Asus Zenfone 9 Review: The Last of the Compacts?
Purchase praice: $647.99
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Product Specs +
- SD 8+ Gen 1 CPU
- 6 GB Ram
- 128 GB Storage
- 5.9 Inch Super AMOLED Display
- 1080 x 2400 p (445 ppi)
- 120 Hz Refresh Rate
- 4,300 mAh Battery
Camera Specs +
Rear Cameras
- 50 MP, f/1.9 wide
- 12 MP, f/2.2 ultrawide
Selfie Cameras
- 12 MP, f/2.5
If there was one sleeper smartphone in 2022, it’s most likely the one I’ve been using for the past couple of months. The Asus Zenfone 9 received a bit of buzz from the media for supposedly being the last compact option in the phone market. While it is a little smaller than most of the phones nowadays, there’s surprisingly a lot more hidden behind this device that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.
A CyberPunk BOdy
For starters, the Zenfone 9 is as unique as it gets in modern smartphone design. Asus went with a Cyberpunky look for the shell of the phone. I have the Starry Blue version and I think it looks absolutely awesome. There’s a very industrial vibe surrounding the Zenfone 9 thanks to the font and symbols placed as accents around the oversized camera sensors on the rear panel. I don’t normally like seeing camera specs plastered on the body like this, but Asus makes this look clean and incorporates it well as a part of the design. That uniqueness carries over to the build materials meshed together to form what is the Zenfone 9. A smooth aluminum frame holds together the phone’s plastic back and Gorilla Glass Victus front. Instead of playing it safe with generic plastic molding, Asus threw on a coarse texture that reminds me of the sandstone feeling on the OnePlus 1. When you can recognize a phone just by the sense of touch, there’s some uniqueness behind it. I do love how the phone feels in my hand.
That’s somewhat different than how it feels to hold though. Let me try and explain. The Zenfone 9 is just about the same size as the original Google Pixel. I use this 6+ year old phone as an example because to me this was the last compact form factor I enjoyed using. Strictly speaking, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact was the last small phone widely available on Android, but I had mixed feelings about that device when it comes to how it felt in my hand. So when I compare it to the last small phone I liked in my hand which was the Pixel, the Zenfone 9 immediately reveals to me why I still don’t find this phone to fit well around my fingers. It’s noticeably thicker.
Asus gets bonus points for keeping a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the top of the frame. I haven’t touched that jack at all during my review period, but I still receive comments from viewers passionately clinging to their wired headsets on their smartphones. The volume rockers feel nice and clicky. There’s a satisfying sound upon input. The same goes for the power button embedded with a fingerprint scanner on the side of the frame. Speaking of the Xperia Compacts, this is the same kind of deal here. You can use the scanner by swiping it with your thumb to bring the quick settings down on Android. I love having these fingerprint gesture tools, but as with some of the other phones with the scanner in this position, I constantly trigger the motion when I don’t intend to activate it. The secondary way to log in is through facial recognition. It’s “blink and you miss it” fast. That setting in combination with tilt to wake also drives me a little nuts as I’m simply just setting my phone onto the table and it would unlock at the slightest motion. These are lifestyle experiences on settings that can easily be toggled off, so they’re just minor quirks in my book.
While it does have rounded chamfered edges like the Pixel, the Zenfone doesn’t wrap around smoothly. There are different levels where the surfaces meet that aren’t universally even like a lot of modern smartphones. The best way to describe it is that it feels like an old smartphone with a removable back panel. Those back panels are usually not flush with the frame and submerged ever so slightly. I kept looking for a seam in which my nail could pry the back open because it just felt so familiar in that way. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it just doesn’t feel as comfortable to grip as a smooth rounded phone like the Pixel or the XZ2 Compact. Even though the Zenfone has a long 20:9 aspect ratio, my thumb still can’t fully reach across the screen. My hand size is pretty average for an Asian male, but I was able to accomplish this herculean feat on a phone like the iPhone 12 Mini so it isn’t impossible to do with phones of this era. Of course this probably doesn’t matter to a lot of people anyway.
