It was probably only a matter of time before the structural weakness of the ROG5 started showing in accidents and broken devices. My device is officially broken from damage around the mid section between the 2 batteries and the side USB/cooler port and antenna soft spot - exactly as highlighted on some videos. As a result, connectivity goes on and off and reception is extremely weak.
To be clear, the device has not been bent violently, dropped, smashed or anyhting like that, there are no physical bends visible other than I noticed one corner of the glass back plate looks a tiny tiny bit detached from the body of the phone. I'm guessing the device might have been bent just enough while in a pocket to damage it. No broken glass plates.
Up to you if go for this device but everyone should be aware of this. The device is with ASUS, if they don't fix it under the warranty and the price for fixing it isn't on the low side, I'll take the loss and switch to another brand.
If you're absolutely going for ASUS, the ROG 3 might be a much better choice - It's better built, has better tempretures/battery life, does custom reccovery like TWRP without pain, probably cheaper now and I bet it performs exactly as well as ROG 5 for 99.5% of games/apps during the remaining lifetime of both devices.
I have feeling the ROG 5 is the device ASUS will regret... It's basically an overheated, inefficient,badly tuned version of ROG 3 with a weak body and some overpriced expanded memory..
Thanks for the hint: however I'm really sceptical to be honest. I can't believe this can happen due to bending in normal pocket (or maybe I don't want to believe it because I like the phone)
I really wish you best of luck that Asus repairs it for free and I would like to know the outcome.
What does your pockets look like? Are they too small/tight because I tried it and whatever I do my current phone isn't under pressure at any time when it's in my pockets.
Anubarak16 said:
Thanks for the hint: however I'm really sceptical to be honest. I can't believe this can happen due to bending in normal pocket (or maybe I don't want to believe it because I like the phone)
I really wish you best of luck that Asus repairs it for free and I would like to know the outcome.
What does your pockets look like? Are they too small/tight because I tried it and whatever I do my current phone isn't under pressure at any time when it's in my pockets.
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I didn't believe it either. Normal pocket size and I never carry my phone in the back pocket where you risk sitting on it. My best guess is the device was in a front pocket while wearing jeans and has bent at an angle on the weak point while sitting down or something just enough for some internal circuit or antenna lines to bend or break. Don't put this to test with your own device - you'll wreck it...
Honestly, the device is meant to be used almost exclusively with the cooler. This is the same reason I never take it off, but turn it off, when putting it in a pocket. Beyond the obvious improvements to heat concerns, it also reinforces the center of the device to prevent bending.
Sure, it does make it a bit bulkier and isn't going to prevent the device from pressure if you wear skinny jeans a size smaller than they should be for proper circulation, but it will definitely stop it from randomly folding in half without breaking that first.
I get dragged into a lot of unplanned physical activity without thinking about preventing stress on the phone. I've been unable to confirm that the phone will simply break over time.
I can only assume it was one of those perfect scenarios, not unlike the Note 7 fires. It is obviously a possibility, but the actual number of people that will ever experience it is probably too low and it's just not enough of a safety concern to justify a recall or discontinuation.
Edit: Now that I think about it, I actually tried to use a Pelican G40 case to store the phone and cooler during travel (and add water protection). The case is just slightly too short and the device had to be angled for a tight fit. This would be a lot like placing the phone in a tight pocket. I would be interested to see bend tests done with the cooler.
twistedumbrella said:
Honestly, the device is meant to be used almost exclusively with the cooler. This is the same reason I never take it off, but turn it off, when putting it in a pocket. Beyond the obvious improvements to heat concerns, it also reinforces the center of the device to prevent bending.
Sure, it does make it a bit bulkier and isn't going to prevent the device from bending if you wear skinny jeans a size smaller than they should be for proper circulation, but it will definitely stop it from randomly folding in half from normal use.
I've mentioned before that I only use my device with WiFi, but I live in an area where a lot of neighbors share their connections and get together often. I play Nerf war, skateboard, and all the other stuff that the younger parents get dragged into by being close with them. I should also mention that I have no kids, so it's not something I consider in my own purchases. Knock on wood that I've never been able to confirm that the phone will simply break over time.
