- Apr 18, 2010
- 4,906
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First let me say I review based on my personal preferences and taste, that said you should ALWAYS check things out in person and judge for yourself before deciding to buy or not to buy.
My thoughts and use of the ASUS ZenFone 2 and how it is/isn’t working for me on a daily basis.
So I was one of the fortunate AC members to get the ASUS ZenFone 2 and was happy to put it through its paces. For those who don’t know me I buy, use, sell and buy, use and sell a lot of phones in a given year. Way too many and I am trying to cut back on it.
That said shiny new things do catch my eye and I will say the ASUS ZenFone 2 is a solid phone for many reasons, and not solid in other areas, but they may or may not be as important to you and that is for you to decide.
Look, Feel and Overall build: I got a lot of questions about the phone, a lot of people asking if it was the new LG G4 and I said no its the new ASUS ZenFone 2, in the US many users are not aware that ASUS does phones and I think in time that will change as their product offerings grow.
I am not afraid to use a metal/plastic and glass phone, a company who harps on “plastic” phones started out with plastic and switched to metal and then offered plastic again. To me (and you as well) the materials used to make the phone are not the key factor, its how well they do or do not hold up.
I don’t mind the volume rocker on the back, its not my optimal choice but that is a user preference and not a deal breaker, same with the power button the top.
Solid frame, 1080p display (which frankly is enough for the vast majority of users) and the back cover being plastic is mute, you can remove it and attach a wide array of cases with covers integrated or new back covers. So in terms of build I would say give it a good 9 out of 10.
Hardware: Its my first use of a smartphone with an Intel Atom processor and so far its done the job well, played games, email, youtube, etc so no hiccups or issues. 4GB of RAM (top end model) and it comes with task managers (remove move then don’t use them and they shouldn’t be there) with that much RAM you won’t be hurting anytime soon. 64GB ROM + microSD (higher end model again) is a plus and honestly IF this was the standard config on most Android Phones I would be happy. Plenty of space for apps, and a micoSD for media.
Does it need a Heart Rate Monitor, fingerprint sensor, not really, would it be nice but do you want to pay $100 more for that, not really and it doesn’t suffer from not having it either.
OS, Android 5.0 well that is not where it should be given the launch window it should be at least 5.0.2 or above and 5.1.1 should be offered soon (but we don’t know). That said I have ZERO stutters, hiccups, delays, nada compared to other UI/UX overlays (Touch Wiz). The Zen UI is fluid, smooth and just plan works. I commend them for that and give it a 9 out of 10.
Sound (or lack there of): This is one area that I am disappointed in, I am not expecting HTC Front Facing Speakers, but, even Samsungs Galaxy series with the speaker on the back had more even sound to them, and I did have my flip cover open. I do not use headphones since I wear hearing aids so I can only speak to speaker quality. I give that a 7 out of 10.
Camera: I will say I don’t rely on a phone to be my main camera, I have Nikon and Canon for that. Still I do want pictures to be crisp enough. Based on some simple comparisons between the GS6 Edge, iPhone 6 and the Zen Fone 2 its an average performer, BUT, they do give you 18 different camera modes that can help. My Score 7 out of 10.
Battery Life: I travel a lot for work and have a work phone so my personal phone at time sits idle and pulls in email and a few other things like Google Now so it can ride shotgun at times. Yesterday I had Google Now on and it took the battery down from 100% to 55% from 8am to 7pm. Today I had Google Now off and went from 100% to 73% from 8am to 7pm so Google Now can impact but so can cellular coverage etc. I plan on doing a side by side comparison of the ASUS Zen Fone 2 and Galaxy S6 Edge running the same apps, etc and sitting side by side for a day to see how they compare in a 12 hour run this weekend. I will post that up later.
So I give battery life a 7 out of 10, its not the worst but its not the tea sipper either.
For an overall score I am giving this phone a 7.8 out of 10, based on comparing it to the higher end phones on the market like the GS6 and iPhone 6, etc. I will say if you are comparing this to mid-range devices I would actually rate it much higher closer to a 9 out of 10 given the overall features and performance.
For me the Sound and Camera were the two weak points, and even though I don't shot a lot of photos with my phone I do want it to be good enough and I know there are users out there who rely on their camera a lot and listen to audio a lot. That said you can do wonders in post production photo editing, you can use Google’s tools as well.
