My perfect phone upgrade! - ASUS Zenfone 9
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
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Riley's a small phone man who's been rocking the Pixel 3 for years now, but he's ready for something new. Is the ASUS Zenfone 9 with its upgraded cameras and features the perfect phone for him?
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Don't you... forget about me
0:09 Introduction
0:55 Unboxing
1:35 Exterior impressions, ports, and features
3:19 Thoughts on charging speeds
3:45 Size impressions
4:35 Sponsor - Manscaped
5:02 Display specs
5:52 Performance impressions
6:28 Speaker/Display comparisons to Google Pixel 3 and iPhone 13 Pro
7:35 Camera specs and impressions
9:02 Video gimbal stabilization testing
9:58 Selfie time
10:20 No wireless charging :(
10:51 Thoughts on ZenUI
10:27 Smart Key impressions
13:06 Labs Testing - Gaming performance
14:18 It's IP68 (kinda?)
14:51 Modular accessories
15:45 Overall thoughts
16:12 Outro 
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The IP 65/68 is actually not about it deteriorating from 68 to 65 over time (that sentence is just saying that the phone starts with IP 65/68 certification but might not stay that way). The 6 is for dust ingress protection, and the second number is for water. The 8 is certified for submersion, and the 5 is certification for multidirectional jets of water, so Asus had both certifications done for the phone, not just one.
Sony also do both tests
@@Entertainment- Yep, and I know some of Sony's phones have flaps covering the ports (like the ones with mini-HDMI) and those ones have separate tests for the flaps open or closed, I believe.
When the real details are in the comments.
Thank you for saying this! :)
Why the fuck does IP X8, or X9K for that matter, not include everything preceding it, it's not a fucking phone where it seems to lose features for a bigger and shinier halo feature
In an alternative universe, Riley, James and Alex are brothers. I just don't know why I always see the three as brothers. Love you guys.
James is the bad one...obviously lol.
Why is this so true
Are you telling me Linus didn't adopt the 3 of them because they came together in the same litter box?
Laugh if you feel like it but I was confusing them all the time at first, I literally wasn't sure if Alex was just Riley with a beard and hair dye.
Riley is definitely the youngest. Got away with everything.
As for the IP68/65 I think y'all missed the reason it's there. IPX8 refers to submersion resistance (iirc, under 3 meters for over 30 minutes), while IPX5 refers to exposure to a jet steam at all angles. Just because a device can withstand submersion doesn't necessarily mean it can withstand a focused jet stream and the testing is performed differently for both cases. All that is to say that the phone isn't "losing water resistance over time". Rather, it's tested for two types of water resistance.
That's the comment I was looking for.
I want to add that IPX6 means protection against *strong* jet streams from all angles, and that's explicitely excluded by saying IP65/68.
So, don't pressure wash your Zenfone
@@Hiasibua that just happens to be so, IPX8 doesn't include anything from IPX1 to IPX6 anyways and you can't imply a durability certification without stating it properly.
@@josir1994 correct
Well one thing everyone should know is when you drop your phone or you overheated it, the rate drop, it don’t always stay waterproof during all product lifetime
@@hangsu6261 sure, but that's the user's fault. Not something the manufacturer needs to report on.
14:30 Riley doesn't seem to understand IP ratings quite well so allow me to correct him:
1) IP68 isn't just a higher rating than IP65, it's an entirely different one. IP68 (just like IP67) is a rating for submersion under water. IP65 (and also IP66) is a rating for pressurised water jets.
2) A phone can be IP68 certified, but could still fail an IP65 certification. And vice versa.
3) Sony and ASUS are afaik the only smartphone company's that try to get IP65 rating in addition to IP68 for even more peace of mind.
4) All IP-rated phones have that sentence about the ratings degradation in their manual, but it has nothing to do with "changing from 68 to 65". That is misinterpreted, and can not happen.
Hope this helps :)
Thanks you ! So it looks like Asus did great job by getting those two certif lol
Whoever decided on the ip rating naming convention should be fired. Like, why??
As an old Pixel owner, I think I found my next upgrade!
Yeah, but I don't know about the software support in the future.
@@samlevasseur same concern here
@@samlevasseur If your truly adventurous, you could flash Lineage OS onto it once they make a image for this phone. But yeah its a shame most android companies dont support their phones in the long term
@@samlevasseur software support is a yoke, it gets 2 years of updates and it's launching with last year's (2021 that is) Android.
@@peeboo I can do that on the Pixel 3 too. And I don't even have to buy a new phone for that.
