Asus Zenfone 2

Phibsboro

Tragedy wrote: »

Maybe?

Maybe?



There is no maybe.

Hell, let's go back two years in battery tech/semiconductor tech:

I'm not clear what your point is here? The Zenfone isn't listed, are you suggesting that benchmark is in some way equivalent to SOT numbers?

SubatomicKiwi

Phibsboro wrote: »

I'm not clear what your point is here? The Zenfone isn't listed, are you suggesting that benchmark is in some way equivalent to SOT numbers?

The numbers represent browsing SOT!

D'Peoples Voice

SubatomicKiwi wrote: »

The numbers represent browsing SOT!

Those charts are often deceiving because they don't state which of the screens are 720P, 1080P etc.
Comparing the screen on time of a 720P to a 1080P device is comparing Apples and Oranges as they say. Fewer pixels in a screen should save a battery life, if that is what you are after.

Phibsboro

SubatomicKiwi wrote: »

The numbers represent browsing SOT!

Ahh - thats not really the way that works The SoT numbers you see bandied about are user reported, obviously. They are taken from the number you see when you click the Screen item in the battery setting screen. That number just represents how long the screen was on for that particular phone, for whatever that particular user was doing in the last while. So, for example, if you were listening to spotify via 3G while gaming, you might be delighted with 2 hours SoT. If you are in aeroplane mode and reading a pdf, you might be disappointed with 6 hrs. Beyond that obvious difference, different phones will have different brightness settings, be used in different ambient lighting etc.

In contrast, those Anandtech numbers are a controlled test with a set brightness, known other cpu usage etc. There is no suggestion that any of those phones' owners should be getting those kind of numbers in SoT. For example, the 1+1 is listed at 13 hours, if you browse this thread you'll see everything from 8hours down to 3 hours actual SoT reported.

https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/post-your-sot-screen-on-time-battery-usage.203573/

So what we really need is Anandtech to test the Zenfone 2 and do that particular test on it and then we'll see where it stands...

droidman123

3 and a half hours playing a high intensive game,with the screen at 100% seems OK to me.
https://youtu.be/Q_OhsHoiMTI

Tragedy

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

Those charts are often deceiving because they don't state which of the screens are 720P, 1080P etc.
Comparing the screen on time of a 720P to a 1080P device is comparing Apples and Oranges as they say. Fewer pixels in a screen should save a battery life, if that is what you are after.

That's silly.

It's like saying the charts are deceiving because they don't list battery capacity.

Hootanany

Tragedy wrote: »

That's silly.

It's like saying the charts are deceiving because they don't list battery capacity.

Anyone else think it gets a hot when browsing and again vibrate is gone.

SubatomicKiwi

My vibrate has come and gone 3 times in the past 2 hours or so. I've sent off an email to Asus, will update when I get a response.

Only time I've noticed it heat up is when I've been using it for a while when charging.

I've heard some complaints about performance/power when using the built in browser though, make sure you're using chrome/dolphin

Tragedy

Kernel kernel kernel.

Others have faith that software updates will fix this, but I think that's a risky bet to make.

SubatomicKiwi

Tragedy wrote:

Others have faith that software updates will fix this, but I think that's a risky bet to make.

Tragedy wrote:

Kernel kernel kernel.

It's an issue affecting a lot of 5.0 devices. Appearently Google have a fix internally but it's not yet released. Saw something the other day about the team behind cyanogen finding a fix too.

At least we know it's not hardware related, software can be fixed by Asus or the dev community.

spix

SubatomicKiwi wrote: »

It's an issue affecting a lot of 5.0 devices. Appearently Google have a fix internally but it's not yet released. Saw something the other day about the team behind cyanogen finding a fix too.

At least we know it's not hardware related, software can be fixed by Asus or the dev community.

It's just the amazing project volta at work.

Tragedy

SubatomicKiwi wrote: »

It's an issue affecting a lot of 5.0 devices. Appearently Google have a fix internally but it's not yet released. Saw something the other day about the team behind cyanogen finding a fix too.