I can only assume it was one of those perfect scenarios, not unlike the Note 7 fires. It is obviously a possibility, but the actual number of people that will ever experience it is probably too low and it's just not enough of a safety concern to justify a recall or discontinuation.
Edit: Now that I think about it, I actually tried to use a Pelican G40 case to store the phone during travel (and add water protection). The case is just slightly too short and the device had to be angled for the latch to work. This would be a lot like placing the phone in a tight pocket and the cooler kept it rigid. I would be interested to see those bend tests done with the cooler.
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If the device is meant to be used exclusively with the cooler, ASUS should explicitly make that clear and include one with every phone, in which case the design of the Lenovo Legion is probably better - i.e just build a cooler hump into the phone regardless of the looks. The ROG 5 cooler is waay to bulky for pocket use for most people.
I think the weak mid body pf ROG5 is just due to sloppy design - which is unacceptable for what is meant to be a flagship device.
Either way, keep this phone in a bag or jacket pocket and make sure it's not at a bending angle at any time. Seems you don't need a big squeeze to break stuff inside the phone. I don't know what's under the mid section, it could be some antenna rails or other connectors that easily break or bend out of function. Again, I don't recommend testing any of this, the risk of breaking your device is high...
Andrologic said:
If the device is meant to be used exclusively with the cooler, ASUS should explicitly make that clear and include one with every phone, in which case the design of the Lenovo Legion is probably better - i.e just build a cooler hump into the phone regardless of the looks. The ROG 5 cooler is waay to bulky for pocket use for most people.
I think the weak mid body pf ROG5 is just due to sloppy design - which is unacceptable for what is meant to be a flagship device.
Either way, keep this phone in a bag or jacket pocket and make sure it's not at a bending angle at any time. Seems you don't need a big squeeze to break stuff inside the phone. I don't know what's under the mid section, it could be some antenna rails or other connectors that easily break or bend out of function. Again, I don't recommend testing any of this, the risk of breaking your device is high...
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Both Pro and Ultimate versions DO come with one, but one of the ways to make a cheaper version is to leave out some accessories and sell them separately. They may still expect you to buy it and may not prioritize the concerns of those that don't. Besides, building something prone to burning out and breaking down into the phone is a terrible decision. Lenovo will no doubt get their own backlash for that down the road.
I feel like carrying the phone in a bag or jacket is just as big of a risk. It would make more sense to get a rigid holster or sleeve. I don't feel like the design was sloppy, but definitely not as durable as typical phones. Much like the Nvidia Shield, I am sure there are a lot of things they wanted to make possible that ended up being a lot of compromises.
I'll be interested to see how widespread this becomes and how Asus goes about handling it. The number of imports / exports mean a lot of people are running around without proper warranty coverage.
Wow it makes my Note 10+'s battery replacement look like a cakewalk.
Yeah you don't want to flex this phone...
Update >> ASUS fixed the device. There was damage to both reception as well as reading the SIM slots. The main board had to be replaced. They did it free of charge under the warranty, no questions asked. I think they know they've messed up..
It sounds like Asus covered exactly what is written in the terms of the warranty, which is hardware failure without any obvious signs of abuse. I don't know that I would call it Asus knowing they messed up, but it's good they fixed it and hopefully you will have better luck this time around.
Thank you very much for letting us know. That might at least mean we don't have to worry too much
Related
Hi Guys,
I just have a question about the GG3. Anyone had practical experience with it on the nexus 5 screen? How's the durability & damage resistant features (i.e. day-to-day accidental bumps & knocks on the screen; (except dropping it))?
Last night, while changing i hit my kneecap directly on my nexus 5 screen & heard an audible impact sound. Any idea if the GG3 can take such a one-time direct impact by my kneecap? or will it cause any stress/strain to the glass?
Any advice/information is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
An "audible impact sound".... =P
Anyways, I guess it depends how hard to kneed your phone although I'd say if there's no visible damage you're fine. If you're constantly kneeing your phone, on the other hand, then that might be different (obviously). "Strain/stress" to me is something that's occurring consistently over a period of time, and in this case you hit it once.