Longevity
Speaking of that extra width, the Zenfone 9 is also a bit heavy to hold. It’s 169 g because of a 4,300 mAh battery that is a beast for this phone’s longevity. I rarely get below 40% after 12+ hours in a workday. I averaged 7-8 hours of screen on time during my 2 months reviewing this phone during the 2022 holiday season. That’s exceptional battery life by my standards. This is a phone that can last two full days for just about any normal human being. This kind of compensates for the lack of wireless Qi charging which is something I really miss when switching to a phone without it. It’s a way of life now and every phone regardless of price point should have it in this day and age. However, the 30W wired charging is really fast for this phone. It doesn’t take long to get back up there in battery percentage.
Flagship Level
That tremendous battery life showing could have something to do with the Android experience from Asus. During my review period, I updated from Android 12 to 13 in December and it’s been running well. Like a lot of other OEM’s nowadays, Asus’ own custom Android skin, ZenUI, has really taken a step back and diluted some of their features in order to give users a cleaner experience. You can still choose to go without an app drawer like Asus’ preferred style, but you can also run it as close to stock Android as you possibly can too. Part of the appeal that makes the Zenfone feel like a well rounded package is due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. Paired with 6 GB of ram and 128 GB of storage, this has the firepower to keep up with the highest end phones on the market. That’s basically been my experience using this as my daily driver. It runs effortlessly through my app suites and is up to par with what I expect from flagship level devices. All the mobile games I’ve been running recently have run flawlessly.
The one annoyance I felt was that the aluminum frame and the plastic back did get a bit uncomfortable to touch after roughly 15 minutes of gaming consistently. The phone would also occasionally heat up while browsing Reddit for a prolonged period of time. This updated flagship processor should handle heat better than the 8 Gen 1, but it is something that I noticed during everyday use. This isn’t a gaming phone so that’s to be expected.
Camera performance
The heating issue also rears its warm head when using the camera. We have two sensors here, the first is a 50 MP, f/1.9 wide camera, with the 12 MP, f/2.2 ultrawide accompanying it. The Zenfone 9 also joins a select group of devices that can record up to 8K @ 24fps. I personally don’t see why we need that high of a resolution in our current digital landscape, but it is a cool spec to tell your friends about. In terms of photo quality, to be blunt, the Zenfone 9 is average at best. Aside from a few freeze ups when opening the camera app, the software is manageable and easy to use. My biggest gripe with the camera results is with the contrast and shadows it picks up. It’s quite uneven on both of those traits. I’m okay with a little bit of range, but many photos just look off to me. Depending on the mood of the sensor, the way the Zenfone picks up exposure also varies drastically. You can be standing in one spot and have 5 pictures taken through auto mode look completely different.
There’s also a lack of sharpness especially around the shadows of objects. It gives off this low resolution smudge appearance that just doesn’t cut it for me for a phone that has a flagship processor in it. That in combination with what I would classify as muted saturation of colors and it just feels like a subpar camera experience here. Pro mode does help alleviate some of my qualms with the camera, but overall I wouldn’t classify this as a versatile point and shoot camera phone. While it’s not the worst camera I’ve used for $700, I do expect better results if this is to compete as my personal daily driver.
Viewing Experience
As far as the display goes, there’s a Super AMOLED panel at a resolution of 1080 x 2400p. That’s a dense 445 ppi that supports up to 120 Hz of refreshing. The Zenfone also surprisingly has a 5.9 inch display size that might be deceptive to process due to the small footprint it sits on. While it definitely isn’t the sharpest display out there, the blacks are still nice and deep hued with the vast viewing angles giving this smaller form factor plenty of opportunities for multiple sets of eyes to aim at it. It’s a respectable viewing experience that I did enjoy using.
Final Verdict
The Zenfone 9 is a fascinating cell phone for me to look at right now. It doesn’t really do anything particularly well and it certainly has its minor annoyances, but it also provides tremendous sheer power for only $700, while existing in a blueprint that isn’t as common as it used to be 5 years ago. I would still recommend anyone looking for a true compact phone with great performance to value ratio to jump ship to Apple. I’ve been saying this for a couple of years now and that still sounds crazy if you were around during the early Android/iPhone days. No one really knows where Apple is going with their Mini and SE lineups, but as somebody who has owned almost every single “compact” phone since the mass migration to behemoth displays became a thing in 2016, Apple has the best compact phones right now. Even with that stated, I do like what I see from Asus on the Zenfone 9 and I hope they keep trending in this direction. There’s way too many large phones on the market. A good flagship performing phone with a little bit of spunk behind the design should resonate really well with buyers at this $700 price tag. If you really have to stay on Android while wanting a smaller phone, the Zenfone will make you quite happy.
Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!