Had the Zenfone 9 for a little while and thought I'd share some thoughts. Been using the device for as my main machine for basic work (email, document writing, ssh/remote management, video calling) and personal applications (social media, reading, watching videos, not gaming). Here's been my experience.
Size/Screen
despite people focusing on how compact the phone is it doesn't feel that small in a good way (especially compared to the iPhone mini). Screen size does not interfere with any applications I've used the phone for, even reading which I had some worries about before purchase. The biggest downside of the compact size I ran into was the typing experience, but that becomes much better with a keyboard that has good gesture support and some aggressive autocorrect. Overall it feels great in the hand as someone with large hands.
Visually the screen is sharp, has great viewing angles, and the brightness is good even for outdoor use in direct sunlight. I can't say much for the refresh rate since I keep it on 60 but I will say the DC dimming works a charm even if it's only available on 60 Hz mode. Touch is responsive and i haven't experienced any touch jitters, but the palm rejection is bad enough that I'd call the phone unusable without a case if you tend to hold the phone like I do.
Gesture Controll
As a long-time Oneplus user I do miss the 3 way switch for the ringer, but have found a compromise using the press and hold on the power button as a toggle between modes which has been working well for me. The other smart key functionality of swiping on the power button I've turned off as it's way too easy to accidentally activate when held in the right hand.
The screen off gestures for media control which I enjoyed on Oneplus are here in the Asus but are currently broken, the "ll" pause gesture instead reading out the time and not pausing the video for some reason, when that's fixed at least they are all very responsive.
The back double tap gesture is very inconsistent, I keep it on for the flashlight and haven't had any issues with false activations, but it often takes a few tries to activate.
Battery/Charging
Battery life has been good, getting through a day of heavy use without a problem on 60Hz mode. Charging is fast but does heat up the phone, I've kept mine on ultra steady charge mode which slows down charging to dispel heat and battery longevity issues (around 10W, normal steady charge is around 13W). The charger that came with the device is a C to C charger with a cable that works for data and power.
Performance
I'm not a mobile gamer so I've yet to push the processor in any meaningful way, badly optimized apps that I have had issues with in the past all work smoothly. Video playback/acceleration have been smooth as well as processing large file transfers. Boot up and restart times are very snappy.
Networking/Connectivity
No issues with my Canadian SIM, dual sim works fine. WiFi hasn't had problems with my WiFi 5 and 6 Routers even in dual channel mode which works seamlessly on dual channel networks connecting in both bands. 5G isn't widespread in my area so i haven't had a chance to test it, but 4G+ works as expected. On the physical ports side I have only been able to get USB 2 speeds out of the USB C port for file transfers which isn't really an issue for my use and the headphone jack packs a punch running my DT-770 80 ohms without a problem.
Cameras
They're definitely cameras, I'm not really a camera guy so I wouldn't know what to look for. I haven't had any noticable issues, photos do take a bit longer than my previous phones from pressing the button to the photo being taken but I assume that's because there's a lot more photo processing going on with newer phones. The back lenses do need to be wiped off most of the time since at least for me my fingers tend to naturally rest on them. Front camera also hasn't given me any issues but I'm not a huge fan of the metal ring inside which makes the hole punch more noticeable.
ZenUI
Played around with the launcher a bit before switching off of it, seems like a good relatively stock Android experience with some quality of life improvements. Hasn't given me a reason to switch away from Niagra launcher though (which works great on this device). The pull down menu looks good but could use a bit more in the way of customizability, notifications are a bit intrusive on the smaller screen but the smaller notifications option fixes that pretty well in exchange for needing to pull down the notification shade for quick access. Some other small gripes are that the bar underneath the keyboard is unable to be turned off is quite large relative to the screen height and in the activities view the app icons are above the apps which makes things like locking apps a bit difficult one handed.
Overall
This phone is definitely a purchase I don't regret, all the issues I've had thus far are definitely fixable through updates. I haven't had any of the hardware issues I've heard others mention like rattly volume buttons. Hopefully it does well enough for Asus to consider giving it longer support and the attention it needs to get its minor current issues fixed, or at least well enough to get decent support for third party roms. The price even importing the device from HK to Canada is very competitive for what you get. If there as any benchmarks people want me to run or questions they have about the device I'll keep an eye on the responses. Also if anyone has fixes for the issues mentioned I'm all ears (palm rejection, media control, etc...)
