Following a major leak of what seems to be a marketing video for the Zenfone 9, Asus has since confirmed its existence, and has also announced that it will be making its debut later this month, on the 28th of July at 9pm local time.
We can’t wait to share this exciting news with you – we’ll be live on July 28 at 9.00 p.m. (UTC+8) to reveal the most grabbable Zenfone 9 ever!
— ASUS (@ASUS) July 13, 2022
Save the date 👉 https://t.co/E7CuOIAvoE
As we already know from the previous marketing video leak, the Asus Zenfone 9 will indeed be following the same philosophy set by the Zenfone 8. It’s set to be a compact flagship Android smartphone, with Asus’ launch teaser coming with the tag line ‘Compact Size. Big Possibilities.’, which is the same tag line we saw in the marketing video leak.
According to the marketing video that surfaced, the Zenfone 9 will be coming with a 5.9-inch AMOLED display similar to its predecessor, along with a 120Hz refresh rate as well as IP68 dust and water resistance. It will come in black, white, blue and red colour options, and feature a tiny ’09’ right under the camera bump. There will be dual stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack too, which is unfortunately as rare to see as a flagship smartphone this size.
The biggest upgrade though appears to be the camera system. Asus has seemingly fit a main 50MP camera on the rear using a Sony IMX766 sensor with a 6-axis hybrid gimbal stabiliser, and features a light trail mode too for taking scenes with a long exposure. No mention of the secondary camera in the marketing video, but it will likely be an ultrawide angle camera like the one in the Zenfone 8. The camera bumps are now much bigger in size too compared to its predecessor, and looks especially big perhaps due to the body’s small footprint.
There will also be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system-on-chip under the hood though no word on exactly what configurations of RAM and storage will be made available. Powering it all is a 4,300mAh battery which is a minor upgrade over the Zenfone 8’s 4,000mAh battery. There’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor too which you can use as a scroll wheel by sliding over it.
Assuming Asus prices the Zenfone 9 well, the Taiwanese giant will likely have another winner here. Compact flagship smartphones remain a rare sight these days, and even Apple is rumoured to be killing their Mini lineup of iPhones too. Android smartphone makers meanwhile have recently been coming with smaller flagship options like the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Xiaomi 12, but for those who want a sub 6-inch display, the Zenfone 9 looks set to be the only standout option here.
