Verdict
Still the unspoilt small - sized phone on the grocery in 2023 , the Asus Zenfone 9 deport first-class performance and extremely capable tv camera computer hardware . However , there are a few venial griping that let it down , including charging velocity , image processing , and its thickness .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Design and Screen
The Asus Zenfone 9 is an unusual - looking phone . It has a small footprint , but the tv camera crystalline lens on the back are monolithic , like the heart of one of those yellow Minions characters .
It is also by no means thinly at 9.1 mm thick-skulled . And that does n’t appear to be the measurement of the most sticky - outy camera lense either , just the main consistency .
The Zenfone 9 is light and not a handful , but it is not quite sleek and slender like some of the other little phone you might look into . However , this fit with Asus ’s elan . It has never been a household phone brand in the US , UK , or Europe , and its biggest success have arguably been simulation such as theROG Phone 6 Prothat would attract to the nerdy crowd who might like its RoG gaming microcomputer .
The rear finish is unusual here too . At the price you might desire to see glass , perhaps aluminium , but Asus used a “ polymer ” in the Zenfone 9 . I ordinarily take this as a marketing twirl on “ plastic ” but the Zenfone 9 ’s rear does have an strange feel to it . It ’s softer than a regular plastic , but is n’t rubberised .
I opine the aim is to give the Zenfone 9 a sorting of furitistic industrial tactile property , something that is n’t glass or atomic number 13 but does n’t feel inexpensive . However , I do have some concern about how it will carry up long term . you could put a mark in it with a relatively light grazing of a fingernail . And while you’re able to rub out incompatibility in the finish , well-heeled - clothing control surface seldom maturate that well .
Asus does cluster in a rear cover , but it is simple plastic and does not feel as unspoiled . Still , you should in all probability apply it .
There are lot of enceinte features to be found in this phone ’s hardware . For starter , it has a earpiece jack ; a rarity these days . It also has stereo speakers , single with excellent performance for a smaller telephone set . There ’s one number one wood above the screen , and another at the bottom , and they are roughly matched , tonally . Sometimes you get a bassy speaker and a tinny one , but that ’s fortuitously forfend in this sheath . maximal bulk is proficient , and there ’s a decent gist here .
The Zenfone 9 is water resistant toIP68 , the highest valuation you ’ll find in a “ normal ” speech sound , and there ’s a fast fingerprint on the side . The display chalk is top - tier Gorilla Glass Victus , so it ’s build to be immune to scrape .
This is a nicely designed and unusual telephone , but one potential drawback that I can see is the corners of its fictile rear dialog box turning slick through clothing .
The Asus Zenfone 9 is a smaller speech sound , so naturally does n’t have a jumbo concealment . It ’s a 5.9 - inch OLED panel , a flat one with resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels . The screen border are small , and the jury is flat . It ’s still the small-scale control panel around in 2023 , with most other Android makers seemingly shunning anything less than 6.1 inch .
There ’s nothing here to straightaway bespeak you spent more money on the Zenfone , but this is for the most part because just about all £ 200 - plus phones have excellent screens these days . For example , you’re able to get like specs for far less money in mobiles like theXiaomi Redmi Note 11 professional .
Asus claims the Zenfone 9 can reach 1100 nit of brightness . But does it ? In a normally light elbow room the phone will head up to around 442 nit of brightness . And in its turbo - charge in high spirits brightness mood it can strike 805 nits . This is a very respectable figure , enough to make outdoors visibility largely a non - issue . The high brightness mode will pursue automatically when you head outdoors on a bright daytime .
It ’s a soundly - looking , colour - rich and contrasty screen . The low size make it easier to stretch your thumb across too , and Asus lets you use the Zenfone 9 ’s might button to pull down the notification window if you care , thanks to a feature film called ZenTouch , where the capacitive properties of the fingermark proofreader tolerate it to double over as a mite surface .
Camera
You ca n’t overleap the Zenfone 9 ’s cameras , sitting right there on the back behind a pair of Coca Cola nursing bottle glass . As you’re able to secern from there being just two cameras , Asus has not load up this phone with sensor just to make it appear impudent .
The elemental camera has a 50MP IMX766 sensor , a orotund microchip that Asus has used before in the Asus RoG Phone 6 . OPPO also employed it in the top - tierOppo Find X5 Pro . The ultra - wide-eyed photographic camera uses the Sony IMX363 , which was the brain of the main camera in the much - laudedPixel 5 . And the selfie camera employ the Sony IMX663 .
Asus was understandably going for it with the Zenfone 9 camera , using all - Sony detector when price - conscious model typically throw in some Omnvision or Samsung hardware , at the least . However , in another sense Asus has moderate back ; the Zenfone 9 has no zoom camera . fit one in a phone this little would be a challenge , and would no doubled step-up costs dramatically , but it ’s the one miss part of what is otherwise an impressive lot of bits of hardware .
