Asus Zenfone 10 review

Asus is best known for its laptops and gaming gear, but each year it also releases a premium-spec smartphone under the Zenfone name.

The Zenfone 10 is the latest iteration, and it’s much like 2022’s Zenfone 9: an Android phone marketed as a small, compact device with an eye catching design, top-end specs, and thoughtful software.

For the most part, the Zenfone 10 is all those things, though it’s not the smallest phone around. It’s taller than the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone SE and is roughly the same dimensions as an iPhone 14 but with a smaller screen.

Don’t get me wrong, Asus has a good phone on its hands here – it ticks practically every possible box on the spec sheet. In doing so the Zenfone 10 ends up doing everything pretty well, but its display and camera aren’t top drawer.

Design & build

• Narrow design
• Paper-feel back
• Headphone jack

Asus has not changed much of the look of the Zenfone 10 from the Zenfone 9. In fact, it’s exactly the same dimensions at 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4mm. That’s smaller than many of the biggest phones out there, but it’s not the smallest.

The iPhone 13 mini is 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.7mm and the Samsung Galaxy S23 is 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm – both are thinner and shorter than the Zenfone. Heck, even the regular iPhone 14 is 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8mm, only 0.2mm taller and 0.1mm thicker than the Zenfone 9.

I only labour this point because Asus markets the Zenfone 10 as some one-handed mini phone miracle, but it’s very similarly sized to other globally available high-end handsets.

My review sample was the bold red-backed version, though there’s also green, white, black, and blue. The back is made from a bio-based polycarbonate and feels a bit like hard paper to touch.

I grew to like it, but it won’t be to everyone’s taste. Neither will the bold circular islands that house the dual rear cameras on the top left of the rear. Under that is some subtle Zenfone branding with a logo on the bottom right.

It’s grippy and feels better than a glossy glass finish that attracts fingerprints, but I prefer a matt glass texture such as the one found on the iPhone 14 Pro or OnePlus 11. Making up for that is the headphone jack, which can power hi-res wired audio. There’s also a side-mounted power button with an embedded fingerprint sensor instead of one under the screen.

Asus markets the Zenfone 10 as some one-handed mini phone miracle, but it’s very similarly sized to other globally available high-end handsets

The phone also has an IP58/IP68 dust and water resistance rating. This means it’s protected against dust, jets of water, and immersion in water. It’s better than phones that have just an IP68 rating, meaning this is a phone that can take a few splashes and live to tell the tale.

Screen & speakers

• ‘Small’ 5.9in screen
• Up to 144Hz for gaming
• Dual stereo speakers

The Zenfone 10 has a 5.92in OLED 2400x1080p display. It’s quite skinny with a 20.4:9 aspect ratio, which makes it easier to hold in one hand and doomscroll.

It has a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. This is higher than the 120Hz seen on most high-end phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and is a spec usually found on gaming phones, which makes sense as the Zenfone can only hit 144Hz in supported games.

Otherwise, you can select 60-, 90-, or 120Hz, or ‘auto’ that switches between these three to save battery depending on what you’re doing.

It’s a good display, and noticeably pokier than, say, an iPhone 14, as it’s narrower than that and many other compact rivals.

I didn’t miss having a higher resolution given it’s quite a small screen by modern standards. I wish it went a little brighter though – it’s capable of 1,100 nits at peak brightness but Asus says it only has 800 nits of outdoor readable brightness. The screen is hard to read in daylight.

The dual stereo speakers are nothing to write home about. They can get loud enough for podcasts, but given the smallness of the phone they aren’t very full, and it can get quite tinny at loud volumes.

Specs & performance

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• Up to 16GB RAM
• Up to 512GB storage

Powering the phone is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm’s best mobile chipset yet. My review phone was paired with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage, but you can also get 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB versions depending on your country.

Asus admirably went full kitchen sink with the specs of the Zenfone 10

The top-spec Zenfone 10 absolutely flew through everything I threw at it, coping with all apps and demanding games such as Call of Duty Mobile, not getting too hot in the process despite its small size. The models with 8GB RAM might fare less well, but I haven’t tested those.

