Asus Zenfone 5 A500CG (2014) - user opinions and reviews
- apocalyps
- thcC
jas, 11 Aug 2014Hey..I m thinking to buy this zenfone....is it a good phone to buy???????? Please commentbest ever
- Mikkan
- sSSJ
Unlike other phones,when you connect the phone ,the internal drive and SD card gets mounted over MTP ? - not the hard disks.
So was wondering how do you take care of fragmentation in these disks.In other phones,you can always treat like a disk and make altypes of thing- Like formatting and for rooted users,- creating EXT3 partitions for mounting etc...
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
jas, 11 Aug 2014Hey..I m thinking to buy this zenfone....is it a good phone to buy????????
Please commentThat depends on what your requirements are.
If you go through the opinions you can see the good and the bad parts of this phone.
The bad ones listed were lousy battery life for some (although countered by many others) - so it depends on how you use it - then again, you can always get another external battery
The annoyingly non-illuminated sensor buttons under the screen... nothing you can do about it
Facebook not working - fixed by firmware update
Notification light not working - fixed in last firmware update, but still needs Motorola LED widget to turn it on/off, having no setting for it in device settings
Heating of CPU under heavy load - it's Atom afterall, not ARM; I can confirm that it does get warm occasionally, but nothing to complain about at least in my case
Only 8 GB ROM - that can be expanded by up to 64 GB microSD card, or get 16 GB version
Quiet speaker - that was fixed in the last firmware, it is now a LOT louder
Some applications not running - yet to see one like that, so far it took everything I threw at it
Lousy camera - it is truly awful for video at 720p (if you enable image stabilisation), but 1080p videos, and the pictures are actually better than expected. One of my previous posts has link to photos taken with this phone.
Lousy signal - I could say that this is not true, its signal is better than 2 of my other phones
Slow downloads - We have already tested this phone to be able to download both from Wifi and 3G at the speed the network allows, so that could not be phone's fault
Non-removable battery... well you could remove it but you'll void warranty and take whole phone apart...
The good parts:
2 GB of RAM makes it future-proof and performs better in multitasking
SD card allows installation of apps as well as being used for photos, videos and music
It's simple to connect to computer - plugging USB cable in shows phone's internal and SD card memory as 2 external hard disks
Better than expected camera for this price range, works well in good light
Sleek, light, with removable back plate, that can be replaced for any other colour, or an active flip case (which some replace back plate as well)
HD IPS screen that's not too bad under direct sunlight, and can have the colours set through Splendid app, from monochrome via standard to way oversaturated
Some awesome camera shooting modes
Good call quality, reasonable front cam for video calls, now OK speaker for speakerphone calls (it still distorts the ringing tone badly, though)
Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 over the screen for scratch resistance, although I'd still recommend you to use a screen protector over it
Dual SIM, but when you're in call on one SIM, the other SIM is busy
That's the summary. Is this good enough for you? Only you would know.
If there's a shop that has a model on display, I'd go and check it out, then decide based on that.
It is certainly not in the same class as top offerings from Sony, Samsung, LG or Oppo. It is a budget phone, a compromise to cut the cost by 3/4 from the previous PadFone offerings, likely originally intended for Windows Mobile, then loaded with Android.
While current Android 4.3 is not optimised for Atom CPU, it's still very decently holding up to ARM counterparts, but KitKat upgrade (planned) should improve performance and manage power/heat a lot better.
Hope this is of any use.
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
moji1990, 11 Aug 2014I can't upgrade to 4.4 kitkat !!!! Pls help me ...KitKat upgrade is not yet ready.
When Asus releases one for your phone, it will automatically be sent to you over the air.
Alternatively, you can check Asus support site for the ZenFone 5 periodically, to check if any update has been posted there under "Other" or "Android" section.
If you download firmware from Asus, be very careful which version you download; WW, CN, TW,... as loading wrong version may brick your phone.
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
Goldy, 11 Aug 2014CAn anybody tell that whether it is possible to view & edit excel or MS word document with... moreYes it is, provided you install an office app, which is free. I use WPS office, which is free. There are other office packs out there, many free, some cost a little bit.
I can't remember if WPS office came preinstalled, since I've had a few Android phones before and the moment I put my gmail account information in, the phone started downloading all the crap I've installed previously...
But to your question - yes, you can. Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Works reasonably well. But you may need a fonts pack to add to default fonts on Android, to do it properly.
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
Abhishek Ganeriwal, 11 Aug 2014Hello Friends,
i have just bought Zenphone 5 last week on 27th, its just been 2 week and i ... moreNot really fair to blame Asus for giving wrong information when it's so easy to check from Corning's own website:
http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/products-with-gorilla/asus-computer/ASUS-ZenFone-5
Yes, it is Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The reason why it might be so expensive is that the glass is likely glued to the screen and both need to be changed (like in iPhone, for example).
Obviously it's more expensive buying phone in parts than the whole thing.
I would recommend you get a silicon case or some kind of a bumper for it if you're of a clumsy kind like me.
