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

[axe]

@Falcon_ASUS 's message to me:
Based on the serial number information, your phone is now out of warranty (warranty expired on 2023-06-19).
As it has been beyond the warranty period, the service center may provide you with a cost estimate for parts replacement.
The following is the contact information:
https://www.asus.com/support/service-center-location
Sorry for any inconvenience it may be caused.

As recommended, I brought my Zenfone 8 to the Asus Royal Club Guanghua in Taipei and left it there for them to diagnose. A week later, someone called and quoted 10,800 NT ~ $332.66 USD to repair it. I brought up that the device died completely after only 2.5 years of usage and asked if there was anything they could do about repairing it despite being out of warranty. The person I spoke with was apologetic but couldn't help. I can either leave it for Asus to recycle or pick it up, paying a 300 NT ~ $9.24 USD diagnostic fee.

This is the first phone I've owned that has ever died on me completely. I have phones that still work after 8+ years of ownership, one of which served as a backup during this time.

I have already purchased and started using a Zenfone 10. If it dies prematurely like the Zenfone 8, I'll be done with using Asus devices.

[Vidora]

Since it happened that the motherboard of my Asus Zenfone 8 died just two hours after replacing the battery (at the Asus service center , paid) I managed to get a free replacement of the motherboard. However, I had to contact the company through a consumer ombudsman, because initially they didn't want to repair it at their own expense. After exchanging many emails, I received information that Asus categorically refuses to repair it. Only the help of a lawyer helped. Now my phone is OK again.

[Ula__]

My Zenfone 8 just died this evening (2 hours ago), I was watching youtube on it while it was plugged in (the battery's cappacity was shrunk a lot so I had to recharge it very often). The screen suddenly turned black as well as the charging LED.

I bought it at launch in France (may 2021) through the official store, so it was about 3 and 1/2 years old.

It's a shame, I liked it a lot but this kind of flaw is unacceptable, especially for a 600€ smartphone. I'm done with Asus and will go back to ~300€ smartphones.

Btw is this issue reoccuring on their other smartphones? (newer versions of zenfones, the zenfones flip and the rog phones) That would be so lame.

[Falcon_ASUS]

@Ula__ 
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please check the top right corner and kindly share the serial number and details requested in the PM inbox.
Thank you.