The Asus Zenfone 9 was launched Last month and in this article, i will be reviewing the device, stating it’s key specifications, pros and cons to help you decide if you want this, or not.
Firstly, The Zenfone 9 is what one would describe as a compact flagship because its relatively small, it has a lesser price at below $800 compared to the $1000 plus flagships of the world. Of course, this low price comes with some cutdowns, but it doesn’t really matter when you look at the kind of power this thing packs.
NB: its currently sitting on the 2nd spot in the AnTuTu Rankings at the time of writing
Inside-The- Zenfone 9 Box
You are getting a matte black box with no eye catchy design if you buy the Asus Zenfone 9, but that doesn’t matter (or does it?).
Inside the box, you are greeted with the smartphone itself, then underneath, you get a quite large charging brick, a USB-C to USB-C cable, a SIM ejector pin, and a plastic case. Kudos to Asus, these aren’t things we see in flagships these days.
Design & Display
The front of the Asus Zenfone 9 is a 5.9-inches super AMOLED display which has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, and supports 120Hz refresh. One of the cutdowns on this device is the fingerprint reader which Asus decided to mount on the side instead of under the display, like most flagship androids. The screen is protected by Gorilla glass victus.
For the design, Asus nailed it with the Zenfone 9, making it a very beautiful device to behold. it has flat aluminium rails which holds the regular buttons, and a polymer back (which feels plastic-ky), yet another cutdown. One amazing, but almost useless feature of the Zenfone 9 is that the power button is also has a swipe gesture for bringing down the control centre, though it an be remapped to another action.
Interestingly, this device comes with a 3.5mm audio jack making this a rare flagship to come by.
The device is IP68 dust and water resistant so no worries if it mistakenly drops in a pool. The camera array is a very nice one and it reminds me of those Huawei and Honor phones, and the Tecno Camon 19 Pro. the Zenfone 9 comes in shades of White, Red, Blue, and Black.
Performance
Asus has managed to put in the Snapdragon 8+ gen 1 into the Zenfone 9, making it a really powerful device, coupled with the fact that its highest end variant has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM with the other variant being 8GB of RAM.
Asus is surely generous when it comes to RAM, (like the 18GB RAM on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro). The software part of this device is kept up and running by Android 12, and the Zen UI skin ontop. Asus has also promised two years of software updates (android 13 and 14), two years of security updates.
For the battery, you are getting a modest 4,300 mAh battery, which supports fast charging, as well as reverse charging, but no wireless charging.
The Zenfone 9 is a go for daily usage, and its also quite good for gaming. it has top-notch performance, and has a vapor chamber cooling system. it also has “game genie” which is a game mode that’s quite handy for blocking notifications, increasing performance according to how demanding you r games are, and seeing real time stats, like frame rates.
Zenfone 9 Photography
You’ve gotten your self a dual rear lens setup if you decide to buy the Zenfone 9. It’s main sensor is a 50MP wide angle camera which is a Sony IMX766 sensor, the same one you get on the Nothing Phone (1), and a 12MP ultrawide lens as a secondary camera.
Daylight shots on this device are crisp and pay attention to detail, but you might struggle a lot with focusing during night mode. this phone also has a “six-axis hybrid gimbal stabilization” which basically makes photo and video stable when shooting.
Zenfone 9 also has some modes, and filters you can play around with.Overall, its a great camera system for it’s price
Conclusion: Should You Get it or Not
My conclusion is, get it if it’s in your budget range. its a great device and buying the box means that you don’t have to buy any other phone accessory besides a pair of headphones.
