The Zenfone 9’s tagline, “small size, big possibilities,” is printed on the phone’s box and neatly summarizes its priorities.
Asus’s latest high-end handset is one of the most affordable on the market, with a powerful chipset, a new main camera, and a larger battery capacity. Unfortunately, there is no Zenfone Flip this time around; the only Zenfone 9 is the small Zenfone 9.
Yes, it is small. Asus has shaved a few millimeters off the already tiny Zenfone 8’s dimensions while keeping the weight at 169g, making the larger battery all the more impressive.
The improved efficiency of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 should do wonders with the extra juice, and the Fall version of Qualcomm’s top-tier chipset is also more powerful than the original.
Another significant advancement is the gimbal-mounted main camera, which has a larger sensor than last year’s model.
The ultrawide remains unchanged, but it now includes autofocus, which was not previously available in 2022. Similarly, the also-reused AF-capable selfie camera sets the Zenfone 9 apart from the masses.
The rest is mostly unchanged. The 5.9-inch OLED display refreshes at up to 120Hz, the battery charges at up to 30 watts, a headphone jack and stereo speakers are still present, and the body is IP68-rated.
The side-mounted fingerprint reader is a somewhat surprising development; the old phone had it under the same display.
Asus Zenfone 9 specifications in a nutshell:
- Body: 146.5×68.1×9.1mm, 169g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins).
- Display: 5.90″ Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 446ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM; LPDDR5, UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 12, ZenUI.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, gimbal stabilization; Ultra-wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 113˚, 14mm, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF.
- Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.5, 28mm (standard), 1/2.93″, 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@480fps; gyro-EIS, HDR; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps.
- Battery: 4300mAh; Fast charging, USB Power Delivery 3.0.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; 3.5mm jack; stereo speakers.
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