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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom from Tech Jab and I'm not gonna make a single joke about whether size matters or is what you can do
00:05With it. It's too easy. And also I just like this phone too much to make fun of it
00:10There are so few good
00:11Compact phones out there with high-end specs or in this case flagship specs for the most part that you can use comfortably
00:18One-handed and even putting it in your pocket and doesn't sort of jab into your hips every time you sit down
00:23Like most phones do because with a 5.9 inch screen
00:27Which is the same size as last year's Zenfone 8
00:30It is actually a touch smaller than even the Pixel 6a or the Galaxy S22 or the iPhone 13
00:36But it is still comfortably bigger than the 13 mini. So I reckon the Zenfone 9 has that Goldilocks size
00:42It's easy to use one-handed but also not too small to feel confined or make typing on the keyboard a painful experience
00:52My only slight issue with the design is if you pick it up with your left hand
00:55Then your index finger kind of naturally sits on the lower camera lens because the phone is so small
01:01Which is not ideal. I have to keep rubbing it on my shirt to clean it
01:06Now interestingly, this is the same price as the iPhone 13 mini starting at $700 or 800 euros
01:12I'll put UK pricing in the description and I would argue you're getting quite a lot more for your money with this
01:17Although to be fair the iPhone 14s are just around the corner in September
01:22So, what do you get for your $699?
01:25Well, the Zenfone 9 packs in the top-end Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. That's the brand new mid-year refresh
01:31We also get 8 or 16 gigs of RAM and 128 or 256 gigs of storage
01:36We also get a 120 Hertz screen and it's protected by the latest Gorilla Glass Victus
01:40There's a dual camera setup on the back that also gives us a very fancy gimbal stabilizer built-in
01:46There's a headphone jack
01:47Incredible stereo speakers with lossless Snapdragon sound support, IP68 water-resistant, Wi-Fi 6E
01:54We get solid battery life and I really like the software. Zen UI doesn't feel too far from stock Android
02:00But it also adds a few nice extras
02:02So for $700, I think this packs in quite a lot for the money, but we are also missing a few features
02:08There's no telephoto lens, which is a bit disappointing. There's no wireless charging. There's no micro SD card support
02:14Although that's pretty rare these days. Also the camera sensors themselves while an upgrade over last year
02:19They are still kind of upper mid-range. It also doesn't use the more advanced LTPO displays
02:25Which gives you adaptive refresh, although this can still dynamically switch between refresh rates
02:29But I think my biggest bug bear with this is that Asus only promised two years of Android updates. Samsung promised four years
02:36So that is a little bit disappointing for long-term use. So there are compromises, but effectively
02:42We're still talking about a near flagship level phone
02:45That's only $700 and is actually comfortable to use with just one hand. Design wise
02:50There's a matte aluminium frame around the edges and also we get this new textured surface on the back
02:55It is a polymer, so plastic, but I like it and the texture makes it incredibly grippy
03:00I'm actually quite happy using this without a case
03:02Which is a rare feeling and even though it's an identical size and weight from the Zenfone 8
03:07It is quite a departure in terms of style. We have sort of right angled edges now
03:11They're trying to be as efficient with the space as possible and you can't have that as much if you've got curved edges
03:16And so while they're equally small
03:18I think this is a nice little step up in terms of look and feel
03:21Although I would probably choose one of the other colors. This midnight black is a bit dull
03:26I probably go with moonlight white or sunset red, but I have to say as much as I do like a compact phone
03:32I think this looks good. Part of me kind of misses these old more fun Zenfone designs. Who doesn't miss this?
03:39Now if you're thinking Tom, I love the size of that but it's still just too tall. I can't quite reach the top
03:44Well, never fear because there is also a dedicated one-handed mode
03:48So you can actually swipe down at the bottom and then it brings the whole screen down
03:51Making it easier to tap something that was at the top
03:54Also the power button not only acts as a fingerprint reader, but also a smart key swipe gesture
03:59So you can actually bring down a notification panel
04:01You can refresh your page play or pause all with your thumb by swiping up or down
04:07But wait, there's more because round the back where your index finger rests well assuming you're holding with your right hand
04:12We also have back double tap, which is well fairly self-explanatory
04:16But you can take a screenshot open the camera turn the torch on and off just by double tapping the back
04:21Although I did find this a little bit more hit or miss because you're never exactly sure where to tap
04:25Now one of the headlines of the Zenfone 9 aside from the compact size and the relatively affordable price and also that gimbal stabilizer
04:32Which we'll come back to in a second is the fact that we get that snapdragon 8 plus gen 1 right now
04:37There are only a handful of phones that offer that brand new Qualcomm chip
04:40Which they say should boost CPU and GPU performance by 10% each and also it's about 20% more power efficient
04:47Which makes it a decent step up even over the already powerful 8 gen 1 and also this is the first time
04:52I've tested a phone with this new chip that also doesn't have an active fan that can almost flawlessly play Genshin impact
05:00Occasionally, it'll drop to 59 but it's pretty much a smooth 60 most of the time
05:05Although with longer gaming sessions, it can start to slow down a little bit
05:09We also get some of those tasty ROG features coming over to Zenfone like the game genie
05:14Which lets you switch performance modes change a bunch of settings turn off background stuff speed up your phone
05:19Now the only downside despite some beefed up cooling this year with a new vapor chamber cooler
05:23The Zenfone 9 does still throttle you can see over this 20 minute 3d mark stress test
05:28The performance drops quite considerably. It's got quite a low stability score
05:33Especially next to its bigger brother the ROG phone 6 and that's even without his cooling fan
05:37But still while it may not be a dedicated gaming phone the Zenfone with its new chip and up to 16 gigs of RAM
05:43which I'm having here is an absolute beast in terms of performance and
05:48Combined with the 120 Hertz screen with 240 Hertz touch sampling and a nice and fast UI which also conveniently gives you the option to
05:55Speed up animations within the display menu. Normally you have to dig down into the developer options for this
05:59It's incredibly fast and it's a lovely screen as well
06:03AMOLED 800 nits of brightness up to 1100 peak HDR, which is close to the top end for most phones
06:09It's color accurate. We get a nice symmetrical bezel
06:12The whole punch is definitely on the larger size given the relatively smaller screen
06:16But I do quite like it's in the corner rather than central
06:19We
06:22Also get stereo speakers which sound fantastic
06:25There's a surprising amount of bass and actually you can feel it just holding the phone at higher volumes
06:29Which maybe is a little bit off-putting but they're some of the best speakers I've ever heard on the phone
06:37Now small phone means small battery, right?
