ASUS Zenfone 8 Review - The Compact Flagship

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhen asus set out to design the zenfone 8 their goal was to build the ultimate compact android phone so in a sea of mid to large size phones this phone stands out for being rather small hi i'm michael josh your gadget matchmaker helping you find the right device to match your needs this is our zenfone 8 unboxing and review let's start the zenfone 8 comes in this gray box with the outline of two circles that together make up the number eight if we lift this up you'll see another box with the asus tagline and inside there's a sim card ejector a black hard plastic shell case and a user guide next up is the zenfone 8. ooh it does look and feel smaller all right i'm going to peel off this wrapper so keep watching to take a closer look at the phone a big departure from the really large zenfone 7 pro and the rog phone 5 that we've reviewed previously last but not least there's a 30 watt charger and a usb c to c cable over the last few years i've spent plenty of time with asus executives engineers and product folks and one quote that was given to me that has stuck with me through the years is how they describe themselves as a company of engineers first give them an engineering problem and they'll set out to solve it and i believe that's exactly what they did with the new zenfone 8. with camera modules and more complex systems on a chip taking up even more space these days top of the line phones continue to grow in size so in their pursuit to defy the ordinary they set off to build a phone that has all the bells and whistles that one can expect in a 2021 flagship in a phone that measures less than 70 millimeters wide by less than 150 millimeters tall and believe it or not they've achieved it in some ways the zenfone 8 feels like an rog phone 5 but in a smaller body it's got all the high-end specs too a top-of-the-line snapdragon 8 5g processor 16 gigabytes of ddr5 ram up to 256 gigabytes of fast ufs 3.1 storage a 120 hertz amoled display with 1000 nits of brightness a decently sized four thousand milliamp hour battery and on top of that dual stereo speakers and a headphone jack to achieve this asus has had to pull off two feats of engineering one is shrinking down its motherboard from this to this with what they call interposer technology see all those little dots over here that's how data is transferred that frees up a lot of space taken up by parts and cables secondly while it's four thousand milliamp hour battery is the same size as the pixel 5 and the galaxy s 21 it's smaller too with new tech that allows them to store more energy than usual so the capacity remains the same but the battery size is smaller and so what we end up with is a phone that is nice and compact much smaller than the s21 similar in size to the pixel 5 but not as small as the hugely popular iphone 12 mini one of my faves from last year's iphone 12 series now if i were to point out one thing that i dislike about the zenfone 8 is its design not that there's anything wrong with it it's just bland and in a sea of eye-catching smartphones with different colors and finishes this doesn't help them stand out that said black white and silver are oftentimes the best selling models of any phone even when they come in other colors i do like this blue accent built into the power button but i'm not a fan of how low the camera module sits that said the phone is solidly built its back curves allow it to rest comfortably in the hand it's got a good amount of heft to it so it doesn't feel cheap like say the pixel 5. it's gorilla glass victus up front with slightly thicker bezels on its top and bottom baked under the glass is a fingerprint scanner that based on my tests was snappy and responsive the back side is gorilla glass 3 and whether you get the black or the silver model the back side has a matte finish to it which reduces the appearance of smudges the phone is ip68 water and dust resistant and i can't believe how asus managed to fit this headphone jack in if we were to ask for everything but the kitchen sink the only thing missing is a micro sd card slot instead the phone has provisions for two nano sims while the zenfone 8 isn't quite the looker that i had hoped for overall i believe that its compact size is going to be a huge selling point because there's really nothing quite like it in the market today at this point you might be wondering what ever happened to that wall-e like flippy camera that has been the hallmark feature of previous zen phones well today asus also announced the zenfone flip an updated version of last year's zenfone 7 pro with the same flippy camera and updated new finishes this year's snapdragon 8 processor and a new under display fingerprint scanner while the cameras don't flip from back to front anymore the zenfone 8 has the same cameras as the zenfone flip suns its dedicated 3x telephoto lens so you're left with a 64 megapixel primary camera and a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera with a 113 degree field of view because there isn't a flippy camera there's a punch hole 12 megapixel selfie camera up front by the way these are the same cameras that are on last year's zenfone 7 pro but with improved camera algorithms and an improved isp that's on snapdragon 8 camera samples reveal a significant improvement this first shot was taken one fine sunday on a road trip to a sculpture park called art oh my in upstate new york even on a sunny day outdoors the zenfone 8's photos were superior look at will ryman's pack lab a series of walls and pathways designed to mimic a video game maze in large scale the zenfone 8's photo has more punch it's even more obvious in this photo of a broad sculpture titled sisyphus by the same artist the difference is clear as day in these zoomed in shots the zenfone 7 pro also produces a more dull photo of rob fisher's oh my pond house even if the zenfone 8 only has digital zoom speaking of pondhouse this is what it looks like inside when it comes to shots taken with the ultra wide angle lens the results are actually pretty similar but i will say they're still not as wide as the iphone 12 pros here's another ultra wide angle sample olaf ruinings clouds the iphone 12 pro not only has the widest field of view but also produced a more vibrant