Size/Screen
despite people focusing on how compact the phone is it doesn't feel that small in a good way (especially compared to the iPhone mini). Screen size does not interfere with any applications I've used the phone for, even reading which I had some worries about before purchase. The biggest downside of the compact size I ran into was the typing experience, but that becomes much better with a keyboard that has good gesture support and some aggressive autocorrect. Overall it feels great in the hand as someone with large hands.
Visually the screen is sharp, has great viewing angles, and the brightness is good even for outdoor use in direct sunlight. I can't say much for the refresh rate since I keep it on 60 but I will say the DC dimming works a charm even if it's only available on 60 Hz mode. Touch is responsive and i haven't experienced any touch jitters, but the palm rejection is bad enough that I'd call the phone unusable without a case if you tend to hold the phone like I do.
Gesture Controll
As a long-time Oneplus user I do miss the 3 way switch for the ringer, but have found a compromise using the press and hold on the power button as a toggle between modes which has been working well for me. The other smart key functionality of swiping on the power button I've turned off as it's way too easy to accidentally activate when held in the right hand.
The screen off gestures for media control which I enjoyed on Oneplus are here in the Asus but are currently broken, the "ll" pause gesture instead reading out the time and not pausing the video for some reason, when that's fixed at least they are all very responsive.
The back double tap gesture is very inconsistent, I keep it on for the flashlight and haven't had any issues with false activations, but it often takes a few tries to activate.
Battery/Charging
Battery life has been good, getting through a day of heavy use without a problem on 60Hz mode. Charging is fast but does heat up the phone, I've kept mine on ultra steady charge mode which slows down charging to dispel heat and battery longevity issues (around 10W, normal steady charge is around 13W). The charger that came with the device is a C to C charger with a cable that works for data and power.
Performance
I'm not a mobile gamer so I've yet to push the processor in any meaningful way, badly optimized apps that I have had issues with in the past all work smoothly. Video playback/acceleration have been smooth as well as processing large file transfers. Boot up and restart times are very snappy.
Networking/Connectivity
No issues with my Canadian SIM, dual sim works fine. WiFi hasn't had problems with my WiFi 5 and 6 Routers even in dual channel mode which works seamlessly on dual channel networks connecting in both bands. 5G isn't widespread in my area so i haven't had a chance to test it, but 4G+ works as expected. On the physical ports side I have only been able to get USB 2 speeds out of the USB C port for file transfers which isn't really an issue for my use and the headphone jack packs a punch running my DT-770 80 ohms without a problem.
Cameras
They're definitely cameras, I'm not really a camera guy so I wouldn't know what to look for. I haven't had any noticable issues, photos do take a bit longer than my previous phones from pressing the button to the photo being taken but I assume that's because there's a lot more photo processing going on with newer phones. The back lenses do need to be wiped off most of the time since at least for me my fingers tend to naturally rest on them. Front camera also hasn't given me any issues but I'm not a huge fan of the metal ring inside which makes the hole punch more noticeable.
ZenUI
Played around with the launcher a bit before switching off of it, seems like a good relatively stock Android experience with some quality of life improvements. Hasn't given me a reason to switch away from Niagra launcher though (which works great on this device). The pull down menu looks good but could use a bit more in the way of customizability, notifications are a bit intrusive on the smaller screen but the smaller notifications option fixes that pretty well in exchange for needing to pull down the notification shade for quick access. Some other small gripes are that the bar underneath the keyboard is unable to be turned off is quite large relative to the screen height and in the activities view the app icons are above the apps which makes things like locking apps a bit difficult one handed.
Overall
This phone is definitely a purchase I don't regret, all the issues I've had thus far are definitely fixable through updates. I haven't had any of the hardware issues I've heard others mention like rattly volume buttons. Hopefully it does well enough for Asus to consider giving it longer support and the attention it needs to get its minor current issues fixed, or at least well enough to get decent support for third party roms. The price even importing the device from HK to Canada is very competitive for what you get. If there as any benchmarks people want me to run or questions they have about the device I'll keep an eye on the responses. Also if anyone has fixes for the issues mentioned I'm all ears (palm rejection, media control, etc...)
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