Thoughts, comments or general questions feel free to ask.
My thoughts and use of the ASUS ZenFone 2 and how it is/isn’t working for me on a daily basis.
So I was one of the fortunate AC members to get the ASUS ZenFone 2 and was happy to put it through its paces. For those who don’t know me I buy, use, sell and buy, use and sell a lot of phones in a given year. Way too many and I am trying to cut back on it.
That said shiny new things do catch my eye and I will say the ASUS ZenFone 2 is a solid phone for many reasons, and not solid in other areas, but they may or may not be as important to you and that is for you to decide.
Look, Feel and Overall build: I got a lot of questions about the phone, a lot of people asking if it was the new LG G4 and I said no its the new ASUS ZenFone 2, in the US many users are not aware that ASUS does phones and I think in time that will change as their product offerings grow.
I am not afraid to use a metal/plastic and glass phone, a company who harps on “plastic” phones started out with plastic and switched to metal and then offered plastic again. To me (and you as well) the materials used to make the phone are not the key factor, its how well they do or do not hold up.
I don’t mind the volume rocker on the back, its not my optimal choice but that is a user preference and not a deal breaker, same with the power button the top.
Solid frame, 1080p display (which frankly is enough for the vast majority of users) and the back cover being plastic is mute, you can remove it and attach a wide array of cases with covers integrated or new back covers. So in terms of build I would say give it a good 9 out of 10.
Hardware: Its my first use of a smartphone with an Intel Atom processor and so far its done the job well, played games, email, youtube, etc so no hiccups or issues. 4GB of RAM (top end model) and it comes with task managers (remove move then don’t use them and they shouldn’t be there) with that much RAM you won’t be hurting anytime soon. 64GB ROM + microSD (higher end model again) is a plus and honestly IF this was the standard config on most Android Phones I would be happy. Plenty of space for apps, and a micoSD for media.
Does it need a Heart Rate Monitor, fingerprint sensor, not really, would it be nice but do you want to pay $100 more for that, not really and it doesn’t suffer from not having it either.
OS, Android 5.0 well that is not where it should be given the launch window it should be at least 5.0.2 or above and 5.1.1 should be offered soon (but we don’t know). That said I have ZERO stutters, hiccups, delays, nada compared to other UI/UX overlays (Touch Wiz). The Zen UI is fluid, smooth and just plan works. I commend them for that and give it a 9 out of 10.
Sound (or lack there of): This is one area that I am disappointed in, I am not expecting HTC Front Facing Speakers, but, even Samsungs Galaxy series with the speaker on the back had more even sound to them, and I did have my flip cover open. I do not use headphones since I wear hearing aids so I can only speak to speaker quality. I give that a 7 out of 10.
Camera: I will say I don’t rely on a phone to be my main camera, I have Nikon and Canon for that. Still I do want pictures to be crisp enough. Based on some simple comparisons between the GS6 Edge, iPhone 6 and the Zen Fone 2 its an average performer, BUT, they do give you 18 different camera modes that can help. My Score 7 out of 10.
Battery Life: I travel a lot for work and have a work phone so my personal phone at time sits idle and pulls in email and a few other things like Google Now so it can ride shotgun at times. Yesterday I had Google Now on and it took the battery down from 100% to 55% from 8am to 7pm. Today I had Google Now off and went from 100% to 73% from 8am to 7pm so Google Now can impact but so can cellular coverage etc. I plan on doing a side by side comparison of the ASUS Zen Fone 2 and Galaxy S6 Edge running the same apps, etc and sitting side by side for a day to see how they compare in a 12 hour run this weekend. I will post that up later.
So I give battery life a 7 out of 10, its not the worst but its not the tea sipper either.
For an overall score I am giving this phone a 7.8 out of 10, based on comparing it to the higher end phones on the market like the GS6 and iPhone 6, etc. I will say if you are comparing this to mid-range devices I would actually rate it much higher closer to a 9 out of 10 given the overall features and performance.
For me the Sound and Camera were the two weak points, and even though I don't shot a lot of photos with my phone I do want it to be good enough and I know there are users out there who rely on their camera a lot and listen to audio a lot. That said you can do wonders in post production photo editing, you can use Google’s tools as well.
Thoughts, comments or general questions feel free to ask.
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