Asus Zenfone 9: The New Compact King! 

1st

Yooo I am this early

Let me make my 3rd comment

💯

Please stop Ur video cc

To be fair, the camera is still underperforming. The smallest Android worth buying is 6 inch, something like S22, it does zoom lense as well + amazing software support. I went with Iphone 13 mini and it's insane, the only downside being lacking the 3rd camera :(

@MrBeast Secret Channel shut up

Yeah I was looking for one but couldn't pull the trigger on any. Ended up going slightly bigger. I'm curious if they will keep this up. Tempted by zen phone especially if they keep making a compact option.

Agree

Just get a LG V60 sry I meant V40 😳

No SD card -1

u forgot the free case!

Its not a flagship phone. It can be classified as a budget phone

@@veryinterestingpersonaliti8321 Sony is the only one with that now for flagships and they are hitting crazy price levels.

@@TheInstrumentalist No. 800 euros is not "budget". "Oh, look at me I'm rich".

After iPhone deleted the mini, and my S10e gets slower with each update, its refreshing to see a sub 6 inch flagship - OLED, 120hz etc...+ stereo + jack!!!!!

😊

This is almost like the first Zenfone right down to the faded red case. That's right the speakers last 6 months. I have had Zenfone 1 to 4 everyone needed speakers replaced in 6 months. This problem to date has not been changed. Watching movies could be good due to gaming but no 4k. In all this phone has really only changed shape and dumped some blotwear. You need to get the extended warranty too. Customer service is crap with out it. Guaranteed you will use it several times Plus Asus will only accept broken phones for service in a large UPS BOX yes it's specified. My last service on warrenty was 75.00 to ship.

@@danialchiuppi8083 good to know this. thanks

This Mr Steve Jobs was preaching back his days.. smaller phones

and headphone jack

sadly, i just don't think companies going for compact phone now simply cuz not a lot of people buy them. just take apple for eg, they tried mini phones for 2 years but they gave up on the upcoming series cuz of the poor sales of those mini phones. and we r talking about apple, which sells like 150 million devices in year, can't get good sales out of their mini phones, so there is no way an android brand would be confident to make such phones. asus is an exception, i know but then again zenfone aren't exactly known for their sale figures. asus just picked up a niche of small phone market, and tried to satisfy the customers of that niche, just like with their rog phones which i think is respectable.

Me too. Just fed up and annoyed of all those huge 6.5" slabs.

noo please no.i hate small phones

I did

Idid 😅

Did it win?

@@naytharwin3807 yep

😅

I noticed that like a minute in, was wondering if anyone else caught it

High probability MKBHD will like that comment

100% international. Nice touch like you said

Haha I'm so happy that I don't notice it

Searching for this comment, sharp👏

LOL. Probably won't sell. This is for very specific markets.

So buy it

Zenfone 8 was the same compact phone and it sold good, otherwise you wouldn't be seeing Zenfone 9.

@@ev.c6 it's a great phone, it definitely will.

I've got the zenfone 8, loving it! If they continue to make these the zenfone 10 might be my next phone (if they keep it in the "compact" size) As of now no reason to upgrade.

they all pay attention in the beginning hey

Yooooo. I had to pause the video to come check the comments

I saw your comment exactly as I heard this in the video 😅

bruh i thought it was a fire alarm

It doesn't help their devices price out mid-range buyers. Those are the ones who love and look out for features other than enthusiast crowd and Asus have excluded them from their product.

@@sanku1999 You may forget Rog phone

@@sanku1999 Buddy there are those that still want flagship spec devices but don't want one the size of a flat brick. Also, Asus ROG dude. If you want an enthusiast device get a Sony Xperia lol

@@joseph924 Looks like he did. He just was a brand and phone and decided to talk to a wall. Lol

Except software update

Yea I noticed too, this channel is no joke.

haha, nice man, I am thinking about this one too, replacing my s10e, the 10 is quite expensive, but yeah, 9's price is lower now

not just that, I think the large earbud in the second shelf on the left looks like a "9". I could be over-analyzing though haha

@@twisted1774 I didn't even see that! I see it now though!

