This isn't going to be so much about the phone itself, but more about the crappy experience I've gone through these past few months that lead me to buying three phones within 6 months.
Since I bought my Galaxy Nexus a few months before the Nexus 4 was released, I had hung onto it for quite a number of years (especially when I was unemployed for almost two years). When I got my job earlier this year, I knew I was going to need some sort of upgrade, since the Galaxy Nexus was being really sluggish.
Since the Nexus One, I stuck with keeping it stock and unrooted until I got a newer phone. My friend/co-worker said that he read about a cache filling up that causes smartphones to be sluggish and it can only be cleared if the phone's rooted (factory data reset would also work). I didn't want to tinker with my phone any, so I just dealt with it while looking at some new phones. I also wanted to upgrade because the Galaxy Nexus was "3.5G" and not true 4G.
The first phone I found was Alcatel's Idol 3 (or whatever it is, I'm too lazy to look up the correct name right now), which I thought was a very nice phone for the price (though reviews said that the interface was a bit iffy).
I stuck with the phone as the "phone-to-get" until I saw news of ASUS's ZenFone 2 - the top model being $50 USD more than the Idol 3 and having better specs. I was quite ecstatic, but the large screen was the main drawback for me.
I kept up with upcoming phones until the ZenFone 2 was released, and I bought my first one. I liked it quite a bit (save for the large screen, but at least ASUS has a "One Hand" feature that remedies that, though slightly awkward to use sometimes) and I used it no differently than my Galaxy Nexus.
That was the problem.
When I was putting my phone back into my bag, I kinda spun it in my hand to re-orient it to slide it into the bag in the correct orientation (I like keeping my things oriented in certain ways for efficiency), but this time, out of the numerous times I've done it, the phone slides out of my hand and falls onto a large, sealed, lead-based battery. I'm talking about ones that are about the size that would go into the average sedan.
It fell (long) edge-first onto the terminal of the battery, bounced, hit the wall, and into a metal box. I'm not sure if there was a grimace on my face, but I was definitely cringing - the first non-Otterbox case I use and I drop it onto a battery. I didn't even see that it hit the terminal, but when I pulled the phone out of the metal box, and saw the shatter pattern, I immediately was upset the half-second between that and turning the screen on to see about 1/6 of the screen not working.
It was still useable, but I put it into a thick, plastic bag to keep the glass shards from going everywhere, and at some point I took the case off while keeping it in the bag (which became a bad idea because it scratched the glass of the camera glass).
How did I know it landed on the battery terminal? There was a dent in the plastic bezel, even though the case was some sort of plastic rubber stuff (I wish I could describe it better). At the least, the case prevented a much worse damage, but still didn't protect my phone like I wanted.
I panicked, and bought a new ZenFone 2, but since Amazon didn't recognise my sign in, they disabled my account. I had to make a new password and re-enter my credit card info before I was able to redo the order.
At some point afterwards, I was talking with my friend/co-worker about it and he was suggesting I see if I could get the screen repaired. At this point, I hadn't calmed down yet, so I ignored his suggestion then.
When I got home, I then looked at replacement screens, which was $30-50 USD, and I first went with the cheaper option after cancelling the order for the new ZenFone 2. When the screen was out for delivery, I decided to go ahead and disassemble my phone, so that it'd be ready.
It didn't even cross my mind to backup my data at all.
I reached the point of no return when I removed the screen and digitizer assembly from the plastic, as I had to pretty much break the screen even more to get it out.
Bad became worse when I got the replacement screen, as it was for the model before my phone (ZE550ML... or was it CL?) and (probably) wasn't compatible with my phone (the backlight came on, but no image). I returned it and went with the slightly more expensive option, but had to wait at most a month for it be delivered from Hong Kong.
I had no choice but to go back to the Galaxy Nexus.
(Also, I'll mention now I had problems booting correctly, but I was unaware at that time.)
After waiting about two or three weeks, I try again, but I had the same problem, where the backlight would turn on, but not give me an image at all. (Also, the phone itself was turning on just fine, but again, I was unaware.) I stuffed the parts into anti-static bags (the replacement screen going back into the packaging it came in) and just set it to the side.
I tried to continue using the Galaxy Nexus, but eventually I broke again, as Google Play Newsstand crashed without warning (I had the problem before getting the ZenFone 2), and ordered another ZenFone 2.
