Zenfone 2 released in Thailand TODAY

[BuddhistVirus]

I hope the battery life is better on zen 2. Tired of carrying a powerbank for zenfone 5 whole day long after charging overnight.

[Somtamnication]

One negative for me is that the 3 buttons on the front are NOT lit.

[dddave]

I was told at Fortune today (Wed., June 17) that there will be an electronics show starting tomorrow at the Queen Sirikit Center and that there will be a large inventory of Zenphone-2, 4/64's available, B11,900

[SheungWan]

I hope the battery life is better on zen 2. Tired of carrying a powerbank for zenfone 5 whole day long after charging overnight.

That appears to be a significant dealbreaker, plus ASUS going in the direction of non-removable batteries.

[dddave]

Does anybody actually know what the thinking is behind the use of non-removable batteries by so many manufacturers? They must think they have a pretty good reason.

[casualbiker]

dddave.. Possibly to keep the phone as thin as possible, to ensure a better battery connection, to enable a waterproof coating....

[SheungWan]

Does anybody actually know what the thinking is behind the use of non-removable batteries by so many manufacturers? They must think they have a pretty good reason.

Like it or not, a significent part of the market sees fashionable design as important and Apple have paved the way with integrated battery. Add in the fact that most are only going to keep their current phone for 2 years max and the need for removable battery becomes something superfluous. There will still remain manufacturers going the separate route but ASUS does not appear to be one of them.

[lamyai3]

I think the best deal on these is the 4/32 version, sim free in the dtac stores for 9999 bt. As an aside I've noticed it's only the higher end of the range that have the nice brushed metal feel on the back, the 2gb versions I've seen have a similar plastic back to the zenfone 5.

[MaeJoMTB]

Just got the Alcatel One Touch Flash Plus for 4,700bht.

Octo core, 5.5" 2gb/16gb

Not sure there is much difference between any of the Phablets.

[casualbiker]

Just got the Alcatel One Touch Flash Plus for 4,700bht.

Octo core, 5.5" 2gb/16gb

Not sure there is much difference between any of the Phablets.

Main difference is the processor.. Generally there are three.. Mediatek (low cost, OK but not stunning) Qualcomm ( seems to have better all round integration and performance)

And finally Intel ( good performance and integration, some older apps have problems)

Out of the phones I've used I have found the Qualcomm processor phones to be the best but that could just be that the manufacturers weren't penny pinching!

[chuppachops]

bought the phone yesterday , 11900, pathetic battery life very disapointed.

[casualbiker]

bought the phone yesterday , 11900, pathetic battery life very disapointed.

If you only bought it yesterday the battery won't even be condition charged yet. Charge it up. Leave everything off. And see how long it lasts!

It should do at least 12hours of mixed usage

[dddave]

Friend also bought a Zenphone-2 last week at the Sirikit show 4/64, B11,500.

He got busy right away disabling whatever bloatware he couldn't delete...only kept a few of the basic apps as better apps in every category can be found on PlayStore.

Once he did that, his battery life improved greatly. So much of the bloatware runs constantly in the background and is forever updating and reporting home...even the battery monitor app leaks power...get rid of them!!

[lamyai3]

I'm surprised more people aren't buying these from the dtac shop, 6990 bt on contract or 9999 sim free for the 4/32 version.

Just looking at the 5" version before, actually that's a big improvement over the old zenfone 5, much better ergonomic design and more comfortable to use, plus a 20% improvement in battery, Android lollipop and also LTE. Same price as the zenfone 5 (5990 bt).

[MaeJoMTB]

bought the phone yesterday , 11900, pathetic battery life very disapointed.

My Alcatel battery life is 2 days out of the box.

3500maH Li-on battery to power the 8x core.

Nice bright screen too.

Well worth the 4700bht.

[casualbiker]

bought the phone yesterday , 11900, pathetic battery life very disapointed.

My Alcatel battery life is 2 days out of the box.

3500maH Li-on battery to power the 8x core.

Nice bright screen too.

Well worth the 4700bht.

Do you have WiFi or 3g on all the time. What is the average screen on time etc?

[MaeJoMTB]

bought the phone yesterday , 11900, pathetic battery life very disapointed.

My Alcatel battery life is 2 days out of the box.

3500maH Li-on battery to power the 8x core.

Nice bright screen too.

Well worth the 4700bht.

Do you have WiFi or 3g on all the time. What is the average screen on time etc?

Wifi, BT, 3G on all the time, whatsapp, line, gmail, facebook, google photo, dropbox, accuweather all running in the background all the time.