@@twisted1774 man i thought that a black colored toilet paper

It's for the size of cameras

I just love how cute they look, they're so fun

fr, perfect phone imo

@@TheLeisku did you say that the sound quality on Bluetooth is better than wired?

Completely agree, and not only in the phone space, but laptops too for example!

@@aquaposeidon9464 yes 20-40 euros base earphones (no gaming) shit

@@aquaposeidon9464 enough to make me didn't trust him lmao. No Bluetooth headphones can compare with wired monitoring headphone

Hi, I know I'm 1 year late😅, but I am typing this on my s10e. I just wanted to support your comment. It still is a great phone, and compact, one of my favourites. Too bad I dropped it soooo many times that eventually I shattered its camera on a rock (pockets on girls' pants are absurdly small). It was very durable though, and I really regret breaking it....

This exactly. I love that it shares so much with the Nexus 5, the camera, the soft touch plastic, the sharper screen edges...

Dbrand skin with Nexus lettering when?

That's exactly what I thought. I had a Nexus 5 n can't stop thinking of it after seeing this 👌🏼.

I was just about to type this lol I even had a dbrand skin on mine that was the exact same red

same I got so spooked lmfao

What is it saying??

Seeing how far I had to scroll to see this makes me wonder how many of these commenters even watched the whole video...

I'm wondering if that was a legit error or intentional. But I don't know what that robotic voice was saying anyway lol

I had my AirPods in. Freaked me out. Thought someone was talking to me lol

100% agree. You would think Google, having all the data and money in the world, would be able to see the info and feedback that people want on their phones (Full disclosure, I paraphrased that line from another commentor) but instead they send out half baked software, useless fingerprint sensor, etc. Unfortunately, I think the limited two-year software updates on the ZF9 will turn a lot of people off. I always wonder why they can’t give more, maybe politics or money?

@@hhhmmmmmmmm Money and many other factors one of them would be like going more or less hand in hand with their rivalry...

Asus is starting to seem like a very interesting player

I think sony was on a similar train with limited success. It is great to have this though, hopefully people find it when they shop around

They could do a bit better with software updates though. 2 years of support is awful and I bet that’ll be the real deciding factor for whether I’ll be forced to upgrade early

Moto X was super cool. Too bad did not last long

It’s a shame that Asus will provide only 2 years of software updates to this phone. That’s the only real downside I can see about it. Makes me wanna buy the iPhone 13 Mini instead.

Ah Moto x nostalgia

@@ricardorezende9991 they said 2+ maybe if enough people buy it they will keep updating it.

@@ricardorezende9991 it depends on the no if products being purchased..if enough people buys them, then company may change the policies to 3-4 years of update also.

Not really. Phones now just have much small bezels and the screens are really skinny compared to 10 years ago.

5.9 isn’t compact it’s just normal size

@@lifeisshrt7929 compared to the 6.5 inch+ phones nowadays it's definitely compact

@@lifeisshrt7929 find me another flagship that size then. Even the base s22 is significantly bigger and that has s22+ and ultra above it. Same with pixel 6a, 6 and 6 pro

@@logitech12345678910 he said in 2011

That is exactly what I was going to write. But you already did 😊😉

Also the 9 on its side/horizontal

Haha I thought it was trying to say it was a ZenFone 8 Lite

@@pointservicephone1049 me too..😂😂

How does it taste?

Yeah, I wonder what that's about

Me too! What was that??

I kept scrolling through the comments to see if anyone heard it too

It’s JerryRigEverything’s famous "glass is glass. And glass breaks" cleverly placed

@@MataNataM i see! Thanks 👌

Huh

So, is it fix? I really wanna buy this phone, but I just don't really wanna have a "bad" camera with good specs.

@@sparklingcats Hi, no, nothing changed 🫤

I’m considering this phone, but I too am allergic to what you’re describing. As a work around I’ve used Lightroom for photos on my iPhone, and this fixes everything. I liked it so much I bought a mirrorless camera.

