Asus ZenFone 2 With 4 GB Of RAM Launches In The U.S. For $300

[Guest]

Asus announced the ZenFone 2 for the U.S. market.

Asus ZenFone 2 With 4 GB Of RAM Launches In The U.S. For $300 : Read more

 

[dstarr3]

Sounds tempting, but it's so hard not to go with mainstream brands when my carrier keeps giving them away for free.

 

[razor512]

Is there a micro SD card slot, and is the battery user replaceable? If yes to both then that will probably be my next phone.

 

[HideOut]

does it have a micro SD? Thats whats important here.

 

[markusmcnugen]

Is there a micro SD card slot, and is the battery user replaceable? If yes to both then that will probably be my next phone.

does it have a micro SD? Thats whats important here.

"despite having a removable back panel, the battery is non-removable."

"You get 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB versions in terms of on-board storage depending on which version you get, further expandable via microSD card up to 64 GB."

 

[razor512]

Well that sucks. Non removable battery is a deal breaker for me. I like having multiple batteries and external chargers that way if I forget to charge the battery, or need to head out, and need a full charge on a very short notice. I can just swap the batteries out in a few seconds with one that was on the charger.

easy to replace batteries also have many cheap but good replacements, and best of all, since batteries are a consumable that has a limited number of charge cycles before they fail, as well as lose capacity with each charge cycle you put on the battery, a, easy to replace battery, makes it simple to replace batteries that no longer hold much of a charge.

This is especially useful if you are the type of user that does not upgrade to a new smartphone every year.

 

[Mike Coberly]

Is there a micro SD card slot, and is the battery user replaceable? If yes to both then that will probably be my next phone.

It does have a micro-SD slot (up to 64GB, no support for 128GB) but does not have a removable battery.
No sale for me, these are basic features they are removing for the sake of forcing us to pay more later; if we could upgrade our phones, we'd be less likely to buy new ones.

 

[4745454b]

Batteries are tied to phones. I've moved onto external packs. Clunkier yes, but at least as I change phones I'm not stuck with old batteries that won't work on my new phone. SD card support isn't an issue either if the phone supports USB OTG. Just pop your cable in and attach your thumb drive and you had more space?

This has nearly identical specs to my Oneplus One. I'm not sure about the CPU as I don't know how the Atom stacks up against the ARM ones. For a savings of $50, I'd probably try it if I was looking for a phone.

when my carrier keeps giving them away for free.

If only they would. Instead they force you to use their service at an extra $50+ a month and over your 2yr contract you'll pay an extra $1,200. Even buying an off contract GS6 or One M9 would only cost you $600-800. To me it's like they just over charge you.

 

[ohenry]

Is there a micro SD card slot, and is the battery user replaceable? If yes to both then that will probably be my next phone.

yes microsd up to 64gb but no, battery is not replaceable/

 

[jasonelmore]

Is there a micro SD card slot, and is the battery user replaceable? If yes to both then that will probably be my next phone.

It does have a micro-SD slot (up to 64GB, no support for 128GB) but does not have a removable battery.
No sale for me, these are basic features they are removing for the sake of forcing us to pay more later; if we could upgrade our phones, we'd be less likely to buy new ones.

are you seriously complaining about a $200 smartphone with these benchmark speeds? its easy to overlook "removable battery" when it's only $200 OFF CONTRACT. and it has the same GPU as a iphone 6, and it's CPU is no slouch.. The cpu is amazing in this thing. Look at the battery life on that 14nm process.

 

[Arbie]

Hurrah for the micro-SD card! I have lately switched to Windows Phone 8 since it is easier to find them with mSD, but the overall package here could bring me back. This is very attractive.

The non-removable battery is less of an issue. I'd hope that I can eventually replace it but I don't need to be swapping battery packs.

 

[HideOut]

I thought it was the same GPU as the I5s?

 

[4745454b]

I hadn't thought of thought of that Hideout. Why are they using other GPUs instead of their own IGP? I would think slapping an IGP from an I3/I5 would be cheaper (?) then renting an IGP from someone else?

 

[HideOut]

well Apple uses other's stuff actually. Its still an ARM architecture, just done to apple's specs.

 

[4745454b]

? I know that.

I asked a guy at work and he said he thinks it's because Intel has to pay a royalty for using it's "own" IGP, while the one they are using in this phone is royalty free. I didn't realize that and makes sense if true.

 

[Madmaxneo]

When the Galaxy S6 came out I considered it until I discovered no micro SD card slot. This Zen phone is going to be my next phone. The problem is my carrier doesn't have it so I hope it will work with them (T-mobile). The big seller for me is the SD card slot as I have most of my music on a 64 gb mico SD card as it is and I would rather just transfer the card over to the new phone instead of going through the hassle of transferring all the playlists and songs over. It seems that as time goes on the major carriers are dropping the micro SD card slot and I really depend on that. An external hard drive is not feasible as I normally keep my phone in my pocket and it automatically connects to the car and then my music automatically comes on. No commercials, no monthly fees, and no loss of music because of wifi interruptions. Not to mention I get to listen to the music I want to listen to and when the mood arises I can play any particular song I want at any time.
So yes a micro SD card slot is essential for me.....