[2022] Long-term experience/review of the ZenFone 7/7 Pro?

[ChristianHamilt]

Hi
 
The ZenFone 7/7 Pro has now been out for more than a year, and I'm considering buying it. How has your experience been so far? How is the hardware holding up after (approximately) one year of use?
 
Please share your long-term experience of the device. I’d be great if you note how long you’ve owned it, and if you’ve encountered any problems/surprises etc.
 
This will be interesting for both current and potential ZenFone 7/7 Pro owners 🙂
 
Looking forward to reading your replies!

[edddd]

ChristianHamilton

https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/202712#Comment_202712

Wow, what a great summary! May I ask why you decided to RMA your previously 3 ZenFone 7 Pros? Has your current device had any severe hardware issues?

View post

My previous device was Lenovo P2 and it got like 3 updates and that was it, but everything was working nearly flawlessly, apart from it being very slow and having terribad camera. It had like 3 LTE bands.
Now, with the Zenfone in my hands, light years apart in terms of specs, I really started testing all the shiny new features and quickly found things that looked like issues, but were just a reality of cutting edge technology. I had simply no idea, so I reported them and every support rep advised to send it in.
First was irregular green when brightness is below 50% at 90Hz. All Zenfones have it, because 4 of them that I had have it as well. I thought my screen was defective at first...
Then, the auto brightness was acting up. I had to re-enable it from time to time.
Then, there were vertical interference/noise stripes in 64 MP RAW shots on high ISO in dark conditions. I thought it was defect. Later I learned that rolling shutters are a thing and it somehow does make sense: pixels are so tiny, they can absorb interference from the phone itself as it processes data from the rolling shutter.
Now I know that those are non-issues, as all 4 behaved the same. I feel like the latest update has also made the phone more stable in terms of random bugs, but time will tell. All in all I wish those issues were documented so I would not waste my time with useless RMA and so I know for sure the phones are not defective. I must say I am impressed how repeatable the "issues" are, hardware is built really well.
The real issue now not counting bugs introduced by updates (fixed and not fixed) is VoLTE.

[ChristianHamilt]

edddd

https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/202774#Comment_202774

My previous device was Lenovo P2 and it got like 3 updates and that was it, but everything was working nearly flawlessly, apart from it being very slow and having terribad camera. It had like 3 LTE bands.

Now, with the Zenfone in my hands, light years apart in terms of specs, I really started testing all the shiny new features and quickly found things that looked like issues, but were just a reality of cutting edge technology. I had simply no idea, so I reported them and every support rep advised to send it in.

First was irregular green when brightness is below 50% at 90Hz. All Zenfones have it, because 4 of them that I had have it as well. I thought my screen was defective at first...

Then, the auto brightness was acting up. I had to re-enable it from time to time.

Then, there were vertical interference/noise stripes in 64 MP RAW shots on high ISO in dark conditions. I thought it was defect. Later I learned that rolling shutters are a thing and it somehow does make sense: pixels are so tiny, they can absorb interference from the phone itself as it processes data from the rolling shutter.

Now I know that those are non-issues, as all 4 behaved the same. I feel like the latest update has also made the phone more stable in terms of random bugs, but time will tell. All in all I wish those issues were documented so I would not waste my time with useless RMA and so I know for sure the phones are not defective. I must say I am impressed how repeatable the "issues" are, hardware is built really well.

The real issue now not counting bugs introduced by updates (fixed and not fixed) is VoLTE.

View post

I get where you’re coming from: When buying a new device, you really want to make sure that it’s functioning properly. Regarding the irregular green when brightness is below 50%, is this also noticeable when running at 60hz? And since you’ve had 4 different devices, did this ‘phenomenon’ differ in intensity between them? I’ve seen a few Nintendo Switch OLEDs (which runs at 60hz), all with some degree of green tint at low brightness on grey backgrounds, but there seemed to be quite a big difference in how prevalent it was (panel lottery, I assume). I wonder how much variation there is between ZenFone 7 devices. 

[edddd]

ChristianHamilton

https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/202821#Comment_202821

I get where you’re coming from: When buying a new device, you really want to make sure that it’s functioning properly. Regarding the irregular green when brightness is below 50%, is this also noticeable when running at 60hz? And since you’ve had 4 different devices, did this ‘phenomenon’ differ in intensity between them? I’ve seen a few Nintendo Switch OLEDs (which runs at 60hz), all with some degree of green tint at low brightness on grey backgrounds, but there seemed to be quite a big difference in how prevalent it was (panel lottery, I assume). I wonder how much variation there is between ZenFone 7 devices. 

View post

No, 90 Hz only. I am also not sure what people mean by "green tint", but I assume it is the same issue. I noticed a suboptimal green uniformity at 90 Hz below 50% brightness, but I did not compare colors 90 vs 60 Hz. The panel simply operates differently and I think it is not really rated for 90 Hz or that low brightness, or they decided that it's not that noticeable and went for it anyway on ASUS or Samsung side. From what I observed across 4 devices, I could not tell the difference at all with my eye, so technically they could implement a screen filter in the GPU for all phones. But, I don't know if it's temperature related. I think it's just how OLEDs operate - they are not perfect at this pixel density.
I checked my old phone and there it has bad uniformity for white instead of green and it's now really noticeable but I did not care until I got the ZF... In terms of modern manufacturing, I would say there is barely any lottery anymore as testing processes and binning can be quite advanced for big manufacturing these days. You either get a broken dud or a device built to spec.

[miguelsmatos]

It's a great phone, but it's not well supported and it really feels like it was developed by an understaffed team working only part-time. It's really not worth it.
After the whole volume call fiasco, the glass on the cameras shattered after me being outside on a cold day (-20C) -- no it didn't fall. Quote for repair was +160 EUR (and btw, Asus USA denied the repair because "I'd have to go back to where I got the phone"); and guess what? The parts are out of stock! So here you have it, a manufacturing defect that is not covered under warranty, and even if you're willing to pay you have to wait +2 months.
ASUS phones stem from great ideas, but have really poor execution. I'd not recommend it to anyone.

[Karen_ASUS]

Dear @miguelsmatos,
Could you provide us with your RMA number and product serial number through direct message? I have sent an direct message to you. Please click the icon "✉" on the top right of the website to check your mail box. Thank you.