Beautifully Crafted, Just for You
ZenFone 5 (A500KL) combines the best of the smartphone experience with powerful performance that will improve every aspect of your life. Simple, Peaceful, Beautiful; this is what ZenFone 5 is designed to be.
Responsiveness
Perfect performance, without compromises
ZenFone 5 (A500KL)'s powerful Quad-core processor can easily handle multiple tasks and deliver an immersive gaming experience.
Blazing fast LTE
With support for 4G LTE you will be able to effortlessly stream HD video, browse the web and social networks and work while you're on the move - and at an ultra-fast speed!
Beauty & Touch
Your awesome new mobile experience begins with a single touch Your ZenFone 5 (A550KL) experience starts here at your fingertips. Get hands-on with the next step in mobile technology.
Excellent image quality from superb technology
PixelMaster is a unique ASUS-developed technology that combines software, hardware and optical design to deliver incredible image quality. With PixelMaster, your smartphone can produce professional quality photos and, best of all, your phone is with you all the time so you can capture every moment.
Turn complexity into simplicity
ZenUI uses intelligence technology, behaviour habits, and simplicity. There's no need for complication. Enjoy everything, where it should be.
Top comments
Sprograt
8 Apr 163#5
I've had a ZenFone previously and for people who are wondering about the battery I unplugged the phone at 0800 in a morning and by 1800 the phone was warning me to charge the battery that was with light web browsing, reading emails etc nothing I would call heavy use other than that It's a good phone, it's the battery that lets it down.
All comments (48)
littel helper
8 Apr 16#1
+Excellent screen brightness . good specs.
−No removable battery. No Android upgrade.
008 to littel helper
8 Apr 161#12
>>>>>
lollipop 3.24.40.87 on this hardware runs silky smooth ;-)
>>>>>
If you can get or want the Red verison of this deal, it is £120-170 and selling
elsewhere so bargain!
>>>>>
Cheers for posting Buzz, superb bit of hardware, with faster than fast LTE 4G and camera
is brilliant, even without using a free 3rd party app version! :wink:
bullerbug to littel helper
8 Apr 16#20
asus web site shows a manual update
little_green
8 Apr 16#2
Love deign and build of this phone by far one of nicest phones ive owned and so comfy to holdwith the shapw of back but the battery life is terrible
little_green
8 Apr 161#3
Also not sure why it packs good specs but the cameras are below average. At its usual proce point u cpuld get another phone with 4g 2gb ram 16gb storage and 13mp camera ad 5mp front camera eg p8 lite and su6
Im temptwd to give this phone a second shot as mines was ex diplay which could have affect3d battery life but heard from others battery life is poor on them all.
Mines would be 30% by 4pm after coming off chage at 7am and light web usage
haggisheid to little_green
8 Apr 161#4
Thanks for that feedback, was considering this and read about the poor battery life, but you have confirmed how bad this is, will now have to consider the Vodafone smart ultra or Wileyfox instead.
Sprograt
8 Apr 163#5
I've had a ZenFone previously and for people who are wondering about the battery I unplugged the phone at 0800 in a morning and by 1800 the phone was warning me to charge the battery that was with light web browsing, reading emails etc nothing I would call heavy use other than that It's a good phone, it's the battery that lets it down.
haggisheid to Sprograt
8 Apr 16#7
.My wife had a Nexus 4, which I didn't rate battery wise, doesn't sound like this would be an improvement
renagade27
8 Apr 161#6
I have this phone, love it. The camera in good light is cool for 4x6 but not wonderful. The video on the other hand, when setup right is outstanding, as is the microphone especially inside moving car for instance. The battery for me late nearly the whole day, light browsing with some emailing and WhatsApp. The UI is just bliss to use, so easy.
For the money this is a brilliant phone working within the constraints of the device.
renagade27
zermattbusby
8 Apr 16#8
Looks great for the price
little_green
8 Apr 161#9
Its disspointing coz if battery life was better it would be a winner. The canra is lower spec than others but thats livable unfortunately battery life isnt or at least how fast this one drops cant be excused unless u want to carry about a charger or portable power bank
disgraceUK
8 Apr 16#10
Mine had a faulty SD card slot, a faulty sim card slot and one day the speaker just packed in. So back it went, battery life was quite dire too.
jeffjack
8 Apr 16#11
Can marshmallow be put on this? deal breaker..