I was done with custom ROMs back in the Nexus 4 days. Give me factory, tested, verified updates. I use my phone as a tool, not as an experiment, sadly...
Software support is a deal breaker for me, wireless charging not being present is also a nuisance (software support can change over time, but wireless charging won't be added in the future).
As a Samsung Galaxy s10e user with the fingerprint reader on the side of the phone, I use the swipe down on the fingerprint reader for the notification shade roughly 100 times a day. I'm not sure I could live without it. Definitely an underrated feature for sure!
If they cared the least bit about function over form, side mounted scanners with gestures would be the standard now. No idea how we're still dealing with optical scanners some 3 years since the S10e came out.
I used to have an S10e but had to replace it a year ago. I still miss it, it was absolutely great and would probably have used it for another 2 years beyond now. The Zenfone is something I would consider but I do personally like OneUI and Samsung has more consistent updates, so I'm not entirely sure.
@@hayden.A0 I'm kinda bummed I missed out on it. Little did I know there'd be basically no phone like it going forward.
Maybe the Z9 is finally the one, but an LG G7 still serves me well enough that I hardly want to upgrade with what's on the market now.
use it on the back fingerprint sensor on my pixel 4a. need it
I like big phones and I use that gesture on my Note 9, one of the many reasons why I'm refusing to upgrade any time soon
2:38 Thank you Riley. Please keep preaching this. There's no reason why headphone jack and expandable storage shouldn't be included in all phones.
from a company standpoint there actually several reasons. manufacturing cost, more points of failure, less Accessoires to sell, a way harder time gettin a good IP rating, more circuits to cram into an already overheating heavy phone just so it wont be used 70% of the time. no from a company point of view, these little things really arent worth all the expense and the hassle.
@@Cloudmaster1511 And yet Sony has been doin this since around the Xperia Compact Era... And still til this day, and still til this day sell less phones than the "competition".
The Zenphone 9 is one of the smallest Screen to body ratio Androids for its size to date, but and with flagship specs. Yet ships with a headset jack, and an IP rating. What's the competitions excuse?
Dang the Zenfone line has gone a long way. I remember owning a ZenFone 2, which was marketed as the first phone with 4GB, and it was only $230! The Intel CPU was great too. The battery sucked and there were almost no updates though...
Yeah now they just need to fix the updates. This one should have 2 android updates and thats it
I used to have a PadFone 2, the SSDs in these literally died (unreliable parts from a shady supplier, as far as I remember).
Now on a ZenFone 8, it's literally night and day.
@The Rocky Guy thats true and i like to buy another phone every couple of years (2-3) (mostly second hand buys) so in that period it doesnt matter anymore.
The battery sucked... because of the Intel SoC.
So relatable bruh, had the same phone. Intel CPU was superb.
You can change the pre applied theme on the ROG to stock complete stock android, ASUS gives you that option which is Amazing.
honestly all android phones should have this option
i dont think it's "complete stock android" i believe it's the zenUI which is pretty similar to stock android
@@matthewptr_ yep, its ZenUI which is pretty much stock android with some extra stuff added on top, i think it would be pretty good
whats the benefit of going "stock youtube" on this?
@@matthewptr_ bro what i meant was look and feel, stock Android does not have many features, it's necessary to add a layer however the look and feel which makes Android beauty is maintained in Asus phones be it ROG or Zenfone
Really appreciate the labs testing even if it's only a short circuit.
idk if someone also noticed the leaves of the trees while the camera is panning to the right 7:24. If you look closely, the Iphone 13 pro blurs the leaves while the Zenfone 9 is still crystal clear sharpness.
Nice catch. The Zenfone definitely outshines the iPhone when it comes to the screen.
I'm waiting for this phone to release here in the US. My wife has the Galaxy S10e. She likes smaller phones that work single handed. So this phone is totally perfect for her. The camera being OK is still an upgrade from what she has now, and the image stablization in video's is something that will be useful for her, when recording our son, when out on walks or at the park or whatever. She doesn't use wireless charging anyways, so that isn't a big deal for her. But she does use the 3.5mm jack, because her jeep doesn't have bluetooth, only a wired 3.5mm aux input. So having a phone with a headphone jack is a must-have for her.
Basically, this phone hits every single bell for her, and comes in under $1000. Just waiting for Asus to release it in the US, While I'm waiting for Asus to release the ROG phone 6.
