Asus Zenfone 10 Review

Verdict

Marmite - like aim aside , the Asus Zenfone 10 is a solid compendious smartphone with flagship processing great power , all - day battery sprightliness and a enormously customisable approach to Android 13 – though it is very exchangeable to its predecessor , and cost more money in 2023 .

Pros

Cons

Key Features

Introduction

Asus seems to have carved out a niche with its Zenfone range , ply to those that need a smaller screen than the 6.5- to 5.8 - column inch panels used in mostflagships . The Asus Zenfone 10 continues this trend , but is it really as succinct as Asus would have you believe ? I ’m not so sure .

Size apart , the Zenfone 10 is a spunky flagship with all the bells and pennywhistle you ’d expect , from flagshipSnapdragon 8 Gen 2power to a 144Hz AMOLED display and all - 24-hour interval battery life story – but it ’s also quite interchangeable to its herald , theZenfone 9 , and it costs a little more too .

The question is , then , has Asus done enough with the Zenfone 10 to maintain its pouch - friendly suggestion in 2023 ? Well …

Design and screen

The Asus Zenfone 10 takes a lot of visual cue from its predecessor , the Zenfone 9 , sporting the same double - stuff plan and oecumenical compact dimensions . That ’s outstanding if you were a fan of the Zenfone 9 , but if you ’re a snatch like me and you ’re not into the general look , it ’s a tad dissatisfactory .

The design baffles me a small ; it appear like aniPhone 14 , double-dyed with the same angular edges and rounded corner , with what looks like a cheap subject permanently stuck on the rear . The rear shell does n’t completely reach the sharpness of the bezel either , further adding to the odd looking .

There is a change in material compared to the Zenfone 9 , though it has split sentiment at Trusted Reviews over the retiring couple of week . Some have be intimate the bio - based polycarbonate paper - esque coating of the phone while others have consider that it made the phone palpate a draw tatty than its £ 749/$699 price rag . There is a transparent case in the box for those that really dislike it , I suppose .

At least it ’s available in some rather colourful finishes including Midnight Black , Starry Blue , Aurora Green , Comet White and Eclipse Red . I am a big fan of the Aurora Green finish sent for critical review , though the Eclipse Red does also face nice .

I imagine my chief issue stems from the ‘ compact ’ marketing of the Zenfone 10 . Asus claim that the ideal dimension for a compact smartphone are below 70 mm in width and 150 mm in peak , but really and truly , these measurements are rather asinine .

You see , while the Zenfone 10 indeed come within these boundaries at 68.1 x 146.5 x 9.4 mm , in reality , it ’s barely any smaller than the 6.1 - column inch iPhone 14 Pro . Take a look at the two side - by - side right here :

Sure , the Zenfone is still ever so slightly narrow than the 6.1 - inchiPhone 14 Pro , but there is n’t as much in it as Asus might have you trust . That ’s more frustrating when you agnize that the small trade - off in dimension means a reduction in filmdom size at 5.9 inch .

It ’s not all just merchandising guff though ; like most small - screen Android smartphones , the Zenfone 10 is really easy to use one - handed – I was even able to give the top of the covert to swipe down and get at the notification shade , and there are n’t many 2023 flagships I can say that about .

It also facilitate that the 5.9 - inch AMOLED panel is a premium one ; though its FHD+ settlement is n’t quite as picture element - packed as the WQHD panel from theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultra , its small attribute still bear a decent 444 PPI .

It ’s plenty bright at a maximum of 1100 nits which not only makes it easy to use outdoors but a dream forHDR contentfrom Netflix and Amazon Prime , and the blacks are as inky as you ’d expect from an AMOLED control board .

There ’s a144Hz refresh rateon offer to make everything feel smoother and more antiphonal , but there ’s a catch ; it ’s not anLTPO displaylike other flagship , meaning it ca n’t swing down to the battery - saving 1Hz when needed . Instead , the phone automatically trade between 60 , 90 and 120Hz in day-by-day liveliness , with the full 144Hz refresh rate exclusively available when play games .

There ’s not much of a notable change compare to LTPO panel in everyday utilisation , but it would ’ve been decent to see – not least because of improved battery efficiency compare to received panels .

Other noteworthy ironware features include fullIP68dust and water resistance , and the new ZenTouch 2.0 fingerprint reader and smart paint . The side - mount button can be swipe to perform a range of actions , from accessing the telling shade to scrolling through sites and , new for the Zenfone 10 , the power to fast forrader and rewind television on YouTube .

It is a handy characteristic but veracious - handers mind ; I found it ’d actuate fairly often if my laurel wreath was touch the mightiness push .

