Final Review of The ASUS Padfone 2

Finally done with all the school, and what happens on my last day of phone testing?
The phone falls down as I was going to pick it up from my pocket, it falls to the ground and the top layer of the screen cracks, not fully broken, but cracks...this drop was estimately 50 cm or so...and it CRACKED...
i'm so mad,
since it clearly says, if you break it, you buy it in the terms for the product testing...
and i really don't have the money, after all i am a student, living on social services money...
the grades i got this week are awesome though, but they still won't buy the device for me, so i need your help.

+1 on google please;)

Visit my Videoes: (Share and Like as much as you can)

Well, then...Back to my final review...

padfone first:
works great, runs heavy duty apps like a dream, easy to use, OK battery(when you disable data/wifi and use only 2G) Battery lasts around a day with normal use, some newspaper browsing and a little bit gaming and a few phonecalls, messages.

Takes a while to connect to a wifi, roughly 6-7 seconds and compared to my iphone 4 this is LONG as it takes 1-2,5 seconds to connect to previously stored wifis.

I thought the casing was solid, but i got a proof today that the quality of the framing glass is terrible. ANY phone imo should be able to handle a short fall like that, how many times have you dropped your phone to the floor or any surface for that matter? this was the first time for me, ive really handled this phone like a baby, as i was thinking i was just borrowing it, at least until they would give it to me;)

asus sync just wont work, besides installing the unlock bootloader on the phone:P

rooting was a breeze, even if i didn't break all possible boundaries to test the rooted functions. Main goal was to create a good backup of the phone and i did. So no bricking at least:-)

the pad works fine, besides the fact that the camera in front of the pad is quite low quality, i would have expected more...the decrease in MP's from the phone is so significant that it really shows on my videos, which i was really looking forwards to sharing, and thats also the reason why i didnt make more with the front camera...

but playing a decent FPS on the pad works great, and newspaperreading, small schooltasks etc. works great.

The phone surpassed my expectations especially when it comes to everyday tasks, and also running multiple apps at the same time.
im not so sure if i like the 3 bottom buttons and every time im supposed to press space while writing a message im back on the home screen or taking a screenshot(quite annoying)


the phonecall quality also seemed a bit lousy at first, somewhat unstable, but this improved greatly after rooting the phone, i have no clue why just unlocking a bootloader would have that effect?please let me know if you can tell me...

as  a total conclusion on a scale up to ten: 7

points to asus for making a very usable and enjoyable phone...

Last day of testing, summary to follow

hey everyone!
so this is the last day of testing, and i'm so sad...it will be so annoying going back to my iphone 4 after this...
I will write a summary of my testresults and thoughts on the device after i have made my presentation at school today, main theses in Norwegian so this have slowed my efforts a bit.
however, it has been a pleasure testing this device.

I will check back with you later on!=)

heaven and hell...

hey again all!

Today, and perhaps tomorrow I won't be able to post a video of the day. I'm also busy writing a few review on sites selling the device etc. as well as school.
Later I will write some more on what I've discovered of this device, and whether or not it's worth buying.
Or at least if I think it is...

just keeping you posted...

Erkki

here you go... ;)

video of the day!=) new one tomorrow=)

Rock Vs. Love

I'll be back a bit later with a more extensive review and another video, keep checking in, g+, share and like...

Rock Vs. Love?-Everyone Wins!

The Song of the day

hey again all!

As you might have read earlier today, I posted a guide on how to root the Asus Padfone 2.

And as I have a habit of doing, heres todays video recorded:

Rock on!

-Erkki

Rooting The Asus Padfone 2

hey everyone!

So, I made the bold decision to root the device. And here is a guide on how you can do it too.

1. Download the unlock bootloader apk from asus,

Here: http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=29&m=PadFone+2&hashedid=SENnFuo39DgIWFls

Just download the Unlock app. Install it with Asus Sync or just copy/paste from download directory to the directory of your choice on the phone. The open file manager and run the unlock.apk

2. Download these root tools from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35489305&postcount=115

3. Just follow the simple instructions when you open the main windows application(simply named root tools)

4. If you are running WWE version 10.4.11.13.0 you might encounter this simple error:

-failing to install Superuser. After reboot, just enter Superuser in play store and install.

Now, that wasnt hard?

I can also tell you some wonderful news, the unlock tool and root did not make the device unable to download updates directly from Asus.

Later today There's a new song on the way!
Stay tuned!

AnTuTu and Quadrant Scores+Songs

Hey all!
I did some benchmarking on the device yesterday with quite good results:

AnTuTu gave me a : 21610 score(no overclocking)

With these subscores:

CPU: 8950
Ram: 3540
GPU: 8249
I/O: 871

The score in Quadrant:

4873

These score were made with the developer setting: Final Mode(highest performance use)

What are you thinking about those scores?
I'm quite amazed at 1501Mhz with 4 cores?



ah well, apparently, without root, im unable to recover the deleted files from today, but i made a few vids yesterday as well, so here you are:

You're even getting two...but one is older;)

Murphy's Law

So, today Murphy's law took me by a surprise, not really,  I got a warning...but i didn't pay attention to it...
I had just recorded 4-5 great tracks for later use, and i had automatic import on in windows with auto delete after, apparently, if i dont enter the phone manually and copy/paste the videos, the files won't work on the computer.
ah well, im working a recovery solution...hopefully that will plan out, if not, ill just have to make new videos tomorrow...

