Android Solution: Zenfone

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

The NFC on my Zenfone 2 was working fine and easily pairing with my Bluetooth speaker and tablet. One day it suddenly stopped working. At first I thought I may have received a defective unit or that I had accidentally damanged it. I also assumed the recent firmware update disabled my NFC. However, I managed to solve this Zenfone 2 NFC issue after reading suggestions from other users in various forums. Here is how to resolve the NFC not working problem in Zenfone 2.

How to fix ASUS Zenfone 2 NFC Stopped Working Issue

The inside of the back cover has contacts for NFC antennas

First Remove the cover and then put it back firmly in place. Make sure the cover snaps properly i.e no gaps anywhere.
Now turn off NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
Reboot your Zenfone 2
Get your NFC device which you want to pair with the Zenfone
The Zenfone 2�s NFC chip is somewhere in the middle i.e. right below the volume to rockers
Gently tap the middle back of your Zenfone 2 (or the entire back) on the device you want to pair with.

Note: You have to tap or gently put the phone on the other device otherwise it won�t work. I use to simply slide my Zenfone on top of another NFC device and it wouldn�t pair. Also, you may have to tap all over the device several times until you find the right spot of the NFC chip.

Once the NFC is detected, you should hear a notification sound followed by prompt that will show that the NFC device has connected to your Zenfone 2.

Sometimes your Zenfone 2 can�t pair with other devices even when the NFC is working. You will hear the notification sound but it still won�t pair. In that case, you�ll have to restart your phone and then it will work. This seems to be a software bug or caused by incompatibility with some apps you installed recently. I hope ASUS will roll out an update to fix the NFC instability issue.

If you have just put a thick protective casing on your ASUS chances are that it is the culprit. Remove the protective casing and then try to pair via NFC.

Sometimes a damaged backpanel can also cause the issue because the inside of the backcover has the leads that contact the inner NFC antenna. Swap the backcover with a new one and check if that resolves the NFC issue.

Monday, 12 October 2015

The first thing you will notice about your brand new ASUS Zenfone 2 is that its 5.5-inch display has a very low brightness. The dim maximum brightness and the sporadic NFC problem are the two of the biggest issues I�ve experienced with the Zenfone 2. Otherwise, it is a really awesome phone for the price. I have however managed to somewhat fix the display brightness problem of the Zenfone 2. Previously I was utterly disappointed with the display but now I am very satisfied and now the maximum brightness is actually quite high. Here is how I solved the low screen brightness problem of ASUS Zenfone 2:

Fix low display brightness issue of ASUS Zenfone 2

First turn the auto brightness off

Swipe down from the top of the screen two times to access the quick access menu
At the end of the brightness slider, tap the �auto� option to turn it off.
Alternatively, you can go to settings >> Display >> brightness >> then turn off "auto brightness

After turning off auto-brightness, go to Settings >> scroll down and tap �Power Management�

Select �Power Saver� >> Tap the arrow next to the bottom-most �Customized� option
Now set CPU as smart, Brightness as High and optionally you can turn on extended standby.
Now slide your display�s brightness to the highest and you will see that your maximum brightness has significantly improved.

Let me know if the above steps has fixed the low screen brightness problem on your ASUS Zenfone 2. Do you have a better solution for this issue? Let us know in the comments. Currently I am looking for the solution for the NFC not working (pairing) problem on the Zenfone 2 and I will post a fix as soon as I find one.

Here are the screenshots of the above steps for your reference: