We're going to get an introduction to the Asus Zenfone 10 later this month, as device maker Asus has confirmed a June 29 online launch event for its latest compact phone. And from the specs disclosed in the event announcement, the Zenfone 10 sounds like a phone you're going to want to pay attention to.
Asus has scheduled the launch event for 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT/ 2 p.m. BST on June 29. In the brief statement confirming the Zenfone 10's arrival, Asus touted the phone's design as "compact" and "stylish," and noted there will be some unspecified AI features and an improved camera system.
But a more important disclosure is the chip powering the Zenfone 10 —its the mighty Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset found in the best Android phones we've tested this year. Everything about the phone is tied together with the slogan "All On Hand."
Part of a dying breed
Asus' focus on the Zenfone's small size is important, as the Zenfone series is one of the few smartphones that has yet to breach the 6-inch display size barrier. While most phones are now larger than the phablets of a few years ago, Asus is still doing its best to give users a flagship experience in a more pocket-friendly size. It's been doing this well recently, as we can see with last year's Zenfone 9 high ranking on our best small phones guide.
Asus’ smartphone arm has already impressed us once this year with the ROG Phone 7. This is a much larger and more expensive device aimed at gamers, which is why we’re glad the Zenfone line is available for more typical smartphone customers. Nevertheless, we hope that the Zenfone 10 can deliver the kind of impressive battery life we saw with the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, which delivers the best phone battery life we've seen from a device.
Based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that's powering the Zenfone 10, we're expecting this new phone to target the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7. Both these phones, while on the small side, are likely to be larger than the new Zenfone, and possibly a bit more expensive, too. It'll be interesting to see how the Zenfone 10 performs once we get our hands on it, and whether it's a smaller but just as worthy replacement for these top Android phones.
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