Asus has expel its latest flagship Android smartphone in the form of the Zenfone 12 Ultra .
turn tail on Qualcomm ’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset , just how different is the Zenfone 12 Ultra from last twelvemonth ’s Zenfone 11 Ultra ?
deliberate both theZenfone 12 UltraandZenfone 11 Ultrareceived a less - than - star three - whizz rating , we ’ve compared our experiences to determine whether you should consider upgrading or not .
Specs comparison table
Pricing and Availability
At the clock time of writing , theAsus Zenfone 12 Ultrais only usable in Europe and is not presently usable in either the UK or US , with a starting RRP of € 1099.99 ahead of its official launching on 28th February . That some equates to around £ 915.96/$1134.74 .
Available globally , theAsus Zenfone 11 Ultrahas an RRP of £ 949.99/$899.99/€999 . While we would normally expect the older French telephone to overleap in price , we ’ll have to look and see whether the Zenfone 12 Ultra will launch outside of Europe first .
Design
At first glance , it ’s comely to say that the Zenfone 12 Ultra wait a lot like the Zenfone 11 Ultra , romp the same 8.9 mm heaviness and rounded corners , which means both handsets are highly similar to theROG Phone 9 Pro . However , look closer and you ’ll spot a few fundamental differences .
The Zenfone 12 Ultra ’s tv camera lodging remains at the upper - left of the French telephone ’s rear but is more rectangular than the Zenfone 11 Ultra . Having enounce that , it still protrudes perceptibly far from the speech sound , which we think looks unlikeable .
This yr , Asus has rival the camera lodging ’s spyglass with the rearward panel colour , which is a prissy choice as it serve it blend undecomposed than its forerunner . likewise , the Zenfone 12 Ultra has bare stigmatization on the butt in stead of last twelvemonth ’s denudate figure .
Otherwise , both the Zenfone 12 Ultra and Zenfone 11 Ultra ’s screens are protected withGorilla Glass Victus 2and sport anIP68 rating .
Winner : Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra
Screen
There are very few dispute between the screen of the Zenfone 12 Ultra and Zenfone 11 Ultra , as the two sport a 6.78 - inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ solvent and a maximal brightness of 2500nits .
One of our only topic with the Zenfone 11 Ultra was its always - on presentation , which is perceptibly dimmer than other smartphones sporting the technical school . Luckily , Asus has sterilise this issue with the Zenfone 12 Ultra , make the always - on display much easy to see at a glance .
succeeder : Zenfone 12 Ultra
Camera
One of the standout feature of the Zenfone series is Asus ’ gimbal stabilisation engineering which help to stabilize and smooth videos and bring forth shrill , detailed images . Now in its 4th generation with the Zenfone 12 Ultra , we found the technology really does an telling job .
Otherwise , the Zenfone 12 Ultra retains the camera setup of the 11 Ultra , with 50MP primary , 32MP 3x telephotograph and 13MP ultrawide lenses . unluckily , this is n’t inevitably a beneficial thing , especially consider we herald the Zenfone 11 Ultra ’s camera as merely “ fine ” .
While the master lens can capture evenhandedly elaborate images in both well and low - perch experimental condition , with colours appearing more natural than the like ofSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra , we did note that both paradigm and HDR processing could be amend . Although the lowly 3x telephoto lense stay a strong choice , which is support up with a 32MP resolution for detailed outcome , shots captured with the 13MP ultrawide are too marshy .
Choosing a success here is hard , as both handsets are n’t specially invigorate with their photography prowess and sure enough wo n’t find their way onto our best camera phones list . However , as the Zenfone 12 Ultra sports the fourth - gen of stabilization engineering , whereas the Zenfone 11 Ultra has the third , the 12 Ultra takes the lead .
Performance
establish in the likes of theOnePlus 13andSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra , Qualcomm ’s flagshipSnapdragon 8 elect processorhas badly impressed us with its sheer power and operation . queerly , the Zenfone 12 Ultra does n’t benefit from such telling results and only slimly betters the Zenfone 11 Ultra which draw on last year’sSnapdragon 8 Gen 3processor .
While the Zenfone 12 Ultra received a single - nitty-gritty Geekbench 6 score of 2385 , which is only marginally upright than the Zenfone 11 Ultra ’s 2242 , theROG Phone 9 Proearned a thumping 3055 .
Its multi - core score tell a similar story , achieving 7523 . Though high than the Zenfone 11 Ultra ’s 7035 grudge , it falls seriously short of the ROG Phone 9 Pro ’s monolithic 9658 .
Even so , both handsets feel whipping and responsive , with “ larder smooth scrolling ” . The Zenfone 12 Ultra does handle intense gaming championship such as Call of Duty Mobile well than the Zenfone 11 Ultra , which we found would over - heat during gameplay .
The adult issue here really is that the Zenfone 12 Ultra is n’t as herculean as it theoretically should be .
Software
We appreciate the Zenfone series ’ customisable approach path to Android , as compatible handsets allow you to choose between Asus ’ ZenUI skin and stock Android feature . Although ZenUI is very close to line Android , it ’s squeamish to have this option .
Across both French telephone are multiple AI - power creature , including translation , arranging and various photo editing features . Although this sounds somewhat impressive , we find most are more ecological niche features that “ do n’t provide much extra value ” .
It ’s deserving noting that the Zenfone 12 Ultra can execute all its AI tools on - twist for add seclusion , although this does substantially slow up down the entire unconscious process .
The biggest subject with both the Zenfone 12 Ultra and Zenfone 11 Ultra is their software committal . Unlike the likewise pricedGoogle Pixel 9 ProandSamsung Galaxy S25 Plus , which both pop the question seven years , Asus only promises two year of major Android updates and five years of security updates .
likewise the Zenfone 11 Ultra was only given two age of Android and four years of security update , which will only take the French telephone to Android 16 . In 2025 , this merely is n’t unspoiled enough .
Battery Life
Although we were initially impressed by the Zenfone 11 Ultra ’s 5500mAh assault and battery cell , we are foiled to see Asus has retained this capacity for the Zenfone 12 Ultra .
Having say that , we found that the handset well lasts a full solar day with 30 - 40 % electric battery stay , and take aim just 47 minutes to charge from 1 - 100 % . The latter especially is an advance on the Zenfone 11 Ultra which take 53 second to see a full charge .
The Zenfone 12 Ultra ’s battery also seems slightly more efficient , as 60 minutes of Netflix drained just 7 % of charge while the same construe an 8 % step-down in the Zenfone 12 Ultra .
Otherwise , both French telephone can also support 15W wireless charge for added contraption .
Final Verdict
Not much has really exchange with the Zenfone 12 Ultra , as Asus has retained the same tv camera setup , blind and stamp battery capacity found in the Zenfone 11 Ultra . Although the Zenfone 12 Ultra does sport Qualcomm ’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset , it ensue in only slightly better performance than its predecessor .
Having say that , the 12 Ultra is undoubtedly more capable at gaming than the 11 Ultra , so if you ’re an greedy gamer then this may boast the upper mitt , although you ’re potential to be better suited to one of ourbest gambling phonesinstead .
As both French telephone are only promised two years of software updates , it ’s tough to advocate either smartphone . However , if you are firmly fixed on choosing a Zenfone , then we ’d paint a picture the Zenfone 12 Ultra is the better alternative .
