ASUS ZenFone 8
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Product Overview
ASUS ZenFone 8 is a premium smartphone by ASUS in 2021: Unlike its predecessor from 2020, the ZenFone 8 is markedly smaller than the ZenFone 8 Flip and drops the trick "flip-up" camera setup; nevertheless, it still features Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 5G chipset and Samsung-sourced 120Hz AMOLED display.
With the 888 5G computing platform, the ZenFone 8 offers dual 5G standby. This is joined with strong specifications such as up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory, 256GB of UFS3.1 storage, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2.
The 120Hz OLED display offers slightly richer gamut than found in last year's ZenFones and, with its smaller diagonal, has a higher pixel density.
Another strong point is the 3.5mm headphone jack that is still present.
On the tradeoff-front, the USB-C port on the ZenFone 8 support only USB 2.0, and the microSD card slot is gone.
Ratings
What we found
Pros
- IP68 rating
- Good camera performance
- IP68 rated
- Good battery life
Cons
- Mediocre performance
- Poor camera performance
What external reviewers found
External score 70%
Pros
- Superb performance
- Good performance
- Excellent build quality
Cons
- Lackluster camera performance
- No IP rating
- No 5G support
- No wireless charging
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Price Comparison
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Specifications
Related Products
External Reviews
anandtech[1]
Reviewer score 40% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 series is an attempt by ASUS to position themselves in a gap in the market. The phone is built of more premium materials and has higher grade hardware components. The display at 5.9” lands at a sweet-spot in terms of density for the 2400 x 1080 resolution. While the cameras are functional, they are well behind any competitor solution.
Pros
- Fantastic performance
- Good battery life
- Decent cameras
Cons
- 60Hz mode is a bit slow
- Camera performance isn’t up to par with the competition
digitaltrends[2]
Reviewer score 62% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 is not a phone to work hard if you want the battery to last. A day with an hour of gaming, 30 minutes of video, several calls, and an hourlong WhatsApp video call saw the battery hit 5% at 9 p.m. Recharging took 90 minutes using Quick Charge 4, and using the 30W HyperCharge block will add 60% in 25 minutes. No wireless charging, a technology Asus prefers not to use so it can better manage cell longevity.
Pros
- Fantastic camera
- Good battery life
- Fast charging
Cons
- Battery life could be better
- No wireless charging
gsmarena[3]
Reviewer score 81% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 strikes an unbelievable balance between flagship features, small footprint, and pricing. It literally has everything - a water-resistant body, a top-notch screen and hardware, excellent speakers and a 3.5mm jack. It also has one large battery with fast charging, and on top of all these - a starting price of €599. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G is slightly larger but offers a similar screen, performance, speakers, and it even has three cameras at the back.
Pros
- Top-notch screen
- Excellent battery life
- Excellent cameras
Cons
- No ingress protection
- No 3.5mm jack
laptopmag[4]
Reviewer score 78% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 has the potential to be a breakout phone for Asus. While it doesn't pull it off flawlessly, it is successful enough to win over quite a few new customers. It's the one-two punch of the smaller size, something that flatly doesn't exist on Android, and the affordable flagship performance.
Pros
- Sleek, compact design
- Ultra-wide camera
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- No 5G support
- No headphone jack
nextpit[5]
Reviewer score 57% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 has a 4,000 mAh rechargeable battery that charges using a 30-Watt charger. The main sensor offers a good level of detail, a wide dynamic range, and rather natural colorimetry. The ultra wide-angle lens has too limited a FOV and the distortion at the edges is noticeable.
Pros
- High refresh rate display
- Good battery life
- Good cameras
Cons
- Mediocre camera performance
- No telephoto lens
notebookcheck[6]
Reviewer score 72% (normalized by Neofiliac)The screen of the Asus Zenfone 8 consists of a 5.92-inch AMOLED panel and offers a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. The system performance is very good, which is also reflected in a very smooth operation in everyday use. The dual speakers of Asus' smartphone achieve a relatively high volume and offer quite a wide sound spectrum.
