Hey Lowyatians!

Firstly, I apologize for text of wall.

On to the main topic:
I'm going to get my first smartphone soon. There's a local electronics fair I just went to browse and I quickly got smitten (for a lack of better word) with Honor 7 and the Zenfone 2 (32gb/64gb/128gb!!). ViVo seems nice, not my main choice right now.
Sadly, Honor 7, like most other chinese brands (ie: ViVo), only has 16gb internal memory. SD cards (or TF cards) can solve this issue. 64gb version from oversea is expensive too. Huawei sellers also recommend G8 which has 32gb.

I'm a heavy user. I wanna know that can most, if not all apps and games be installed in SD card? I run an android emulator, have some apps and games(major memory culprit) which used up 4gb+ memory. That means I would have to choose Zenfone 2 over Honor 7, storage wise.

Honor 7 feels right and solid in the hand and pocket. I like the aluminum build, but not the sim card/SD slot. EMUI is sleek and smooth. Fingerprint and smart button are good addition.
Zenfone is bigger, easier to type, but a little hard to get out of pocket. I'm ok with the weird button placement. ZenUI is also sleek, has more pre-installed apps. Being an Asus laptop user, I have minor issues with them. The removeable back plastic cover with access to sim and Sd card feels like the older generation phones, which is ok.

Based on online reviews:
Honor 7 has good CPU but less powerful GPU, sound like more work/business oriented. The quality of the 20Mp camera that seems good, no comment on night and low light photos.
Zenfone 2 seems like it wants to be better at everything in mid range tier, but not being the best (expect for 4gb ram), Jack-of-all-trade. Good performance form casual to heavy usage with ok-ok camera (photo has noise when zooming in for details) and battery.
Under heavy usage, Zenfone 2 can heat up to 46 degrees Celsius while Honor 7 doesn't seem to go over 40 degree Celsius.
I'm not sure about the call quality and internet connection, which is important for my job. Are they depend of telco services? Sound and music for media entertainment is acceptable. Anyone can share their experience?

Also kindly enlighten me more of pros and cons, good, bad and ugly, personal problems and fixes, with these two phone? If possible, any other better choices out there? Maybe the mentioned G8?
*Why can't I have the best of these two in one phone that prices around Rm1400? *

I also will be going to KL on early December, so any reliable shops around KL or Selangor, other than Lowyat? Users here seem to like Lazada (has major discount now), DirectD and SatuGadget. Customer service ok?


Addiontal questions:
Being first time user, any dos and don'ts I should be aware as well? Like what to be aware of when update OS and firmware? I won't root or use custom rom. Charge battery to full before use? Which reliable brand of tempered glass to use that wont effect the phone performance? There's this X-One (5H) silicon protector screen that resists high impact.

Again, apologies of this text of wall and being a total smartphone noob.

This post has been edited by minami_ke: Nov 21 2015, 09:22 AM

Honor 7, you'll appreciate the finger print sensor and fast camera. Get it from lazada if you have the discount codes. Go check out lazada thread in kopitiam for it

If Zenfone 2 vs Honor 7, go for Honor 7.

Same dilemma boss... But Zen 2 4gb 64 gb can get from lazada for 1170. Got forumer selling for 1150 but in Penang. Also got one forumer selling Mi note for 1399. Try look into it too.. Honor from lazada will be 1299 with discount code
But than I prefer dual sim fone with memory expansion.. Honor have to sacrifice another sim slot for memory.

This post has been edited by xxYonG: Nov 20 2015, 07:20 PM

Zenfone, got cheap and got expensive one...
How to differentiate?

Just go for Honor 7....

Honor 7

Honor 7 is superior device.
Especially in camera quality, display and build quality.

Zenfone 2 battery life is horrible. I can't stand it and sold it right away.
Display is way too dim.. Only 300+ nits on full brightness. Camera quality very poor overall with poor dynamic range (always overexpose aggressively)..1080p video recording looks like 480p upscaled
I guess this is what you get with Toshiba sensor instead of Sony

My suggestion, if you don't mind large screen, consider Xiaomi Mi Note 64GB for RM1.5k
- Excellent display. Really bright while keeping the black very deep. Contrast ratio is class leading too.
- Excellent camera with Optical Image Stabilization
- Proven reliable and high performing Snapdragon 801. It has faster GPU than ZF2 and Honor 7 with similar CPU performance.
- Premium build quality (2.5D + 3D glass + Aluminium Frame) with good battery life + fast charging

There is another excellent phone for under RM1.4K, Xiaomi Mi4C.
Sadly Xiaomi still haven't sell it here officially. It's one of the best offering ever for the price range.
You can buy it here right now (AP set) but warranty can be a hassle if there's a problem.

Read reviews from owners before update to that particular update.
If it has a lot of positive feedbacks, go and update it.

Nilkin and mocolo tempered glass is decent ones

This post has been edited by Xierra777: Nov 20 2015, 08:26 PM

ZF2 has very poor battery life. Had to install a custom firmware to get rid of crapware.

Here's my thought la, on why i ditched the Zenfone 2 in favor of Honor 7.

1. lock already you press back button, auto disable unlock
2. camera shortcut always fail
3. if you plug in the charger and lock, it will unlock itself.
4. camera wise - Honor 7 is wider field of view, has better dynamic range and overall more intelligent actually. In conditions where the dynamic range / exposure varies, Honor does better.
5. The Zenfone 2 camera is sluggish
6. If you don't realize it yet and video at Full HD does not have image stabilization like Honor 7 has.
7. camera wise - my latest images in stock photo were from Honor 7 taken under not so favorable lighting. I wouldn't be able to do the same with Zenfone 2 http://www.dreamstime.com/goldfries_info So yeah, I think that explains a lot - from color and to sharpness.
8. Honor 7 smart controller - I can control my Apple TV, TV and air-cond, how cool is that?
9. Battery life
10. Asus Zenfone 2 promotes 64bit in all presentation but the OS is 32bit.
11. Finger-print ID panel - damn useful. While Zenfone 2 shortcut to camera doesn't response, I can quick launch Honor 7 camera and use fingerprint ID to snap.

So yeah, I disagree that Zenfone 2 is the better phone. Zenfone Selfie itself is a better phone than the Zenfone 2.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Have a good weekend.

Honor 7 for sure

Honor 7 FTW