While lots of people prefer their phone as is, I'd suggest investing some money in a good quality screen protector. It would be well worth it to have that fail safe in the event you do accidentally hit the screen. But to each their own!
b.spec said:
An "audible impact sound".... =P
Anyways, I guess it depends how hard to kneed your phone although I'd say if there's no visible damage you're fine. If you're constantly kneeing your phone, on the other hand, then that might be different (obviously). "Strain/stress" to me is something that's occurring consistently over a period of time, and in this case you hit it once.
While lots of people prefer their phone as is, I'd suggest investing some money in a good quality screen protector. It would be well worth it to have that fail safe in the event you do accidentally hit the screen. But to each their own!
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I do use a screen protector currently & my knee did not strike it very hard, just an accidental knock. So I guess that my screen is safe & that the force of this one-time knee strike isn't sufficient to cause any damage/stress to the screen if the screen is perfect now?
I'd say if it's not visibly damaged and the sensitivity is the same as before, the screen should be fine. I'm not really sure if that would damage the phone internally though. Like getting hit in the stomach with a sack of potatoes. On the outside you might not be cut or scratched, but on the inside you'd feel like death haha. Okay, maybe that's a bad analogy. But you get the point.
b.spec said:
I'd say if it's not visibly damaged and the sensitivity is the same as before, the screen should be fine. I'm not really sure if that would damage the phone internally though. Like getting hit in the stomach with a sack of potatoes. On the outside you might not be cut or scratched, but on the inside you'd feel like death haha. Okay, maybe that's a bad analogy. But you get the point.
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Hahaha, yea. I got your point. So if it's working perfectly fine ever since, there probably isn't any damage & I should not worry that much and just use normally right?
Yup, that's what I'd do anyways. Use it normally, but maybe for the next few days pay attention to the sensitivity or the screen or any other abnormalities. A bump from your knee isn't anything to worry about in my opinion. Just avoid any flying tornado kicks to the screen.
I think it fared just as well as we thought it would. It's pretty durable and scratch resistant but not shatterproof, that's for sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU8S_BjByKU
Looks like we're still dealing with GG4 here.
Thanks. I've been waiting for this
Fair play to the iPhone, that is one hardy piece of kit. As for the S7, given the amount of glass it has externally, it did about as well as I would have expected. Personally, I'd prefer the back to be aluminium rather than glass, but there is no doubt it wouldn't have looked as nice. I'm going to have a silicon cover on mine, so would hope the only likely drops will result in no issues at all. Then again, I can count the amount of times I have dropped phones on less than one hand in the last five years.
That's disappointing. The S6 edge did a bit better back in the day?
xxaarraa said:
That's disappointing. The S6 edge did a bit better back in the day?
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To be fair, you can't take one test like that and compare it directly to another device in a similar test and say one is conclusively better, or at least not from a single test anyway. There are numerous factors which could make a massive difference. Simple fortune on how the device lands for example could be the difference between a cracked screen and a few scratches. Look at the iPhone 6s+ screen in that test for example, it didn't break at all despite all those tests. Yet I remember seeing another drop test on exactly the same device which resulted in a cracked screen on the second drop from head height. There are simply too many factors involved.
That said, the flat glass on the back of the S6 does strike me as being more resilient, purely due to the shape and the fact it would be more difficult to make contact with the ground on a drop. The metal surround would invariably make contact first.
The 6S is indestructible lol. In any case, the Edge fared far better than I thought it would.
GG4 on the back glass and GG5 on the front https://youtu.be/D_bB5fnN7Jk
I really wish Samsung would do what Motorolo did a few years ago and let you build the phone to your liking. Ok I want an aluminum back, 8 cores, 8gb or Ram, etc and it cost this much....
I have never been a fan of the glass backs. I throw mine in a case right away for protection so could care less about it being pretty... I want it to be durable... I mean I did just shell out a lot of money for it and I want it to LAST!!!
Talking about that video above, I have always found it amazing that anyone would keep their phone in their back pocket. Absolute stupidity.
There wouldn't be wireless charging if no glass back? Or maybe Samsung Pay? Aluminum back would be a conductor. The s7 edge is rather bigger than the s6/edge so there's more surface area for damage and any point of strike will have a higher chance of cracking. The phone did really good I'd say....
