If you’re a fan of small phones, the Asus Zenfone lineup of Android phones is probably already on your radar. The next one we’re waiting for is the Asus Zenfone 9, and it could be coming at any time.
This is the expected successor to the Asus Zenfone 8, which we saw in May 2021, and it could also come alongside a Flip edition like this phone.
We’ve started hearing rumors of the Asus Zenfone 9, but they’re not coming as fast and thick as the iPhone 14 leaks, so it’s unclear if it’s coming right away or in the more distant future.
We’re collecting all the leaks and rumors we’ve heard about the Zenfone 9 for now, and you can find them below, along with a wish list of all the things we want to see in the next Android.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? Asus’ next Android flagship
- When do you leave? We don’t know – hopefully soon
- How much will it cost probably around $629 (approximately £425 / AU$769)
Asus Zenfone 9: release date and price
We don’t know when the Asus Zenfone 9 will go on sale – that’s because while most phones are released annually, the Zenfone 9 is late to that schedule.
The Zenfone 8 family launched in May 2021, although it took a few months to go on sale. But we were expecting the Zenfone 9 by this time if it was following a rough annual schedule.
The Zenfone 8 is priced at $629 (about £425 / AU$769), and we don’t expect the new version to be priced much differently. Maybe 9 could be a little cheaper or more expensive, but not by much.
If you’ve got more cash to burn, we might also see a Flip version, which would be more expensive and have an inverted camera solution – we’ll have to see.
Asus Zenfone 9: leaks and rumors
We’ve only heard one major leak of the Asus Zenfone 9 – but it’s huge as a marketing video for the phone has leaked.
So apparently the phone has a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, a 4,300mAh battery, two rear cameras (one of which has a gimbal feature), a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 5-inch 120Hz display. .9 inches, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an IP68 rating for protection. Oh, and apparently it will come in shades of red, black, cream and blue.
It’s a weird video – the music is so inappropriate we can’t help but feel it’s a blunt cut or similar – but it gives us a lot of information about the phone.
Asus Zenfone 9: what we want to see
Here’s what we want to see in the Asus Zenfone 9 to make it a decent upgrade.
a telephoto lens
Despite the high price, the Asus Zenfone 8 doesn’t have a range of cameras – most notably, it doesn’t have a telephoto zoom lens.
This means that if you want to zoom in when taking a photo, do so with digital zoom or crop. It’s a weak link in the Zenfone’s photographic abilities, meaning it can’t compete with some rivals of the same price.
a lower price
The Zenfone 8 had a price tag that sat on the fence between mid-range and top-end, but its specs certainly fell within the former – its battery and camera specs felt more like a mid-range phone.
We expect the Zenfone 9 to fix that, either by bumping up the specs so the phone is more high-end or lower priced so it’s a competitive mid-ranger.
Improved battery life
We found the Asus Zenfone 8’s battery life to be below average, as its 4,000mAh power pack didn’t keep the device going for long.
If the aforementioned leak is correct, then the Zenfone 9 will get a 4,300mAh battery – but also a more intensive processor, so a bigger battery doesn’t lead to a longer lifespan.
We’d like to see an even bigger battery than 4,300mAh, or maybe some other optimizations, to make sure the phone lasts long enough.