mAh is ok, but a 2800 compared to it is "tiny", LOL.
jimv1983 said:
Tough choice.
The Mi 5 is physically smaller than the G5. +1 for the Mi 5
The Mi 5 has a 1080p screen with a 3,000mAh battery vs the G5's QHD screen with a tiny 2,800mAh battery. +1 for the Mi 5
LG's custom Android ROM isn't as bad as the one from Xiaomi. +1 for the G5
The Mi 5 has a physical home button vs the on screen buttons of the G5. +1 for the G5
The G5 is made by LG while the Mi 5 is made by Xiaomi. +1 for the G5.
Mi 5: 2
G5: 3
But the combination of bigger battery and lower resolution of the Mi 5 is a BIG plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a tough choice, rather easy in fact.
Camera is why you will choose the G5.
Budget is why people run after the Chinese. They can't spend more than $350. Some arbitrary number. They will compromise any requirement to fit into that budget. And the design is pretty good, they say why pay $200-300 more for a phone that 'looks' and 'feels' similar. Then they will quote you some specs and say see i got same cpu for so little. lol.
You can get up to 5h SOT on the G5 with always on off. If you need more get a spare battery. Now you can get 10h if necessary. Takes one minute to replace the battery. You will need to do this if you use the camera a lot any way.
Wow, I'm really surprised how low LG is. I realize LG is smaller than Samsung and Apple but with Apple at ~18% and Samsung at ~24% I would have guessed like 10-12% for LG.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG is a conglomerate that sells lots of other things. That they could even get that much share is good. Not being in that list does not affect companies that make phones or even new ones from joining.In the sense the top players make the most profit. But if you're a smaller player and still making a profit there is no problem.
---------- Post added at 04:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------
davebugyi said:
3000 mAh is ok, but a 2800 compared to it is "tiny", LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, 6% and its the end of the world
6.0.1 has been good for battery life. Even the S6 with its ZOMG 2600 non-replacable battery has benefited.
anyone using this Deluxe version? Any review comments? planning to get it soon.
I've been looking into this ever since I returned my Note 7 v2. It needs to be released quicker and I'm looking at the QC 821 version
Yep, pre-ordered the 5.7 64gb version. Hope it's not crap. Getting tired of returning phones.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
omegafiler said:
Yep, pre-ordered the 5.7 64gb version. Hope it's not crap. Getting tired of returning phones.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you pre-order from?
RMXO said:
Where did you pre-order from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Directly from ASUS website. They had the earliest ship date (10/26) vs Amazon, Newegg, or B&H.
http://store.asus.com/us/item/201610AM050000051
omegafiler said:
Directly from ASUS website. They had the earliest ship date (10/26) vs Amazon, Newegg, or B&H.
http://store.asus.com/us/item/201610AM050000051
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, I'm having a hard time deciding on SD 820 or 821. Not sure if I want to spend an extra $$$ for a little speed bump & 256GB storage (is pretty tempting though) but not worth 300+ its asking compared to the 820 version.
RMXO said:
Gotcha, I'm having a hard time deciding on SD 820 or 821. Not sure if I want to spend an extra $$$ for a little speed bump & 256GB storage (is pretty tempting though) but not worth 300+ its asking compared to the 820 version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It certainly would be nice to have that much fast internal storage; but since I'm specifically trying to avoid $800 phones, it would probably be counter productive in my quest. I've actually found I'm pretty good with 64GB and not even using expandable storage with my phones. Still have room for apps, games, and some locally stored music/videos. I use the 2nd SIM slot with my data happy T-Mobile SIM card and just stream whatever isn't stored locally. Keeping the AT&T SIM for everything else.
But once I realized I don't need to keep 2,000 hours of music/videos with me at all times, it worked out pretty well. That's what the tablet is for.
omegafiler said:
It certainly would be nice to have that much fast internal storage; but since I'm specifically trying to avoid $800 phones, it would probably be counter productive in my quest. I've actually found I'm pretty good with 64GB and not even using expandable storage with my phones. Still have room for apps, games, and some locally stored music/videos. I use the 2nd SIM slot with my data happy T-Mobile SIM card and just stream whatever isn't stored locally. Keeping the AT&T SIM for everything else.
But once I realized I don't need to keep 2,000 hours of music/videos with me at all times, it worked out pretty well. That's what the tablet is for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking of doing since I got plenty of time to make up my mind.
I am using the 6/64 version for over a month (got it Sep/2) and everything just speedy and smooth. It seems Asus does get the multitasking right with the help of 6G RAM. Everything is just snappy and responsive even with tones of background App running!
Asus has also built in functions like Greenify which prevents apps from auto loading in the background (However, in contrast to Greenify, once the App is load, it will not stop it like Greenify does.) Anyway with 6G RAM, it's really no need to remove app from memory due to memory management's point of view. However the prevention of auto start sure saves battery as well as unwanted background data hug, once the app is terminated.
