Comparing ASUS Zenfone 10 with Zenfone 9

On June 30th, Taiwan-headquartered consumer electronics brand ASUS launched its latest smartphone, the ASUS Zenfone 10, for global markets. The smartphone is the last of a fast-disappearing breed and brings a compact display and dimensions to the world of Android smartphones. Although no word is out yet on the availability of the smartphone in India, the ASUS Zenfone 10 makes for a very interesting device given its compact form factor and flagship performance chops.

On this note, we take a look at how it has improved from the ASUS Zenfone 9 smartphone, including how its key specifications and features differ from its predecessor.

ASUS Zenfone 10 price vs ASUS Zenfone 9 price

• The ASUS Zenfone 10 was launched on June 30th and is available in three variants — 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and 16GB RAM and 512GB storage.
• It is priced at EUR 799 (Rs 71,500), EUR 849 (Rs 76,000), and EUR 929 (Rs 83,000) for the three variants respectively.
• In comparison, the ASUS Zenfone 9 also had three variants, but with 256GB storage in the top model. While the first two variants are priced the same as Zenfone 10, the top storage model costs EUR 899 (Rs 80.500).
• Both smartphones are available across Europe and the US, with availability in the latter announced for the third quarter of this calendar year. There is no indication of an India launch of the smartphone.

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: specs at a glance

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: design

The ASUS Zenfone 10 retains the same design language as its predecessor, with two large camera units at the rear stacked vertically without a clear module cutout. Both smartphones have the same height and breadth — 146.5mm tall, and 68.1mm laterally, thus making them bear nearly the same chassis, with the Zenfone 10 being the slightly broader one.

The two phones also share four colour options — Starry Blue, Moonlight White, Sunset Red and Midnight Black – with the Zenfone 10 getting one new colour variant, Aurora Green. There are no other differences between the two devices in terms of size and design, barring text design elements and the logo, all of which have been given a stylistic makeover.

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: display

The ASUS Zenfone 10 retains the near-exact same display panel as before, but upgrades in terms of the refresh rate — the new phone now offers 144Hz. All other features, including the size, remain the same.

The ASUS Zenfone 9, to be sure, offered a 5.9-inch super AMOLED full HD+ panel with HDR10+ certification, 1100 nits peak brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus screen protection, and an always-on display feature to boot.

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: performance

The ASUS Zenfone 10 features the latest generation flagship chip from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, along with up to 16GB of memory and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. This makes it offer as good a set of specifications as any flagship smartphone.

In comparison, the Zenfone 9 comes with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, which is now a generation old. While it also offered 16GB memory, it only offered 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage in its top variant.

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: camera

Like in all other features, the ASUS Zenfone 10 is also similar to its predecessor in the camera department. The primary rear camera is the same as in the Zenfone 9, featuring a 50MP, 1/1.56-inch image sensor with an f/1.9 lens — accompanied by phase detection autofocus and a micro-gimbal stabilised optical image stabilisation (OIS). Where it has been upgraded is in the second, ultrawide camera, which now features a 13MP image sensor that is strangely smaller than the 12MP sensor on the predecessor. It can still do 8K video recording at 24fps and also has a 32MP front camera that can make 1080p video calls.

In comparison, the ASUS Zenfone 9 featured the same primary rear camera, while its ultrawide rear camera featured a larger sensor. It was also capable of making 4K video recordings at 120fps — the new Zenfone 10 can do only 4K at 60fps. Even the front camera, while only being 12MP in the Zenfone 9, could make 4K videos — the Zenfone 10 is capped at 1080p.

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: battery

Both the Zenfones feature the same 4,300mAh battery with 30W fast charging, making them identical in this regard. However, given that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC on the Zenfone 10 is more power efficient, the Zenfone 10 may get battery life in real-world usage. However, the Zenfone 10 does get 15W wireless charging support, which the Zenfone 9 did not have.

ASUS Zenfone 10 vs ASUS Zenfone 9: other features

The Zenfone 10 has been upgraded to support Wi-Fi 7, up from Wi-Fi 6E on the Zenfone 9. It has also been upgraded to Bluetooth 5.3, from Bluetooth 5.2 previously. Both smartphones also support 5G connectivity. Others, such as support for aptX features, remain the same.

Key takeaways

As seen across all features, the ASUS Zenfone 10 has retained the spirit of the compact smartphone that the Zenfone 9 was, but incrementally improved its offering with a better processor, better display, the same battery, better connectivity chops, and similar compact dimensions, too. It has also technically ‘improved’ the overall camera sensors, but videography features have surprisingly taken a hit. Apart from this, the Zenfone 10 is a clear but incremental improvement over its predecessor.