- Sep 30, 2010
- 3,530
- 122
- 63
I would like to begin by thanking Asus and Android Central / Mobile Nations for giving me this wonderful opportunity of testing out and reviewing this device! I've always seen other members here get picked but for some reason never thought I'd be so lucky. I just feel fortunate and blessed to be picked in a community I love and enjoy spending my free time throughout my hectic day. I love this place and the folks that frequent it....they are the ones that make it special! 
I'm a pretty light to moderate user. Besides texting and talking, I use my device mainly and mostly for music listening. I listen to music on my 1 and a half hour commute to and from work and for my time in the gym 5 days a week. I'd say anywhere between 5 to 7 hours a day. Most of my listening is done from on board MP3 files either internal or on SD card. I do surf the web from time to time and lately been using the AC forums app quite a bit. I'm not much of a streamer (music/videos) but I do watch an occasional video here and there if I'm going through the news highlights on flipboard. Otherwise, I try not to use my data since its capped.
The Asus Zenphone 2 has been a very enjoyable experience for me! Its handled my use very well! I love the look and feel of this device! It feels like a premium device and gets even better with its price point of $299! Its a great package for the amount of money you are spending. A great bang for your buck for sure!
HARDWARE
The display has been excellent in my use. Although it may be on the lower end of total brightness for me, it has been fantastic to look at! Colors look natural and very pleasing to my eyes when reading text on it. Touch sensitivity has been very good even with a .3mm thick glass screen protector! LG could take a few pointers with touch sensitivity here!
The volume buttons were familiar to me coming from an LG G3 (and G4). What did annoy me a little was the power button not being in the middle of the up and down volume rocker. Nothing major since I'm used to the placement of LG's devices. Besides, I mainly use the double tap on and off so the power button doesn't bother me much.
Battery life on the Zenphone 2 was not good out of the box. After fully charging it the first time, I noticed it would lose charge pretty quickly even when idle. This wasn't a good sign for me. It was only after reading on these forum about the 'Auto Start Manager' and disabling everything that my battery life improved! I think Asus should disable everything out of the box so users can have the best battery life experience as this is important to most users. There are a few other things that I've done to improve battery life and its much better than when I first started using it.
Ear piece is nice and clear. Call quality may be dependant on carrier/service but its been very good with me on T-Mobile. Speaker isn't bad but not great either. Sound is very thin and tinny....not really a full sound coming from it. They could of used better speaker for a little better sound. I know some users find this important. Speaker is only important to me when getting calls and I can hear it very well in all its tinny glory!
Bluetooth is good! It was paired with every BT device I have. Sounds good too. No problems here.
Now here is what I REALLY like about the Zenphone 2.....the sound output out of the headphone port is high! Even though I must listen to music at low volume (I have Tinnitus) and mainly/mostly do, the sound I get on my headphones is very strong! It almost sounds like my headphones sound better because of the higher output. I'm going to assume that Asus implemented this in their UI but its nice to have a device with a higher output without any amplification hardware! I don't go past the mid way point on the sound level because its perfectly loud enough for me!
Camera has many great features which I haven't played with but from the immediate pictures I took for fathers day, they weren't bad. I'm sure if I took more time to learn the features that come with the camera, I could get some cleaner/clearer pictures than the ones I took all mostly on auto modes. I did use the 'owl mode' for inside low light conditions and got much better pictures than without that mode. There is promise here if used correctly!
SOFTWARE
The Asus UI skin took me a little time to get used to but I like it. Its a refreshing take on Android's Lollipop OS and different than your usual Samsung, HTC, LG, etc.. flavor. It runs smooth without much hiccups. Its pretty polished and visually appealing! Scrolling is fluid and touch sensitivity is excellent. Double tap to turn on and off is so good that it should be implemented on EVERY Android device! Apps open up quickly and run smoothly.
I only experienced some slow down when playing my Solitaire game which isn't graphic intense but it may due to the processor (Intel Atom). I'm not much of a gamer but I wouldn't be surprised if gamers experienced some problems/issues while running high graphic intense games on the Zenphone 2. Asus may just need to optimize the UI a little better for the Atom so there is still hope for an even more polished experience here!
FINAL THOUGHTS...
The Asus Zenphone 2 may not be perfect but it has many great qualities that I look for in a device. This is a really good device considering the price. This device was my first to have 64gb on board storage capacity and I LOVE IT!! It makes me feel at ease knowing that I have so much internal space for many things and its just icing on the cake that it also has an option for added memory with an SD card slot! For $299, this phone is top notch and many users who are light to moderate like myself, I know would absolutely love the Asus Zenphone 2! I've already seen a few in the wild here in NYC!