Cameras

As with the Zenfone 9 , Asus has decided to forego a soar lens on the Zenfone 10 . Instead , it boasts the same combining of a primary and ultrawide snapper on the rear – and it ’s a about - very setup too .

That ’s true of the independent 50MP genus Lens , using the same Sony IMX766 sensor as its predecessor , though it sport an upgraded six - axis gimbal stabilisation scheme that moves the integral camera package to stabilise an increased 1.5 degree in every direction – 3x more than standard OIS .

What does that mean for you and me ? In possibility , it should combat the blur when taking photograph with a shaky hand more than the competition . In reality , it does n’t quite carry off fuzz in all scenarios , but I ’d argue that the stabilisation is up there with some of the salutary around , with far fewer blurred shot than some phones I ’ve tested recently .

More generally speaking , the 50MP main crystalline lens is a capable one . The capture process is imposingly fleet , and while the resulting image showcase a delicious vibrancy , it ’s worth noting that they do n’t have the same degree of contrast intensity unremarkably found in Samsung ’s offerings .

It also does a great Book of Job in the HDR department , cope to enchant wad of detail in both bright and dark domain , even when mete out with challenging scenes bathed in sunlight .

One problem I have notice is that the phone sometimes shin with peculiarly bright and vibrant colouration , like the Bolshevik of the flowers from my garden , with the brightest region wait notably less define than other parts of the flower . It ’s not something I notice often , but deserving notice nonetheless .

With an f/1.9 aperture and a 1/1.56 in sensing element diminished than the 1 - column inch sensors of competing flagships like theXiaomi 13 Pro , dark time photography is n’t precisely industry - run , though it does a decent job if in an environment where there are reference of Inner Light like street lights . The colour temperature of the overall paradigm can sometimes be a little too warm , and some slam count a little cushy in place , however .

The ultrawide might only swash a slender MP hike from 12MP to 13MP , but the trope are well - tuned to meet the main Chrysophrys auratus in terms of temperature and colour reproduction that , when combined with anti - distortion technical school , makes it strong to discern which lens of the eye took which exposure when scrolling through your Gallery . At least I did when it came to finding samples for the review !

There are telltale sign , particularly when zooming in , but it ’s more than enough for get detailed mathematical group shots for sharing on social sensitive – just do n’t attempt using it in low igniter as the results are n’t quite as telling as those from the main sensor .

There is an option for 2x rapid growth in the Camera app to fetch you a small nigh to your subject , but this is done by cropping the main detector – and the further you zoom , the worse it look overall . It ’s times like these that I really bid the Zenfone 10 had a dedicated telephoto sensing element , return high - character close - ups , especially when it ’s a feature of many other flagships at a similar Leontyne Price .

Selfies from the 32MP selfie photographic camera are quite telling , with great detail , sight of light and a level of vibrancy that simply is n’t present in some high - last alternative like the Xiaomi 13 Pro . That ’s mostly down to the use of an RGBW sensing element in place of the RGGB sensor used by many other selfie cameras , with more white picture element providing not only better brightness intake but an overall decrease in noise – something particularly notable when shoot selfies in low light .

portraiture mode is also a standout feature of speech of the selfie camera , with impressive edge credit and a not - too - OTT faux bokeh event .

As you might require from a six - axis gimbal stabilisation system , video is also extremely smooth , even when hit 4K@60fps video recording . Audio capture is also decent here , thanks to Asus ’ partnership with OZO which helps reduce noise and provide stereoscopic audio recording for better engrossment when fascinate video recording .

Performance and software

The Asus Zenfone 10 is just about as powerful as they come , disport Qualcomm ’s top - endSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsetalong with either 8 GB or a whopping 16 GB of RAM and either 128- , 256- or 512 GB ofUFS 4.0 storageto play with .

As you might require from the company that also uprise the performance - focusedROG Phone 7 Ultimate , functioning is solid here . Not once did I experience that the Zenfone 10 could n’t wield what I was throwing at it , with an extremist - responsive tone no doubt enhance by that smooth refresh rate , complete with rapid animations and clamant app payload .

In fact , it ’s a pretty unanimous little gaming phone with sustained performance even when playing more intriguing games like Call of Duty Mobile at eminent frame rates , making it a expert option for gamers that need something more compact than the heavy , bulky alternatives – as long as you feel well-to-do gaming on a small 5.9 - in display , that is .

