The Asus Zenfone 8 measures 148x68.5x8.9 mm and weighs 169g. While not as small as the iPhone 12 mini, it is smaller than the Xperia 5 III (157 x 68 x 8.2 mm, 168g). And just like it, it is powered by the Snapdragon 888 chipset, which runs Android 11 with ZenUI 8 (which Asus describes as a “mindful improvement over stock Android”).
The petite flagship has a 5.9” AMOLED
display (Samsung E4) with 1080p resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio (which makes
it shorter than the Xperia and its 21:9 screen). In terms of protection, the
phone has Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and an IP68 dust and water
resistance rating (this is Asus’ first phone with an IP rating, believe it or
not).
The panel has 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz
touch sampling rate. It is HDR10+ certified, covers 112% of the DCI-P3 color
gamut and comes with well-calibrated colors. It’s quite bright too, with a peak
of 1,100 nits. The fingerprint reader is built into the display. On the back
there is a dual camera with a 64MP sensor – the same IMX686 as used on the Zenfone
7 generation. It has 0.8µm pixels and a Quad Bayer filter an Dual Pixel
Autofocus.
This camera features Optical Image
Stabilization (OIS) and can record 8K video at 24fps (with EIS enabled). 4K/60
fps is also available as is 1080p/60 fps with HyperSteady. The triple mic
system features OZO Audio Zoom and Noise reduction tech. The second camera on
the back is based on 12MP IMX363 sensor (1/2.55”), aka old reliable. It has
1.4µm pixels Dual Pixel autofocus and its lens (with 14.3mm focal length) can
focus at 4cm distance to shoot macro photos. The selfie camera on the front
uses the new 12MP IMX663 imager (1/2.93”, 1.22µm), also with Dual Pixel AF.
Both the ultrawide and the selfie cameras can record 4K video (at 60fps and
30fps, respectively).
Asus equipped the little Zenfone 8 with
some serious audio hardware. It has a 3.5mm audio jack, two linear speakers
with dual Cirrus Logic mono amps (CS35L45) and Dirac HD Sound support. The
Audio Wizard app will let you tinker with the equalizer (this is one of those
mindful improvements). There’s an FM radio receiver, but it is disabled in the
EU. The USB-C port supports 30W HyperCharge for fast and safe charging (Quick
Charge 4.0 and USB Power Delivery PPS are supported as well). The port is wired
for only USB 2.0 connectivity, however.
On the wireless front things are much
better. There’s 5G with multiple bands supported (there is a USA and a
worldwide version of the phone). The latest Wi-Fi 6E is supported as is
Bluetooth 5.2 (with aptX Adaptive). The phone has a dual nano-SIM slot, but
unfortunately no microSD slot.
Asus offers the phone with 128GB and 256GB
storage, with three RAM options – 6GB, 8GB and even 16GB. There’s a Smart Key
on the side which can be configured to trigger three different actions (it’s
the blue button on the side). The Asus Zenfone 8 is already available in Europe
and Taiwan (the Black one at least, the Silver one is on pre-order). The
early-bird price is € 600, but it will go up to € 670 at the end of the month.
The phone will be available in other regions too, more details soon.