Asus has a winner here and I'm more than happy to recommend it to my friends and family especially the budget conscious who still want a great device!
I'm a pretty light to moderate user. Besides texting and talking, I use my device mainly and mostly for music listening. I listen to music on my 1 and a half hour commute to and from work and for my time in the gym 5 days a week. I'd say anywhere between 5 to 7 hours a day. Most of my listening is done from on board MP3 files either internal or on SD card. I do surf the web from time to time and lately been using the AC forums app quite a bit. I'm not much of a streamer (music/videos) but I do watch an occasional video here and there if I'm going through the news highlights on flipboard. Otherwise, I try not to use my data since its capped.
The Asus Zenphone 2 has been a very enjoyable experience for me! Its handled my use very well! I love the look and feel of this device! It feels like a premium device and gets even better with its price point of $299! Its a great package for the amount of money you are spending. A great bang for your buck for sure!
HARDWARE
The display has been excellent in my use. Although it may be on the lower end of total brightness for me, it has been fantastic to look at! Colors look natural and very pleasing to my eyes when reading text on it. Touch sensitivity has been very good even with a .3mm thick glass screen protector! LG could take a few pointers with touch sensitivity here!
The volume buttons were familiar to me coming from an LG G3 (and G4
). What did annoy me a little was the power button not being in the middle of the up and down volume rocker. Nothing major since I'm used to the placement of LG's devices. Besides, I mainly use the double tap on and off so the power button doesn't bother me much.Battery life on the Zenphone 2 was not good out of the box. After fully charging it the first time, I noticed it would lose charge pretty quickly even when idle. This wasn't a good sign for me. It was only after reading on these forum about the 'Auto Start Manager' and disabling everything that my battery life improved! I think Asus should disable everything out of the box so users can have the best battery life experience as this is important to most users. There are a few other things that I've done to improve battery life and its much better than when I first started using it.
Ear piece is nice and clear. Call quality may be dependant on carrier/service but its been very good with me on T-Mobile. Speaker isn't bad but not great either. Sound is very thin and tinny....not really a full sound coming from it. They could of used better speaker for a little better sound. I know some users find this important. Speaker is only important to me when getting calls and I can hear it very well in all its tinny glory!
Bluetooth is good! It was paired with every BT device I have. Sounds good too. No problems here.
Now here is what I REALLY like about the Zenphone 2.....the sound output out of the headphone port is high! Even though I must listen to music at low volume (I have Tinnitus) and mainly/mostly do, the sound I get on my headphones is very strong! It almost sounds like my headphones sound better because of the higher output. I'm going to assume that Asus implemented this in their UI but its nice to have a device with a higher output without any amplification hardware! I don't go past the mid way point on the sound level because its perfectly loud enough for me!
Camera has many great features which I haven't played with but from the immediate pictures I took for fathers day, they weren't bad. I'm sure if I took more time to learn the features that come with the camera, I could get some cleaner/clearer pictures than the ones I took all mostly on auto modes. I did use the 'owl mode' for inside low light conditions and got much better pictures than without that mode. There is promise here if used correctly!
SOFTWARE
The Asus UI skin took me a little time to get used to but I like it. Its a refreshing take on Android's Lollipop OS and different than your usual Samsung, HTC, LG, etc.. flavor. It runs smooth without much hiccups. Its pretty polished and visually appealing! Scrolling is fluid and touch sensitivity is excellent. Double tap to turn on and off is so good that it should be implemented on EVERY Android device! Apps open up quickly and run smoothly.
I only experienced some slow down when playing my Solitaire game which isn't graphic intense but it may due to the processor (Intel Atom). I'm not much of a gamer but I wouldn't be surprised if gamers experienced some problems/issues while running high graphic intense games on the Zenphone 2. Asus may just need to optimize the UI a little better for the Atom so there is still hope for an even more polished experience here!
FINAL THOUGHTS...
The Asus Zenphone 2 may not be perfect but it has many great qualities that I look for in a device. This is a really good device considering the price. This device was my first to have 64gb on board storage capacity and I LOVE IT!! It makes me feel at ease knowing that I have so much internal space for many things and its just icing on the cake that it also has an option for added memory with an SD card slot! For $299, this phone is top notch and many users who are light to moderate like myself, I know would absolutely love the Asus Zenphone 2! I've already seen a few in the wild here in NYC!
Asus has a winner here and I'm more than happy to recommend it to my friends and family especially the budget conscious who still want a great device!
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