With the launch of its newest smartphone right this moment, ASUS lastly bids farewell to its quirky “Flip Camera” characteristic, however it nonetheless believes that there is a marketplace for compact flagships. The new Zenfone 9 solely is available in one dimension, which has saved the identical 5.9-inch display screen and 169-gram weight as its predecessor, however packing a much bigger processor, important digicam, battery and thermal materials.

The greatest upgrades are, as you’d count on, the processor and digicam. Much like its very latest ROG Phone 6 collection, the Zenfone 9 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is a notable soar from the Zenfone 8’s Snapdragon 888. As for the digicam, this time ASUS opted for a a lot bigger 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 sensor, which gives a pixel dimension of 1um as a substitute of simply 0.8um on the older IMX686.

The icing on the cake right here is the brand new 6-axis hybrid gimbal stabilizer, which might apparently make corrections at as much as plus/minus 3 levels with no optical deteriorations. This ought to assist seize regular stills and clips — the latter at as much as 8K decision. On a associated be aware, there are solely two microphones on the Zenfone 9, as ASUS has nixed the audio focus characteristic in video recording, therefore the dearth of a rear-facing mic.

Another important change right here is the general design. With the return of flat edges (because of the iPhone 12), the Zenfone 9 is ready to accommodate greater inner components, therefore the bigger 4,300mAh battery and extra thermal materials (in addition to two large “eyes” as a substitute of 1 boring digicam island on the again). Said battery works with ASUS’ 30W “HyperCharge” tech, which the corporate claims is “the most powerful charger of any phone below 6 inches.” The telephone additionally swapped out the metallic again with a brand new plastic materials to not solely scale back weight, however to additionally add a high-grip, anti-fingerprint coating. This is available in 4 colours: “midnight black,” “starry blue,” “sunset red” and “moonlight white” (which is extra of a lightweight beige).

Unlike its latest telephones, ASUS ditched the standard in-display fingerprint reader in favor of a capacitive sensor on the facility button, dubbed “ZenTouch.” This sensible key permits for fast toggling of any assigned app with a double click on, as this unlocks your telephone on the similar time. By default, it’s also possible to slide down this button to tug down the notification tray for a fast peek, after which slide as much as conceal the tray. Alternatively, you possibly can set this to refresh webpages, soar to house or finish of pages, or skip songs in music gamers. This is all a part of ASUS’ grand plan to optimize the one-handed operation on its newest telephone.

Appearance and software program modifications (ZenUI 9 primarily based on Android 12) apart, you will discover the remainder of the Zenfone 9 moderately acquainted. It’s precisely the identical ultra-wide digicam and selfie digicam (each 12 megapixels) as earlier than, with the latter punched out within the top-left nook of the two,400 x 1,080 120Hz AMOLED display screen. Both audio system are as soon as once more tuned by audio specialist, Dirac, which already delivered spectacular outcomes on ASUS’ different latest telephones; and you continue to have the choice to plug in wired headphones through the three.5mm jack. As for sturdiness, there’s nonetheless an IP68 ranking for resistance in opposition to mud and liquids.

To take advantage of out of this beefed-up digicam stabilization, ASUS will provide a “Smart Backpack Mount” which helps you to clip the Zenfone 9 onto your backpack’s shoulder strap. With the primary digicam going through ahead, you possibly can put on the telephone as an motion cam. You may also single-handedly pop your telephone in or out of its magnetic holder with ease, and with its retractable security wire hooked up.

Another accent choice from ASUS is the “Connex” modular case system. Rather than utilizing magnets like Apple’s MagSafe design, this safety case has a number of built-in holes that allow you to snap both a kickstand or a silicone cardholder onto the again of your Zenfone 9. You may also assign an app — YouTube, by default — to auto-launch at any time when the kickstand is flipped out.

The Zenfone 9 can be coming to the US, with costs ranging from $699 (8GB RAM with 128GB storage), although precise availability can be introduced at a later date, so keep tuned.

As as to whether the “Flip Camera” will ever make a comeback, ASUS stated it’s going to revisit this concept provided that the tech makes it possible. The firm shared that globally, the 2 Zenfone 8 sizes truly offered comparable numbers, with shoppers in Japan and Europe preferring the smaller Zenfone 8. So for now, there can be no extra Zenfone “Flip” variants within the foreseeable future.