Pay attention to Sony Xperia Ace III. Once it's officialy out in Japan you can get it from Ebay. You can completely clean it from any and all Japan-related services. No need to root. Just the good-old adb removal using the terminal. Zero stutters, or OS failures. Even after an update from Android 11 to 12 - none of the removed adbs returned.
Don't get the Ace II, it's using an older CPU so not as snappy as the Ace III is. Significantly so.
Same here, I also have an S10e now. The powerbutton thing is exactly the same. Double tap function and so on. Pity it does not have wireless charging, but it's not a dealbreaker.
It's available for pre-order now!
@@STOG01 That all sounds great, but one of my rules when buying some kind of device is that I straight refuse buy something with worse hardware than what I already have and Sony's Ace mk 3 is using a 480 snapdragon which is significantly worse than my more than 5 year old phone. Asus' Zenfone 9 is, in contrast, running snapdragon 8+ gen 1 - basically the newest thing and while I don't particularly care about that, I still stand by my refusal rules. Now, me personally, I'm not quite ready for a change yet and I definitely appreciate your input. Literally everything else is pretty good, but I didn't see a headphone jack yet I easily could have missed it in the review.
Sua esposa não considerou a compra do Iphone 13 mini?
Frankly the fact that it has a headphone jack and is a reasonable size is enough for me to buy it on its own. It's also not $900 which is nice
And comes with a charger!! That's also a feature nowadays
You are so right. Those are the main requirements for my phone also.
On Amazon, the 256GB model (because, who needs more than that, ever, and, ya know, SD cards are sooo last year) for $978! As of now, the only thing really checks all the boxes for me (except price) is the Sony Xperia 1 IV! Amazon has it (12/256) with SD support and 3.5 jack for just under a grand, with the 12/512 for less than $100 more.
exactly, two of my main requirements
Exactly. I don’t need to upgrade yet, but I really hope asus keeps doing what it’s doing until when I do need a new phone.
Props to whoever was blurring the app list while Riley was swiping!
Now I wanna know what apps were blurred out.
the 2 first apps that are blurred start with a "Cm" or a "cn", and then the single blurred app starts with a "j". No idea what app that could be. If I had to guess its probably a banking app, or an internal Asus testing app
I want to know, too!!!
Yeah, they did a much better job than MKBHD who basically blurred his entire screen during B-roll of all things.
Yeah. Makes us more curious tho.
I don't understand who wouldn't love the fingerprint swipe down to drop the notification shade. Literally every phone should have a side-mounted sensor and literally every phone should have this feature!
As a repair tech for iphones and almost all Android phones, I'd like to comment on that IP68/65 rating. If you look at Apple's own page on their water resistance, DEEP in the page they say themselves that "water resistance will weaken over time with normal use" and acknowledge that it will happen. Why? BECAUSE IT HAPPENS WITH *ALL* modern phones. The amount of water damaged Iphone 12s and 13s I've seen this summer has been *insane*. The older the phone, the worse the water damage is, even if it's just splashes from lake water or even rain.
Personally I think EVERY manufacture should be *required* to put out this same IP68/65 rating, because it will be impossible to convince me that an iphone 12 still has an IP68 rating after a year of normal use. Again, I'd like to say this isn't a slight against Apple, I see this with almost all IP68 rated phones, I've just seen a particular influx of iphones this summer. Props to Asus for actually being 100% honest in their marketing, because Apple (and everyone else) is absolutely not.
They won't tell you in their marketing material that the phones despite being "rated" for X number of minutes in Y amount of water, are not nearly as water resistant as they'd like you to think. If this wasn't obvious enough, there's a reason water damage is not covered under warranty in any circumstance. They sell you on a degree of water resistance that simply isn't actually there.
So props to Asus, and thanks listening to my little PSA :)
LMAO!!!!!
As a repair monkey who works on iPhones and most android phones at a phone repair shop, I concur
Thank you for describing your real world experience. It really helps to put manufacturers' claims in perspective and as an iPhone 12 mini user myself, I will definitely be more careful knowing it.
I would just like to clarify that IPx5 means ingress protection against water jets and IPx8 means ingress protection against submersion in water. IP68 is not better than IP65, it means protection against two different environments.
I've had lots of Zenfone models and the headphone jack is integral to the experience. Asus gives you a pretty good DAC with system-wide EQ (even on Bluetooth) and headphone profiles. Although my experience hasn't been amazing due to shoddy updates and the main camera always finding a way to break (happened in my zenfone 3 and 5z), if you're an audiophile/musician/producer/engineer, I don't think there's anything better in the sound department on Android's side.