Asus admirably went full kitchen sink with the specs of the Zenfone 10: 5G, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7. It also supports hi-res audio via the headphone jack and supports it wirelessly with the LDAC codec, in addition to aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and AAC formats. Audio is also tuned in partnership with Dirac. That’s a very impressive list, upgrading in several areas over the Zenfone 9, and you will struggle to find all of this on any other phone.

The one thing it’s missing is a microSD slot for expandable storage. There is a dual physical SIM slot, but no eSIM support.

Cameras & video

• Inconsistent main lens
• Basic ultra-wide lens
• No telephoto

I found the Zenfone’s cameras solid but a little inconsistent. In daylight, the 50Mp, f/1.9 main sensor, a Sony IMX766, takes fine, sharp images with decent colour reproduction. Low light shots are also good, and the high dynamic range (HDR) produces some fun, punchy images.

Its main issue is saturating colours, though this is something Samsung phones also love to do, and it struggles with oversharpening. At other times, shots looks too pale. Here are some examples:

This is a widely used sensor also found in cheaper phones such as the OnePlus 10T and Nothing Phone (1). Given the Zenfone 10 costs much more than those, the camera is a weaker point. The dual lenses on the $799/£849/€1,019 iPhone 14 and the $499/£449/€509 Google Pixel 7a are better.

As there’s no telephoto lens, you have to rely on the main lens to digitally zoom. There’s a 2x button in the camera app and you can go to 8x. Results are mixed but often usable:

The 13Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide is merely fine for grabbing more of a scene. The shots are good enough to share with friends on WhatsApp but you’re not going to be bowled over by results or want to post them on social media. Colours are over-saturated and there is a lot of noise when you zoom in.

I was disappointed with the front 32Mp camera, which pixel bins images down to 8Mp. It was actually better for quick fun videos of groups, whereas photos were sometimes washed out and lacking in detail like the first one below. Compare that to the second selfie, which is excellent. It’s as inconsistent a sensor as the main one:

Asus is really pushing the main camera’s 6-axis gimbal stabiliser, which it claims improves image stability more than traditional optical image stabilisation (OIS) tech. There’s even a dot and line animation in the camera app to make sure you aren’t shaking around too much.

This is all well and good and seems to work, but it seems overkill on what is a firmly mid-range sensor, and Asus doesn’t see to do much additional computational processing on the images to improve them like you will find on Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones of the same price.

I found the Zenfone’s cameras solid but inconsistent

The real test of a phone camera is taking it to an important event and seeing if you are happy with the results. I took the Zenfone to a good friend’s wedding, and though I got some decent shots, I also got some awful ones, and was frustrated with the experience of using it for the day as my camera. It left me not wanting to take photos with the phone.

Video is fine, though I don’t shoot excessive video on my phones. It can capture up to 4K at 60fps, and results looked great with the gimbal stablisation.

Battery & charging

• Excellent longevity
• Slow 30W wired charging
• Excellent software charging options

From slight disappointment with the camera to being bowled over with battery life. I don’t know what wizardry Asus is doing here, but the Zenfone 10 has no right lasting this long considering it’s running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and only has a 4300mAh battery.

Other premium phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra have the same chip but barely eke out a day’s power on 5000mAh batteries. In PC Mark’s Work 3.0 battery test with the screen set to 200 nits, the Zenfone 10 scored a very impressive 17 hours 36 minutes – this is far longer than the 12 hours 43 minutes of the S23 Ultra.

I thrashed the Zenfone 10 from 8am on the day of that wedding, using Google Maps, the camera, and WhatsApp extensively, and it finally died at midnight. That was the only way I could kill the thing.

Most other days I was ending up with 40% or so at 11pm. It’s one of the best things about the phone, and proves smaller phones can have good battery life.

