ASUS just introduced the Zenfone 9, the company’s latest flagship smartphone in an online event, has it had promised. It has a 5.9-inch Full HD+ OLED screen with 120Hz refresh, same as the predecessor, but this is powered by Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC with up to 16GB of RAM and has 1727.17mm² vapour chamber cooling with 230% larger attached area compared to the predecessor. It runs Android 12 with ZenUI 9, but the company only promises 2 years of OS updates and security patches.
This also gets a 50MP camera with Sony IMX766 sensor, six-axis gimbal stabilization, while retaining the 12MP ultra-wide camera and a 12MP front camera. The phone has a ASUS ZenTouch, a multifunction side-mounted power button incorporating a fingerprint sensor and support for convenient gesture controls including voice-to-text, open notifications, refresh a web page, move to the top/bottom of the page, and media control.
The back of the phone is made of newly-developed textured surface made of advanced material that is really tough and comfortable, yet grippy and also reduces the weight of the phone, says the company. It retains IP68 water and dust resistant ratings and has a slightly larger 4300mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging, comes with a charger in the box, and can charge up to 50% in under 30 minutes.
ASUS Zenfone 9 specifications
- 5.9-inch (2400 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED HDR 10+ 20:9 aspect ratio display with 120Hz refresh rate, up to 800 nits peak brightness, 115% sRGB, 112% DCI-P3 color gamut, Delta E<1, HDR10+, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection
- Up to 3.2GHz Octa Core Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4nm Mobile Platform with Adreno next-gen GPU
- 8GB LPDDR5 RAM with 128GB UFS 3.1 storage, 8GB / 16GB LPDDR5 RAM with 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
- Android 12 with ASUS ZenUI 9
- Dual SIM (nano + nano)
- 50MP camera with Sony IMX766 sensor, f/1.9 aperture, six-axis gimbal stabilization, 2×2 OCL PDAF, 12MP ultra-wide camera with Sony IMX663 sensor with macro option, Dual PDAF, 8k video recording
- 12MP auto focus front camera with Sony IMX663 sensor
- 3.5mm audio jack, Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9380, Stereo speakers, Qualcomm Aqstic amp (WSA8835), Dirac audio
- Water and dust resistant (IP68)
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
- Dimensions: 146.58×68.17×9.45; Weight: 169g
- 5G SA/NSA, Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ax 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, Galileo(E1+E5a), QZSS(L1+L5), NavIC(L5), USB Type-C, NFC
- 4300mAh (typical) with 30W fast charging, QC 4.0, PD
Pricing and availability
The ASUS Zenfone 9 comes in Midnight Black, Starry Blue, Sunset Red and Moonlight White colours, starts at 799 Euros (Rs. 64,465 approx. / US$ 809) in Europe and $699 (Rs. 55,695 approx.) in the US for 8GB + 128GB model. It will roll out in Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan first, with North America, Japan, Indonesia and parts of South America to follow.
There is a new Connex Case accessory that allows users to attach the Connex Card Holder or Connex Smart Stand.
There’s also a new Smart Backpack Mount for safely attaching Zenfone 9 to a backpack’s strap.