phone 12 – asus fonepad note fhd6

due to the initial impression on asus zenfone 5, i traced back what asus has to offer and found this asus fonepad note fhd6 worthy to be part of my collection. bought it almost a year after i bought asus zenfone 5, that is 2015. but this phone was released on 2013.

the footprint is too large to be a phone with 6 inches display, 16:9 aspect ratio, and sharp enough at full hd. display is excellent, images look like they are printed on the surface of the glass. bezels were huge, but it does not bother me much, even on 2021. the stylus is also a good addition. hover operation is quite neat, but not how samsung galaxy note phones have. it is good enough for taking notes, scribbling, drafting ideas. it is also capable of having variable pressures – meaning, slightly pressing it on the screen leaves thinner lines, and pushing it a bit harder gives thicker lines, depending on the pen tool used.

it is powered by an intel atom, better than asus zenfone 5 despite of being released first. though it has the same gpu. i was okay with its 2gb/16gb memory configuration. it also supports up to 64gb microsd card. that is more than enough to save photos and videos taken with 8mp rear camera and about 1mp of front camera. the photos and videos are decent enough, though unusable on lowlight, since it does not have a flash and the camera software cannot adjust it enough, unlike the lowlight photography on asus zenfone 5.

on the audio side, the 3.5mm audio and wireless audio are good. but, one of the best things that this phone offers, is the front stereo loudspeaker. it was really intended to blast loud sounds. when set on its lowest level, it is still obviously louder than my previous phones. i do not need an external speaker to enjoy and share music. however, on the same level, there are some audible noises on both channels. the quality is just decent. loudness is great, quality is not that much.

with such display and speaker, it shines as a multimedia phone. great for some movie sessions with at most 4 people, in my experience. also as a tool for video chat. it is normal, then, to expect a higher battery capacity.

the 3200 mah battery was charged for more than 7 hours and a half. which is too slow even on 2015. regular top up and overnight charging is my solution for such long hours of charging. battery usage is impressive, though, even on 2021 as it managed to last for almost 2 days. more than 8 hours of active use is impressive. but what is more impressive is the battery management when it is inactive, -2% is the maximum consumption, even for 16 hours of inactive use. if only asus improved on this, then they might also get the reputation of having good battery life. and battery longevity, too. i guess it was not an issue when phones charged slower since it generates less heat. i wonder if most phones in 2021 will last like this phone does. as a recall, my 1 hour usage involves 20 minutes of music play, 10 minutes of web browsing, 10 minutes of playing games (like the subway surf), 5 minutes of taking photos, 5 minutes of recording videos, and the last 10 minutes, for watching videos.

it is still a good phone even on 2021, as i can still use it as it is, except that some apps are not compatible to it – since i let it stay on jellybean and intel atom also has compatibility issues on some apps. it can be updated to kitkat, but i did not. i was disappointed with the updates on my asus zenfone 5, so i would not dare to update this fonepad. still snappy, though the touch response is not as good as asus zenfone 5. i still watch movies on it, though there are signs of aging on the display – there are some sort of liquid marks on the sides. but still looks good, overall. good viewing angles, colors, enough contrast and brightness are still appreciated.

it is worthy as a collection.