blue sky and that said i'm comparing it with a phone that's 300 more but because the iphone 12 is the gold standard we're still comparing while occasionally the iphone 12 pro will produce better photos i think it's safe to say that the zenfone 8 does a decent job at keeping up all right enough comparisons here are more photos we took with the zenfone 8. finally here are some selfie samples and if you ask me you don't really need that flippy camera the selfies turned out pretty good like most phones of this size battery life on the zenfone 8 could be better in my tests i wasn't getting a whole day's worth with moderate heavy use but whole day battery life is a trade-off if you think about the performance power that this phone delivers vis-a-vis the actual limitations of space the phone comes with a 35 watt fast charger and in my tests charging speeds are as follows 21 in 10 minutes 61 in 30 94 in an hour and a full charge one hour in 20 minutes another big selling point for the zenfone 8 is its cheaper price tag it starts at just under 600 euros which is a very attractive price tag for a phone with these specs albeit for the six gigabyte model the eight gigabyte plus one two eight gigabyte model starts at 669 which is 30 euros cheaper than the launch price of last year's zenfone 7. here's what pricing looks like in europe the zenfone 8 is available starting today in taiwan and europe and will be coming to other regions soon including the us southeast asia and india pricing will vary from region to region so is the zenfone 8 your gadget match while i can understand how for a guy like me whose job it is to look at phones day in and day out a nondescript phone like this one might not look appealing after giving it some time i've come to appreciate how the zenfone 8 offers something different having bought the iphone 12 mini and the 12 pro max at the end of reviewing all four iphones last year i eventually settled on the mini cause of its size and many of my friends did so too so i can see how a compact android phone might be appealing to many users the techie in me also appreciates the engineering know-how and the resources that went into fitting most of what we've come to expect in a top-of-the-line phone in a much smaller chassis and i can respect a flagship phone that starts at 5.99 euros for that price i can overlook the fact that the phone isn't pretty i can understand the limitations of battery life and it's why i can still recommend this phone and give it the gadget match seal of approval with the loss of lg earlier this year i want to make sure that asus keeps its smartphone business alive because it's really these little engines that could that keep this industry brimming with new ideas and whether or not the shrinking of components isn't as flashy as say a flippable camera it's an idea that i can get behind and that was our zenfone 8 review for more videos like this one you know the drill folks subscribe to our youtube channel and hit that bell icon so that you get notified as soon as we upload follow me on social media for all the behind the scenes fun stuff and as always make gadgetmatch.com your daily habit until the next video i'm michael josh thanks for dropping by youwhen asus set out to design the zenfone 8 their goal was to build the ultimate compact android phone so in a sea of mid to large size phones this phone stands out for being rather small hi i'm michael josh your gadget matchmaker helping you find the right device to match your needs this is our zenfone 8 unboxing and review let's start the zenfone 8 comes in this gray box with the outline of two circles that together make up the number eight if we lift this up you'll see another box with the asus tagline and inside there's a sim card ejector a black hard plastic shell case and a user guide next up is the zenfone 8. ooh it does look and feel smaller all right i'm going to peel off this wrapper so keep watching to take a closer look at the phone a big departure from the really large zenfone 7 pro and the rog phone 5 that we've reviewed previously last but not least there's a 30 watt charger and a usb c to c cable over the last few years i've spent plenty of time with asus executives engineers and product folks and one quote that was given to me that has stuck with me through the years is how they describe themselves as a company of engineers first give them an engineering problem and they'll set out to solve it and i believe that's exactly what they did with the new zenfone 8. with camera modules and more complex systems on a chip taking up even more space these days top of the line phones continue to grow in size so in their pursuit to defy the ordinary they set off to build a phone that has all the bells and whistles that one can expect in a 2021 flagship in a phone that measures less than 70 millimeters wide by less than 150 millimeters tall and believe it or not they've achieved it in some ways the zenfone 8 feels like an rog phone 5 but in a smaller body it's got all the high-end specs too a top-of-the-line snapdragon 8 5g processor 16 gigabytes of ddr5 ram up to 256 gigabytes of fast ufs 3.1 storage a 120 hertz amoled display with 1000 nits of brightness a decently sized four thousand milliamp hour battery and on top of that dual stereo speakers and a headphone jack to achieve this asus has had to pull off two feats of engineering one is shrinking down its motherboard from this to this with what they call interposer technology see all those little dots over here that's how data is transferred that frees up a lot of space taken up by parts and cables secondly while it's four thousand milliamp hour battery is the same size as the pixel 5 and the galaxy s 21 it's smaller too with new tech that allows them to store more energy than usual so the capacity remains the same but the battery size is smaller and so what we end up with is a phone that is nice and compact much smaller than the s21 similar in size to the pixel 5 but not as small as the hugely popular iphone 12 mini one of my faves from last year's iphone 12 series now if i were to point out one thing that i dislike about the zenfone 8 is its design not that there's anything wrong with it it's just bland and in a sea of eye-catching smartphones with different colors and finishes this doesn't help them stand out that said black