Pros
- Very compact and high-quality case
- Good system performance
- Fast Wi-Fi
- Good battery life
Cons
- No microSD card slot
pcmag[7]
Reviewer score 76% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 has two top-of-the-line Sony sensors in the rear camera stack. The primary lens comes in at 64MP with OIS, PDAF, and quad pixel binning. On the front, meanwhile, you'll find a 12MP selfie camera with autofocus. The phone has linear speakers powered by a dual Cirrus Logic CS35L45 Mono AMP.
Pros
- High-resolution display
- Good battery life
- Good performance
Cons
- No wireless charging
- No multi-year Android updates
t3[8]
Reviewer score 80% (normalized by Neofiliac)'s no dedicated telephoto lens. On the front is a 12MP selfie camera. Point-and-shoot photos were of decent quality yet they did come out looking a little on the bland side in comparison to high-end flagships. Video can be recorded in resolutions up to 8K at 24fps. There are also a few different video modes to try out like Time Lapse and Slow-Mo.
Pros
- Gorgeous 5.1-inch screen
- Superb performance
- Great battery life
Cons
- No wireless charging
- Mediocre cameras
techradar[9]
Reviewer score 79% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 has two rear cameras (main and ultra-wide) and one 12MP front-facing camera in a punch-hole in the front screen. The 20:9 ratio display is tall and narrow, and while bigger thumbs might be able to stretch across its width when the phone is held one-handed, the top of the screen will be out of reach for everyone. The phone packs a 4,000mAh battery, which is enough to power it through the day.
Pros
- Excellent performance
- Good battery life
- Decent cameras
Cons
- No microSD card slot
- No telephoto lens
theverge[10]
Reviewer score 63% (normalized by Neofiliac)The ZenFone 8 fills a void in the Android market for a full-specced, small-sized device. The lack of true optical zoom or a telephoto camera is a disappointment, but you can't have everything on such a small device. Aside from battery life, which is manageable, you give up very little in the way of flagship features.
Pros
- Excellent build quality
- Good performance
- Good battery life
Cons
- No IP rating
- No telephoto camera
tomsguide[11]
Reviewer score 80% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Asus Zenfone 8 is a great phone, though its availability might leave some confused. It's snappy, quick, and I don't notice any lag when performing certain tasks like opening an app in Recents. ZenUI 8 looks a lot like what you'd find on a Pixel and it does a great job of doing what you want it to do and staying out of the way.
Pros
- Great cameras
- Good battery life
- Decent performance
Cons
- Mediocre cameras
- No wireless charging
trustedreviews[12]
Reviewer score 73% (normalized by Neofiliac)The camera isn’t miles away from the Pixel 5 in regular lighting. The secondary camera takes good ultra-wide shots and it’s nice for some added versatility. The lack of any sort of zoom – aside from the digital option – is a shame but hardly a surprise. It even has excellent sounding, front-firing stereo speakers that sound better than many pricier phones.
Pros
- Decent performance
- Good battery life
- Decent cameras
Cons
- No telephoto zoom
- No wireless charging
wired[13]
Reviewer score 75% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Zenfone 8 packs dual speakers that get loud and sound good, a headphone jack, support for the Wi-Fi 6 standard, and IP68 water resistance. It doesn't recharge as quickly as other flagships, but you can get a little more than 50 percent in 25 minutes with the included 30-watt plug-in charger. Unfortunately, the phone does omit some key features, including a MicroSD card reader.
Pros
- Compact design
- Solid performance
- Good battery life
Cons
- No microSD card reader
- No wireless charging
- Lackluster camera performance
References
- ^ The ASUS Zenfone 8 Hands-On Review: A New Compact Direction. [anandtech].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review: Size isn’t everything, and this small phone proves it. [digitaltrends].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review. [gsmarena].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review: Android’s answer to the iPhone 12 mini. [laptopmag].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review: Going against the grain. [nextpit].
- ^ Asus ZenFone 8 smartphone in review: Compact and powerful. [notebookcheck].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 Preview. [pcmag].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review: compact and powerful . [t3].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review. [techradar].
- ^ Asus ZenFone 8 review: an Android iPhone mini. [theverge].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 review: The best small Android phone, hands-down. [tomsguide].
- ^ Asus Zenfone 8 Review. [trustedreviews].
- ^ Review: Asus Zenfone 8. [wired].
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