Asus Zenfone 9 Review: Small but Mighty

There’s no shortage of huge phones these times. Apple even went so significantly as to nix a successor to final year’s Apple iphone 13 Mini and as a substitute changed it with the Apple iphone 14 As well as. Smaller telephones are tough to come by, but they are not wholly extinct yet. If you’re exhausted of straining your fingers to access elements of a screen, then the Asus Zenfone 9 is your friend.

I have to point out a few important caveats before you read any further. This Android smartphone is readily available in the US, but it will not get the job done on Verizon’s community at all. It works finest on T-Mobile and AT&T. Asus also isn’t going to support its smartphones for a extended time. Most Android cell phone makers now present a few to five years of software package guidance, but Asus is sticking with a paltry two. Get with the instances! It is really a shame, simply because the Zenfone 9 has benefits that are hard to come across: a compact monitor with flagship overall performance, as well as a headphone jack. Which is tremendous unusual. 

Tiny but Mighty

It could possibly not look like a glitzy flagship phone, but there are a ton of goodies in this small package deal. It all starts with its size—at just 5.9 inches, it really is quick to wrap my fingers all around. It’s not as small as the Iphone 13 Mini (5.4 inches), but it is really however just one of the smallest screens out there now. 

This AMOLED display never ever felt way too cramped with daily duties, but it did experience limiting when I watched episodes of Appreciate, Death & Robots when on the workout bike at the gym. I had to carry the phone close to my eyes to catch particulars in the “Night of the Mini Dead” episode (fitting). Normally, the display screen is sharp, seems vibrant, and manages to get just bright enough to use on sunny days. The 120-Hz refresh rate is a deal with too, and a aspect you won’t obtain on the Iphone 13 Mini—every swipe and scroll feels easy.

Sizing just isn’t the only thing that will make this phone so great to hold it truly is also the texture Asus employs on the back of the unit. It’s soft and feels kind of like the rubber mats on a playground. I like when cellphone brands play around with models and textures (RIP LG)—props to Asus for producing this mobile phone sense distinct, compared with its predecessor. Just know that this rear materials can scuff up it really is quick to clean, but you can however see some light-weight marks.

You can find a facet-mounted fingerprint sensor embedded in the energy button, and it truly is a fast and dependable way to unlock the unit. A headphone jack sits at the best if you like to don corded earbuds—this port is a rarity on flagship telephones these days—and the Zenfone 9 has stereo speakers that get loud and audio very great. It also packs a around-field communication (NFC) sensor so you can make faucet-to-shell out payments. The screen is guarded by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus, and it has IP68-rated h2o and dust resistance, which is as excellent as you will uncover on most significant-conclude telephones these times. 

What is lacking? Wireless charging. You can only recharge this cellphone with a cable, but there’s very good information right here as well: Asus is 1 of the number of telephone makers these days that nonetheless consists of a charging adapter together with the USB-C cable. (It even arrives with a situation, while it really is not terribly protecting.) Talking of charging, Asus has managed to in good shape a 4,300-mAh battery into this compact telephone, which easily lasts a full day. In fact, it usually receives me as a result of a day and a 50 % with ordinary use. It’s quite terrific!