Ebay is full of them. And actually... that active flap case with circular hole is awesome :)
- Kaka
- t7uA
Abhishek Ganeriwal, 11 Aug 2014Hello Friends, i have just bought Zenphone 5 last week on 27th, its just been 2 week and i ... moreDo u have any proof sir? i already bought this phone.. but i need any proof from you. as far as i know Gorilla glass is 100% protected from glass not for the impact.
- anan
- uuCE
Hey guys I just bought zenfone 5 I 've been using it for two days. Everything seems fine with money value of ten thousands rupees. I went through lot of reviews before order it. Most commonly said were battery draining very fast and another was low volume audio speaker.
I was shocked with low volume audio output in my device. It is very very low audible sound. Battery part my device gives decent performance. If you are heavy user it stands for five hours. Normal user it stands for 12hours. If anyone has low audio sound problem fixed please let me know.
- Abhishek Ganeriwal
- tUHF
Hello Friends,
i have just bought Zenphone 5 last week on 27th, its just been 2 week and i have got a big Heart attach, i have dropped my phone just from 10" height and see what my whole screen shattered, i dont believe it, Gorilla Claims that there new Glass is Way tougher then the OLD how is that possible, as gorilla i have used 1 and 2 glass phone never had to face this but this is completely unacceptable I guess maybe Asus is giving Wrong Information or there using Cheep Glass to Fool other consumers i just dont believe that....
and when i went for replacement for new 1 service center said that it will cost me atlist 7000rs to Get it changed i dont believe it....
if just the screen cost 7000 so how the whole made of, just with 100 or 200 rs... damn so surprised, i think i am going to regret with this... and i am doing right now!....
- jas
- KAef
Hey..I m thinking to buy this zenfone....is it a good phone to buy????????
Please comment
- fendi
- tZ4n
ajujose, 11 Aug 2014Hey,Guys I have brought Asus zenfone 6 from flipkart couple of days back.It's an Amazing phone... moreYou need to press code *#*#4636#*#* and select phone information. You need to find WCDMA PREFERRED.There have option WCDMA ONLY and select this. Hope this help yourself.
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
vkugkp, 11 Aug 2014Wat about camera quality??
Is It equal to samsung galaxy 5mp phones??Camera is a very decent 8 megapixel snapper with some really nice shooting modes, like panorama (stitches photos well, although it does not consistently focus or measure exposure), miniature effect (alas with oversaturated colours), HDR (slightly oversaturated but pleasing to the eyes), beautifications (girls will loooooveeee it), background objects removal (works quite well), selfie mode (works excellent if you don't have strong backlight - it needs to be able to detect faces), time rewind (starts taking photos before you press button, so you can rewind to something that happened before you pressed the button), a reasonable auto mode, and a low light mode, which is… not very impressive.
So - the camera is far better than you would expect for the price of the phone.
I've earlier loaded some sample photos to this folder: mega-networks.asia/ZenCam
The end of the name shows which mode it was taken in:
- nothing: auto mode
- PN: panorama
- DF: depth of field (fake blurring of background)
- HDR: well, HDR
- MT: miniature
- LL: low light mode
Note - last photo is taken with front-cam (minidisc players). The rest are taken with the back cam.
- ss
- uv7N
maestrosan11, 11 Aug 2014Guys what do u'll think of android l update for zenfone 5? I mean kitkat and previous versions... morevery agreed just me too was thinking that delays of kitkat due to possible bettery issue maybe z5 seen upgrade too android L direct.
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
kishore, 11 Aug 2014how to make video call from asus zenphone 5....if any one knows plz let me know the process...... moreUse Skype, Line, other IM programs with video call capabilities. The ZenFone does not support cellular-enabled 3G video calls.
Not like anyone actually uses them.
So get yourself a free Skype account, ask the other party to do the same, add each other in contacts list and click Video Call. It works both over wifi and cellular.
- Tomazz
- 2xxk
Anonymous, 10 Aug 2014Does it support very high quality videos
It supports 1080p videos, but whether they are high enough quality for you or not, I cannot tell. If you want very high quality videos, buy Samsung Galaxy S5, Oppo Find 7 or Sony XPeria Z2.
Obviously, they all cost 4-5x more than Zenfone 5.
- sonali
- utxR
I want to buy ASUS zenfone 5..Iam a camera freak and love to take pictures..little bit game and surfing..is this phone good as i heard about the battery issues and poor sound quality ..how much big in size the phone is as i got quite tiny palms.. please suggest me any other phone if not zenfone as my budget is 10k..and what about the after sales service of ASUS.
- Goldy
- v{W9
CAn anybody tell that whether it is possible to view & edit excel or MS word document with Asus Zedfone ?
- ravi
- fCx7
RAJ, 10 Aug 2014Hi , I bought zenfone 5 few days ago ....everything is k , but I can't connect mobile internet... moreU have to take an internet setting from your sim company then u can enjoy net.
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