Same deal as this one, but $16 cheaper, https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/191228.
Bought my Tab S 8.4 from them, delivered quickly, no issue at all.
Free shipping for now until 3/5/15.
$10 off with code, thanks to KMeister.
One thing I found moving from Sammy to Sony Xperia was a real lack of third party items I liked such as cases, battery and ROMs (which may or may not matter to you - also Sony stock Android is quite nice which made that easier to lump) - just something to consider. I would buy a G3 for that reason but you might want to consider how good ROM support was for the other Zenphone model(s) and so on.
No please don't recommend the G3, the screen is too powerful for the phone and you get lag and stuttering as soon as you take it out of the box. :(
It's the SoC, LG chose to use 801 with QHD screen. I've heard that Snapdragon 805 version is better than 801 version in terms of performance.
That's unfortunate, I actually had no idea that the G3 came in two variants. Either way I'm still going to steer clear from recommending it after owning one for only 2 weeks.
@DarkRyoushii: It's really shame, because if LG made it with FHD screen, I think G3 would've been amazing. They wanted to boast the screen so much that they used sharpening filter too much (you can "fix" it). I've seen some reviews where they've pointed out that screen gets heated as well, which is unfortunate. I don't know, I think if I were to recommend a LG phone, G2 Pro and G2 looks amazing for its price.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/How-to-easily-fix-the-LG-G3-Q…
No black?
I would buy it if I didn't check the camera quality.
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6917&i…
camera quality is just awful…..
You sure?
http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_2_series_handson-review…
"The colors and contrast seems very good, as does the dynamic range, but the resolved detail could have been better. Of course, we have yet to further test the camera across our regular locations."
Looks like your standard mediocre smartphone stuff anyway.
it's not awful at all, but LOL @ what some people expect for the price..
oh yeah this is much better than what I found.
thanks for the samples.
agreed, i got one for my dad, camera side even worse than my nexus5
Are you expecting something other than a smartphone camera?
No, we are expecting DSLR quality /s
To be fair, the camera in the iphone has been pretty good since the 4. Same with a few other phones - some of the Nokia Lumina cameras are amazing, for example.
I've been reading it's a vast improvement over the nexus 5 camera. Interesting, I wonder if there's a difference between 4gb and 2gb models.
I compared it to similar phones and the quality is amazing?
Compare it to Xperia z2, a phone known in part because of it's 20mp camera.
http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_2_ze551ml-review-1240p1…
This is review by gsmarena, their review unit have 2GB RAM, this one have 4GB RAM, so, maybe performance will be slightly better. Not sure how it compare against LG G3.
Best price i have ever seen for this model, but will consider about warranty condition. Might get many hassles when sh!t happens :(
No 4G 700mhz band…
I think the Taiwan version supports the 700Mhz 4G network (for those interested), this one doesnt.
Yeah, Chinese/ww version. Only good for Vodafone users. Optus and Telstra users want the TW version. If you're tenptes jump on here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2355914&p…
And take advantage of the hard works the nerds of done. Thanks nerds!
Is it a reliable shop?
$10 off with code:wb10
Camera is definetely from old ages looking at the reviews. Hopefully, though, it will bring prices lower on other competitors.
Looks like a good deal for people on a budget who want a good phone with all the bells and whistles. Anyone know if this will work on the Boost Network frequencies?
Get the Taiwanese version, it's better for users in Australia. (This deal is the Chinese/HK version)
From whirlpool forum:
There is so much confusion around LTE bands for this device. I'm going to once again write up what version works best for each network. Hopefully in future we can refer to this post instead of repeating the same information.
Optus:
Optus uses bands 1, 3, 7, 28 and 40:
Band 3 is the main band that originally brought 4G LTE to Australia.
Band 28 is the next most important band, it is used to provide LTE indoors and for wider coverage across the country.
Band 7 is mostly used in regional centres.
Band 40 is mainly used in Canberra.
Band 1 is used in Tasmania and Northern Territory.
Telstra:
Telstra uses bands 3 and 28.
Band 3 is used for Telstra's original 4G network
Band 28 is the new network that brings expanded coverage and faster speeds and is advertised as '4GX'
Telstra also uses bands 1 and 8 in a handful of sites but they are omitted here for simplicity
Vodafone:
Vodafone: uses bands 3 and 5.
Band 3 is the original 4G network
Band 5 is used to expand 4G coverage and provide faster speeds
Asus Zenfone 2 supports the following bands:
Taiwan (TW) version supports bands: 1, 3, 5, 28
Worldwide (WW) version supports: 1, 3, 5, 7
US (US) version supports: 1, 3, 5, 7
China/India (CN/IN) version supports: 1, 3, 40
I have omitted mention of bands that are not used in Australia
tl;dr:
All versions of the Zenfone 2 will get some kind of 4G in Australia.