That ’s backed up by benchmark mental testing results too , with the Zenfone 10 well capable to compete with flagships that cost hundreds more :

Audio carrying into action is also up there with some of the best around , not least because of the inclusion of a 3.5 millimetre headphone jack – one of vanishingly few flagship devices to sport the port in 2023 . That ’s further bolster by Dirac tuning , as well as Hi - Res Audio financial backing – both wire and wireless – and aptX Lossless for high - ray support over Bluetooth .

Even without a duo of cans connect , the stereo verbalizer setup is imposingly loud for such a small phone , though with the common caveat about smartphone speakers and a deficiency of bass . The other downside is that it can make the thin rearward panel vibrate in your helping hand at gamey volumes , relieve oneself the earpiece find a bit sleazy compared to spyglass - back option .

When it comes to the general software experience , expectAndroid 13with Asus ’ ZenUI skin applied .

I know what Asus has done with its approach shot to Android 13 . It ’s still fairly stock , and where Asus has introduced change ( like with its approach to powering off the phone ) , it also provide the option to switch back to the pedigree Android option . It ’s this approach to customisation that really stands out among most third - company Android skins , down to minor elements like changing the shape of the quick setting ikon .

newfangled to Asus ’ Android 13 skin is the ability to customise the earpiece ’s always - on display with GIFs and other custom image , as well as melioration to Game Genie to advance game functioning and the ability to take farsighted screenshots . The latter feels amazingly delinquent .

Overall , it ’s a great , light , customisable overture to Android 13 that most users will revalue , whether come from stock Android or another approach to the OS exclusively .

The computer software hope is n’t quite up there with Samsung and Google , however , with a promise of two bone upgrades and four years of surety patches .

Battery life

The combination of a highly efficient chipset , a small display and a fairly decent 4,300mAh battery means you wo n’t really have to occupy about electric battery life with the Zenfone 10 – in my experience , at least .

I would n’t describe myself as a power substance abuser but I do use my sound for emails , browsing , messaging on WhatsApp , hear to euphony and take breeze when I ’m out and about , and not once in my two week of using the speech sound did I get distressed that it ’d go matte before I made it home . Even on rather busy days , I ’d land up with around 30 - 40 % shelling lead in the cooler .

On days when I used the telephone less , battery life incur even better – in fact , I managed to go from Friday afternoon to Sunday night on a single charge .

That ’s backed up by my benchmark results too , with the Zenfone 10 drain 5 % during an hour of HDR Netflix playback and just 4 % over 30 hour of gaming .

The only downside is the charge speeds ; it ’s cap at a rather boring 30W when equate to other flagships like theOnePlus 11and its 100W charging speed . I ’ve found that a full bursting charge is possible in around 1 hour and 20 moment when using the provide 30W HyperCharge adapter , which is fine , but can be a little slow for those last - moment top - ups .

The only saving saving grace is that the Zenfone 10 is compatible with any USB - coke PD 30W battery charger , think you do n’t require an Asus - branded battery charger to enjoy the full explosive charge speeds .

There ’s also 15W wireless charging available for the first meter on a Zenfone that , while slower than pumped-up charging , is much more convenient .

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Should you buy it?

It might not be as compact as some might require , but the Zenfone 10 is still among the small flagship Android smartphones usable in 2023 .

While the six - axis gimbal stabilisation of the independent 50MP shooter is a dainty touch , and the 13MP ultrawide does a heavy job in most conditions , it lack a telephoto crystalline lens – something you ’ll detect on much of the similarly price contender .

Final Thoughts

I might not personally be a fan of its design , but the Asus Zenfone 10 is a solid smartphone for the money – particularly for those sick of giant 6.8 - inch showing on smartphones . It ’s not nearly as summary as Asus might have you believe , value in not much smaller than aniPhone 14 Pro , but the 5.9 - inch AMOLED showing is at least easy enough to use one - handed .

There ’s also some cool television camera tech on offer , include a young six - axis gimbal stabilisation system that help concentrate fuzz in both photograph and videos , and it makes take recollective - photo crack much easier , negating the indigence for a tripod . It ’s just a pity that the core camera tech is near - identical to its predecessor , meaning there ’s no real acclivity to camera quality compare to theZenfone9 .

Despite its comparatively small dimensions , the Zenfone 10 is a fireball with the top - end Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and up to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of UFS 4.0 memory on offer . It unsurprisingly drive home solid workaday performance as well as fairly beefy game performance , and it ’ll well last the vast bulk of users all day without a top - up .

So , while it might not be a truly compact smartphone like theiPhone 13 Mini , it ’s one of the small and most capable you ’ll find on the Android side of things in 2023 , peculiarly at the top end of the mart .

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