06:40Well, actually, it's not too bad and it's a nice little step up from even last year's Zenfone 8
06:44This had a 4,000 million power cell now
06:47We're up to 4,300 which is a touch smaller than the 4410 on the pixel 6a
06:52All of that is a bigger phone as well and it's significantly bigger than the 3,700 million power cell you get in the s22
06:58So for a sub 6 inch size that battery is actually quite impressive
07:02And while I have only had a few days to test this so far
07:05I am impressed with the upgrade whereas last year with the 8 I was finishing the day with about 10 or 12 percent of my
07:11Left now it's between 20 and 25. So battery life has gone from not great to actually decent
07:17It is a shame. We don't get any wireless charging, but we do get reasonably fast 30 watt hypercharging which does come bundled in the box
07:25I don't know how I've ended up with so many phones on this desk. I'm talking about the Zenfone 9
07:29Okay, let's move on and talk about this camera. That's one of the big questions I had about this
07:34How does it stack up?
07:35Given the generally issues phones aren't always known for the best cameras
07:39And I think even though we can describe this as a flagship in terms of the snapdragon chip and also some of the other specs
07:44The camera setup is maybe one of the areas where it falls down a little bit
07:50So it's a dual lens setup with the main 50 megapixel camera getting a nice bump up from the Sony IMX
07:56686 sensor last year to the newer IMX 766 so much bigger sensor and also much bigger pixel size
08:02But to put it in context
08:04It is the same sensor used by the OnePlus Nord 2T, the ROG Phone 6, the Nothing Phone 1
08:10It's kind of upper mid-range not flagship and that's paired with a 12 megapixel ultrawide camera
08:16Which also doubles as a macro lens, but sadly there is no telephoto here
08:21So I took the Zenfone 9 and the iPhone 13 mini both
08:24$700 phones for a spot of lunch with my brother's family and also around my local town to get an idea of how they
08:29Compared and most of the time I would say the iPhone comes out on top
08:34The Zenfone has a tendency to over sharpen lean a little heavy on the contrast and also in brighter conditions
08:40It doesn't quite deliver the same level of dynamic range to be fair
08:43It's not far behind and it can do a decent job, but just don't expect proper flagship level quality out of it
08:50However, the Zenfone 9 does have a little ace up its sleeve in the form of a 6-axis hybrid gimbal stabilizer
08:57and that is in addition to both OIS and EIS
09:02Now the gimbal is only built into the main lens on the back, not the ultrawide or the selfie
09:07But it works in all modes. So photos, videos, promo, 30 or 60fps video
09:12They all benefit from the gimbal as well as that for the price
09:15For me though, I usually stick with the regular 4k 30 video for the best balance of quality and smoothness
09:22As far as I know though, only Vivo have experimented putting a gimbal into their phone
09:28So it's a pretty rare feature and it does certainly bring quite a bit of value to the price
09:32So if you're looking for something a little bit more affordable, you might want to check out the Zenfone 9
09:37The Zenfone 9 is a little bit more expensive than the Zenfone 8
09:40Vivo have experimented putting a gimbal into their phone so it's a pretty rare feature
09:44and it does certainly bring the Zenfone 9's video capabilities and also to some extent the photos
09:49closer to that kind of more best-in-class iPhone experience
09:54I've just realized I had this box there the whole time
10:01Zenfone 6, Zenfone 9. Never even thought about that
10:05I'm not recording the whole video again
10:06That's going to be an easter egg now and I'm going to pretend that I meant to do on purpose
10:10Okay let's wrap up. Should you buy the new Zenfone 6? I mean 9
10:14Well yeah I think it's worth considering. It's a big step up over last year's Zenfone 8
10:18I think firstly in terms of design, although I know it's more subjective
10:21But it's a better camera, it's a longer battery life, it's much more powerful
10:24and it is in the exact same compact size so nice little upgrade there
10:29And I also think for the $700 price tag it's not bad value for money
10:32Although I would stick with that base model
10:34I don't think it's really worth paying extra for 16 gigs of RAM
10:37It is missing a few features though and I do think it's still let down a bit by the camera
10:42It's very 7 out of 10
10:43But taken as a whole I've still come away impressed by the Zenfone 9
10:47And if you are after a fast compact phone with a good screen, great speakers and a headphone jack
10:52Definitely consider this and I'll leave a link below if you want to check it out
10:55But what do you reckon? Are you tempted by the new Zenfone?
10:57And also do you wish we had more high-end sort of flagship phones in this size?
11:02Let me know in the comments below
11:04If you did enjoy the video a cheeky little like and subscribe would be very much appreciated
11:07And I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Chap