white and silver are oftentimes the best selling models of any phone even when they come in other colors i do like this blue accent built into the power button but i'm not a fan of how low the camera module sits that said the phone is solidly built its back curves allow it to rest comfortably in the hand it's got a good amount of heft to it so it doesn't feel cheap like say the pixel 5. it's gorilla glass victus up front with slightly thicker bezels on its top and bottom baked under the glass is a fingerprint scanner that based on my tests was snappy and responsive the back side is gorilla glass 3 and whether you get the black or the silver model the back side has a matte finish to it which reduces the appearance of smudges the phone is ip68 water and dust resistant and i can't believe how asus managed to fit this headphone jack in if we were to ask for everything but the kitchen sink the only thing missing is a micro sd card slot instead the phone has provisions for two nano sims while the zenfone 8 isn't quite the looker that i had hoped for overall i believe that its compact size is going to be a huge selling point because there's really nothing quite like it in the market today at this point you might be wondering what ever happened to that wall-e like flippy camera that has been the hallmark feature of previous zen phones well today asus also announced the zenfone flip an updated version of last year's zenfone 7 pro with the same flippy camera and updated new finishes this year's snapdragon 8 processor and a new under display fingerprint scanner while the cameras don't flip from back to front anymore the zenfone 8 has the same cameras as the zenfone flip suns its dedicated 3x telephoto lens so you're left with a 64 megapixel primary camera and a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera with a 113 degree field of view because there isn't a flippy camera there's a punch hole 12 megapixel selfie camera up front by the way these are the same cameras that are on last year's zenfone 7 pro but with improved camera algorithms and an improved isp that's on snapdragon 8 camera samples reveal a significant improvement this first shot was taken one fine sunday on a road trip to a sculpture park called art oh my in upstate new york even on a sunny day outdoors the zenfone 8's photos were superior look at will ryman's pack lab a series of walls and pathways designed to mimic a video game maze in large scale the zenfone 8's photo has more punch it's even more obvious in this photo of a broad sculpture titled sisyphus by the same artist the difference is clear as day in these zoomed in shots the zenfone 7 pro also produces a more dull photo of rob fisher's oh my pond house even if the zenfone 8 only has digital zoom speaking of pondhouse this is what it looks like inside when it comes to shots taken with the ultra wide angle lens the results are actually pretty similar but i will say they're still not as wide as the iphone 12 pros here's another ultra wide angle sample olaf ruinings clouds the iphone 12 pro not only has the widest field of view but also produced a more vibrant blue sky and that said i'm comparing it with a phone that's 300 more but because the iphone 12 is the gold standard we're still comparing while occasionally the iphone 12 pro will produce better photos i think it's safe to say that the zenfone 8 does a decent job at keeping up all right enough comparisons here are more photos we took with the zenfone 8. finally here are some selfie samples and if you ask me you don't really need that flippy camera the selfies turned out pretty good like most phones of this size battery life on the zenfone 8 could be better in my tests i wasn't getting a whole day's worth with moderate heavy use but whole day battery life is a trade-off if you think about the performance power that this phone delivers vis-a-vis the actual limitations of space the phone comes with a 35 watt fast charger and in my tests charging speeds are as follows 21 in 10 minutes 61 in 30 94 in an hour and a full charge one hour in 20 minutes another big selling point for the zenfone 8 is its cheaper price tag it starts at just under 600 euros which is a very attractive price tag for a phone with these specs albeit for the six gigabyte model the eight gigabyte plus one two eight gigabyte model starts at 669 which is 30 euros cheaper than the launch price of last year's zenfone 7. here's what pricing looks like in europe the zenfone 8 is available starting today in taiwan and europe and will be coming to other regions soon including the us southeast asia and india pricing will vary from region to region so is the zenfone 8 your gadget match while i can understand how for a guy like me whose job it is to look at phones day in and day out a nondescript phone like this one might not look appealing after giving it some time i've come to appreciate how the zenfone 8 offers something different having bought the iphone 12 mini and the 12 pro max at the end of reviewing all four iphones last year i eventually settled on the mini cause of its size and many of my friends did so too so i can see how a compact android phone might be appealing to many users the techie in me also appreciates the engineering know-how and the resources that went into fitting most of what we've come to expect in a top-of-the-line phone in a much smaller chassis and i can respect a flagship phone that starts at 5.99 euros for that price i can overlook the fact that the phone isn't pretty i can understand the limitations of battery life and it's why i can still recommend this phone and give it the gadget match seal of approval with the loss of lg earlier this year i want to make sure that asus keeps its smartphone business alive because it's really these little engines that could that keep this industry brimming with new ideas and whether or not the shrinking of components isn't as flashy as say a flippable camera it's an idea that i can get behind and that was our zenfone 8 review for more videos like this one you know the drill folks subscribe to our youtube channel and hit that bell icon so that you get notified as soon as we upload follow me on social media for all the behind the scenes fun stuff and as always make gadgetmatch.com your daily habit until the next video i'm michael josh thanks for dropping by you\n"