At least we know it's not hardware related, software can be fixed by Asus or the dev community.

Can doesnt mean will, we still don't have an unlocked boot loader and given that this uses Intel Atom chips, we'll be a long while waiting for custom kernels that work effectively.

My Moto G XT1045 still doesn't have lollipop, nor does my LG G2. How long could people be waiting for various fixes (or even an update to 5.1 that seems to help a lot with battery drain)?

Don't buy now on the hopeful promise of it eventually being what it should be now.

The same goes for the camera, the ****tiness seems to be largely software.
That works in reverse though, the G2 took stunning pictures and when I put on custom ROMs - the quality was potatocam with stock google camera, and could never be improved by modders.

Crimsonforce

Actually I've been using the camera all day. I thought the images captured are pretty impressive compared to nexus 5 I have. Low light I thought was very good..

SubatomicKiwi

Well that's very true. I'm personally happy with the device as is. Been using it very heavily for the past ~2.5 hours and have 65% remaining. Charges very quickly and the screen is beautiful. Camera is actually better than I expected based on what I have been hearing but Asus seem to be coming thick and fast with the updates so both it and the battery SHOULD improve with time.

I'd imagine with the US launch approaching (18th) they must be working full throttle to iron out the issues that the first 'wave' of users have discovered. My only concern is this vibrate issue which they don't seem to have acknowledged yet.

The development side of things really is impossible to judge at this stage. Some of the big guys on xda have expressed interest in the phone but with the regional and model variations we might be waiting a while. Not sure on any official word on Bootloader unlock but xda seem to be thinking positive about a release soon after the US launch.

I think your main point should hold true to anything you're considering purchasing. Don't buy based on the hope of future improvements.

I'm not going to pretend that I wouldn't like more battery, better camera, a phone that actually vibrates reliably and doesn't cause me to miss calls but it's about as close to perfect as I'd expect for the price. I wasn't willing to take the risk with the OnePlus after all the horror stories. I think I, and anyone else who has/will jump aboard have made a good decision. I very well might regret saying that in time, but I need a phone now, not in a few months when we can gauge Asus' capabilites.

Tragedy

Crimsonforce wrote: »

Actually I've been using the camera all day. I thought the images captured are pretty impressive compared to nexus 5 I have. Low light I thought was very good..

The Nexus 5 has an incredibly bad camera. If that's you comparison, no wonder you're impressed.

The LG G3 is the same price as this phone, I suggest you look at the quality of photos that that can take.

The camera isn't bad, it's just noticeably worse than last gen high end phones - the kind that this is competing with price wise (e.g. S5, G3 M8) - and a lot worse than any of the midrange Nokia's.

Keith186

There's about 1000 left for sale on aliexpress in a flash sale (today only). Price is $336 or roughly €300 if anyone's interested. Beware, I'd hazard a guess that its gonna be the Chinese version though, but someone has posted how to change the bands on XDA. Not going to get one for myself just yet...

droidman123

Mine just arrived,gonna fire it up later.

SubatomicKiwi

Vibrate Issue Update

Asus replied (translated):

Dear ******,

Thank you for your return following which I understand that the vibrator does not operate properly after reinstallation.

The buzzer malfunction indicates a desire of a material nature, so it must be made ​​to your retailer to benefit from the DOA.

I remain at your disposal Mr. **** for further questions and wish you a good day.

Sincerely,

Walid
The ASUS advisory team

I contacted Aamzon, they have not had any other complaints about this issue and a replacement is en route. Hopefully it was an isolated issue as, apart from one report on here, it is not being mentioned anywhere.

Maybe Amazon IT received a faulty shipment?

Tragedy

The vibrate issues are all over XDA and Asus.com. Did you even try to Google it?

Still having issues with phone not receiving SMS some times, and calls going straight to voicemail.

SubatomicKiwi

Tragedy wrote: »

The vibrate issues are all over XDA and Asus.com. Did you even try to Google it?

Still having issues with phone not receiving SMS some times, and calls going straight to voicemail.

The only post I saw on xda was one I made? And I've commented on the Asus forum, me and one other guy (who seems to have a different issue).

SubatomicKiwi

Tragedy wrote: »

Still having issues with phone not receiving SMS some times, and calls going straight to voicemail.

Did you add/set your network APN? Are you sure it's not your sim card?

Tragedy

SubatomicKiwi wrote: »

Did you add/set your network APN? Are you sure it's not your sim card?

Yes and yes. Others have already posted similar problems on thread

Users of ZF4/5 have had similar issues with vibrate disappearing, not sure if it ever got fixed but I assume so

I should add. The processor is blazing fast and the extra ram makes a noticeable difference to multitasking. For general app usage and web browsing, even with the vaguely lacklustre screen, this is the best phone I have ever used (and noticeably better than my buddy's Note 4 running lollipop).

The software is half baked though, and even at a mid range price that's unacceptable!

SubatomicKiwi

Tragedy wrote: »

Yes and yes. Others have already posted similar problems on thread

Users of ZF4/5 have had similar issues with vibrate disappearing, not sure if it ever got fixed but I assume so

I should add. The processor is blazing fast and the extra ram makes a noticeable difference to multitasking. For general app usage and web browsing, even with the vaguely lacklustre screen, this is the best phone I have ever used (and noticeably better than my buddy's Note 4 running lollipop).

The software is half baked though, and even at a mid range price that's unacceptable!

I had an issue with receiving international/automated texts. I'm just assuming it was the sim card as there’s no logical reason for it to 'block' certain texts, calls have been fine and standard texts have been too.

I'm not sure where I stand on this really, if you look up any phone there’s reports of the vibrate motor not working. It's a moving part. It's prone to failure. I can’t find anything that shows these phones are more commonly affected than others. It is odd that another person on this phone has the same issue though.

Tragedy

Your sim and the network are in constant contact via a control channel. The phone reads the ...I think it's called iccid? Of your sim and this is what is used to authenticate and set up the channel. If the phone is having periodic issues reading the iccid, as far as the network is concerned, your phone is turned off and calls will be routed to voicemail and SMS queued. My sim card is only a few weeks old and it's tested in other phones!

For anyone looking to return theirs, an post registered post international is only around €10 for a packet, so I'd recommend wrapping the phone box in brown paper, a layer of bubble wrap and returning it that way!

SubatomicKiwi

Tragedy wrote: »

Your sim and the network are in constant contact via a control channel. The phone reads the ...I think it's called iccid? Of your sim and this is what is used to authenticate and set up the channel. If the phone is having periodic issues reading the iccid, as far as the network is concerned, your phone is turned off and calls will be routed to voicemail and SMS queued. My sim card is only a few weeks old and it's tested in other phones!

For anyone looking to return theirs, an post registered post international is only around €10 for a packet, so I'd recommend wrapping the phone box in brown paper, a layer of bubble wrap and returning it that way!

hmm ok, seems odd then. Any idea what my issue could be haha?

Return postage is covered by amazon but I would assume they wont evryhting back (box etc.), anPost reg int. is 25 but it's not insured. Insured Parcel2Go is 40 something...

Tragedy

I think Amazon only cover up to the cost of what you paid for postage (thoroughly illegal but I can't be bothered trying to argue that in Italian!)

SubatomicKiwi

Tragedy wrote: »

I think Amazon only cover up to the cost of what you paid for postage (thoroughly illegal but I can't be bothered trying to argue that in Italian!)

I think Parcel2Go put it all as on one the invoice, I'll wait and see if the new one works before I think about shipping either of them back anyway.

droidman123

Did anyone get any paperwork with their parcel? Like an invoice or whatever

SubatomicKiwi

droidman123 wrote: »

Did anyone get any paperwork with their parcel? Like an invoice or whatever

Nope, it's all available on your account

droidman123

SubatomicKiwi wrote: »

Nope, it's all available on your account

Ahh ok thanks,i wasnt sure if there should of been physical paperwork with it.i have just opened mine,havnt had time to boot it up yet.