For most Optus and Telstra users, the best version to get is the TW version.
Either TW or WW or US version will work well for Vodafone users.
Hey Stargalaxy thanks for list. I notice you havn't included the Mhz numbers (like 700 900 2600 etc). Aren't they relative, like should an Optus user have band 28 with 700Mhz, or isnt the 700Mhz important for the superior 4G reception. Thanks
If the specs are so good then how come these phones are
a) So cheap
b) Not popular
a) Most big brand smartphones are too overpriced, did you know an iPhone's cost is around $200? (not including advertising expenses)
b) It's only officially launched in limited markets (Taiwan, India, China etc… US soon), did you know Zenfones are super popular in home country Taiwan?
Asus is popular of course in Taiwan, China and India. But still even in those 3 countries iPhones which are 4 times more expesive still sells 4x more :D
Even if Foxconn making iPhone 6 just changes the logo and brand name on back and charges $300, sheeps here wont buy it. Even few OzBargainers wont asking Foxconn, who , what
Ah makes sense, I thought it was launched in Australia.
I understand the rest (OPO user)
Because 90% of sheeps here in OZ dont even know about Asus Brand. I have a Zenfone 6 and blondes ask me what is that big phone , Asus what ?
Get that heaps too with the OPO.
OnePlus… I've never heard of that Samsung
Bugs me to no end but hey 3 years ago people would have said that's a nice iPhone
Thats exactly it.
It was only a few years ago many were asking what sort of iphone that SG1 was.
Now its at the point where its either and Apple or Samsung.
Hopefully in the next couple of years will be 'what model of phone do you have?'
I went through it with almost every phone I ever had: iPhone 3G, SGS2, Nexus 5 and now OPO…!
I think this phone is good enough for a lot of peoples except for those that wants the very best like Samsung S6, HTC M9 or Iphone 6 (a lot of peoples will not agree with some of the examples given as best phones), but those phones cost at least double or triple the price of this phone. It is not popular because a lot of people are reluctant to buy phones outside samsung, apple, htc, LG and Sony especially in the western world.
Because of marketing. ASUS has no presence here when it comes to smartphones.
The average person will know next to nothing about ASUS making Zenfones if they didn't browse Ozbargain or read tech websites. They might know about ASUS laptops and ASUS Nexus tablets, but that's about it.
That's the funny thing, I thought ASUS had a huge presence when it came to technology in general.
Just adding on, Intel chips are subsidised.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/intel-to-hit-40-million-mobile-…
The last Galaxy S5 promotion on ozbargain was $369, so this phone is at a similar price point.
No word on the talk time, but end of the day it is not that amazing. Id choose a smaller phone & better camera over a faster cpu/ram.
The $369 one is missing quite a few important frequencies as well, so you sort of have to consider that.
Thank you OP, bought one for mother's day! Been watching this phone in Ebay.
For next year mothers day? Highly doubt you will get it in time.
Any multiscreen functionality?
If you only need 2GB/16GB ITS $279 here delivered Vietnamese model http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-ASUS-ZenFone-2-ZE550ML-4G-LTE… I have a zenfone 5 but not sure if i will risk again because i had mine in leather case and dropped it and screen shattered but my Huawei g526 had been dropped many times and never breaks.
ZE550ml is not FHD though and the processor also is different.
You might want to consider the Taiwan 2GB or 4GB models, available for $359 and ~$460 on ebay. Both have support for band 28 (700mhz), and the 4GB model also comes with a faster processor - Z3580.
I think the 2.3 ghz 4gb version will be better value
Cancel Sony Xperia Z2 order and get this?
For the Xperia z2 for $339, still waiting on it though.. ETA over 2 weeks from now still.
Just from reading around it seems the 4gb version should be a 2.3Ghz CPU. Is this correct?
No, there have both 1.8Ghz CPU and 2.3Ghz CPU with 4GB RAM, the processor is better on the 2.3GHZ, using Intel Z3580 while the 1.8Ghz is using Intel Z3560.
Yeah you're right, I found more details on the Whirlpool thread.
I guess this would be a bad buy for a Optus user?
Hi all,
Can anyone confirm if the ZE550ML and ZE551ML work with Telechoice ?
I have no use for dual sim, just considering the ram upgrade.
Cheer's !
http://prepaidplans.com.au/2014/07/telechoice-byo-mobile-pla…
Based on this, telechoice is using Telstra 3G network, so this phone will work for telechoice. The short-comings of this phone for worldwide edition is that it lacked the 700GHz 4G network which is the new 4G network launched by Optus and Telstra for faster 4G speeds compare to the Taiwanese version, it will still work on the old 4G network used by all the telco under the 1800 GHz 4G band.
Im in the market for a new phone, coming from an S4.. Not interested in S6 etc..
Whats this things like? Anybody have one? Does it compare favourably to an LG G3?