Majumba
8 Apr 16#13
Hot for the price, but don't believe everything you read.
cullies
8 Apr 16#14
android kit kat, no thanks
check_your_bank
8 Apr 161#15
Check that your bank app is compatible , x86 processor in this phone doesn't allow barclays and many other to work - It was sent back to ASUS after 2 days, and dont ask barclays they are clueless.
Replaced with a wileyfox swift , better in every way , very pleased (+ £20 cashback direct from manufacturer)
seacam
8 Apr 16#16
Asus preloads its devices with loads of rubbish, random apps that cannot be uninstalled. Just something to remember
zaheer2003
8 Apr 16#17
Single sim - cold
Gollywood to zaheer2003
8 Apr 161#19
...that's the norm in the UK you joker!
fishmaster
8 Apr 161#18
That's the firmware version rather than the Lollipop version, I believe the latest Lollipop that runs on this phone is 5.0.2. I don't rate Lollipop at all, even the supposedly fixed version was crap which is 5.1.1. If you have KitKat don't upgrade is my advice. KitKat is a great Android version. The original version of Android on this phone was Jellybean according to gsmarena. I don't own this phone so maybe Lollipop is genius on this phone, I doubt it though.
don't know what's do special about Android upgrading, the new one on the m8 is just annoying asking for permissions constantly
misterleoni
9 Apr 16#23
Doesn't ask 'constantly' - it's for when a new app needs to access a given feature. It's to protect your security and privacy, since some apps used to have built in discrete permissions you might not know about.
On Marshmallow if you had a spirit level app that suddenly popped up with a permission request to access your SMS and phone book you'd know something was amiss.
is this phone any good??tempted to get one for my kid??anyone have this here??any feedback??
ferrarian
9 Apr 16#26
HOT, miles better than any random chinese **** from hauwei, xoaimi
little_green
9 Apr 16#27
Design and build is spot on really really nice. Zena ui is user friendly smooth and sleek.
But what let's the phone down is the battery life. It's appalling. If you don't mind carrying around a charger or portable power bank then go for it but otherwise I'd avoid. As I wrote before I'd take it off charge at 7am and by 4pm it'd be 30% or less and that was with light /moderate use for texting fb emails and web maybe around 1-2 hours of screen time.
little_green
9 Apr 162#28
Huawei are well established in the UK market to not be considered Chinese crap and aren't Asus taiwanese anyway
MrPuddington
9 Apr 16#29
An Intel CPU is still a problem. While they are quite fast, they never got the battery consumption under control for Android. So together with a small battery it is a recipe for terrible battery life.
jeffjack
9 Apr 16#30
it's nice to see someone trying to update it, but the camera and gps don't won't in that rom, why even bother releasing it at that stage?
sandstone1
9 Apr 16#31
Wow even better than the new nexus made by ?
ibiza
9 Apr 161#32
Its a Qualcomm MSM8926 quadcore processor
MrPuddington
10 Apr 16#33
So they changed from Intel back to ARM? Maybe Intel does not support LTE.
Anyway, if battery life is poor, they must have made a mistake. That is easy with Android - one buggy driver, and the phone just burns through the battery in no time.
ibiza
10 Apr 16#34
I've an Asus LTE fonepad with an Intel processor, & its battery is fine even with it getting on now.
featch
10 Apr 161#35
Thanks for the heads up - this would have been a deal breaker for me. I've managed to install Lollipop by copying this file to the internal storage drive and installing it via the fastboot menu (switch phone off and hold power and volume down to access this).
Unsure if you need to apply all of the automated KitKat (4.4) updates before doing this, but I did anyway.
Dagk
11 Apr 16#36
Did you have to update the firmware first or just this one file?
Dagk
11 Apr 16#37
Where did you buy your WileyFox from?
featch
11 Apr 161#38
Just this one file manually. Unsure if the firmware was altered by applying the 6-7 automated software updates.
Dagk
12 Apr 161#39
I managed to upgrade it last night. All working fine so far. I had to delete the file after the upgrade as it kept telling me that it had found an update! Will see if all the concern over the rubbish battery is justified or not......:smiley:
featch
12 Apr 161#40
I've deleted or disabled all of the Asus bloatware too and I'm really impressed with the phone's performance. My usage over the past two days has been above average and the battery has performed much better than my Moto G 4G. I don't know if this is thanks to upgrading to Lollipop or if the other concerns are unfounded.
