As expected, Asus has finally introduced its 2022 flagship, the Zenfone 9 with the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset to compete with the Realme GT 2 Master Explorer Editon, the ROG Phone 6, and many more. The phone takes ahead the concept of a compact smartphone (much like the Zenfone 8), which is a rarity these days. Here’s a look at what all it brings to the table.
Zenfone 9: Specs and Features
The Zenfone 9 is an attempt to make smartphone usage much easier, thanks to the compact size. It weighs 169 grams and has a 5.9-inch punch-hole display. It tries to go big (pun intended!) on the cameras with two big camera housings at the back. There’s a multifunctional ZenTouch button on the right side to access various functionalities with one hand. The phone has a “high-grip and anti-fingerprint” texture and comes in 4 colorways, namely, Starry Blue, Moonlight White, Sunset Red, and Midnight Black.
The 5.9-inch Samsung AMOLED display supports a 120Hz refresh rate, 112% DCI-P3 color gamut, up to HDR10+, and 1100 nits of peak brightness. It has a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. On the inside, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC is paired with the Adreno 730 GPU. There’s room for up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
The Zenfone 9 includes a 50MP main camera with a Sony IMX766 sensor, support for 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer, and 2×2 OCL PDAF. There’s a 12MP ultra-wide lens with a Sony IMX363 sensor, a field of view of 113 degrees, and dual-PDAF. It also houses a 12MP front snapper with support for dual-PDAF. The camera department has an array of features like Portrait mode, Night mode, Light Trail (in beta), 8K videos, and more.
The phone has a 4,300mAh battery onboard with a 30W HyperCharge adaptor and runs Android 12. It supports dual stereo speakers with Dirac HD Sound, 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth version 5.2, 2 microphones with OZO Audio Noise Reduction technology, an enhanced high-tech vapor chamber cooling system, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 3.5mm audio jack, and more.
Price and Availability
The Zenfone 9 has a starting price of €799 (~ Rs 64,900) and will be available in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, and parts of South America. There’s no word on its availability in India yet but since the Zenfone 8 eventually launched (although, late) in the country as the Asus 8z, there might be a shot!
We will let you know whenever we get more information on this. So, stay tuned!