Now that LG has exited the market, you're probably right. One of the reasons I tolerate my v30 and its ancient OS and terrible selfie camera is the luxurious audio experience it offers. My $10 panasonic wired headphones sound better than airpods and arguably better than airpods pro
@@dyscotopia yes! LG was fully committed to using great DAC's. It's a shame they exited the market. I also still use wired headphones and I don't think I'm going wireless anytime soon. And the mic quality on anything wireless is atrocious.
Hi ! Do you think it Can powers Hifi headphones with 150ohms ?
@@yeryeyerye7890 hey man! probably not to the volume level that you'd want, but I haven't tested the zen 9. I have a bunch of higher impedance headphones and I'd say that 80 ohms would be the cutoff point for something that has some decent volume to it on my zen 7. You might wanna get an external amp to use them, but it defeats some of the pros of the audio software built in.
@@dyscotopia of course many brands do apple was never that great at hi fi sound android always sounded better and I have both
The video looks very smooth. I wish the front camera was in the center but otherwise, for me, it looks great!
I use to like your phone reviews but this one I just love it. Great one, very complete.
I have the Zenfone 7 Pro, and it's amazing. And the camera stabilizing was really surprisingly good. I used manual video settings and mounted it on the dashboard to record a long drive, and the footage is so incredibly stable, I was shocked. It has gyro stabilizing and if you connect a USB microphone, you can choose if you want to use that or the built in one.
This one also has the function where you can choose to only charge up to 80%, and charge slowly. But there is a QoL issue with the 80% setting. When you have it off and you charge to 100%, the light turns green. If you set it to 80%, so it will only charge to 80%, the light doesn't turn green when it reaches 80%, but of course, it doesn't keep charging. So you never know when it's done just by looking at it. It's frustrating.
One of the best phones of the year. Hands down
2:43 "Screw you Apple" is such a mood. They started one of the most horrible trends in the industry. Alongside other stupid stuff like removing expandable storage, removing chargers from their boxes claiming it's "good for the ambient" while it's actually not, but the worst thing Apple has done is pushing the entire industry towards an extremely anti-consumer path.
Their iphones never had expandable storage, but yeah they did remove it from their macs, so I'll let it slide!
harold budd is good for the ambient
@@yakovhadash How is forcing the customer to buy a whole new charger, which uses a whole new package with relative instructions for the product, shipped from an entirely different location in a completely different order which not only requires yet another package, but it also require another vehicle to move around to deliver the goods, more efficient and environmentally friendly than simply making the original package a fraction taller and give everything in one go? It's wouldn't even be hard for those companies to make it an option at the time of purchase, they won't even have to include it by default.
While i generally agree with the idea that apple has really shitty practices, blaming them for "setting trends" is kinda not it cause its not really apple's fault that all the other manufacturers follow their bullshit. yeah apple sucks but samsung/google/etc also suck for following their stupid trends
@@spammus1 I presume that it’s based on the assumption that people already own some kind of charger, with the added assumption that the charger that they have actually is compatible with the available charging features.
Zenphones are always my go to phone, I had the 7, and my current one 8. It's simple, fast, and not over the top. Its just good...
I've had 5 Zenphones but from the early days. They're cheap, dual sim, and easy to work on with cheap replacement parts. Currently rocking a note 10+ but very upset Samsung dropped microSD expansion which I need for over 400GB of Scematics and other documentation for work on their newer models. Just about every phone has become useless unless I carry around a usb-c thumb drive. Wish Asus kept the microSD expansion slot and kept their competitive prices. I miss the days you could get a phone for half the price of a flagship Samsung but it had 90%+ the capability of the flagship Samsung phone. You couldn't tell much of a difference between early ZenPhones and Samsung phones.
I've been shopping, and just about the only thing that has everything I want is the Sony Xperia 1 IV. 12GB RAM, 256 or 512 internal WITH SD support, Snapdragon 8 GEN 1, OLED @ 120 Hz, 3.5 mm jack and stereo speakers. Amazon has the 12/256 for $943, and the 12/512 for $1,038, which are both a little more than I was hoping for. I do need to check out some reviews, though.
Maybe look into Chinese phones like Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Huawei. Vast selection.
@@zeppelin0110 Slight problem though is that all Chinese Government phones come with pre-installed spyware.
I love the Minion shot! You folks are getting great at those video edits!
Thanks to Hoffmann
those displays only come out as bright as on the spec sheets in direct sunlight and with HDR content. with manual brightness control they usually only reach 500-600 nit.
@Taistelu_pelto what rom do you use ?