Sandy1012
15 Apr 161#41
Iv got the zenfone 6 its fantastic quality for the price and battery life is very decent.
I will definitely get another zenfone (newer model) when I need too.
Dagk
15 Apr 161#42
I'm also loving this phone! Running Lollipop and agree that the battery usage is fine. Actually much better than my Moto G (1st gen). The 2GB ram is also making it a very reliable & fast phone. Brilliant for £80! No regrets buying this.
little_green
15 Apr 16#43
anyone confirm batttery life?
featch
15 Apr 16#44
So far so good. I can't fault it after using the phone for almost a week (after Lollipop upgrade. Haven't been below 40% at the end of a day and I always came close to rinsing the Moto G.
little_green
15 Apr 16#45
strange.
i had this phone and the battery life was appalling it'd be at 40% at 2pm after coming off charge at 7am and about 1 hour screen time, but i hadnt updated to lollipop wonder if kitkat is the issue
Dagk
15 Apr 16#46
Exactly same experience for me! Well happy with it.
winchman to Dagk
24 May 16#48
Still available. One of the cheapest with 2gb RAM.
abdbaas
17 Apr 16#47
Tracked for me on quidco. £1.66 I think. Not much but still better than nothing
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
ZenFone 5 (A500KL) combines the best of the smartphone experience with powerful performance that will improve every aspect of your life. Simple, Peaceful, Beautiful; this is what ZenFone 5 is designed to be.
Responsiveness
Perfect performance, without compromises
ZenFone 5 (A500KL)'s powerful Quad-core processor can easily handle multiple tasks and deliver an immersive gaming experience.
Blazing fast LTE
With support for 4G LTE you will be able to effortlessly stream HD video, browse the web and social networks and work while you're on the move - and at an ultra-fast speed!
Beauty & Touch
Your awesome new mobile experience begins with a single touch Your ZenFone 5 (A550KL) experience starts here at your fingertips. Get hands-on with the next step in mobile technology.
Excellent image quality from superb technology
PixelMaster is a unique ASUS-developed technology that combines software, hardware and optical design to deliver incredible image quality. With PixelMaster, your smartphone can produce professional quality photos and, best of all, your phone is with you all the time so you can capture every moment.
Turn complexity into simplicity
ZenUI uses intelligence technology, behaviour habits, and simplicity. There's no need for complication. Enjoy everything, where it should be.
Top comments
All comments (48)
−No removable battery. No Android upgrade.
lollipop 3.24.40.87 on this hardware runs silky smooth ;-)
>>>>>
If you can get or want the Red verison of this deal, it is £120-170 and selling
elsewhere so bargain!
>>>>>
Cheers for posting Buzz, superb bit of hardware, with faster than fast LTE 4G and camera
is brilliant, even without using a free 3rd party app version! :wink:
Im temptwd to give this phone a second shot as mines was ex diplay which could have affect3d battery life but heard from others battery life is poor on them all.
Mines would be 30% by 4pm after coming off chage at 7am and light web usage
For the money this is a brilliant phone working within the constraints of the device.
renagade27
Replaced with a wileyfox swift , better in every way , very pleased (+ £20 cashback direct from manufacturer)
On Marshmallow if you had a spirit level app that suddenly popped up with a permission request to access your SMS and phone book you'd know something was amiss.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/huawei-p8-lite-payg-89-99-top-up-84-99-upgrade-carphonewarehouse-2414815
:smirk:
But what let's the phone down is the battery life. It's appalling. If you don't mind carrying around a charger or portable power bank then go for it but otherwise I'd avoid. As I wrote before I'd take it off charge at 7am and by 4pm it'd be 30% or less and that was with light /moderate use for texting fb emails and web maybe around 1-2 hours of screen time.
Anyway, if battery life is poor, they must have made a mistake. That is easy with Android - one buggy driver, and the phone just burns through the battery in no time.
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/ZenFone/A500KL/UL-ASUS_T00P-WW-12.4.5.50-user.zip
Unsure if you need to apply all of the automated KitKat (4.4) updates before doing this, but I did anyway.
I will definitely get another zenfone (newer model) when I need too.
i had this phone and the battery life was appalling it'd be at 40% at 2pm after coming off charge at 7am and about 1 hour screen time, but i hadnt updated to lollipop wonder if kitkat is the issue