Small and mighty is back in fashion

How to make a smartphone stand out from the crowd? In the case of Asus’ new phone, the ZenFone 9, the answer isn’t to stand out, but to be small. Small and powerful. Has Asus cracked the oft-forgotten code to building a compact flagship? I spent time with the handset ahead of today’s launch to find out.

The overview of the Asus ZenFone 9 is quite simple. It is a small smartphone that has flagship specifications. Unpacking that takes a little more time.

Compared to the current smartphone pack, the ZenFone 9 is a small smartphone. The 5.9-inch display is designed so that the handset can sit comfortably in one hand and fit into any reasonably sized pocket. The phone is thicker than the current fashion, accentuated by the two large lip of the camera lens.

However, the package seems fair. There’s a lot of weight to it and the thicker style means this phone doesn’t feel as flimsy in my hands. It has IP68 water and dust resistance and uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus for the screen.

Speaking of that display, it’s a refreshing 120Hz custom AMOLED display provided by Samsung Display. It runs up to 1100 nits with a bright and colorful display… thankfully the font can be magnified a bit more to help with my aging eyes.

The ZenFone 9 takes many of the lessons of the ZenFone 8 and builds on them, the biggest lesson being that there is a market for this balance of form and function. There is some inevitability of specs (so last year’s Snapdragon 888 has been upgraded with the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system on chip); Memory and storage options are again an expected 8/128, 8/256 or 16/256 for memory and storage, and there’s more stability in the camera box.

In general, everything looks right. The size gives it the feel of a pocket phone rather than a very small tablet that some ultra high-end models seem to be striving for. The textured back surface offers more than enough tactile resistance to provide a secure and stable fit in the hand. In use it doesn’t feel like any stretch when you use it. It is very comfortable.

The important change over the ZenFone 8 comes with the camera. There is no effort to pack a ridiculous number of lenses. Instead, we have a fairly standard camera with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 50-megapixel main camera. While the ZenFone 8’s main camera had one-axis optical image stabilization, the ZenFone 9 will work in x, y and z six, allowing the lens to effectively float in place while taking a photo. This allows more light and therefore more detail to be captured, and you can see this in the photo, although there is a touch more processing to the images than I did. The look takes away from the natural feel I prefer.

There’s no telephoto lens, which you’d expect to see on a regular high-end phone. Undoubtedly, this is due to the physical lack of space on the move on a smaller handset. It’s an obvious trade-off that consumers can balance for themselves against small size. Would I trade a telephoto for an ultrawide? I think so, but that’s because of the large number of cat photos I take, and a telephoto helps me get closer.

Finally, there’s the battery. Asus packs a 4300mAh battery into the svelte package. It feels like this would be an area Asus decided it wouldn’t compromise, and you’ll easily get through a normal day, even with a few games in the mix. I think with careful choice of apps and usage you’ll get two working days out of the phone if required.

As for charging, the box ships with a 30W charger – which is a lot less than some other Android smartphones coming out at the moment, but it’s on par with Apple’s iPhone options. In terms of charging time, you’re looking at about an hour from empty to full.

Another compromise made here is the lack of wireless charging. This is something I particularly like, but is not widely acknowledged as important. Balanced against the ZenFone 9 being careful with battery usage, the larger battery makes more sense given the handset’s focus.

Asus’ implementation of Android is called ZenUI. It’s very lightly tweaked on the surface and you might be tricked into thinking you’re running stock Android. What you find is that the more settings and adjustments available allow you to make better use of your environment. Asus has brought its Game Genie software from its ROG Republic of Gamers gaming phones to beef up the mobile gaming experience… it’s not a full gaming phone, but it helps get a little more out of big brand gaming titles .

Asus has also done a lot of work on the audio side of things, with audio tuning from Dirac specialists and a customizable graphic equalizer to fine-tune it to your tastes.

Two features are worth mentioning. The first is the one-handed mode, which lowers the top edge of the screen so that your thumb can reach all the controls as needed before it snaps back into place.

The second is the power button, or as Asus has called it, the smart key. This not only houses the fingerprint sensor and acts as the power button, but you can also slide it up or down to activate a custom function, with a long press and a double click offering two more functions. This makes the UI feel much more personal and you can quickly move around your main apps with minimal physical movement.

“It’s a small smartphone that has flagship specifications” Asus ZenFone delivers this mission statement. The two big compromises are the lack of wireless charging and the lack of a telephoto lens. Both make sense, although they affect a group of users. The latter is becoming increasingly popular and is seen as a rigor for a flagship or flagship smartphone, but a luxury for others.

Choosing a camera is more challenging. Smartphones are marketed around their cameras, and any weakness here has a stronger appeal than most other areas of a phone. The lack of a telephoto lens won’t be noticeable in close-up situations (the family home, a night out at the pub), but there are times when this feature is needed. Digital zoom is not a replacement. Along with software which, while above average, doesn’t quite match the flexibility of an Apple, a Samsung or a Google, the camera is the weakest part of the whole package.

But the rest of the package is solid, so if the camera isn’t at the top of your priority list, it’s good enough. And there’s a lot to like. It’s hard to get away from the ZenFone 9’s size, high-end chip, bright and vibrant display.

Sometimes a compromise doesn’t feel like a compromise at all.

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