SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Asus

Asus Zenfone 9 review: The 5.9" compact flagship — SD8+ Gen 1 with gimbal OIS.

SpecEagle Editorial·Jul 2022·$699
Overall
80/100
Class rank
#105 of 210
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

One of the last true small flagships.

Zenfone 9 put SD8+ Gen 1, gimbal OIS and IP68 in a 5.9" / 169 g body with a headphone jack. A compact-flagship cult favourite.

01Display

82/100

82/100 trails the 86-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2022.

TypeAMOLED, 120 Hz
Size5.9 inches
Resolution2,400 × 1,080 px
Peak brightness1,100 nits

02Camera

78/100

78/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2022.

Main50 MP Sony IMX766, f/1.9, gimbal OIS
Ultrawide12 MP
Selfie12 MP

03Performance

84/100

84/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2022.

ChipsetSnapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm)
RAM8 / 16 GB
Storage128 / 256 GB

04Battery

74/100

74/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2022 — 7 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity4,300 mAh
Wired30 W

05Build

80/100

80/100 trails the 82-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2022.

06Value

82/100

82/100 puts it above the 76-point average for flagship phones of 2022.

What works
  • Genuinely compact 5.9" flagship.
  • Gimbal OIS main camera.
  • SD8+ Gen 1 + IP68.
  • Headphone jack returned.
What doesn't
  • No telephoto.
  • 30 W charging slow.
  • Only 2 OS updates.
  • No wireless charging.
Cross-shop it against
Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro
$649 · score 89/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 210-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .