Should I get my Zenfone 2 (ZE551ML) replaced?

[tried42long]

This is my first smartphone, so yeah. I just got the Zenfone 2(ZE551ML 64GB) earlier, and I'm quite noticing some defects. First would be that I can't turn the wifi on. It sounds weird, but it's stuck on "turning wifi on" and I have my MAC address to unavailable. Second would be really common random restarts. I just leave the screen and it would just go black then display the "ASUS:In search of the incredible" startup screen. This goes repeatedly on the same interval.

Even on the set up wizard, it's still stuck in the "turning wifi on" and just restarts again.

I also got a thermal warning when I first charged it, just for reference. I suppose this is normal, but it ain't appearing now. I also performed a factory reset and the problems are still there. And I don't have a memory card or sim installed yet. I turn the "Keep scanning on" option in the wifi settings off. I click the button beside wifi to turn it on, then I leave the settings menu and go back, then I see the wifi turned again to off.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I agree with contacting ASUS for a replacement, assuming it's under warranty. That all sounds like a defective phone.

 

[tried42long]

Yes, I got it replaced. And I noticed that the first unit I bought was REALLY hot compared to my replacement. I got a question about some apps/android. I've been using my ZenFone 2 for a few days, and its performance is really nice. However when I tried to rearrange some apps, some pre-installed ones dissapeared. On the home screen, I dragged everything to the "remove" option above to clean it up. I noticed the "Power & Boost" app disapperead. And the "Setup Wizard" app dissapeared, although it's still in the app list. The setup wizard is kinda weird on the app list.
imgur photo:
/lJIwgID

I tried a factory data reset before, and they came back. But I now have some data on some apps, so I can't just do it again. And are there any recommended default apps to remove?

 

[B. Diddy]

If you removed the app from the homescreen, then you only removed the app shortcut. It doesn't uninstall the app--you'll still find it in the Settings>Apps list.

Unless you use the ASUS apps, you can either disable or uninstall them. I would also get rid of anything related to Clean Master--it's doesn't do anything beneficial that you can't already do using the regular system menu, and other things it does can be potentially counterproductive.

 

[tried42long]

Thanks for the tips. I now uninstalled some apps and didabled the ASUS ones that I don't need.

One last question. I have two sims. The first one is new while the other is a really old one from my other phone. It just happened earlier, hours after removing bloatware(I guess this is not the cause). The old one can't be read on slot 2 but works for slot 1. I thought it might be a hardware issue with slot 2, but the newer sim works on both slots.

 

[B. Diddy]

It happened immediately after removing or disabling some bloatware, or did it start a while afterwards?

Does it persist after a reboot?

 

[tried42long]

It started hours later when I was charging my phone. I think it was the sim itself. I had it cut into micro size, as it was really old. Weirdly, it's working now lol.

What widget is on, when you press the running apps button? When I try to switch between apps, I see a "Couldn't add widget" above the apps listed and just below the wifi, battery icons, etc. I really don't remember what was there before. I might have disabled too much, lol.

 

[B. Diddy]

What widget is on, when you press the running apps button? When I try to switch between apps, I see a "Couldn't add widget" above the apps listed and just below the wifi, battery icons, etc. I really don't remember what was there before. I might have disabled too much, lol.

I think what you're seeing is specific to what you've recently been doing on the phone. I've never seen that on my Recent Apps list. Try clearing out the whole Running Apps list, and then see if it behaves oddly again after that.

 

[dafe01]

My Zen has all of a sudden gone into a boot loop and I cannot get it to function. It was working normally then picked it up to check emails and noticed it was in a loop! How do I resolve this?

 

[SYTH3R]

Hello I think this might be due to improper ROM flash if you have rooted your device & unlocked the bootloader try flashing the Asus Stock ROM again if it still doesn't work visit your nearest service center.