As a Pixel 4a user, it never fails to please me how much Riley's gripes resonate with my own. I plan on running this phone until it dies, but when it does, this might be an option. Thanks, team!
My pixel foray is verrry long in the tooth, and when it stops getting updates in August, I will be getting something else, besides a pixel
1:13 "compact size, big possibilities"
That's what she said...
Still using my Zenfone 4 Max. 5000 Mah battery 5.5" display 6" overall. Was $229.00 Canadian when I bought it. Great little phone. Fits in the front pocket of my jeans. I will use it till it dies. Over 4 years old now still going strong.
Find a replacement battery, condition it (Charge it to full, drain it, repeat) 3 times. You're golden
Still using the Zenfone 6 myself. Yet to find anything that can surpass it. Hopefully I can get a replacement battery in the future when I need it and someone to replace it.
Had the Zenfone 5 1st gen, Zenfone 3 and Zenfone 5. I really liked it till they switched from mid specs to high end specs which was too expensive for me. That's why I'm gone away from ASUS.
yeah i had the smaller zenfone 4 too, p much only broke the screen three times because the screen sucks otherwise its doing very good
FINALLY!! I've been waiting for a small phone that dosn't suck for so long.
Yo that backpack attachment thing is actually amazing if you ride bikes at all. I hate having my phone flop around in my pocket when I'm out riding my bike so being able to strap it to my backpack would be amazing. Seriously cannot wait to get this phone.
They got so much right here. Asus seems to really be appealing to the enthusiast marker. It sucks to sat a headphone jack is enthusiast but seeing it on a flagship is nice. I also prefer side mounted finger print sensor. I hope they do well so we get more options
You failed to mention the lackluster software support - only 2 years of OS updates :(
Other phones in the same price range offer 4(s22) and even 6 years (iphone 13/mini) of software support.
True. Main reason why I'm not buying an ASUS zenfone again. Writing this from my Zenfone Pro Max M2 with Oreo 8.1 since launch and no updates :-/
Oh sorry, there's an update to 9 Pie that ruins performance and an abandoned Android 10 beta... terrible support from Asus for an initially promising phone
@J Meadows we are talking about ASUS lack of support here, not software mods
The backpack mount is cool, maybe not for everyone, but throwing new ideas into the cell phone industry is extremely welcome. I think it might also be a cool pairing with the LTT backpack.
Nice, a good compact phone! We need more of these!
Why does everyone want wireless charging nowadays? There is literally no upside to it. It's less efficient, needs a fragile glass back and you cant use the phone while it's charging.
Videos with Riley always get an instant like from me.
💯👍
Thankfully there are still some companies out there who make flagship level phones under a 1000 buck, to keep the big brands in check.
Taiwanese cheap phones, yup
@@SonyEnthusiast better than Chinese expensive phones ngl
@@SonyEnthusiast does the s22 not exist? OnePlus 10?
@@SonyEnthusiast the country of origin really does not matter, and the fact that is not a thousand bucks is literally the point. Seems like a great device
@@marcusborderlands6177 Samsung got rid of it's soul to just copy Apple and OnePlus? You mean Oppo?
Regarding the water protection. It's not about degradation, IP65 and IP68 are different certifications all together- one is for spraying jets of water at the phone, another - about submerging it into water. These are very different certifications, since some phones may withstand submersion, but being sprayed by a jet of water will get through the speaker, for example.
So yes, having both protections is a good thing, rather than what Riley said about the protection degrading over time.
I have the phone for over a week and it's an awesome little device. At 60 Hz it gets over 10 hours of SoT, at 120 (auto) around 8. The endurance is excellent, performance is good, I personally liked the cameras and the software.
Can wholeheartedly recommend it, if you'd like to have a smaller phone without much compromise.
Also, ASUS released the bootloader unlock tool and kernel code for the phone, so I would assume that would encourage ROM development. Would probably count on that, if ASUS drops the updates after 2 years.
You have me dying over here, love the sarcasm and fun you had !
I think IP65/68 is for the different tests they perform. IP68 is the highest rating for submerged testing and IP65 is the highest for water being sprayed with high pressure.
Am I the only one who's wondering what apps are blurred out at 5:39?😂
Yeah I was thinking that! Isn't it a new phone that doesn't have any personal stuff on it? Or maybe it's some sort of NDA for the apps that Asus doesn't want pointed out yet?
