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Asus Zenfone 9

asus.com

391–400 of 462 posts

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I want like a 4 inch 'playing-card' sized smartphone (maybe a flip-phone with double touch screens). Just would love the small "palm sized" format. I'm tired of my fingers muscles and nerves getting strained from holding and using massive phones for hours.

Also consider the Palm Phone. 3.3" screen, less bezel than the unihertz. Basically the size of a credit card.

Thank you! Cool username too, btw! :) ;p ;) xx ;p

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#392

We've gotten to the point of peak absurdity where 5.9" is considered "ultra-compact". I'm in the market for a new phone right now, and it's baffling how ridiculously big most phones are right now. I only use mine for instant messaging and browsing Hacker News. 5" is more than enough for that.

I'm worried. My Pixel 4 will stop receiving updates later this year but the Pixel 6 is huge and the Pixel 7 looks huge too. Why are screens getting so big? So they can shove more ads?

I think it's because more and more people are opting to use phones to consume their media instead of traditional avenues like TV.

Lying in bed, on the bus, in the classroom, etc - less time to sit down in the living room and watch youtube/movies on the TV - especially with the TikTok(/vine?) generation latching onto vertical video formats too.

I think it's just a generational thing - I remember being amazed at how people are consuming vertical video now like it's anything else when 5-10 years ago people would give the cameraman grief for filming this "crazy moment!" in vertical format :P

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#393
post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's stopping people from just running the, say, Google build of Android on this phone? If there is custom device drivers or whatever, can't they just be copied from the custom ASUS android over to the standard android build, while avoiding all the crapware and lack of updates?

Apps have started locking you out if they detect you have an unofficial build. Even dumb apps like McDonalds. Good luck using mandatory banking apps there as well.

I recall during my android root days that banks would block your phone from running apps if you were rooted - I needed to install a separate app and define which apps I could "sandbox" of sorts, to convince them they were running on a non-rooted device

Are there any workaround apps sort of like this now, or has Google finally plugged all the loopholes for this?

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#395
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s sad that no phone maker is playing the open and standard platform game. A brand like Asus would have everything to win with this : they already are recognized as a « geek » brand, they could ship updates with no effort and they could get free marketing from the word to mouth of the « geek of the family ». Instead of that, like any other Android manufacturer in the market, they ship great hardware with shitty or…

Android manufacturers, unlike Apple, don't really earn much via the software - so there is really no reason for costly updates which keeps the customers from buying the next phone..

It's unfortunate that lack of updates don't prevent customers from buying the current phone.

It feels like we need consumer protection laws that require companies to prominently advertise the software "warranty". So Google and Apple can put "5 years" on the box and Asus needs to put "0 days". The problem is that it isn't something that most people think about. But when you point it out to them it definitely changes how they evaluate phones when you show them that this one will be dangerously insecure after 1y but this other one is good for 3y.

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#396

The only problem with Asus phones in general, which is also apparent in their ROG phones, is the lack of updates. Their hardware is top-notch, literally; I've never seen faster phones. But, they don't update them consistently enough, unlike Google and Samsung which have pledged multiple years of software support through Android releases.

Before Xiaomi became mainstream they were quite supportive of the dev community. For example they sent a bunch of Poco phones to XDA developers before release. I feel like Asus would do so much better if they opened up the ecosystem a bit.

Asus also participated in XDA's device seeding program with a few of their previous models.

- Zenfone 6: https://www.xda-developers.com/asus-zenfone-6-custom-rom-twr...

- ROG Phone II: https://www.xda-developers.com/asus-sending-rog-phone-ii-cus...

- ROG Phone 3: https://www.xda-developers.com/asus-rog-phone-3-custom-roms-...

Hopefully, Asus does something similar with the Zenfone 9.

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's absurd. I need to buy a new phone (as in, my 6-year old 5" phone is really falling apart and I can't find parts to replace) and my only option is pretty much a used Pixel 2, 3, or 4a.

Most of those are not real options, they're about to stop getting security updates, or already did.

I don't run spyware OS anyway, Lineage+microg is the bare minimum. I've found unofficial maintainers give better support for their custom roms than manufacturers.

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#398
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you still have to unflip it to use it in any capacity and unflipped is very tall so what's the point of the flip?

So it's more compact in your pocket, which is where space is most at a premium. Tallness doesn't make phones uncomfortable to hold (width does), it just makes them poke out of your pockets.

Height does make phones less comfortable to handle with a single hand, which is what I prefer to do most of the time. They are heavier, lean further back so you have to spread your fingers on the back more, and reaching the top to pull the notifs bar, for example, is harder. I'd argue height is worse than width in comfort.

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#399
post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is ridiculous. Notice how all the models on the page have big to giant hands? One of my earliest smartphones was 4.2". That was already problematic for my hand. 5" is too large, 5.9" is out of question. I don't want a tablet for a phone. I want a phone that I can use with just one hand and still reach all corners of the screen comfortably with my thumb from a firm grip (i.e. not from the side, but with the…

> One of my earliest smartphones was 4.2" The phone, or the screen? The Nexus 5S was the last phone I owned that I could comfortable hold and had a 4.9" screen (diagonal), but with a 70.8% screen-to-body ratio (5.43 inches tall). This Zenfone 9 has a 5.9 inches screen (diagonal) but is less than 1cm taller, and exactly as wide as the Nexus 5S.

This comparison makes me even more excited for the Zenfone 9 — I miss my Nexus 4 and 5 specifically for their one-hand-friendly usage.

Re: Asus Zenfone 9

#400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“I've never seen faster phones” ::Points to an iPhone SE::

ROG phones are quite a bit faster than iPhones, not only in gaming but other software tasks as well [0], at least on the Android side [0] https://youtu.be/uWzwovY9u-E

Absolutely false, iPhones (admittedly the more high end ones) stomp every other phone out there by a WIDE margin.

Even the camera, less megapixels but Apple has far better computational photography algos.

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