Asus ZenFone 9 - have you been waiting for a compact flagship?

Asus ZenFone 9 is sure to captivate those looking for a compact phone with a powerful processor and designed "without saving". The premiere model has a Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor and LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1 memory. It therefore contains everything that should now be the heart of a flagship. The display is also not a parade. The screen has a diagonal of 5.9 inches, which in the past would call Zenfone 9 a colossus, and today it successfully allows it to be called a compact.

The screen provided by Samsung is of course made in AMOLED technology, has a brightness of up to 1100 nits and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. It can be adjusted automatically - but it doesn't have to be. The display covers 151% of the sRGB colour palette and 112% of the DCI-P3 color palette and has a Gorilla Glass Victus glass cover. The only thing that is a bit offensive - is the not very narrow frame around the screen ... On the plus side, you can count the watertightness of the housing, the other elements of which are made of metal (frame) and plastic (back). The back panel is matte and has an interesting texture, although it will certainly be criticized for being made of plastic. This panel can be in four colors: red, black, blue or white.

Asus ZenFone 9 draws attention with its powerful "eyes" on the back of the housing. The frames of the camera lenses are - to put it mildly - expressive and stick out (especially the upper one), but at least they do not pretend to be anything. There are "only" two lenses, and the lack of a third one can be partially justified by the modest amount of space inside the casing. I would like to believe that the telephoto lens simply does not fit anymore and it is not a question of savings. The main Sony IMX 766 camera has 50 megapixels, f/1.9 aperture and a 1/1.56 "sensor.

A single pixel has 2 micrometers, and lovers of filming and night photos will surely be pleased with the presence of a 6-axis gimbal optical stabilization. The second lens is wide-angle, but it does not impress with the size of the field of view - and covers 113 degrees. This lens works with the Sony IMX363 12-megapixel sensor and also acts as a macro lens. The Sony IMX 663 matrix with a resolution of 12 Mpx is responsible for the selfie. You can see the results in our ZenFone 9 reviews or on the tab phone in the catalogue.

Asus ZenFone 9 draws its power from a 4,300mAh battery. It could be larger - but again its smaller capacity than typical can be explained by the modest dimensions of the smartphone. It is more difficult to explain the 30-watt charging power. It's nice, but it could be better. The role of the comforter is the charger added to the standard set, but the lack of inductive charging is sad. Lovers of good sound will be pleased with the presence of decent and well-playing stereo speakers, extensive audio options (including an equalizer) and a minijack socket, which somehow managed to fit into a small housing. However, there was no room for a memory card slot - only space for two nanoSIM cards was left.

Asus ZenFone 9 uses Android 12 with the ZEN UI interface, devoid of unnecessary applications, but giving a fairly wide scope for personalization of the device. Among the peculiarities, it is worth mentioning the configurable control function by means of tapping on the back of the phone or the possibility of using the fingerprint reader as a trackpad - e.g. for scrolling web pages. The fingerprint reader itself is located on the side of the housing, integrated with the switch button. It is also worth noting that Asus took care of the offer of accessories dedicated to this niche smartphone. We have a large offer of covers produced by external companies, there will also be protective glasses for the screen. Asus itself also offers interesting accessories. The set will already include a simple cover, but for those who want more, there will also be a convenient handle with a rope (e.g. for a backpack) or a modular cover to which a support can be attached or a pocket for a payment card.

Lastly, I left the prices, which unfortunately are slightly higher than last year's compact Asus ZenFone 8, for an end. For ZenFone 9 the prices are:

• Asus ZenFone 98 + 128 GB - EUR 799
• Asus ZenFone 98 + 256 GB - EUR 849
• Asus ZenFone 916 + 256 GB - EUR 899

Is it worth being interested in this model - you will find out from our review. We invite!

Asus ZenFone 9 - video review video: GSMchoice.com via YouTube

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