Pornhub & XHamster 🤣
Grindr
@@KevinTarrant that's along the lines of what I was thinking
Given it's LTT? Could just be a joke by the editor :)
Super stoked about this phone! I've been wanting a replacement for my Motorola X4 and just couldn't find a phone that had everything I wanted (especially the small size and quickly accessible flashlight that the moto-gestures or whatever they're called, provide), but this one just might!
Glad that there are good phones with a headphone jack in 2022. This might just be my next upgrade.
Honestly, that gimbal thing was impressive 😯
I really want this one, but I really would prfeer to maintain wireless charging capability.
I guess my Galaxy S10e will have to hold up a little longer then. But, for sure that swipe feature on the fingerprint reader is so useful. It's why I prefer side-mounted scanners now.
I'm glad there's big ones. I one hand my S22 Ultra. I'M DOING IT RIGHT NOW.
This review and phone is just yesssssss. Riley really gets it. I'm looking forward to a Zenfone 9 sometime in the future
Just as an fyi for people not in the know IP ratings aren't 2 digit numbers, they're two separate 1 digit ratings. So IP68 vs IP65 isn't a 3 point drop in general, it's a 3 point drop in liquid resistance specifically.
It goes: IP[solids][liquids][impact][other][other] the last 3 being optional
Also 8 and 5 in water resistance ratings are two completely different types of resistance, 5 means that aside from submerging to 1.5m (which is 8) the phone is able to withstand a directed water jet of a certain pressure.
If anything, having both ratings is better, than most phones.
P.S. So yea, that "rating degradation" bit is delusion at it's finest.
Love the gimballed camera. I have slight have tremor and it can be difficult to get good shots without good image stabilization. Size is nice, too. If it had wireless charging, it would be a perfect phone for me. Qi charging is non-negotiable for me at this point.
15:16 looks pretty good for rock climbing or camping/hiking trips to prevent your phone from accidentally falling into the abyss tbh
Saw one of these in the wild recently, can confirm the cameras are even more comical than they appear in the video.
The IP65/68 thing is probably because IP65 is a protection rating for "jets of water at any angle", while IP68 is for submersion. They protect against different things, as some IP68 devices may still be penetrable by pressurized jets of water.
Also, Pixels have "double tap the back of the phone for a shortcut" as well, as a note, since it was mentioned as "not a standard Android feature" (it isn't really, I don't think Samsungs have it, but I know Pixels do, so that's another location it can be seen).
samsung do have it hidden deep in accessibility somewhere.
This could've definitely been the perfect replacement phone for my Samsung S10e. If only it didn't lack the Micro SD card slot and Wireless charging, it definitely would've been the perfect replacement. Guess the S10e remains the king in my heart so far. I'm gonna consider this, but so far I'm more than okay with my phone.
I've got the Zenfone 8 last year and it's pretty good. It does lack a bit of the software enhancement you get with bigger brands, especially with the cameras, but it's packed with great ideas !
The headphone jack obviously, which is the reason I bought that phone but also the battery management system is top tier and help in preserving its life expectancy.
Way to go Asus !
I have a Zenfone 8, there are some features of this that are making me think about seeing to upgrade it, one being the fingerprint scanner, because on the 8, it is an in-screen. The in-screen is fine, but the only issue that I have with the in-screen on the 8 is that for pretty much all of the screen protectors that you can buy pretty much break the fingerprint scanner to where it will work sometimes. I also like the rear tap as well and overall, this seems like it would be a good phone to look at upgrading to. And the pricing looks to be similar to what the 8 was, which would mean that the 16GB/256GB version is only $800, since the 8 had the starting of 8GB/128GB at $700 as well.
Just received mine 2 days ago. Anyone else have a problem with the zenfone 9 charger? Plugged my phone at 5% battery and it shows it will take 1 hr 5 min to 100%. I checked my phone 1 hr later and it only reached around 50%, and in total it took 2,5 hrs to fully charge. Does this happen during the first few charges?
On a side note, on the previous day I used Baseus charger and it performs much better. However, I prefer to use the original charger, so I'm just curious if this issues happened elsewhere.
If it had wireless charging it would be pretty perfect.
And faster wired charging too, pls
@@Mark3xtrm 30w is pretty fast
I would buy it right now if there was wireless charging. I just can't find a phone with a good camera, headphone jack and wireless charging. So... I'll stick with my Galaxy S8 until there is.
I got one myself, super happy with it
I've actually had my eye on one of these, I'm a little uncertain as to what phone to get if I end up upgrading. Also as a sidenote, I always find the thumbnails to these videos kinda funny, since not many other products tend to be shown from the back rather than the front.
