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Asus unveiled the successor to the flippy Zenfone 7 Pro, the phone which gained fame after winning MKBHD’s blind camera test. In that test, users vote which photo do they think is best. The catch is, they don’t know where the photo was shot from, making the test more authentic and surprising.
Asus stopped making mainstream phones and started focusing on flagships and gamings, and thus we rarely see new phones from them than the ROG Phone series and the Zenfone flagships.
Let’s start with the Zenfone 8!
Zenfone 8
The base Zenfone 8 has been made compact, with a 5.9in. screen. According to Asus, about 95% of users have an average hand size of 70mm, which is small versus to the very large screens phones now have, making it harder for users to use their phone in one hand.
Asus also said in their livestream, taller phones are also harder to put in the pockets, so the company have decided to make the Zenfone 8 as hand-friendly as possible. The phone measures a thin 68.5mm and a small height of 148mm, perfect for one hand use, according to Asus that is.
The display on the Asus Zenfone 8 is a 5.9in. Samsung E4 AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate and protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. According to Asus, this is also the perfect size to fit in pockets and for the average user to use in one-hand.
Speaking of one hand, Asus also has a one-handed mode that lets users move around the screen with just one hand. It’s basically a gesture control seen on phones like the iPhone X.
The Zenfone 8 only has a dual camera setup, but that also fits with the “compact” theme they are going for. Even if it’s just dual, it’s at least useful unlike the useless auxiliaries most midrangers have nowadays.
Anyway, the Zenfone 8 has a 64mp Sony IMX686 camera with 1.6µm pixel size and f/1.8 aperture. There is also a 12mp Sony IMX363 Ultrawide with Dual-Pixel Phase-Detection Autofocus, which means pictures would be more detailed and clearer despite only having a 12mp sensor.
For the selfie camera (don’t worry, this is not the highlight of the series so it’s fine), it has a 12mp Sony IMX663 sensor with, again Dual-Pixel PDAF.
The Zenfone 8 is also IP68 rated, making it highly water and dust resistant.
The Zenfone 8 is by means flagship, so it will come with a Snapdragon 888 5G processor with at least 712K score on AnTuTu. The Zenfone 8 is practically what the Google Pixel 5 should have been: A compact flagship with amazing cameras.
The Zenfone 8 comes in two colours with a glass-matte finish: Obsidian Black and Horizon Silver. Packing four storage options (with the latter three prices being announced soon), it starts at EUR599 (~34.7K php) for the base 6/128 version.
The Zenfone 8 has Hi-Res Audio with DIRAC HD sound technology and stereo speakers. That’s not all, it also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s just nice that really important features are coming back to smartphones, and is not just following Apple’s trends. We hope this continues, props to Asus for bringing it back.
In addition to the hardware, there is also Asus’ proprietary finetuning software called “AudioWizard” which lets you adjust sound to your liking. It has 10 adjustable equalizers with four sound profiles/templates
Finally, the Zenfone 8 has a not-so-large yet not-so-small battery packing 4000mAh of power. It also comes with 30W fast charging that could charge from nothing to 50% “in a very short period of time” which is more likely 30 minutes.
The Advanced Battery Care System is Asus’ proprietary battery saver. It lets you adjust power consumption into three options: Steady Charging charges your phone slow and steady to prevent damage, Scheduled Charging, integrated from the alarm clock, lets you schedule your charge at what time the phone has to stop charging, and Charging Limit lets you select different options in which the phone should stop charging. By default, this feature is disabled but users can enable it at their will.
Zenfone 8 Flip
The Zenfone 8 Flip is the main highlight and is the successor to the Zenfone 7 Pro. It retained the famous and notable flippy cam design the Zenfone 6 and 7 had, along with its triple camera setup.
Before we talk about the flippy cam and its features, let’s dive in with the basics, starting with the display.
Unlike the compact Zenfone 8, the Zenfone 8 Flip is a full-sized phone coming in with a 6.67in. Samsung E4 AMOLED with a surprisingly lower 90Hz refresh rate vs the base Zenfone 8. It has 1000nits peak brightness and, like its compact sibling, also supports HDR10+ and 10-bit colour.
Like the Zenfone 8, the Zenfone 8 flip is a full-fledged flagship, all the way to the processor. It keeps the Snapdragon 888 processor the smaller sibling has.
The Zenfone 8 Flip comes with a triple card slot. Two for the SIM Card and one for the MicroSD card. Asus did not mention any form of IP certification, which is strange because the compact version has it. This makes it feel like the Zenfone 8 packs in more features at the cost of one camera and the flip system.
For the battery, the Zenfone 8 Flip comes with a 5000mAh battery with the same 30W fast charging as the Zenfone 8.
Although not seen in the livestream, it is also equipped with the same sound system as the Zenfone 8, with the exception of a headphone jack, which is slightly disappointing
Without further ado, let’s go for the main feature of the device: it’s innovative camera system!
Asus has torture-tested the flip cam at least 300,000 times, with 100 flips per day for more than 8 years. This camera system is also much more durable, having a 50% stronger shaft.
The Zenfone 8 Flip retained the same camera system as its predecessor, sporting the same 64mp IMX686 main camera, 12mp IMX363 ultrawide and the same 8mp telephoto camera. Asus is not citing Sony as the supplier of this telephoto, so it’s more likely not an Exmor sensor. Though not directly mentioned, the phone does have stabilisation, as the phone has features that uses the “gimbal-like” stabilisation to its fullest
Asus has added plenty of new features for the Zenfone 8 Flip, which are listed below:
- Auto Panorama- Auto Panorama lets the flip cam adjust automatically when you take a panorama shot. Just hold the phone steady and decide on the orientation, whether vertical or horizontal, and the flip cam would automatically rotate without you having to spin and get dizzy and tired taking a very steady panorama
- Free Angle and Quick-Angle Shooting- These two modes have the same function: to adjust the angle of the flip camera. Free angle lets you adjust the angle manually and Quick-angle has presets, adjusting the camera to either 45°, 90° or 135° angles.
- Motion Tracking- Like the name says, it follows an object determined by the camera, or through manual tap, and acts like a gimbal that tracks an object
- Object Focus- This feature lets the camera focus and follow a close-up object automatically. Very useful for bloggers, as cameras would usually take more time to focus on a close object, making the object blurry when suddenly showed up-close.
- Ultrawide Selfie- Because of the flip camera system, the Zenfone 8 Flip lets you take a 112° FoV selfie, without having a need for a selfie stick
The Zenfone 8 flip comes in two colours with a glossy glass finish: Glacier Silver and Galactic Black, making the feel more premium but is also a smudge-magnet. There is also an in-display fingerprint sensor inside the phone. There is only one option: 8/128, and starts at EUR799 (~46.2K php). Asus is yet to announce availability for both devices.
Source: Asus Zenfone 8 Livestream (has ended)