Song-Going Nowhere by myself

Hey all!
As I Promised, here is another song...

Going Nowhere



As with the device, it just keeps getting better as I get used to it...happier every day, and the desire to win it grows.
So Please to check out my tweets and comment on this video on youtube!

More updates to come later...

Asus Padfone 2 Camera

hey all!
So, it's dark outside, so I wanted to give this camera a challenge, a real one...
As it was almost impossible to see, I noticed some really cool treas, and turned on the nighttime settings on the camera.

This didn't go too well:

As you can see, or not...this is how it looks outside at this moment...with nightvision from the camera. For some reason the flash seemed to work perhaps only half of the pictures.

Now, i took some upclose pictures of a wall and snow with normal settings,now thats something quite different...

Take a look at that detail...amazing...

again, amazing 13MP details of snow up-close.

Anyway, I'm not saying this camera sucks in the dark, but for the first few pictures I was unable to take Good Pictures, so i need to play around with settings to make it work(if I can)

If you are considering buying this device, I still would recommend it, as it has some many aspects that are simply cool and amazing. The front 13MP camera is just one. The menus are superfast and it can run basically whatever you could want to run on a pad or phone!

I'll write more later on the nightvision on post some outcomes later...

if you forgot to check out the video, here it is again:

something worth while?

Hey all!=)

This is the first of many videoes to come during this months time. Be sure to comment on the blog or video.
Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodEnergyErkki

And youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/erkkiboy

Hope this give a good idea on the camera...This is the front camera on the pad, recording at 480p quality. Not bad for a pad. The front cam can take up to 5mp i think....
Battery is improving after draining og recharging a few times as with many other phones. I seem to have to charge every night, but that's just fine. I have used it moderately, mostly for data and wifi, and some games.
The pad seems to work great, i played Dead Trigger yesterday, and the game looked great on this pad comparing to others i have tried it on.

So far: 4 out of 6 for phone, mostly due to incompatible apps. (fit2screen, etc.)
and : 5 out of 6 for pad

Still waiting for final confirmation from Asus regarding the root, I will let you know=)

delays, delays

oh well, as the "everyday" user I am, life happens, so there are some delays in the testing and i'm also waiting a final confirmation from asus that i am allowed to do the push the code onto the device.
and im totally beat after reading updates on the android system. lots of things have changed since the last time I used android.
BUT, tomorrow I WILL no matter what start my Asus Padfone 2 Sessions and post the videos.
Hopefully this will inspire you too... ;)

Day 2 part 1

Hello again!

So, Today I'm testing the camera and also some of the pre-installed Asus Software.

My general idea is to test as many aspects of the device as possible, and also try to provide some tips and tricks that can help you make the best of your device.

First in line of testing:

ASUS Sync:

Unable to sync contacts and calender, error message: Unable to import contacts from PIM. (phone internal memory)

ok, FAIL;) Suggestive tip: So far, none!

So, to camera: the 13 MP backside camera on the padfone2:

 Quite amazing quality, I will put out some landscape pictures later as im going further up the valley later today to test the camera more.

Under is the 1mp camera, in the correct lighting this camera also works well, but you have to ensure that the surrounding light is appropriate.

I will write some more and post more later today after figuring out which apps are the sinners for the battery drain;)

First Day of Testing

Hey all!
So, first day of testing is done, I've sent an email to Asus requesting confirmation that I am, in fact, allowed to do anything with the device to test it. One of the steps will be to root/jailbreak the device. As it runs a quite open android system, the code insertion itself shouldn't be too hard, even for an everyday user;)

What I have discovered so far: Padfone2 ONLY:

*At first sight, the battery drain is awful, as a comparison in usage with my iphone 4, 32gb.
Today, I haven't used the phone half as much as I usually do, as I've been busy, but battery drain have been twice of my iphone 4. BUT, considering that I have yet to discover WHY some apps launch without me asking them to or without going online this is something I can do something with. There are some sinners among the pre-installed apps and of the widgets. I will go in detail if this persists after next full charge cycle.

*There are some compatibility issues with some apps, also for the phone. And the facebook app still tends to live its own life, shame on you facebook app developers!Also shortcuts to newspaper websites etc tends to not fit or adjustable to screen.(yes, I've tried the zoom and all)

*recharging when the phone is off is a nightmare, as there is no charging indicator on the screen, if its charging or not, you can't tell until you switch you phone back on, usually not a problem for most as they all charge with phones on, but still, one might run dry... ;)

*The CAMERA is AMAZING. 13 mp does the trick, lighting is almost always good, pictures look great, ill post some tomorrow:)

*Not yet tested video.

*On the pad, the reduction of megapixels to 0,7mp is quite annoying, they should have put a better camera there. You can get up to 1mp with widescreen shots. Still quite bad, but I guess, videochats and stuff like that could work on most connections.



Tomorrow, I hopefully will have a video or two out...And some pictures, so make your way back here.

Be also sure to check out my twitter, instagram and youtube.

Welcome!

Hey!
And welcome to my Asus Padfone 2 Pilot Sessions Site
From the 23. I will write my updated diary and post all of my songs recorded through the Asus Padfone 2 device. I'm still only familiarizing myself with the android systems again. But I will keep you posted on everything you might wonder about, from battery use(with tips) and much more! Stay tuned! =)
Rock!
-Erkki, testpilot for Asus!=)
Please do check my twitter posts over at : twitter.com/goodenergyerkki
and youtube.com/erkkiboy