The Zenfone 9, like final yr’s 8, is that uncommon Android telephone that prioritizes compact dimension fairly than maximizing display or battery dimension. Be nonetheless my coronary heart! But the brand new story this yr is the telephone’s digital camera and stabilization system: fairly than simply shifting a single lens aspect to compensate for digital camera shake, the total foremost digital camera — lens, sensor, all of it — strikes. It’s a singular method to combating a few of cell images’s greatest enemies: low mild and shaky video footage.

The Zenfone 9 is small however mighty and continues the 8’s custom of together with top-tier specs in a compact telephone. The display is a 5.9-inch 1080p OLED with clean 120Hz refresh charge, and the telephone makes use of a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset — Qualcomm’s very newest and biggest. The base mannequin consists of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and the telephone is IP68 licensed.

There’s a 4,300mAh battery that helps 30W quick charging and an adapter included within the field, however wi-fi charging isn’t supported. The telephone’s again panel is a textured composite plastic, although the body is sturdy aluminum, and the entrance panel is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. And there’s a headphone jack! How considerate.

There are simply two rear cameras on the Zenfone 9’s again panel, which is simply advantageous: no extra macro or depth sensors right here. The foremost digital camera’s 50-megapixel sensor and f/1.9 lens are the celebrities of the present with what Asus calls a 6-axis hybrid gimbal OIS/EIS stabilizer. Below that, there’s a 12-megapixel ultrawide that does double obligation as a macro digital camera, plus a 12-megapixel selfie digital camera round entrance.

The foremost digital camera’s stabilizer compensates for motion on the x- and y-axis (facet to facet and up and down) but in addition makes use of info from the gyro sensor to appropriate for sudden z-axis actions ahead and backward. Asus says this makes the digital camera able to compensating for 3 levels of movement, in comparison with one diploma within the Zenfone 8, which makes use of conventional OIS. Better compensation for shake implies that the digital camera ought to be capable of use slower shutter speeds and seize extra mild in low-light conditions, leading to higher element and colours. It’s a extra strong system than the standard OIS and even the sensor-based stabilization Apple makes use of on a few of the iPhone 13’s cameras.

Including this type of stabilization required a re-thinking of how the digital camera unit connects to the processor. The cable connecting the 2 needed to be shorter and organized in an S-shape fairly than a folded configuration. The ribbon itself is softer, too, to use much less inertia on the digital camera module. That’s all tucked away contained in the telephone out of view, after all, however the outcomes are seen on the floor: with the digital camera in video mode, you’ll be able to truly see the whole digital camera bundle shifting round beneath the fastened, massive outer lens aspect. Seriously, it’s wild.

The Zenfone 9 will probably be offered unlocked within the US, however the value continues to be TBD; in Europe, it would price €799, which is about… $800 USD (sorry about your forex, European mates). It will probably be out there first in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and elements of Europe.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge