Today Asus officially announced its all-new Zenfone 8 series starring two devices that aim to cover two very different market niches. The compact trend in smartphones now has a new defender and champion in the face of the Zenfone 8.
This phone features a 5.9-inch AMOLED screen made by Samsung and despite its tiny footprint, packs a flagship punch, courtesy of the Snapdragon 888 chipset.
The Goliath in this story is the Zenfone 8 Flip, a direct successor to the previous Zenfone 7/Pro series. The 6.67-inch behemoth continues the company’s all-display legacy with its rotating triple-camera module while keeping the AMOLED glory and the sheer power of its smaller sibling.
Both phones feature HDR10+ capable Pixelworks-tuned displays with great color accuracy (Delta-E <1) and DC Dimming technology that battles the annoying screen flickering at low brightness levels.
Asus teased the 120Hz refresh rate of the Zenfone 8 on Twitter a couple of days ago, and now it’s official. The 5.9-inch panel can go up to 120Hz and also boasts a 1ms response time, coupled with a 240Hz touch sampling rate.
The Zenfone 8 Flip, on the other hand, features a notch and cutout-free 6.67-inch AMOLED capable of doing 90Hz and 200Hz touch sampling rate. Both displays can output a thousand nits of peak brightness and are covered by Gorilla Glass (Victus on the Zenfone 8 and Gorilla Glass 6 on the Zenfone Flip).
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Both models sport Sony flagship-grade camera sensors - the Zenfone 8 comes equipped with a dual-camera system, featuring a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor for the main camera and a 12MP Sony IMX363 sensor underneath the ultra-wide lens.
These cameras feature goodies like dual pixel phase detection autofocus, a Quad Bayer color filter, optical image stabilization, macro capabilities, and more. The Zenfone 8 also features a punch-hole selfie camera made by Sony, and it comes with pretty much the same bells and whistles as its bigger brothers on the back.
The Flip camera is back and this time Asus has decided to emphasize the fact by adding the moniker to Zenfone 8’s name. The 180-degree rotating module features a better stepper motor and houses the same two sensors as its little brother but expands its photography capabilities with a third telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and 12x total zoom.
On the software side of things, both models come equipped with ZenUI8 on top of Android 11, and this proprietary user interface is quite clean and close to stock Android while offering some nice features as a bonus.
There’s a system-wide Dark Mode, a nice Audio Wizard app to make use of the hi-res audio chips inside the phones, as well as our favorite Game Genie software. The battery control center is really comprehensive and allows users to fine-tune every aspect of the charging and while we’re on the subject - both phones come with a 30W fast charger inside the box.
The Zenfone 8 features a 4,000 mAh battery, really impressive considering its size, while the Zenfone 8 Flip packs a 5,000 mAh cell.
Price and availability
The Zenfone 8 will be available globally starting at €599, while the Zenfone 8 Flip starts at €799. Zenfone 8 pricing for the US will be available closer to North America launch but we estimate it to be around $599/$799.
Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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