The s10e of the modern day, I hope. Definitely gonna be my next upgrade.
Another s10e user! There are literally dozens of us.
Too bad for the lack of wireless charging. Maybe with the Zenfone 10?
@@Dedalus11973 I have been waiting for any brand to make a proper s10e succesor for so long that honestly i will let the wireless charging slide, because it does everything else so well.
Also if i want to see a Zenfone 10 for other buyers, then the Zenfone 9 has to do good sales wise, or else we get an LG situation
I have also s10e and battery is terrible. I rather throw wireless charging and put more battery into it. So for me zenfone 9 is my next update in couple of weeks.
Finally something to replace my Note 9. I’ve never truly gotten used to the lack of one-handed use on this thing. Besides the size it’s still such a good phone.
Still using mine as well. It's fantastic.
Snapdragon 845 is kinda long in the tooth. The cortex a-75 cpu cores are quite slow these days.
More phones like this please... Spread da word
I'm not on the market for a new phone right now, but I really hope they keep making these.
Censored app logo is an ltt app beta?👀👀
Wow this is actually impressive for the price 👏 and wireless charging could disappear and I wouldn't notice never used it I keep heavy duty cases on my phones so wouldn't work anyway
Another great phone review, Riley! I saw MrWhoseTheBoss & MKBHD's reviews and knew I'll wait til this phone his American stores later this year. Also a great upgrade from my Nokia 7.2 from 2020, it's a smaller one handed phone & I don't care for large phones.
I didn't care about wireless chargers then the charging port of the phone I was using for more than 4+ years broke, and after months of trying to get it in the correct position so it could charge, I discovered I could easily charge it wirelessly. For me it's a lifesaver feature I didn't even kknow I needed.
Hopefully it officially comes to Canada, only Canadian retailer i know of is mi4canada importing from other markets.
Order it there as I plan to. Doubt carriers will have it so grab it while u can!
I agree
No headphone jack? It gets crossed off my potential buy list.
I do long distance travelling and want to use my wired headphones.
you even watch the vid
@@hugejobbie He's not talking about the Zenfone.
@@hugejobbie He means all other phones that don't have it.
I love small phones! Glad to see Asus is still making them!
I searched a long time last year to find the perfect small phone and the one I've found that is perfect for me is the Pixel 5, even though the 6 was out I wanted the 5 since it was way smaller and does everything I need at a smaller size.
"Compact size, big possibilities"... That's what I tell myself too.
It's an awesome phone, except for one thing... Asus committed to only 2 years of software updates
But like 4yrs security patches, right?
@@ronkaiser3091 If that's the case, this phone just got a lot more interesting for me
Glad you guys covered this! I'm a ZenFone 4 Pro owner in the market for an upgrade and have a few questions for both the ZenFone 9 and the most recent ROG phone as I'm a bit of and ASUS fanboy as well as love the Zen UI. Do the phones still support FM receiver functionality with the headphone jack because that was one of the coolest things back when I got my 4 pro and used it all the time? It wasn't that common of a feature then and I can't find it on any new phones now. Also, any ideas if they will be officially supported by North American carriers because I got burned when AT&T sun-setted its 3G network because my 4 Pro didn't officially support the VoLTE protocol, essentially turning my 5 year old flagship, $1000 phone that I've used and abused without a case and looks nearly new into a glorified mini tablet that I watch RUclips videos on (this included)?
I would make sure. the Zenfone 8 pro didn't support volte when I was roaming on the AT&T network in the US on a rogers (CDN) sim card. ASUS is notorious for not supporting voWiFi and volte.
I still had data connectivity but no voice.
Correction Zenfone 8 flip
@@hondophred there's an 8 Pro? Are you sure it's not the Flip?
@@krikun98 you are correct. Bleary eyed when I wrote that
I recently started looking into a replacement for my S10e, and this is looking more and more perfect by the review.... I just wish they had the ability to wirelessly charge and wirelessly share power with other devices. I never use it, but it's always so cool to show it off😂
love the review of this compact-sized flagship ZF9. Subscribed cos you in your hair looks neat ❤️
Mobile providers guarantee their IP rating until the moment of shipping from their factories. But generally they have gotten better at taking water damaged phone as warranty cases. It was a shitstorm in the beginning
Is that really true? Assuming it’s in the warranty fine print?
Not a perfect phone but it's really great for people who likes small phones. More companies should do this!
No phone is perfect!
But this is still close to being one, given the price!