So, today while I was walking home I felt my watch loose in my jacket sleeve, and when I looked, the part of the bezel that holds the watch strap was broken. As I hadn't hit it on anything or put any strain on it, I'm honestly super confused as to how that happened, and I'm very disappointed. I talked to Samsung, and currently their "out of warranty" repair service is not active, and apparently my watch is out of warranty. As I received this as a gift nine months ago, I can't really say where it came from initially so I can't say as to whether it should be in warranty or not. So, I feel like my best bet is to buy parts and fix it myself.
My question them is, if I purchased a metal bezel for a Gear 2, does anyone know if it would fit well on the Neo? I'd rather replace it with metal so this doesn't happen again. I realize the regular Gear 2 has a camera, whereas the Neo just has an IR sensor there, but I feel like I could make it fit. If it can't be done and someone knows that though, I obviously would not like to waste my time and money on it.
If anyone has any insight into this, I'd be very appreciative!
Okay, well shockingly I found a metal frame for really cheap from the next major city over from me so... I guess I'll give it a try. I'll post my results.
So, the new front chassis came in and unfortunately, as feared, the Neo and the regular Gear 2 are not quite as compatible as I thought.
The biggest issue is that the back isn't quite the same shape, which is weird because visually it's near impossible to see a difference, but it's there, and it prevents the back from fully closing. However, I plan to resolve this with a back for the full Gear 2 I ordered for cheap.
The second biggest issue is that the metal is designed to isolate the camera from the motherboard. This means there is a physical metal barrier which gets in the way of the IR LED. On top of this, it appears there are slits molded into the screw-posts for the board to slide into on the Neo, but these are absent from the full Gear 2. I plan to resolve both of these issue, very very carefully, with a dremel. I do not want to compromise the structural integrity of the screw posts.
The last issue I didn't confirm, but appears to exist is that the screen area on the full Gear 2 is slightly taller than on the Neo it seems. I had suspected this actually, and I think that would explain why my screen protectors were slightly too big. I plan to resolve this with a new screen for the full size Gear 2, which was also relatively cheap, but more than I wanted to spend on this project. I feel like you could get away with not doing this if you don't mind a tiny gap. But I want to make sure it's as perfect as it can be.
I'll update again once everything comes in.
Update: You can in fact put a Gear 2 Neo inside of a Gear 2 body, if you are so determined. Things that are different about the two include not just the metal main chassis, but also the back, the screen and the charging cradle. (As well as the main board.) So, if you want to do this, you'll need to get a new back as well, which I got cheap from ebay, and I'd recommend getting a new screen too. Theoretically the Neo one will fit, but there will probably be a noticeable gap. I have a Gear 2 cradle on order, for the time being I'm using the Neo charger, which is slightly wider, and holding it on with a rubber band.
The determination part: The main board will not fit into the metal case without modification to the case. (I wouldn't modify the board.) There's a metal divider to keep the IR LED from interfering with the camera, but since the Neo doesn't have a camera, and has the IR LED centered, this means you can't put the board in. This metal divider needs to be removed. Also, the Neo board goes around the screw posts a little bit in a way that is blocked by the metal. So, the trick is to remove the metal around the screw posts to allow the board to fit without compromising the structural integrity of it and without damaging the screw posts themselves. I did not need to make any slits in the screw posts though as I thought might be necessary. Which is good, because I feel a lot safer without doing that. I accomplished the necessary modifications with a Dremel, various tips, and a lot of care with a stead hand.
The end result looks really nice, and I do not anticipate having the same issue the plastic case had. I'm very satisfied, but it isn't the easiest thing to do. But if you are so determined, yes, it can and has now been done.
So I've had an Xperia Z3 Compact for some time now. Not long after I got it I managed to break the original back (sheer absolute carelessness.) I've since had a long line of third party backs. Unfortunately, my biggest problem is that even the ones claiming to be tempered extra strong glass still seem to break 100x more easily than the screen (still doesn't have even so much as a scratch.) Obviously no one here can do anything about that. (Though someday I'd like to figure out if I can come up with some sort of plastic solution. Then I could even use a more permanent and better sealing glue than official screen/back replacement glue because presumably it wouldn't break and have to be replaced every so often.) One problem I am having that maybe can be addressed here is that they keep coming loose.