Asus uses A - gradation sensors , and while it does n’t quite have the software system to avoid criticism entirely , the end result is still a super - capable and fun - to - use of goods and services camera .
The first great Zenfone 9 feature is how the unusually gamy - quality ultra - wide photographic camera mean there ’s no obvious quality compromise when you flip lense , even when shooting in poorer lighting . debasement of the image at the corner is better than average , lens of the eye distortion is automatically corrected , and ultra - wide shots hold up to close scrutiny pretty well .
A in high spirits - quality ultra - wide with geometrical distortion rectification mean it ’s not always immediately obvious which tv camera any shot was remove with ( and that ’s a unspoiled matter ) , as you may see from the pictures below :
“ Gimbal ” stabilization is Asus ’s 2nd star feature . This refer to super - charged optic image stabilisation , matched with software stabilization . It can overcompensate for up to three degrees of movement , and you’re able to clearly see the lense moving when the tv camera app is open .
This is most useful when shoot video , as stabilisation just is n’t that necessary during the day , and at night software program does a luck of the legwork . While I do n’t find the stabilization miles better than that of some flagship headphone , it is at that level . And its computer hardware - based nature means even the Zenfone 9 ’s top shooting mode get some pattern of stabilization — that ’s a thumping 8 special K resoluteness ( at 24fps ) in this case .
The Zenfone 9 ’s video is strong across the board . 4 kB television at 60fps is my preferred way . It ’s smooth , incisive and clean . you’re able to even shoot HDR video if you drop down to 30fps .
1080p footage does not bet overly soft , as it often can do in phones . And while I do n’t imagine the 8 super acid mode is deserving using that often over 4 super acid thanks to the reduced motion clarity , and increased mental image and colour stochasticity , the stabilization make it more usable than plentifulness of 8 K modes I ’ve used to engagement . Nice job , Asus .
allow ’s head back to still . The Asus Zenfone 9 can handle pretty much any state of affairs . It maintains foreground clarity when flash into the sun . At night the high - calibre sensor and OIS pay off , net you neat and decipherable images whether you expend the dedicated nighttime mood or not . They do n’t take an arduous amount of time to catch either .
comprehend detail from both the received and ultra - wide lenses is good and the Asus Zenfone 9 is better at preserving high spot in many scenes than theMotorola Edge 30 FusionI came from using a week or so ahead of this reappraisal .
There are a few quirks , mostly related to processing . The Asus Zenfone 9 does not have class - leading colour handling . While tones do n’t attend comically oversaturated , the telephone will at times clip color channels when , for instance , shooting a bright violent flower .
appear at images down to the pixel level and you ’ll find the Zenfone 9 has less natural - looking item processing than an iPhone , Pixel or one of the very best Samsungs . I cerebrate Asus ’s has tune the “ AI ” texture render too hard . Look near at a crushed rock way of life and the patina of its surface will often look “ made up ” . Because it sort of is . And far off trees and leaves wo n’t await as instinctive as they could do , close down up .
This is the kind of processing vogue Samsung has mostly weaned itself off over the eld , and Asus ’s panache still has some maturing to do . However , this is not all that plain until you look close , so is only going to be a major issue when you take up trim into moving picture .
In the above mental image , you may see the prominent blob sun effect induce by the Asus ’s take on HDR tuning
The above photo was shot with 2x digital zoom .
The side - effects of the HDR way are going to be more obvious . This speech sound try a little less hard to retain uttermost highlights in very high swooning direct contrast scenes than many . you may see this when you shoot straightaway Into the sun . Where some phones will render the sun as a little dot , it becomes a bigger white splodge through the Zenfone 9 . The rest of the scene will broadly speaking face great , with warning mid - tone clarity and pretty just handling of color in these uttermost condition . But , again , Asus ’s computer software is n’t quite top - tier .
There ’s also a wee bit of shutter lag in the Zenfone 9 . It ’s not a perfect television camera , and some of its height are n’t that far off those of the cheaperPixel 6aorOnePlus Nord 2T. However , the consistent high level of quality in the computer hardware is impressive .
The Zenfone 9 ’s selfie camera is great too , for deterrent example . It can care with pitiful light and backlight scenes while keep a wad of fine point . And it ca n’t hurt than the selfie camera has relatively big 1.22 micrometer sensor pixels .
Performance
The Zenfone 9 ranAndroid 12out of the box at launching with a usage interface on top , though it receive the update to Android 13 in 2023 .
At first coup d’oeil I think its app drawer look a bit cramped , a short text - wakeless ; but this is really just a knock - on outcome of the screen size . Five columns of icon into a 5.9 - column inch screen is a higher concentration than your centre may be accustomed to , and it can take a bit of getting used to .
I ’m proud of to report that there ’s nothing too queasy going on here , software - wise . The port is light enough to show off Android lineament like the colourful feature toggle blob . you’re able to neuter the colour of these — things like the Wi - Fi toggle push button — to change the spirit of your phone a little .
A bunch of the initial Asus ocular savour is really just down to the rather bold Zenfone 9 preinstalled animated wallpaper . Changing it to something motionless , less scratchy , takes the edge off and get the Zenfone feel much closer to the experience of using a Pixel headphone .
The Asus Zenfone 9 had the good phone processors in the world at the clock time of press release . It ’s the QualcommSnapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 , a follow - up to the “ non plus ” Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 .
This is a high - clocked chipset , but is also made using a unlike manufacture process that Qualcomm claim dramatically improves power efficiency . After being ab initio impressed by the originalSnapdragon 8 Gen 1 ’s benchmark results , I think it has demonstrate to be a snatch of a dud . It causes a lot of twist heat - up in every phone I ’ve used , resulting in thermic strangling that means you wo n’t always get dramatically good real - creation gaming results after a while than a mid - tier chipset like the Snapdragon 870 or MediaTek Dimensity 1300 .
Where most of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones I ’ve used terminate up with under half their peak gambling force after a while , the Asus Zenfone 9 book on to 75.2 % according to 3D Mark ’s Wild Life Extreme benchmark . Asus does seem to have tailored this telephone set for performance , though , as the aluminium sides did get quite toasty by the end of this 20 - bit trial .
Peak graphics performance is also around 27 % higher than that of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phone like theGalaxy S22 Ultra . It still ca n’t pair the iPhone 14 ’s A16 Bionic , though . But that phone is £ 150 more than the original Leontyne Price of the Zenfone 9 . Still , it ’s going to sail through any biz you might select to play — although I ’d suggest considering a big - CRT screen phone if you are peregrine play obsessive .
It is deserving noting that the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 has been replaced by the even newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 used by many 2023 flagships , but you ’ll be hard - weigh to see a difference in performance in real - domain conditions , making it just as tempting in 2023 as it was in 2022 .
Battery
The Asus Zenfone 9 has a 4300mAh battery , a gross okay capacitance for its size of it . But it ’s shown up by theSony Xperia 10 IV , which fit a 5000mAh battery into a narrow and fragile ( if taller ) shell .
Its accuse swiftness is also quite poor compare to that of the other Formosan brands you might point to with this much money to drop : OnePlus , Xiaomi and so on . The Zenfone 9 include a 30W courser but , using a great power measure to break the power tie , the charge per unit manoeuver all over the property during a charge cycles/second .
The Asus Zenfone 9 takes 84 minutes to reach 100 % charge , and 33 minutes to hit 50 % . It ’s a bit rubbish when you consider a full charge of theOnePlus 10Ttakes less than 20 minutes .
existent barrage fire life is a non - consequence in review price . It ’s not brilliant , it ’s not sorry . I launch I can get through a daylight , no problem , but not with enough charge to make plug away the phone in , say , every other day a workable proposition .
It is nowhere near as long - lasting as theSony Xperia 10 IV , a phone I otherwise do n’t wish almost as much as the Zenfone 9 , and is closemouthed to theOnePlus Nord 2Tin stamen term .
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Should you buy it?
, fuse a small human body with top - level index , advanced camera technical school and quality constituent throughout .
, a few finer points like photographic camera processing , lodge speed and its thickness are small letdown
Final Thoughts
The Asus Zenfone 9 is still the best small “ pocket rocket ” telephone set for ask buyers , even almost a year after its initial release . It ’s the most thickset Android you ’ll find , it ’s not overpriced , is very muscular , it look distinctive , and Asus uses high - timbre television camera hardware across the board .
There are a few issues . I ’m not persuaded the rearward finish is going to age well . Asus ’ tv camera processing is n’t as rarify as the best . Charging speed is not great . And some wo n’t care that the Zenfone 9 is dramatically chunkier than , say , the iPhone SE .
However , it ’s a funny phone , not quite like anything else out there right now . And that is worth lionise in itself .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly . We use diligence standard run to liken features properly and we use the headphone as our main gimmick over the review period of time . We ’ll always tell you what we retrieve and we never , ever , accept money to review a Cartesian product .
FAQs
It has IP68 water resistance , about as close to raincoat as you ’ll get in a mainstream earphone .
storage is non - expansile , but the acclivity to 256 GB is relatively affordable .
It does have a earpiece diddly-shit , unlike the vast legal age of phones of its social class .
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