Same deal as last time.
Key Features
5.9" AMOLED (2400 x 1080) 120Hz display
Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor
50MP + 12MP rear cameras plus 12MP front camera
30W Adapter
4300mAh battery
Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth v5.2
IP68 water resistance
Not sure when the discount expires.
No wireless charging and no SD card slot.
Almost all flagships have at-least one of the 2 (only the Experia has both, but they don't sell it here).
So S22 would be better than the ASUS due to wireless charging being available.
Dunno what Asus were thinking.
The pros I'm seeing for the Zenfone 9: better battery, headphone jack, no bloatware.
Most people dont care about wireless charging and sd card slot.
I don't care about wireless charging. SD card would be nice but 256gb is already sufficient.
Samsung can never stand Asus quality. Have used multiple products of both. Asus phones and tablets can last as long as 5 years with no hiccups
I got an asus zf 9. The small size and Battery life is the best features. There are probably better options phones if you don't care about those two things.
S22 has maybe longer support. And more options for cases & accessories. i kinda miss some of the bloatware apps especially Samsung vault and smartswitch. I think id go back to Samsung in the future if they released a small phone with big battery.
Samsung should have a longer updates 4ys OS vs ASUS 2yrs OS.
Wireless charging is ok but would prefer fast charging wired anyway.
Samsung will have more accessories readily available.
SD card is nice, but you will still have a routine backup regime. IMO people want sd card for storage, but when you lose your phone, you still lose the SD card.
I'm surprised by the reaction here.
I think wireless charging is pretty much mandatory on high end phones, whereas the SD slot is pretty useless for most people (although I need it). But the comments above seem to see more interest in the SD slot than wireless charging.
wireless charging reduces wear to the usb port on the phone. I wrecked at-least 2 phones while wired charging by wrecking the usb port, resulting in an unchargable phone. If those phones had wireless charging, then either the accident wouldn't have happened, OR even if I wrecked the usb port while transferring data, I can still charge the phone with wireless charging.
wireless charging is much more convenient for daily driver usage (keep phone topped up all day with wireless chargers in each room + car + work desk).
SD card… since android 11, has been ruined. Severe performance issues due to scoped storage makes it only useful for niche usage and can't be used as "internal storage equivalent" as we used to be able to do in Android 10.
Everyone said that of the zenfone 8 and I ended up buying it (mainly cos it was the only small for factor android phone available).
After owning it for some time I thought the comments about it being underrated were overrated.
So I guess it's rated appropriately?
Everyone said that of the zenfone 8
I think everyone is bit of an exaggeration. Personally, I found zenfone 8 to be unremarkably average phone.
@dealhunter52: Unremarkably average is probably the best way to describe how I feel about the phone too.
Lol, id say this is true of the zf9 also.
But i haven't compared to others at this price & age
Thing is he probably uses it for a week and makes a judgement.
We all know phones start glitching and slowing down after 6-12 months use. That's when the true test of a phone is.
Here is gsmarena's long term review: https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_9_long_term-review-251…
Fairly positive re: performance and battery.
I refuse to update my phone beyond the major Android version it ships with. So far it continues to run like new.
I suspect the updates are very poorly implemented
@greatlamp: A very long time ago, I had a Samsung s3 and followed the same approach. The phone then mysteriously died and on googling, it was a memory burn in issue that was stemmed in a subsequent patch that I never applied.
@abadacus: In response to the comment above
We all know phones start glitching and slowing down after 6-12 months use. That's when the true test of a phone is.
I would avoid both. The S23 is way more polished than the S22 (speaking from experience).
Samsung 4 years of OS upgrades. Asus 2 years.
Would get this if they had a trade in bonus
waiting for Pixel 7a with wireless charging, not keen for Samsung due to Samsung apps not doing anything more than default android suite of apps
had a zen fone previously. poor build quality. security update support was poor too.
Care to elaborate? Which version? Zenfone 8 was built very well and receives updates usually every 4 to 6 weeks, rarely longer. You can literally see the log on Asus' website.
See here for Zenfone 9 update log
Having used the phone for a bit over a year, I have the following comments:
Screen is a magnet for scratches: I didn't use a screen protector and that was a mistake. I thought I was really careful where I put my phone but it still got scratched the moley out of it. After 6 months, I stopped caring because it was too late. I hear this is because GG Victus now basically trades off shatter proofing for scratches. This is not nec an Asus problem but good to be aware that a lot of flagships use GGV so a screen protector in future is non-negotiable.
Glass backing: a lot of people like the premium feel and I agree it's great…until you drop it. It quickly goes from a positive to a negative. Why not use a case in the first place? Well, you see where that logic goes. I'm now forced to use one anyway because the glass particles get everywhere and catch in my pockets.
Pocket dialing. I didn't realise that pocket dialing was a thing any more until I owned this phone. I had so many close calls to emergency numbers because it triggered against my thigh.
Non-negative points, small form factor. Battery was okay. Good on 60Hz but 120Hz not so much. Under screen fingerprint sensor was great. Found the camera was not as good as my previous Pixel 3. Probably made worse due to the lens crack from dropping which lens flared all my pics. Headphone jack
I really wanted to love the phone like I loved the Pixel 3 but this just wasn't it for me.
"Pocket dialing. I didn't realise that pocket dialing was a thing any more until I owned this phone. I had so many close calls to emergency numbers because it triggered against my thigh."
