Asus remains true to itself and continues the series of compact high-end smartphones with the Zenfone 9. Compared to its predecessor, Zenfone 9 received an improved camera, battery and a more powerful processor.
Asus Zenfone 9 offers very good features in its size class and is unique in the Android segment. Viewed from the front, the smartphone retains the 5.9-inch OLED display of the Zenfone 8. The AMOLED panel from Samsung offers 1,080 × 2,400 pixels and achieves a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. Alternatively, the levels 120, 90 or 60 Hz can be selected manually in the Android settings. The screen is said to achieve 700 cd/m² in full screen and 1,100 cd/m² at peak and is factory calibrated with Delta E <1. It is protected by Corning’s Victus Gorilla Glass.
It weighs 165 grams and measures 146.6 x 68.2 x 9.5mm, making it one of the smallest flagships on Android. The frame of the smartphone body is made of aluminium, while the back is made of resin material, which is more resistant to scratches and impacts than glass. The phone also has IP68 water and dust resistance.
The Zenfone 9 is powered by the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, for which Qualcomm has switched from Samsung to TSMC (N4) for production in order to reduce consumption and increase performance at the same time. Depending on the memory configuration chosen, the processor will be paired with 8 or 16 GB LPDDR5 and 128 or 256 GB UFS 3.1.
There are two rear cameras — the main sensor is with 50 MP Sony IMX766 sensor combined with an OIS stabilizer with 6-axis hybrid gimbal, the secondary with 12 MP sensor and ultra wide angle lens. The camera supports all Zenfone 8 features, such as Night, Pro, Panorama, Slow Motion and Timelapse modes, along with the new Light Trail (Beta). The smartphone also makes use of the ability to record “HDR audio” with 3D Surround effect, reduces wind noise during recording and maintains the 3.5mm audio jack. The main camera can record 8K video at 24fps and 4K video at 60fps.
The side-mounted ZenTouch multifunction power button is renewed — in addition to one-touch unlocking thanks to the integrated fingerprint sensor. It allows you to swipe your finger up, down or double-click to activate various functions, including voice typing, opening notifications, updating a web page, moving to the top/bottom of a page and multimedia control.
The power is supplied by a battery that has been increased to 4,300 mAh, and its nominal charge is 7.5% higher than the Zenfone 8 with 4,000 mAh. Asus still includes a 30W power adapter and the appropriate USB-C cable with the smartphone.
The phone is launching with a near-stock version of Android 12 and will receive 2 OS updates and security patches.
- ASUS Zenfone 9 — 8 + 128 GB – €799
- ASUS Zenfone 9 — 8 + 256GB – €849
- ASUS Zenfone 9 — 16 + 256 GB – €899
