ASUS will announce the Zenfone 9 on July 28, and key features of the compact Android flagship smartphone have already been revealed ahead of the launch. The Zenfone 9 is the successor to the Zenfone 8 released last year. However, while the Zenfone 8 was launched alongside a larger model called the Zenfone 8 Flip, there have been no reports of another phone in the Zenfone 9 series.
Given that the flip camera smartphone trend has died a natural death, it's not far-fetched to assume there won't be a Zenfone 9 Flip. This leaves ASUS fans looking to pick up a large-screen smartphone with only the ROG Phone series as an option. ASUS recently announced the ROG Phone 6 and ROG Phone 6 Pro, and both pack a large 6.78-inch display and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor.
The Zenfone 9 first appeared in a leaked promotional video that revealed its design and a few of its specifications. That leak was then followed by an official announcement by ASUS confirming that the phone will be launched on July 28. ASUS has also posted a few teasers revealing details such as the chipset and colors the phone will be available in. Most recently, tipster SnoopyTech posted the complete specifications of the device on Twitter.
Zenfone 9 Has A Big Battery
According to the source, the ASUS Zenfone 9 will have a 5.9-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Images of the phone reveal a punch-hole selfie camera at the top left corner which is reported to be a 12MP Sony IMX663 sensor. The phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, and earlier information has revealed it will have up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. The promotional video stated that the Zenfone 9 will have a Sony IMX766 sensor as its main rear camera, which is now confirmed to be a 50MP unit. A 12MP ultra-wide angle camera is the second camera on the back.
The Zenfone 9 will reportedly have a 4,300mAh battery which is significantly bigger than the 3,700mAh unit inside the Samsung Galaxy S22. It will support 30W fast wired charging just like its predecessor. There is no mention of wireless charging. ASUS hasn't launched a phone with support for the feature in years, and it is not likely to do so now. However, the Zenfone 9 will have an IP68 rating, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and an audio jack.
It has also been disclosed that the phone will receive two years of OS upgrades. It should run Android 12 with ZenUI out of the box, and with two years of upgrades, it should receive both the Android 13 and Android 14 updates. This puts the Zenfone 9 behind Samsung's flagships which will receive four OS upgrades and five years of security updates. No details about the price have been leaked so far, but considering that the Zenfone 8 was priced starting at $629 (8GB+128GB), the Zenfone 9 is expected to get a similar price tag.
Source: ASUS/Twitter, SnoopyTech/Twitter