Seriously, this. My ZenFone 9 pocket dials like crazy. Never had such an issue with other phones. It's a shame as it's a great phone otherwise.
Been using my Zenfone 8 for 20 months now, not a single issue with the build quality, pretty much the same as the day I bought it. As per the other commenter, updates are timely and consistent. Granted it was missing VoLTE at the start when it came out, which I knew about, but it has it now.
any pocket dialing?, this drives me crazy on mine
Has happened maybe twice, but yeh I have to be careful sometimes since the "pocket mode" doesn't work too well
Id be still thinking zenfone purely due to size!
I wish there were more small Android devices.
This is my dilemma at present—there are seemingly no mid-range compact (Android) phones.
I'm not even sure there are any cheap small phones. My LG Q7 (143.8 x 69.33 x 7.99 mm) that I purchased for $249 is beginning to show its age…
2019 5.97" Xiaomi Mi 9 SE + 3500maH battery + Alpha Droid A13 for small, low cost, SD712 dual-SIM goodness
7/11 fuel lock helicopter compatible
A variant of the Pixel 8 might be our friend, but the rumoured specs are 150mm x 70mm-ish, which is going to take a while to adjust going from a Pixel 5.
I've been looking at short width phones for at least 3-4 years. Your android pickings are slim. https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2021&nWidthMa…
Asus Zenfone 8/9
Sony (which does not operate locally and is a gamble for warranty and support e.g. VoLTE)
I wish they made Pixel A variants sub 70mm
Looks good, tempted to pull the trigger on this but I also want to wait to see what the Zenfone 10 will be like in a few months…
Same here, really tempted but the rumour is that the 10 will have a 200MP camera.
The 10 also measure 7" screen larger than most Bibles
10 also measure 7" screen
Where did you read this? Everything I've seen suggests 6.3", which is a little larger than the ZF9, but nowhere near 7"!
I'm waiting for what the Zenfone 10 will bring for the rear cameras and security updates. A few mm larger would be nice too.
Mi 12T Pro is much better
It's also a surfboard, so it's unlikely anyone is considering both of these phones.
+5 social credit score!
Ban foys
Tempting for the wife. She prefers a smaller phone. MKBHD had some very positive views on this phone.
Have this. One of the best phones I've owned. Superb battery life. Excellent camera and headphone jack as well
How was the screen-on-time?
Easily 8hr+ on a full charge. I do keep brightness on the lower side though and on "optimised" mode for apps performance.
That is promising. What split of wifi and 4G?
@Fobsessive: I'd say 80% wifi. Also 10% 5G and 10% 4G as I've enabled 5G where available and the phone auto switches depending on which network is the best at that location.
Second this, went from a Pixel 6 Pro to this and the smaller form factor is a huge win for me, the pixel felt like I was carrying a tablet which is why I got rid of it - only thing i miss is the "now playing" feature of Pixel.
I see myself keeping this one for years to come.
I replaced a S10e with this because I want a headphone jack and small form factor. No major complaints, a few little things missing from Samsung and the proximity sensor is a bit crappy but otherwise I can't fault it.
Only 2 major updates and then obsolete
Poor value for a $1300* phone
I'm looking at this, the Razr and the thinkphone. All around the same price for 256GB.
Thinkphone has 8GB RAM, wireless charging, 2y warranty
Razr folds, I think has DC dimming.
ZenFone hasv6GB RAM, 1y warranty, headphone jack, DC dimming.
Leaning towards thinkphone (if it has DC dimming)
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/thinkphone-by-motorola-5g…
128GB Zenfone 9 version on JB has 8GB ram. From experience I would stay away from Lenovo/Motorola built phone. Their OS optimisation not as good with othe competitor even lacks behind with realme/oneplus.
Ahh I misread it - yes they have 8GB RAM, there is also an overseas model also has 16GB.
Other things putting me off the Asus are the lack of wireless charging, and that they will not support it with updates for as long as the others.
I thought Moto phones have near-stock Android which helps with overall snappinesss
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
vomits
Why?
Why less charging?
Waiting for this to be $600 and/or for the release of the Pixel 7a. Need a small phone with decent battery.
Great specs overall but this phone was a mistake. Aside from the obvious downsides such as the Gorilla Glass Victus screen and no wireless charging, it's the simple things that Asus has got wrong and it drives me nuts, such as:
the need to really push down on the volume rocker at times because it just sucks
the screen doesn't blackout all the time when I'm on a call, and causes the phone to open other apps on it's own which then requires the use of loudspeaker.
whilst using other apps, the pop up showing that I've received a call isn't visible enough
pocket dialing, most of the time to emergency services
These are just a few off the top of my head, but if you can't even make or receive a phone call then there is no point in calling it a phone. I really want to love the phone, but it's just not good enough.
The ZF9 is good but camera and narrow size made me regret my purchase
I would like to move back to my s20 FE if i can sell my Zenfone 9
Sorry I can't figure out how to send you a direct message, but I just wanted to say I am interested in buying your zenfone 9 if you happen to also be in Brisbane.
By the way, I got $20 off on the 128gb by asking live chat for a deal. Although I didn't go ahead because I was hoping for a bit lower than that.
Thinking of biting on this deal. Anyone have thoughts re: Asus Zenfone 9 vs Samsung Galaxy S22 (also on sale for $899 at JB Hi-Fi, though not a historical low).