I have been using the Zenfone 9 for 4 months and despite there's still sharpening, it wasn't as oversharpening as what it was when I first got it out of the box back in late August 2022, and the colors do look a bit more natural (less saturated). So yeah, it's better, but probably not as good as something like an Iphone

With a HEADPHONE JACK! 🎉🍻👍🏼😎

I k ew the design looked familiar. Oh how I miss the nexus 5

Asus made the Nexus 5 too didnt they? (Edit: was LG nvm)

Damn do I miss my nexus 5...

My all-time favorite phone

How is it?

Same here! Can't wait to get mine!

@@igor240898433 Me too, I will get this in Black Friday or whenever they have a discount. Seems like a good phone, and much better than samsung's

Any updates guys? How's this phone?

I've read reviews online about it not working well for carriers in the U.S. I'm also waiting for a black Friday type promotion... However, I am concerned about committing to the phone with the reviews

On this exact same boat

Same here. Bought a new phone in May 2022

Same here. I think the down sides of this phone is like the easiest to forgive that I've seen in any phone.

What about software updates? As excited as I am about this compact phone, I've read Asus doesn't give software updates after 2 years.. is it going to be the same with this?

Same here. Rocking the 13 pro max still. But it’s super tempting. I flip between android and iPhone all the time, not committed to either or…

My same thoughts!

I think Dave2D said it's around $700 or something similar, with 2-year support?? That would rule it out in my mind.

That was exactly what I was going to say. This seems like the perfect upgrade.

A microSD slot is missing to make it a true spiritual successor to the S10e

@@HNedel exactly

this^

OnePlus used to be the staple for good budget phone

Just gave up my oneplus7t pro for Zenfone 8

@@joemukama1680 Damn for real? That had to be a tough move..

@@TsunaXZ Eh, they still have some solid models, mid ranges too. Zen phone has been around for a hot minute, but with the fact that the 10T is close to release with the same SoC as the ZF9... It's now either bigger screen cheaper phone with same specs, or smaller phone smaller screen for almost $300 more.

What in the world was that??? I thought someone had broken in my house. Took my headphones out real fast.

Just for info, this phone is exactly the same size are the regular iPhone 13 but with bigger bezels and a slightly smaller screen.

noise - its our beloved Zack with "Glass is glass..." phrase with robovoice touch

9:24 Can't quite make out what is said but I thought the aliens had arrived. Cool.

Was searching a comment about it, what the heck was that? Scared the crap out of me

oh that makes more sense. I wondered why there was an 8 in the background when the phonenumber is 9

I was looking for this comment

Everybody shitting on the Pixel 6a for not having the wireless charging, while barely mentioning with the Zenfone, talking about double standards...

@@pedroloto at least the Zenphone has longer battery life PLUS faster charging.

@@brendonspencer5788 headphone jack also

@@brendonspencer5788 yeah, but the price is 250$ more than the Pixel 6a, not a small difference

@@brendonspencer5788 faster charging kills battery

ummm sorry but it's as ugly as it gets.

Hey Alexander tell me one thing you use which Phone

@@shahidqureshixch8397 iPhone 11 Pro

@@alexanderb3340 ummm, sorry but that’s as boring as it gets

@@bobbyjeff32 At least it's not ugly. These are not toys they are tools. I like Asus though, especially their ROG line.

@Michael Estwik which country are you from?

Price so nice had to say it twice

Only cameras are a let down

@@TechTokeMaster lmao just realized

@@adt007ad why would you do that?

Yh let's stop talking about OnePlus. That era is certainly dead

OnePlus hasn't been relevant in years.

OnePlus been shit since 7 series

OnePlus settled!

@@nazmulfahad3044 I'd say since 8T. I'm still using it. It's awesome.

Exactly the same here! My S10e has been great and even at 4 years old no issues, this is the first phone since I've considered.

I was thinking the same, but the camera system doesnt feel like an upgrade from my s10e and thats a shame :/ im now considering s21 ultra, but the size scares me

Same for me keeping an S10. Only camera seems a downgrade :(

I had an s10e, absolutely loved it, and then upgraded to the base model s22 when it released. Overall, I'm super happy; everything's an upgrade except the battery, which I kinda understand but still grates a little.

@@AltamashSayed I heard the Z9 sensor should be way better than the S10e. But whenever I saw photos from reviews I don't really see it.

