Review: Asus Zenfone 9

There's no shortage of big phones these days. Apple even went so far as to nix a successor to last year's iPhone 13 Mini and instead replaced it with the iPhone 14 Plus. Small phones are hard to come by, but they're not completely extinct yet. If you're tired of straining your fingers to reach parts of a screen, then the Asus Zenfone 9 is your friend.

I have to mention a few major caveats before you read any further. This Android smartphone is available in the US, but it will not work on Verizon's network at all. It works best on T-Mobile and AT&T. Asus also doesn't support its smartphones for a long time. Most Android phone makers now offer three to five years of software support, but Asus is sticking with a paltry two. Get with the times! It's a shame, because the Zenfone 9 has perks that are hard to find: a compact screen with flagship performance, plus a headphone jack. That's super rare. 

It might not look like a glitzy flagship phone, but there are a lot of goodies in this little package. It all starts with its size—at just 5.9 inches, it's easy to wrap my fingers around. It's not as small as the iPhone 13 Mini (5.4 inches), but it's still one of the smallest screens out there today. 

This AMOLED display never felt too cramped with everyday tasks, but it did feel limiting when I watched episodes of Love, Death & Robots while on the exercise bike at the gym. I had to bring the phone close to my eyes to catch details in the “Night of the Mini Dead” episode (fitting). Otherwise, the screen is sharp, looks colorful, and manages to get just bright enough to use on sunny days. The 120-Hz refresh rate is a treat too, and a feature you won't find on the iPhone 13 Mini—every swipe and scroll feels smooth.

Photograph: Asus

Size isn't the only thing that makes this phone so nice to hold; it's also the texture Asus uses on the back of the device. It's soft and feels kind of like the rubber mats on a playground. I like when phone manufacturers play around with designs and textures (RIP LG)—props to Asus for making this phone feel distinct, unlike its predecessor. Just know that this rear material can scuff up; it's easy to clean, but you'll still see some light marks.

There's a side-mounted fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button, and it's a quick and reliable way to unlock the device. A headphone jack sits at the top if you prefer to wear corded earbuds—this port is a rarity on flagship phones these days—and the Zenfone 9 has stereo speakers that get loud and sound pretty great. It also packs a near-field communication (NFC) sensor so you can make tap-to-pay payments. The screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus, and it has IP68-rated water and dust resistance, which is as good as you'll find on most high-end phones these days. 

What's missing? Wireless charging. You can only recharge this phone with a cable, but there's good news here too: Asus is one of the few phone makers these days that still includes a charging adapter along with the USB-C cable. (It even comes with a case, though it's not terribly protective.) Speaking of charging, Asus has managed to fit a 4,300-mAh battery into this small phone, which comfortably lasts a full day. Actually, it usually gets me through a day and a half with average use. It's pretty great! 

Let's not forget about its mighty performance. It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which is the absolute best you'll find on Android right now. I never once saw this phone stutter, whether I was playing a game, scrolling through Twitter, or responding to an email. 

Asus doesn't offer long software support, but despite launching with Android 12, I'm already running a beta version of Android 13 on the Zenfone 9. The official version will likely land sometime in December, so at least you won't have to wait long. I also like that the interface is pretty close to the base version of Android: simple, clean, and pretty. It's just a shame the support window is so short—it likely won't get Android 15 in 2024. 

What helps make the Zenfone 9 look distinct from some of its peers are the two massive camera circles on the back. They're unusually large. This is because both the primary 50-megapixel camera and the 12-megapixel ultrawide have a unique six-axis gimbal to help stabilize video footage so it doesn't look janky.

It does a surprisingly great job. I didn't see much jitter in video I shot while walking. The results were smoother than what I got on the Pixel 7, though still not at the level of the iPhone 14 and Apple's sensor-shift stabilization technology. The quality of the video, however, wasn't always as nice. The iPhone in general and the Pixel's new 10-bit HDR support allow for nicer colors and better-exposed scenes. Low-light footage was much grainier on the Asus, though still much more stabilized than the Pixel. 

If the Zenfone wins points with its video stabilization, you can detract a few for its general photography performance. It's fine. I was reliably able to get some good photos out of it, but it can often produce some strange colors, and the cameras struggle with high-contrast scenes. You won't get as much detail as the photos snapped with the Pixel 7. And most of my attempts at trying to capture my dog in his Halloween bat costume were blurry. Boo.

Despite all this, the Zenfone 9's cameras produce good enough photos that I never felt frustrated. Some phone cameras kill my interest in snapping photos at all, but that didn't happen here. It's a decent system.

Whether you go budget or luxe, small phones are a bit of a rarity at both ends of the market. On the cheaper end, you should look at the iPhone SE 2022 and the Pixel 6A (the latter isn't as small but is still decently compact). If you can spend more, your options are last year's iPhone 13 Mini and the upcoming Sony Xperia 5 IV (which is really expensive and not as compact). The Asus Zenfone 9, at $699, sits in a sweet spot.