I believe I'm doing it right. First I shut down the phone first (since there's so much heat involved I want to stress it as little as possible in the process.) Next I put the back with the glue up and use a heat gun on the low setting for quite a while on it to get the glue as malleable as possible. Then I line it up and put it in quickly and apply a fair bit of weight (I'm afraid to put too much and break something in the process, but I've tried to give it a fair bit of weight) and leave it for hours (actually, typically I just leave it overnight.) Half the time it works great for a fair little while and half the time it only lasts a short while, but always I find the back coming loose eventually. (I do not bend or pry at my phone a lot or anything like that.) I would add here that while I keep my phone in my pocket all the time, I keep it in a case I've modified to help protect it where I even put a metal plate on one side to help keep it pretty flat (the last thing in the world I want is any damage to my screen, so yeah, I go a bit above and beyond...) This should keep it from flexing very much in that pocket and it should remain fairly flat as far as I know more or less all of the time.
One thing I've been wondering: it's very difficult to keep the whole thing heated thoroughly. Also, it's easy to overheat one area (while underheating another for example) as I managed to warp the material over the camera lens (next time I'll pop that out first and put that back in only just before putting the back on.) So I had a bit of a thought: why not use an oven? This could warm it much more evenly potentially, getting the heat in deeper and more consistently than I can do with a heat gun. Well, presumably it must work because why wouldn't it? But it does beg a few questions. Most importantly, what temperature would I even use? For an oven it would obviously be something relatively low. For example, might it be something about like ~100C/~200F? More? Less? I honestly don't know and this is my main question here. Would a toaster oven be too focused (eg with the heating elements too close to the glass)? Because it would really be best if I could use it instead of a full sized one. Has anyone ever done this before? I only ever found people using heat guns in googling around. But something isn't going right and I have to assume it's the consistency because nothing else even makes sense.
PS. Has anyone ever 3D printed a back or anything? If I ever do try to go plastic I'll probably have to cut something the hardest possible way with very little precision which is no small part of why I keep putting off even trying it. This thing will never be back to the full waterproof rating it originally had, but I do at least want it to be safe if I have to make an emergency call in the rain or something. (Well, that and finding the right plastic since it needs to be flexible and not brittle but tough enough to resist bumps without smashing into the battery or something if anything pokes it.) Getting sick of glass...
Hello colleagues on YouTube, you can watch videos that this phone bends easily and your copies have a similar tendency to bend?
Some idiot (or their sponsor) spends the $1000 making those videos so you don't see how far the device will bend on your own. That is, honestly, a stupid thing to do with any device you actually intend to use if you aren't paid per click to record it.
The thing is: usually you don't need to bend your phones. Even hardcore gamers won't ever put so much pressure on their phones unless they have aggression issues.
While some of his tests are are pretty useful to know (if you want to throw your 1000€ phone unprotected in a bag together with keys, knives and guns) the bend test is pretty useless for 99%.
I mean: be honest were you ever in a situation that required you to bend your phone?
Anubarak16 said:
The thing is: usually you don't need to bend your phones. Even hardcore gamers won't ever put so much pressure on their phones unless they have aggression issues.
While some of his tests are are pretty useful to know (if you want to throw your 1000€ phone unprotected in a bag together with keys, knives and guns) the bend test is pretty useless for 99%.
I mean: be honest were you ever in a situation that required you to bend your phone?
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The body is made of Gorilla Glass 3. Realistically, this is the last phone they need to run scratch tests on because it was included on nearly every phone from 2013. That is roughly 7 years of testing already available.
TL;DR buy a $10 case.
That's right, no one normal will play bending the phone But what if I have a phone in the back pocket of my pants and I will sit on it, it will happen or not a few times I have sat on my s20 ultra it only cracks the protective glass but the phone did not bend or crash
Seems like the obvious advice is to avoid sitting on your phone. Bend test videos aren't going to account for all the variables involved in neglect and every story is going to be a bit different.