While getting apps installed to the new ZenFone 2 (via Google Play Store web-version), I noticed that there were two ZenFone 2 entries, and it didn't take me too long to figure out that one of them was the screen-less ZenFone2 (which made it much easier to make a near facsimile of it).
When I took a closer look somewhere with the device info, it said that it was last used 14 or 16 July, which is when I last tried to get the screen to work. I was happy that the motherboard was fine, but still upset that I can't get into it to get my stuff off of it.
Since my new ZenFone 2, I've been a lot more careful about handling it, along with trying out a couple other cases that I think (or thought) would offer better protection. I now keep some sort of positive contact (be it the fairly grippy sides or the screen and the case backing) when I remove/insert it from/into my bag.
My friend/co-worker told me that he had to root his ZenFone 2 to be able to write to the SD card, and that was one of the things I did when I got my new ZenFone 2. (I apologise for the lack of chronology.) I uninstalled all the bloatware and went to do the system update (after installing all the apps I had). Bad idea.
The ZenFone 2 took too long to get past the loading screen, so I turned it off, but when I tried to turn it back on again, the screen didn't come on at all. That is when I found that I did what I wasn't supposed to do. Eventually I found some restore images, including one for the latest update. Once I got the ZenFone 2 to turn on properly (two vibrates and not one, and without having anything plugged into the micro USB port... I think?), I was able to apply the image and proceed to set up my phone and reinstall my apps again.
The problem I've been having now is that I get an error every time I try to apply an OTA update... (Well, the first one actually worked, but nothing after that.) While I should've updated manually, I haven't had the patience to do it, especially considering the experience I've been having when straying from the Nexus line of phones.
One of the updates to ASUS's power saver app somehow changed my battery mode setting from "balanced" to "smart saving" without my knowledge or consent, which screwed up how my timer app worked - I use a timer app to know when to take lunch and when to clock out of work, otherwise I'd lose track of time and who knows how over I'd be.
It took a while to figure out that it was that along with the power saver app that really fucked things up. I even tried switching timer apps because I thought the app wasn't working.
I think it was a couple Fridays ago when my alarm didn't go off and I was woken my my dad about 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave the house. When I returned home, I found that something got screwed up and the alarm didn't fire off. Eventually I fixed it (not sure how), but I started becoming really aggravated with the ZenFone 2.
It was earlier this week when I had another OTA update (which failed, needless to say), and I don't remember what else set me off, but I snapped this past Thursday night and pre-ordered the Nexus 5x.
While the ZenFone 2 is the best specifications for the price, and I do like the ASUS launcher a bit more than the stock (being able to hide bloatware or folder apps to get to apps not on the home screen(s) quicker), but the reliability is poor... Yes my base system's not up-to-date, but it should still be just as reliable.
Honestly, with how much money I've spent this year on phones, I should've just bought a Nexus 6 and dealt with its large size.
I was considering the Nexus 6p, and while I would like to go back to an AMOLED screen, I don't really need the specs and I don't want a "phablet" (I've already learned this too well with the ZenFone 2).
I wanted a somewhat high-spec phone originally because of the app-crashing issues that I had with the Galaxy Nexus, but considering I'm using Ting as my cellular provider (pay-per-use), I've learned to use my phone less and less. The only thing I'd need performance for is to be able to play some graphics-heavy games - that is, when I actually do play them.
When I get my Nexus 5x, I'll be backing up my ZenFone 2 on Melty before doing anything else. I'll also swap the motherboard from the screen-less ZenFone 2 to the newer one and praying I can get what I need off of it.
Before the two ZenFone 2 phones (I'm really getting sick of typing "ZenFone 2"), I only had the Nexus One and Galaxy Nexus, so I've always had the base-line Android experience. To a point it feels a bit foolish of me to stray from it, while chasing something I didn't need at all. (At this point I also remember that I wanted something that was x64 compatible for some slight future-proofing, though it was mainly ARM64 that I was looking for.) I think I've learned my lesson after spending how much I've spent across three smartphones (two and a half?).
Things I've learned:
- Don't get blind-sided by price-performance ratio
- It's better to stick with what works sometimes, as pricey as it may be
- Handle large phones cautiously
No comments:
Post a Comment