Asus Zenfone 10 Review with Pros and Cons

Asus is doing what Apple was doing with iPhone Mini-Series but Apple Diched the series because of the poor sales but Asus is still going on. 

The Zenfone 10 is the latest from Asus which does have a compact form factor but it also comes with lots of compromises.

So let’s find out in this Asus Zenfone 10 review whether it’s worth the €799 (~Rs 71,250) price tag or if it’s just a small phone.

Asus Zenfone 10 Review

Yes, the Asus Zenfone 10 is worth buying but it’s not for everyone because of the small size, so if you’re looking for a compact phone and you’re okay with decent cameras and only 2 years of OS update then consider the Zenfone 10 otherwise, Galaxy S23 5G is a better option to consider.

Now, I know, the Galaxy S23 5G is a bit bigger but it’s not that big. It has a 6.1-inches display whereas Zenfone 10 has a 5.92-inches display.

So, let’s deep dive into the Asus Zenfone 10 and see its Pros and Cons.

Display and Form Factor

It’s rare to see under 6-inch smartphone in 2023 but then the Zenfone 10 exists that has a 5.98-inches 144Hz AMOLED display with 1100 nits peak brightness.

I’m all for small-size phones because it makes everything easy from using the phone with only one hand.

The problem is, there are not many users who love to use small-size phones, this was another reason why Apple Killed the Mini Series (for iPhone).

The good news is, small size doesn’t come with poor battery life which we will talk about in movement.

Also, the display quality is solid, you won’t face any sort of problems whatsoever

One more thing, for some reason, the 144Hz only works in games, you can’t force it to run on 144Hz which is a huge bummer. The phone has 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz refresh rate options in settings.

Related: Best Smartphones Under Rs 25,000

By the way, 120Hz is more than enough but still, I feel, Asus should have added the option because they’re marking it as a 144Hz phone. 

Again, if you’re a gamer then this might not be the best option for gaming at all because you won’t get the best gaming experience because of the smaller display size.

This is a premium phone and yet doesn’t have a glass back, it has a plastic back while there is no in-display fingerprint sense, Asus went with side-mounted which is working well but it’s not as convenient as in-display.

I’m saying this because most Android phone comes with In-display and you may have used the in-display sensor, so you have to get used to that side-mounted.

This too is a choice, I prefer in-display.

The moral of the story is, you have to choose whether you like small phones or not while when it comes to display, you will be more than happy with its performance.

Performance and Battery 

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is a powerful processor, so you don’t have to worry about the performance at all. This is also power efficient SoC as well.

The phone runs on Android 13 and this is pure stock UI without any ads and the good news is, Asus has added a few handy features that will help you a lot in day-to-day usage.

The bad news is, the Asus Zenfone 10 will only get 2 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches. This is a huge letdown as this is a premium smartphone and it should at least get 3 years of OS updates.

Related: 5 Best Smartphones Under Rs 30000

The 4,300mAh battery will last for 1 day without any problem but yes, if you’re a heavy user who loves to play games and uses social media apps for a longer time then get ready to charge the Zenfone 10 twice a day.

The good news is, Asus has supplied the 30W charging adopter in the box while it also supports 15W wireless charging too.

Overall, the performance is solid while Asus has optimized the battery well and further, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 does help a lot in the battery department.

Cameras

The phone is coupled with a 50MP primary sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide lens and there is a 32MP selfie shooter on the front. The primary sensor has the six-axis gimbal stabilization 2.0 which works extremely well.

A premium phone means it should have at least good cameras but in the case of the Asus Zenfone 10, it has decent cameras.

The decent cameras mean, the cameras take saturated images with a bit of softness on top. We have seen that most of the user loves that saturated looks and few users want natural images.

This result we have seen in MKBHD’s blind camera tests.

So to make it simple, if you like saturated images and you also wanted the small sized-phone then as of now, you won’t get a better phone than the Asus Zenfone 10.

When it comes to videos, the six-axis gimbal stabilization 2.0 makes everything perfect.

So if you want to take videos of your child or even dog then this will help a lot because you will get stable videos. Also, the quality of the videos is good too, stable video doesn’t compromise the quality at all.

The biggest problem is with photography.

The 32MP front camera is kind of okay as it takes whiter images just like another budget smartphone. So don’t go by the bigger sensor size because, by default, it takes 8MP selfies.

The end story is, if you’re okay with decent photography and wanted stable videos in a small-sized smartphone then do consider the Asus Zenfone 10 otherwise, Pixel 7 Series phone or even Galaxy S23 is a good option to look at.

Audio

It has a dual speaker which works great, the 40% volume comes from the top speaker while the remaining 60% volume comes from the bottom speaker.

Now, here comes a mouth-watering feature, 

The 3.5mm Audio jack is present in the Zenfone 10, now this is rare to see in a premium phone but Asus has added this which is good.

Asus Zenfone 10 Pros and Cons

PROS	CONS
Small Form Factor	144Hz only available in supported games
Cutimaztion with Stock Android	Only 2 OS Updates
Powerful Performance	Missing Telephoto Lens
3.5mm Audio Jack with Solid Speakers	Not The best for Photography
Gimble Stablaztion
Supports 15W Wireless Charging

Verdict

Asus Zenfone 10 Prices:

The Asus Zenfone 10 is priced at EUR 799 (Rs 71,250) for 8GB of Ram and 128GB storage while the 8GB of Ram and 256GB storage variant is available at EUR 849 (~Rs 75,700), another 16GB of Ram and 256GB variant is priced at EUR 929 (Rs 71,250).

It comes in Starry Blue, Comet White, Eclipse Red, Aurora Green, and Midnight Black color options.

Indian Prices are yet to come.

Asus Zenfone 10 Full Specifications

Price	8GB Ram + 128GB Storage: EUR 799 (Rs 71,250) 8GB Ram + 256GB Storage: EUR 849 (~Rs 75,700) 12GB Ram + 256GB Storage: EUR 929 (Rs 71,250).
Display	5.92-inches FHD+ sAMOLED Display 445 PPI Density HDR10+ Support 1100 nits pick the brightness 1080 x 2400 pixels Resolution 144Hz Screen Refresh Rate (144Hz only available in supported games) 84.80% screen-to-body ratio
Dimensions	146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4 mm  Weight (Plastic): 172g
Build	Glass front, plastic back, Metal frame
OS	Android 13 2 Years of OS Updates. 4 Years of Security Updates.
RAM and Storage Speed	LPDDR45 Ram UFS 3.10 Storage
Chipset	Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm) CPU: Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) GPU: Adreno 740
Performance Score	AnTuTu: 1314458 (v9), 1583804 (v10) GeekBench: 5149 (v5.5), 5698 (v6.0) GFXBench: 115fps (ES 3.1 onscreen)
SD-Card Slot	No
Rear Cameras	50MP Primary Sensor (Gimble OIS), 13MP Ultra-Wide Lens Video 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps.
Front Camera	32MP Selfie Shooter. Video 1080p@30fps.
3.5mm Jack	No.
Speakers	Dual Speakers.
Bluetooth Version	5.3 Version.
FM Radio	No.
NFC	Yes.
IP rating	IP68, which means it can survive against up to 1.5 meters of water for half an hour along with protection from dust
Sensors	Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, Side-mounted
Battery	4,300mAh (non-removable). 33W Wired Charging. 15W Wireless Charging.
Weight	172 Grams
Colors	Starry Blue, Midnight Black, Aurora Green, Eclipse Red, Comet White

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