Only plays about 10hrs of continuous video before going flat.

Unplugged from charger at 5am this morning, 76% charge left.

Edited June 26, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[casualbiker]

I have a Lenovo K910L. 5,700b

This is today's usage

[Somtamnication]

I'm surprised more people aren't buying these from the dtac shop, 6990 bt on contract or 9999 sim free for the 4/32 version.

Just looking at the 5" version before, actually that's a big improvement over the old zenfone 5, much better ergonomic design and more comfortable to use, plus a 20% improvement in battery, Android lollipop and also LTE. Same price as the zenfone 5 (5990 bt).

Really? Their website has it for 9999 with and without contract. Can't find that page you mentioned. Got a link?

[casualbiker]

http://www.dtac.co.th/campaign/knockout-sale.html?utm_medium=fb_dtac_paid_link&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=knockout_sale

[NanLaew]

There's a few in the showcases at PowerBuy in Central Festival Pattaya; prices as mentioned earlier. Curiously enough, the only have them on display in the locked showcase and the usual counter top display area for ASUS phones is covered with the large brochures for the new phone. Seems like no hands-on allowed before you buy, not even a demo model.

Edited July 4, 2015 by NanLaew

[Somtamnication]

At Central Phuket, they had none anywhere. I looked yesterday. None at True, Telewiz or Banana.

[lamyai3]

The demo models I've seen in Bkk are in IT city, CSCI shop. Powerbuy isn't the place to get one of these, they're still selling the 2014 zenfone at elevated prices.

Edited July 4, 2015 by lamyai3

[dddave]

A friend purchased a Z2 4/64 at Powerbuy, Central World last Monday. B11,500

Only had red color but since most cases replace the back cover it wasn't an issue.

[NanLaew]

The demo models I've seen in Bkk are in IT city, CSCI shop. Powerbuy isn't the place to get one of these, they're still selling the 2014 zenfone at elevated prices.

PowerBuy at Central Festival Pattaya are just about the ONLY shop in town with the NEW Zenfone 2 in stock at NON-inflated prices.

I ended up buying the new Zenfone C at Banana IT instead and saved myself about 8 k baht. The 4.5" screen makes the phone easier to use than the 4" on the Zenfone 4 and it fits in the pocket a lot better than the more loaded 5.5" Zenfone 2. Looking at the fat brochure, they are bigging up 64-bit, quad-core cpu and 13 MP camera with the associated wizardry on the Zenfone 2. I don't need all that on a smart phone.

Banana IT also have good deals on 'expiring' Zenfone 4.5's.

[dddave]

The Zenphone-C is a great phone for the price. If you are not looking for a big screen "Phablet" and prefer a smaller size phone, it will do just about anything you could need.

Just 3 or 4 years ago, a 4.5" screen was considered huge.

[lamyai3]

Probably depends on which branch of powerbuy you go in then. In centralworld bkk all they had until recently was the 2014 models at full price (including the LTE Z5 at 7990 which is ridiculous when you consider the entry level 5" zenfone 2 can be had for 2000 baht less). Or also the very high spec padfone s, now 6990 down from 9990bt. Incidentally, IT City is also knocking out the original zenfone 4 for 1990bt now.

My original response was to try and point you in the direction of a shop that will allow you to actually demo one of these, as this seemed to be the point of your post? In this regard my best guess in pattaya would be the IT City tuk com branch.

[dddave]

Central Festival Mall has most of the larger chain mobile stores: Jaymart, TG Phone, ect on the tech level, I think the 3rd floor. My problem with TukCom is that every shop seems to sell the same stuff for the same price.

[Somtamnication]

I bought the 4/64 gig version yesterday. Been busy updating it. On leaving the shop, the lady told me to charge the battery for 8 hours straight with power off.

Here is a link to their updates. They seem to be very good at fixing software issues.

http://www.asus.com/zentalk/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=39

[dddave]

I bought the 4/64 gig version yesterday. Been busy updating it. On leaving the shop, the lady told me to charge the battery for 8 hours straight with power off.

Here is a link to their updates. They seem to be very good at fixing software issues.

http://www.asus.com/zentalk/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=39

Will be interesting to hear your impressions after a few weeks of use. Please do report back.

My friend who also bought the 4/64 version has been experiencing pocket calls to the last called number. He does not use a flip case or cover. He did say that if he was careful to put the screen facing out in his pocket, not against his leg, the inadvertent calls seemed to stop.