I wouldn’t hold my breath for it. Most polls I see on sites about smartphones show very low usage of the headphone jack, and Asus does similar polls with users(my brother showed me the one he got for his ROG 4) to evaluate certain features of the phone. With cooling needs increasing, most companies are having a hard time justifying the extra internal space for the headphone jack. Most people around me, even those that are not tech people, are switching to Bluetooth headphones for the extra comfort.

Honestly Id like more companies to go to the fingerprint reader/power button. My cheap Motorola phone just naturally unlocks when I grab it

@@mikalokasso They just want to sell their tws and nothing else. The headphone jack doesn't take as much space as you think that it would cause heating.

Headphone jacks are awesome, that's what made me decide on the last phone I bought, even though the other one I was considering was better in other aspects

The Jack is convenient but I like that I am not stuck to a cord when I use Bluetooth.

Is that camera and video difference big? And what about battery life as well thinking about switching too

@@renelicea6051 battery life is insanely much better! Camera is good! Not A+ but still good for everything. Or. It's good of you're not Mkbhd. 😂😂😂😂 But! The video stabilizer! That is A+++++. So if you video a lot you'll love it just for that alone! You can run and film and it will be stable! 😱

Looking to replace my S10E as well, didn't realize how many phones gave up the headphone jack at this point.

The zenfone 8 was also a nice compact phone. The IPhone 13 mini is great too if you are willing to switch to IOS.

This is the greatest downside and is something that everyone needs to consider. It is anti consumer and makes the phone a no go for anyone who wants to keep their phone for an extended period of time.

Yep, I wish Marques had mentioned this, it's the #1 biggest downside. Google and Samsung are up to 5 years, so 2 years makes it a no go for me. If at least it was 3, I'd consider it.

Asus's sales don't exactly allow them more than 2 years of support

Can't we just have GIGANTIC pockets on all our clothes? 🤔😉😅✌🏼

Sony xz2 compact was the perfect sized phone. Big enough, but you could still use it with one hand.

Honestly the only reason I want the iPhone Mini line-up to succeed is so that other manufacturers realise that there's a market for smaller phones.

@@jeremycorbett9085 I still use xperia XZ2 compact for my secondary phone, yeah the size is perfect and comfortable to use with one hand but if I use for watching RU-vid or playing the game it still feel so small so I will switched to my main phone S22 for media consumption

@@gus473 wear baggy jeans to office

Asus is the best when it comes to that kind of stuff.

Didnt notice that wow He did say in one of his videos that he intentionally places easter eggs

👆👆👆 message for your

That's the problem with most androids 😥

Absolutely. They're asking us to pay 699 dollars for essentially the size. Because all the other features can be found in literally every Moto phone.

Lack of wireless charging is a dealbreaker for me unfortunately

@@trevorjmaendel i never understood why people are so horny for slower, less efficient charging which requires additional hardware.

@@Alias_Anybody Every phone I've had before wireless charging died because of a damaged charging port. I know there's magnetic options and USB C is far better than micro/mini USB but still. It just extends the life of my phones by 2-3 years easily

This thing isn't even in the same league as an iPhone

It’s only missing a microSD and it would be perfect

@@ILoveGrilledCheese it's far above lol the only thing that I would buy before this, is an iPad mini

Apple living rent free in ur head. Stop comparing android to iOS

This have nothing to do with iphones or apple

Good joke about their latest laptops being great.

@@scscyou i m using tuf series thats really great ones.

@@ambi-g4642 Really good in terms of good specs, or relatively compared to other laptops? So you haven't ever been pushed a BIOS driver via Windows Update that broke your compatibility, thermals & started giving you BSODs? You didn't have artificially limited GPU overclocking capabilities and throttling issues? Was it build with good materials that don't break after 4 years of usage? When it gets stuck on a black screen during workflow, did your warranty let you change the laptop model, or have you also had to send the laptop for repair for 30 days, only for the same problem to return later, having to send it back 3 times again? Well, I'm glad this hasn't been your experience ;) But then again, most laptop manufacturers have plenty of issues.

@@scscyou ever tried rog's?

i have a rog laptop which i burned the cpu of it altho its not really new