- Nov 9, 2013
- 1,306
- 3
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Hello everyone.
I would like to type a bit about my experience so far with the ZF2 16 gig US LTE version.
(I'm coming from various Microsoft phones and the Xperia Z1s)
If your looking to spend $199.00 on something here it is!
Received this phone in gray from B&H Photo 4 days ago.
The retail box was hard to pull open...confused me at first
Pulling the back cover off the ZenFone to slip the SD and SIM cards in is a bit difficult.
After getting the phone out of the box and wrapper I was surprised at how lightweight this is.
The design of the phone is clever with the very thin edges that move into the thicker curved back.
Boot up was very speedy and the phone showed a 63% charge initially.
Set-up is the typical Google stuff with Asus wanting logins for it's slow webstorage among other sign-ups for Zen bloatware.
There is a lot of Asus this and that on the phone some usable some not so much for my own preference.
The notification bar pull down menu on the ZF2 is very nice!
Easy to see and easy to tap the buttons.
Both T-Mobile SIMs I have in the device work fine.
The Data SIM in slot 1 isn't seeing a great signal level.
It's showed LTE here and there not consistently however.
The legacy Pay as I Go SIM in the second slot always has full bars everywhere.
Tethering works very well with this no problems what so ever.
I went for 1 day without doing any personalization on the phone to see how the battery handled my use.
The battery depleted somewhat quickly with a lot of browsing, making about 15 short calls and sending 5 texts with photos.
In the new phone state the battery lost 75% in 5 hours.
After setting up the phone yesterday the way I have it now and 3 system updates and 4 top-ups on the included charger I'll say things have improved.
Web browsing is what I would call speedy...I haven't had a lot of luck with speediness on other phones I've had.
Battery time has increased as it usually does over time with repeat charging and updating.
In an idle state the battery will stay charged overnight losing around 3%.
Through the day I get a few FC's I'm not sure why Google Play closes out quite a bit.
The only app that gave me real trouble is Rhapsody...it installs yet closes when I attempt a sign in.
All other apps that I use often worked well and run stable.
I found clutching the phone with the thin edges a little tiring.
This is of course is easily solved with the right case or cover.
The off button is pretty much a design failure it is slightly handy holding the phone in landscape.
Tap to wake up and turn off does negate having to try and stretch for the button.
Volume buttons on the back aren't a preference for me also mainly because I have trouble hitting them.
Hoping I won't continually smudge the camera lens or scratch it because of this.
As always a new phone is a good experience...I'm hoping this turns into a great experience!
Before I stumble too far away from the subject I would bottom line this device as a great buy for the user not needing top of the line.
Thanks to ASUS for giving us more performance choices for less and to Android Central for putting me onto this!
Update:
I activated developer options under settings for dabbling purposes.
I set transition animation scale from 1 to .5 which has made a good speed difference when flipping screens.
Still enjoying the ZenUI even though it includes way more stuff than I'll ever use.
Getting to know the camera a little better.
Looks like manual and HDR will get the most use by me.
I have to say the camera is hit or miss even when trying to carefully compose.
Reminds me of shooting with film...sometimes good...other times not.
I would like to type a bit about my experience so far with the ZF2 16 gig US LTE version.
(I'm coming from various Microsoft phones and the Xperia Z1s)
If your looking to spend $199.00 on something here it is!
Received this phone in gray from B&H Photo 4 days ago.
The retail box was hard to pull open...confused me at first
Pulling the back cover off the ZenFone to slip the SD and SIM cards in is a bit difficult.
After getting the phone out of the box and wrapper I was surprised at how lightweight this is.
The design of the phone is clever with the very thin edges that move into the thicker curved back.
Boot up was very speedy and the phone showed a 63% charge initially.
Set-up is the typical Google stuff with Asus wanting logins for it's slow webstorage among other sign-ups for Zen bloatware.
There is a lot of Asus this and that on the phone some usable some not so much for my own preference.
The notification bar pull down menu on the ZF2 is very nice!
Easy to see and easy to tap the buttons.
Both T-Mobile SIMs I have in the device work fine.
The Data SIM in slot 1 isn't seeing a great signal level.
It's showed LTE here and there not consistently however.
The legacy Pay as I Go SIM in the second slot always has full bars everywhere.
Tethering works very well with this no problems what so ever.
I went for 1 day without doing any personalization on the phone to see how the battery handled my use.
The battery depleted somewhat quickly with a lot of browsing, making about 15 short calls and sending 5 texts with photos.
In the new phone state the battery lost 75% in 5 hours.
After setting up the phone yesterday the way I have it now and 3 system updates and 4 top-ups on the included charger I'll say things have improved.
Web browsing is what I would call speedy...I haven't had a lot of luck with speediness on other phones I've had.
Battery time has increased as it usually does over time with repeat charging and updating.
In an idle state the battery will stay charged overnight losing around 3%.
Through the day I get a few FC's I'm not sure why Google Play closes out quite a bit.
The only app that gave me real trouble is Rhapsody...it installs yet closes when I attempt a sign in.
All other apps that I use often worked well and run stable.
I found clutching the phone with the thin edges a little tiring.
This is of course is easily solved with the right case or cover.
The off button is pretty much a design failure it is slightly handy holding the phone in landscape.
Tap to wake up and turn off does negate having to try and stretch for the button.
Volume buttons on the back aren't a preference for me also mainly because I have trouble hitting them.
Hoping I won't continually smudge the camera lens or scratch it because of this.
As always a new phone is a good experience...I'm hoping this turns into a great experience!
Before I stumble too far away from the subject I would bottom line this device as a great buy for the user not needing top of the line.
Thanks to ASUS for giving us more performance choices for less and to Android Central for putting me onto this!
Update:
I activated developer options under settings for dabbling purposes.
I set transition animation scale from 1 to .5 which has made a good speed difference when flipping screens.
Still enjoying the ZenUI even though it includes way more stuff than I'll ever use.
Getting to know the camera a little better.
Looks like manual and HDR will get the most use by me.
I have to say the camera is hit or miss even when trying to carefully compose.
Reminds me of shooting with film...sometimes good...other times not.
Last edited:
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