I love Reillys reviews. They are always so honest and talk about shit most ppl care about and not the gumf you don't. My s10+ is having issues and none of the phns of the market atm interest me, as most dont have a jack for my headphones or have dumb features i dont care about. Or are just insanely over priced...
The last few zen phones have actually been quite good but have not been talked about a lot. The 7 and 8 were fantastic.
They need an SD card slot. It's a must for me.
I may look into this once I need a replacement phone. Or I'll just get a zen phone 8 since that is already supported by Lineage OS. OS updates is why I stuck with google. But since they removed the headphone jack for the pixel 6a, I'll be looking at this now.
Been using my Zenfone 8 since it came out, and it's been great. Headphone jack, latest specs, good size, and super competitive pricing ($599 at the time). This looks similar just with a better camera, which is my only complaint with the 8. Probably won't upgrade to this, but I'm excited for 10 or 11 if they keep it up.
The stabilization is pretty good
Yo the backpack mount? I want it!
Idk what happened to offering more storage tiers. Companies just want to do two capacities and they're anemic.
OMG. I've had a used Pixel 3 for a year and never realized it had wireless charging! 🤦♂
On the size.
I had iPhones 6s+ and 8+. I thought they were a great size as I could just stretch and reach the edge with one hand, but most of the time I didn't quite need that edge.
Then I got a Pixel 5 and found the perfect sized phone for me. It is just that little bit smaller that I can comfortably reach all the way across one handed, yet has almost as much screen real estate.
The thing is, before I got this size of phone I didn't know what I was missing. I had used old iPhones and the extra screen size of the Plus was well worth the mild awkwardness but until I used this in between it never even occurred to me that something better could exist.
But I can also see why, if someone has smaller hands than mine, that extra real estate could be worth the not being able to reach across one handed. I would certainly take a bigger phone than I could use well one handed over the original iPhone size.
I feel like this dude just showed up to work high and was like, "yeah! phone ... let's review ... phone! Woo!"
As a Zenfone 7 owner, it's sad seeing Asus falling in to the trends, especially that front punch hole camera. I suppose they couldn't sell enough of the ZF7 to justify building more retractable camera phones but for people who want it like myself, the options for the next phone replacement will be pretty small or none at all.
I hope for a Zenphone 9 flip.
Wasn't the same for the previous model? Pro with flip and normal with hope punch
I could care less if there is a hole punch camera, people are to worked up and anal about that. It's a f'in phone if it works use it:)
I think the lack of wireless charging is a deal breaker for me unfortunately. I have a charging pad built into my car. I really want this phone but not sure I can live without the wireless charging
5:13 "pronounce pata standard" LMAO great reference to the recent techquickie episode
This phone looks awesome, the OS looks awesome. I don't have to switch phones right now as my Pixel 5 is still very young. But if I had to, it would have been my smartphone of choice.
Small phones are the perfect thing, and it's sad they've become so rare. Also, bonus for the headphone jack. I can live without it, but it should still be included by default. There's no excuse.
Just a side note : the double tap on the back of phone / one handed mode by scrolling down are included in Android 12, not an Asus thing. Wouldn't have made much sense for Asus to go out of their way and develop such a feature when the phone is already one hand use friendly
I'm coming from a pixel 3a and this is really compelling, especially going from snap 670 to 8+ gen 1.. but the nothing phone looks so gooooodd..
Nothing phone has horrible camera quality and not available if you live in the us
@@earnistse4899 i live in Europe and my main concern with the nothing phone is the chip, snap 777, so the Zen9 with it's 8+ gen 1 is a twice as big upgrade
5:40 what apps are blurring and why. 🤨🧐
Every time he goes through the apps all I can think about is what apps they possibly wanted blurred
Same here!
Wow, now that you say it looks like a minion, I can't get that image out of my head. I hope someone makes a minion case for this thing!
Tbh 6" is still way too large of a phone for me I don't think it would fit
They should make with a 7 gen 1 and reduce the price. That will sell like hotcakes.
The zenfone was a mid-tier CPU device for years, and they eventually moved away from that, so unfortunately I don't see it coming.
Maybe they'll do a lite, but I think they'd have to sell a lot of these first.. And as far as I know ASUS doesn't sell a lot of phones.
I really really want this! This is a beast for a price that's lower than other devices with the same specs. ASUS always nails the Zenfone lineup (at least the most of the stuff)
My first pixel phone is the pixel 5 and lately I've had so many problems that I've been debating on my next upgrade to go back to either Motorola or give a new company a try. This really is a huge contender.