And picked one up. Put an offer for a red 4GB model on eBay last night and it was accepted. Not sure if it's something I'll keep, but worth giving it a shot since I'm a little bored with my Note 4 after 7 months. I'll update with impressions when I receive it!
***EDIT 05/11***
Received my Red 4GB (RAM), 32GB, Zenfone 2 earlier today. To preface, I purchased this on a whim, since I already have a fine device in the Note 4. So my expectations were fairly low considering the overall cost of this device ($340 with shipping; received in 3 business days). Also for a little more info about me -- I have a tendency to jump around phones quite often. I owned a number of flagships last year (LG G3, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Moto X, OnePlus One and more), so I have a good feel for most user experiences that are offered from the major OEM's.
After immediately unboxing and booting it up, I was blown away. This truly feels like a device that is $500+. Yes, it's plastic, but has a wonderfully solid build that truly feels great in the hand. The texture on the rear is great, the curvature of the phone makes it sit in the hands perfectly, and the red finish is stunning. There is no creaking or flex from any part of the phone. This is what I wanted the G3 of last year to feel like.
Anyways, onto the screen. Again, pleasantly surprised. It's extremely sharp, as to be expected from a 1080p screen, and the color reproduction is fantastic. The ability to change the temperature is a bonus as well. Brightness is average, but it fairs very well in sunlight. Not as good as my Note 4, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything drastic when comparing both screens. Touch input and responsiveness is just as good as any modern phone as well.
Zen UI... Is phenomenal. I've only been playing with it for a few hours now, but it is easily my favorite 1st party launcher out there. It's crazy smooth, the animations are on point, and above all it actually looks good. There's a ton of customizations and nuances, so I feel absolutely no need to switch to Nova Prime or something. You can change themes, icon packs, scroll effects, fonts... Pretty much everything you'd want to do, you can. The system apps look and function very well. I feel like this is what TouchWiz should be.
However, there is quite a bit of bloat here. You can uninstall about a third of it or so, which is good. And you have the ability to disable and hide whatever other apps you don't like/need.
Haven't spent too much time with the camera, but the interface is adequate. It's speedy, takes pictures fast, and produces good results. I'll need more time to fully judge it, but it's not on the same level as the Note 4. Again though, it's good enough for me, and I don't feel like I'll need to jump back to my Note 4 in order to get some decent shots of my car or a sunset. Any shortcomings I find, I believe I'll be able to adjust accordingly with Snapseed.
I love that Intel supports fast charge, and it works as advertised. Battery fills up every bit as fast (if not faster) than my Note 4. Went from 45% battery to 100% in about 35-40 minutes. I can't judge battery life yet, obviously.
All in all, this is worth every single penny thus far. Great build, great screen, seemingly good camera, excellent UI, etc.
Let me know if you have any questions or anything!
Posted via the Android Central App
***EDIT 05/11***
Received my Red 4GB (RAM), 32GB, Zenfone 2 earlier today. To preface, I purchased this on a whim, since I already have a fine device in the Note 4. So my expectations were fairly low considering the overall cost of this device ($340 with shipping; received in 3 business days). Also for a little more info about me -- I have a tendency to jump around phones quite often. I owned a number of flagships last year (LG G3, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Moto X, OnePlus One and more), so I have a good feel for most user experiences that are offered from the major OEM's.
After immediately unboxing and booting it up, I was blown away. This truly feels like a device that is $500+. Yes, it's plastic, but has a wonderfully solid build that truly feels great in the hand. The texture on the rear is great, the curvature of the phone makes it sit in the hands perfectly, and the red finish is stunning. There is no creaking or flex from any part of the phone. This is what I wanted the G3 of last year to feel like.
Anyways, onto the screen. Again, pleasantly surprised. It's extremely sharp, as to be expected from a 1080p screen, and the color reproduction is fantastic. The ability to change the temperature is a bonus as well. Brightness is average, but it fairs very well in sunlight. Not as good as my Note 4, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything drastic when comparing both screens. Touch input and responsiveness is just as good as any modern phone as well.
Zen UI... Is phenomenal. I've only been playing with it for a few hours now, but it is easily my favorite 1st party launcher out there. It's crazy smooth, the animations are on point, and above all it actually looks good. There's a ton of customizations and nuances, so I feel absolutely no need to switch to Nova Prime or something. You can change themes, icon packs, scroll effects, fonts... Pretty much everything you'd want to do, you can. The system apps look and function very well. I feel like this is what TouchWiz should be.
However, there is quite a bit of bloat here. You can uninstall about a third of it or so, which is good. And you have the ability to disable and hide whatever other apps you don't like/need.
Haven't spent too much time with the camera, but the interface is adequate. It's speedy, takes pictures fast, and produces good results. I'll need more time to fully judge it, but it's not on the same level as the Note 4. Again though, it's good enough for me, and I don't feel like I'll need to jump back to my Note 4 in order to get some decent shots of my car or a sunset. Any shortcomings I find, I believe I'll be able to adjust accordingly with Snapseed.
I love that Intel supports fast charge, and it works as advertised. Battery fills up every bit as fast (if not faster) than my Note 4. Went from 45% battery to 100% in about 35-40 minutes. I can't judge battery life yet, obviously.
All in all, this is worth every single penny thus far. Great build, great screen, seemingly good camera, excellent UI, etc.
Let me know if you have any questions or anything!
Posted via the Android Central App
Last edited:
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