The camera is decent enough and take good photos even at low light. 4G signal strength is on par with all my other phones but handles spotty receptions better (for instance, when in a moving train full of people, the phone handles the switching of base pretty good with virtually no disconnection on voice call. Basically everyone's phone in the train is switching at almost the same time.)
As for internal memory, you could always insert a 128G SD card into the 2nd SIM slot. Officially 2nd SIM and SD card cannot co-exist (they share physical space), but there is a hack you could do to make them co-exist. The phone does handle 2 SIM+SD without any issue. I don't think it's necessary to go to the SD821 version with all those extra $. The speed up will be felt only marginally, with everything app already starts almost instantly on SD820.
QC3.0 charge means when you are low on juice (SD820 is a power hug), you can get it going in very short time (QC3.0, 18W, currently working with only ASUS' stock charger. Other chargers will work only upto QC2.0 speed, due to apparently safety reason) The phone never feels warm with regular heavy using (I don't do gaming, though) but do get pretty warm during 18W charging.
With the N7 drama, to be on the safe side, I always charge my phone with a 5V1A charger when I sleep. In this scenario, it will take about 3.5h to reach full charge from 0%. The phone does not feel warm at all when charging in this way. (room temperature is around 25~30dC)
Conclusion: No big let down on this phone as of yet. (except no root method is available yet). The only major issue I am aware of is the lack of availability. So go grab one if you can!
p.s. In case you are curious, I live in Taiwan and this phone cost me only USD$50 with a 30 months contract, no sim lock.
lssong99 said:
I am using the 6/64 version for over a month (got it Sep/2) and everything just speedy and smooth. It seems Asus does get the multitasking right with the help of 6G RAM. Everything is just snappy and responsive even with tones of background App running!
Asus has also built in functions like Greenify which prevents apps from auto loading in the background (However, in contrast to Greenify, once the App is load, it will not stop it like Greenify does.) Anyway with 6G RAM, it's really no need to remove app from memory due to memory management's point of view. However the prevention of auto start sure saves battery as well as unwanted background data hug, once the app is terminated.
The camera is decent enough and take good photos even at low light. 4G signal strength is on par with all my other phones but handles spotty receptions better (for instance, when in a moving train full of people, the phone handles the switching of base pretty good with virtually no disconnection on voice call. Basically everyone's phone in the train is switching at almost the same time.)
As for internal memory, you could always insert a 128G SD card into the 2nd SIM slot. Officially 2nd SIM and SD card cannot co-exist (they share physical space), but there is a hack you could do to make them co-exist. The phone does handle 2 SIM+SD without any issue. I don't think it's necessary to go to the SD821 version with all those extra $. The speed up will be felt only marginally, with everything app already starts almost instantly on SD820.
QC3.0 charge means when you are low on juice (SD820 is a power hug), you can get it going in very short time (QC3.0, 18W, currently working with only ASUS' stock charger. Other chargers will work only upto QC2.0 speed, due to apparently safety reason) The phone never feels warm with regular heavy using (I don't do gaming, though) but do get pretty warm during 18W charging.
With the N7 drama, to be on the safe side, I always charge my phone with a 5V1A charger when I sleep. In this scenario, it will take about 3.5h to reach full charge from 0%. The phone does not feel warm at all when charging in this way. (room temperature is around 25~30dC)
Conclusion: No big let down on this phone as of yet. (except no root method is available yet). The only major issue I am aware of is the lack of availability. So go grab one if you can!
p.s. In case you are curious, I live in Taiwan and this phone cost me only USD$50 with a 30 months contract, no sim lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your mini review. Unless something better comes out, I'm going to go with Asus 3 Deluxe.
I'm actually debating getting the 5.5" Snap Dragon 625 version at $399. Might be a nice step up from my HTC One A9 (SD 617).
One thing that bugs though is the unbalanced black bezel around the screen that the Deluxe versions have. The regular Zenfone 3 isn't like that.
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eelpout said:
I'm actually debating getting the 5.5" Snap Dragon 625 version at $399. Might be a nice step up from my HTC One A9 (SD 617).
One thing that bugs though is the unbalanced black bezel around the screen that the Deluxe versions have. The regular Zenfone 3 isn't like that.
Click to expand...
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I don't have experience with SD625 models but unless budget is your concern, I'd recommend to go to SD820 since you got fewer compromise.
Like the old saying, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", thus for me the "unbalanced" bezel actually looks better since I use phone in portrait orientation almost 95% of time and larger lower bezel actually looks more "Stable" for me.
http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/12/this-is-the-huawei-mate-9-in-standard-and-curved-screen-designs/
Huawei Mate 9 is very tempting also at 5.9" but not so sure about the SoC since I'm so use to SD and Exynos. I like the bezel w/o the home button and non-curved screen.