ASUS unwrapped a new Zenfone this morning as the Zenfone 10, a small device by today’s standards, yet with the high-end specs small phone fans might not want to give up to get a smaller package. The Zenfone 10 carries on this odd legacy from ASUS, where the Zenfone line has become almost the standard for small phones in a world filled with oversized tablet-sized devices.
We haven’t covered many Zenfones in recent years because they have such limited availability in the US, but figured enough of you might find interest in this latest release. The Zenfone 10 will come to the US at some point, just not out of the gate. The US is still too dominated by Samsung and Apple for many phone makers to make any serious pushes here. This is a niche phone, which is fine by us!
The Zenfone 10 really is a proper small phone. It features a 5.9″ 1080p display that runs at 120Hz but can spike to 144Hz if you are gaming on it. You’ll find super fast LPDDR5X RAM up to 16GB and the latest UFS4.0 storage up to 512GB in it. It’s also powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, 4300mAh battery with both wired and wireless charging, and a 50MP main Sony camera with a gimbal stabilizer to give you smoother video and less-blurry photos.
Oh yeah, the Zenfone 10 continues to bring a 3.5mm headphone jack and isn’t completely covered in fragile glass. It does have Gorilla Glass Victus up front, but on the back ASUS is using a “bio-based” polycarbonate material. The phone comes in a set of snazzy colors too, like red and green and blue, along with typical white and black backs.
As for software, ASUS has been shipping a pretty clean build of Android for several years now. That doesn’t change on the Zenfone 10, so if you don’t want to be overwhelmed with a skin like you might be from a Samsung or OnePlus phone, and don’t like Google Pixel phones for some reason, this could be a good choice. It’ll get 2 major OS updates and 4 years of security patches.
The ASUS Zenfone 10 is a true tiny phone compared to so many in this space and really does look like it would be a decent buy. The plan is to sell it at £699.99 in the UK, with pre-orders open now. A US launch will follow and pricing could match that – the Zenfone 9 launched at $699 here last year. Once it hits the US, we’ll let you know.
ASUS Zenfone 10 Specs
- CPU:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform
- GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 740
- Memory: LPDDR5X 8GB, 16GB
- Storage: UFS4.0 256GB, 512GB
- Screen: 5.9-inch (2400 x 1080) 120Hz AMOLED Display, 144Hz gaming mode
- Battery: 4300mAh battery
- Charging: 30W wired, 15W wireless
- Camera (Rear): 50MP Main (IMX766, f/1.9), 13MP Ultra-wide (120 ̊ field of view)
- Camera (Front): 32MP
- Audio: Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone
- Security: Side fingerprint
- Durability: IP68
- Connectivity: WiFi 6E, NFC
- OS: Android 13
- Size: 172g, 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4mm
- Colors: Red, Black, White, Blue, Green
// ASUS
Ah, if I hadn’t just picked up a Moto Razr+ I would have totally waited for this phone.
I’m tired of giant phones. I’m willing to leave behind the Pixels (and their best overall cameras) for a smaller phone – that’s just how annoyed I was handling my whale of a Pixel 6.
I’m all for smaller phones, but I really don’t understand the unicorn treatment that this device gets as there’s a device that’s been around for some time now that’s arguably better (screen, screen to body ratio, CPU, cameras, updates, build quality…) and even smaller:
Galaxy S23 Size: 168g, 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6 mm
Zenfone 10 Size: 172g, 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4mm
Man I wish these worked on Verizon.
I can’t say for 100% sure but lining up the bands this supports all of Verizon’s 5G bands and is only missing a few of the 4G bands.
Would be nice if someone who used the Zenphone 9 could chime in on their experience on Verizon as I’d love to give this a shot if it did support Verizon properly.
Edit: Doing some digging it looks like it outright doesn’t support Verizon, I’m guessing through some ambiguous approval process on Verizons end. Ridiculous. Glad we’ve come to the point of having all the bands but still can’t use any phone on any network like the old CDMA days because carriers are still being afraid of devices touching their networks.
I just switched to a pixel 7a which is great, but I’m finding the battery isn’t lasting long enough.
This looks nice and I’m tempted to try it wherever it comes over. Can’t wait to see a comparison.
Your Pixel 7a is still learning your usage habits. It takes usually 10 days to 2 weeks for the machine learning algorith to kick in 🙂
Finally a smaller phone! I might ditch my Pixel for this….
For those who want to see a full review of the Zenfone 10, check Techspurt on Youtube.
For those who want to see a full review of the Zenfone 10, check Techspurt on Youtube.
MKBHD also has high praise for the Zenfone 9 and 10.
Ooh, this looks like a very nice contender to replace my Pixel 5 this year. Not interested in the larger size of current Pixels or the inefficient Tensor SoC and a 5000 mAh battery that takes 2.5 hours to charge on a standard 15W charger and still have mediocre battery life.
Does Asus consistently do monthly updates as well? Even Google has been getting worse about that lately too.
Very interested in this thing. I hope the reviews are mostly positive!
I love that this exists! As someone who held onto an S10e for hilariously long just for the size & shape (and headphone jack!), I would be all over it… Except now that I’ve gotten used to having a 10x camera on my Ultra I really can’t give that up, much less give up a 3x camera as well.
I wanted a zenphone 9 pretty badly last year, but they never got any easier to find in canada, hopefully the zenphone 10 fares better because my pixel 6 is getting to the age where I can justify upgrading to something a little smaller and a little redder
I’m a small phone lover. Moved to iPhone once they released a ‘mini.’ Now that they have discontinued it, I am looking to switch back. This is looking like a greaaat contender!
Will you be reviewing this phone?
I don’t know! I’d certainly consider it once it comes to the US if people are interested.
They supposedly make a darn good phone.
If you do my biggest concern is how they are on regular monthly updates.
I’m a Pixel 7 Pro owner who want as small a phone as possible.
I really only care about camera performance and I guess battery life.
Show me the photos it takes and it’s a strong contender over the Pixel 8 for me.