I don’t know what wizardry Asus is doing here, but the Zenfone 10 has no right lasting this long

It’s a good thing it lasts so long, because charging is annoyingly slow with the included 30W wired charger. From 0% it only got to 18% in 15 minutes, and was at 35% in half an hour.

There are excellent charging options in the software too, including high performance, dynamic, durable, and ultra durable modes, three of which can be scheduled to kick in when the battery hits your chosen level, scheduled charging to slower charge at certain times to protect the battery, and steady charging to always charge it slower.

Software & updates

• Very customisable
• Clever additions to Android
• Only two Android OS updates

The Zenfone 10 runs Android 13 but Asus only promises two updates to take it to Android 15 in 2025. This isn’t great, and lags behind Google, Samsung, Apple, and Oppo.

It slightly makes up for it by promising four years of security patches to 2027, but there’s no guarantee they will be monthly.

Asus gives you so many customisable options that it’s a little overwhelming. The Android skin is very plain, closer to ‘stock’ Android than Google uses on Pixels. The only duplicated app is Asus’s Gallery, otherwise Asus just lets you use Google’s apps for everything.

You can choose to run the stock look, or pick ‘Asus optimised’ elements such as an altered quick settings design, power button menu,  clock size, incoming call display, and volume adjustment options. The side key can also be set to react to swipes – I used it to swipe down the notification shade but you can get quirky and use it to scrub back and forth through YouTube videos.

Though not a gaming phone, the Zenfone 10 inherits the Game Genie software found on Asus’s ROG gaming phones. Gestures are also great – drawing letters on the locked screen to open certain apps, flipping to mute, and double tapping to lock on the home screen are all here.

But the phone’s narrowness means apps can feel ever so slightly cramped. The Gboard software keyboard feels squished, so I changed the settings to make the keys bigger, even though I have quite small hands. I find it hard to type quickly on this phone.

The default text size is also weeny and although you can enlarge it, you’ll fit less on the screen. If you need reading glasses or struggle with small text, this isn’t the phone for you.

Price & availability

The Asus Zenfone 10 costs from £749.99/€799. It’s available to pre-order now in the UK direct from Asus until 31 July.

The phone is coming to the US with a Q3 release planned. There’s no confirmed price or exact release date yet, though.

European pricing pitches the phone as a premium device close that undercuts the $799/£849/€799 Samsung Galaxy S23 and the $799/£849/€1,019 iPhone 14. It’s around the same price as the $699/£729/€849 OnePlus 11, but I think the OnePlus is a better buy for its superlative cameras, software support, and charging speeds unless you really want the compact form factor.

For more options, check out our rankings of the best small phones and best Android phones.

Verdict

The Zenfone 10 is an impressive phone with a spec sheet rammed full of everything you could possibly ask for. It’s got amazing battery life, top-tier performance, a headphone jack, and some of the most customisable software going, all in a phone that’s actually going to fit in most pockets.

Despite this, it’s a premium-priced phone that has below-flagship cameras. If you don’t care about having the best phone camera then you won’t mind, but you can get a better shooter, and spend much less, with the Google Pixel 7a.

Asus also needs to do better with software support. A phone with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will perform well for at least five years, but Asus only promises two Android version updates with four years of security patches.

But if you don’t care about Android’s latest features then this is still an excellent small phone with battery life that defies belief.

Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 
• 8/16GB LPDDR5X RAM 
• 128/256/512GB UFS 4.0 storage 
• 5.92in 144Hz AMOLED display 
• Camera:
  • 50Mp, f/1.9 Sony IMX766 main camera with OIS & gimbal-stabilisation 
  • 13Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide camera 
  • 32Mp, front-facing camera 
• 4300mAh battery 
• 30W wired charging 
• 15W wireless charging
• Dual stereo speakers with Dirac HD Sound 
• USB-C 
• Headphone jack 
• Wi-Fi 7
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Dual-SIM 
• Sub-6GHz 5G 
• IP65/IP68 rating 
• Gorilla Glass Victus display 
• 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.1 mm 
• 172g 
• Android 13 with Zen UI