To Asus and all owners of a dead Zenfone 8

[leoncarrera]

By now is it clear the Asus Zenfone 8 has a weakness when it comes to its motherboard. Phones are dying in very comparable situations; after installing an update or patch and/ or when charging. The died phones show the same state: a sudden black screen, no response on buttons or screen, sometimes an orange fast blinking LED for about ten seconds when the charger is attached, after which also this stops blinking. Even the life duration of the phones are alike when this happens;  around two years.  Some people are lucky that it can be repaired under warranty, most aren't when warranty has just expired.

All of the phones which were repaired received a new motherboard. So also in here the fix seems comparable. Or at least not repairable with a soldering or partial replacement of other components. There is no wide variety of repairs to be found on ZenTalk on this. 

This issue goes beyond individual or even wrong use, a single faulty or unfortunate phone. All phones that died did this in comparable situations and after comparable life times. There is something wrong with the design or components of the Zenfone 8, or at least a batch, which can't be put on warranty alone when it comes to a repair. 

Asus, please take this matter and your clients serious. At least more then you have proven till this date. Asus can't just address this matter with the initial question if the phone is still under the warranty. Asus does know what the technical issues are with these phones, so please then also take your responsibility. Asus put this premium phone on the market at a premium price. This comes with an expected life duration that goes beyond a hard line of just 24 months. Warranty is for specific situations. These dying Zenfones are not specific. It is a general issue. So please handle it as such.

Can Asus confirm that they will keep addressing issues regarding these dying Zenfones as individual technical matters? And thus with warranty as strict and main component to define if Asus or customers are financially responsible for further action? And if so, what is their response to these resembling dying phones that Asus will keep holding onto this strict warranty duration when it is clear customers can't be held responsible for their broken Zenfones, since they die during normal use or especially after installing new and updated Asus firmware?

To all users of a died Zenfone 8: please add your phone to this thread, when it died (lifetime) and on which occurence. 

Kind regards,
León

[ajp1]

Purchased a Zenfone 8 in Taiwan 03/06/2022. Died 12/08/2024.  Battery was at 100%, I was on google maps, and opened Taobao when it suddenly did a screen blinky blinky and went completely black.  After seeing this thread, I am mad as hell.  Please add me to any Class Action Lawsuit.  

I read though 15 pages and skipped to the last, hoping for an update.  I can say that in Taiwanese culture, they will NEVER admit any wrongdoing, as that would cause them to "lose face," which is a BFD here.  You can even sue someone for accusing you of whatever in a public place.   For them to do anything, it will take a lawsuit, and then there will be someone in the chain of command that will need to resign in shame.

[leoncarrera]

Thank you for your insight. From your message I assume you're replying from Taiwan.  And thus know what you're talking about first hand. Your remarks are what I wondered about since the issues arised. Because the 'local' point of view of ASUS might be of a bigger influence on their commitment to or even owning the issue of the dying phones. Or whatever other problems they experience with their products. From all over the world we might think of it what we want, ASUS will react (deny or silence the issue) the way it can and will within their possibilities it has based on their location. Especially when it seems they place this higher in rank then customer service. Dodging the issue can't be anything else than a well weighted and calculated decision.

[ajp1]

I went to ASUS HQ in Taipei.  They acknowledged that there are issues with the motherboard; sometimes the CPU, sometimes another defect.  They said they do not repair motherboards, only replace them at a cost of around $350-400usd, which is more than a new zenfone 8.

The man was apologetic, and seemed embarrassed to have to deal with such an obvious faux pas on ASUS' behalf. He advised me to try and get it repaired at a local place, and mentioned that they do better work over there (better than ASUS factory).

He was just a working stiff, and mandated to tow the rules from above. The answers seemed like he had repeated them many times.  

[leoncarrera]

Thanks. It's shameful enough ASUS is aware of it, but still charges for repair. It would be more embarrassing when they didn't knew. And thus and as mentioned many times before, it is their calculated response to this faulty product. That shows how ASUS does not cares about after sales support or when customers walk away after having experienced such a disappointment. So our only answer is indeed to walk. Not only from the Zenfone, but ASUS as a whole, since they are okay with this. Probably to them this will just blow over when the Zenfone is discontinued completely and with the ZF8 being a 2022 phone and not being updated and with a purposely indefinite locked bootloader, this won't take long anymore. 

I'll keep a bad taste off this all. My current laptop is also an ASUS and it needs to be replaced. Although I'm very happy with it and it served me well for much longer then it expected technical lifetime, I still won't buy an ASUS again. Just to justify this for myself. ASUS won't bother.

[nasch007]

Agreed 100%. My Zenfone 8 now is starting to not pickup Wi-Fi randomly. Not just disconnected from my home network, but the settings page doesn't show any other Wi-Fi networks from any neighbors until I reboot the phone. What a piece of crap.

We all need to walk away from ASUS. Put our money where our mouth is. It's been months and years and nothing has changed. They still refuse to admit culpability or issue a genuine response. "Sorry for the inconvenience" no you're not. You're clearly not. An inconvenience is traffic on your way to work or the printer running out of toner. Having your $700 smartphone that is your main connection to the world, including your passwords, photos, accounts, etc. stop working through absolutely no fault of your own -- that's a goddamn nightmare. And a fraud. And a robbery. Because ASUS KNOWS by now of the issue, and ironically THEY don't want to be INCONVENIENCED by issuing a recall and making it right.

I just upgraded my system to Ryzen 9600x. Needed new CPU, RAM, and motherboard. Guess which brand I bought -- it sure as HELL wasn't ASUS!!!