Asus introduced the compact flagship Zenfone 9

Asus does not give up and continues to release relatively small smartphones: the company officially introduced the Zenfone 9. It is even smaller than last year's Zenfone 8, while the camera, battery and cooling system have increased.

The 5.9-inch display uses Samsung's HDR10+ OLED panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels (20:9 aspect ratio). It has a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling. The maximum brightness is 1100 nits. The scanner was not built into the display, but moved to the side panel.

The smartphone measures 146.6×68.2×9.5mm and weighs 165g, making it one of the smallest flagship Android smartphones. It received a top-end Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and a large vapor chamber for more efficient cooling compared to the previous generation heat pipe.

Zenfone 9 uses LPDDR5 RAM and fast UFS 3.1 storage. There is no slot for microSD memory cards (however, as in the past year). The smartphone runs on Android 12 and will receive 2 major updates: it will remain relevant until the release of Android 15.

The main camera consists of two Sony sensors. The main module is a 50-megapixel IMX766 with a 6-axis hybrid stabilizer, which is three times more effective than conventional optical stabilization. This module provides a 2x optical zoom without loss of quality, which made it possible to do without a separate telephoto lens.

The second camera is a 12MP IMX363 ultra wide-angle module with a 113° field of view. It also has autofocus, but the stabilization is already electronic. The main camera can record 8K @ 24 fps and 4K @ 60 fps videos. Front camera - Sony IMX663 12 MP with autofocus.

The frame of the smartphone is aluminum, but the back panel is made of polymer material. It is claimed to scratch less than plastic, while being harder to break than glass. Speaking of glass, the display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. The smartphone is protected from dust and moisture according to the IP68 standard.

The battery capacity was 4,300 mAh, 300 mAh more than the previous generation. There is a mode that slows down the aging of the battery: it will always charge up to 80-90%, so that after 500 charge cycles the battery will lose only 7% of its maximum capacity - instead of 15% when fully charged. You can also limit the charging power: instead of the supported 30 W to 18 or 10 W, to reduce heat and also extend the life of the gadget.

Asus Zenfone 9 is priced at 799 euros for the base 8/128 GB version, while the 8/256 and 16/256 GB modifications will cost 849 and 899 euros respectively. This is approximately 49,900, 53,000 and 56,100 rubles at the current exchange rate. In addition to the smartphone, the package includes a charger, a cable and a protective case.