The ASUS Zenfone 10 is bringing compact smartphones back
A lot of phones these days come with massive displays and that’s not a bad thing. Huge displays means websites can be viewed easier, games are more enjoyable, and videos feel more immersive. The only problem is that phones with larger screens can feel unwieldy, especially if you have smaller hands.
This is something that ASUS is aware of and with the announcement of the Zenfone 10, it looks like the company has opted to go with the compact form factor.
Now, we’ve actually heard about this phone since April when benchmarks of the handset were discovered on Geekbench. As expected of a 2023 flagship phone, the Zenfone 10 is powered by none other than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. It will also pack a decently-sized 5.9-inch AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate.
One thing to note is that the 144Hz can only be enabled using the Game Genie software feature while playing mobile games, so it won’t be on all the time. That being said, we know that 5.9-inches is small compared to other phones, but that is by design.
In fact, the handset’s compact-ish nature was inspired by the ASUS Zenfone 9, which was also designed to be a compact phone aimed at better one-handed use, and this was highlighted by ASUS during the announcement. To further expand on this, ASUS has introduced a new hardware feature called the ZenTouch, which is a touch-sensitive strip running down the right side of the phone.
This lets users interact with the phone even with one hand, such as enabling the fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone or authorize payments, interact with the notification shade, scroll through websites, skip through your playlists, and more. We have to admit that it’s actually a pretty cool feature, but until we try it ourselves, it does border on slightly gimmicky. Other specs include the use of LPDDR5X 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
On the camera front, the phone will pack a Sony IMX766 50MP main shooter with a 6-axis hybrid gimbal stabilizer system. There will also be an accompanying 13MP ultrawide camera. In addition to the optical stabilization system, ASUS has introduced what they’re calling Adaptive EIS that uses gyro information to create even better stabilized videos with a wider field of view. In addition to boosting the video capabilities of the Zenfone 10, ASUS has teamed up with OZO to help bring better audio quality capture with features like wind noise reduction and so on.
There will also be a 4,300mAh battery and for those who missed wireless charging from the Zenfone 9, the Zenfone 10 will finally support Qi wireless charging. Also, for those who still prefer using wired headphones, the Zenfone 10 will come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, something of a rarity in today’s smartphones.
The phone will be available in a bunch of colors such as Midnight Black, Starry Blue, Aurora Green, Comet White, and Eclipse Red. ASUS also points out how the white, red, and green versions feature a slightly more grippy texture, so if you’re someone who has sweaty palms, you might want to consider these colors for a better grip.
In terms of price, the Zenfone 10 will be priced starting at 799 Euros for the base model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, 849 Euros of the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage model, and 929 Euros for the 16GB RAM and 512GB storage configuration. The company says that the handset will be available worldwide soon.