Giving up on my Zenfone 9

[darklajid]

I know this isn't the best place to share this, but maybe someone is browsing this board not as a fan and owner, but as a prospective buyer. For these people I want to share the following:
The Zenfone 9 has an amazing form factor, great battery life and a mostly uncluttered (free of bloat) version of Android.
Unfortunately, it's also very very slow (my old Pixel 4A is smoother and we had 5, 6 and now 7 in that series since). The Zenfone 9 stutters, randomly hangs a lot. The second SIM tray never worked okay (I created a thread on this board for this, another user reported the same issue. No follow-up or solution, thread is closed due to inactivity). GPay doesn't work properly for me in some scenarios (and no, it's not my account or card or whatever). Asus did follow up here, but it lead nowhere in the end.
So the phone cannot do the daily tasks I need it for (use my second SIM and/or pay for public transport) and feels more sluggish than a device that is quite a few years older. I'll switch back and just got a screen replacement for the 4A instead.
People that are on the fence about getting this phone: I suggest a hands-on session first. It might be a great device for you or it might not be a good fit - like for me.

[Danishblunt]

martinparker28

https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/232260#Comment_232260

1. Very poor WiFi and/or mobile network connectivity
2. Random restarts when phone not in use
3. Calls randomly disconnecting during phone calls
4. Phone unlocks in pocket
5. Proximity sensor not working (screen stays on when making calls)

To name but a few, what I will say is the phone is perfect size (in my opinion), fantastic build quality, very decent camera, and ,as you say extremely quick, let's hope software updates fix these issues.

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Sounds to me factory reset might be in order

[martinparker28]

Danishblunt

https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/232266#Comment_232266

Sounds to me factory reset might be in order

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If the previous 2 factory resets didn't work I can't see another working....

[ArjanB]

If it helps, my phone is the 16gb version and has absolutely 0 issues.

[iamthegr1n]

0 issues here (well maybe the slight over-sharpening in camera)
Sounds like you have a faulty device.

[krusemark]

Love the form factor of this phone, battery seems strong, camera could be better but not terrible.

My concern in throughput on a cell signal. I though it felt a little sluggish, so I compared it to my sons's Pixel 7, same location/time/sim card.

While both on band 2, the Pixel would pull 228 down and 17 up, the Zen9 did 70 down and 6 up.
While on band 66, Pixel did 335 downs and 20 up, Zen9 did 103 down and 14 up.

Rebooted each and repeated, about the same, would not have expected such a difference!