Asus Zenfone 8 review

12 May 2021


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Anonymous, 13 May 2021Samsung s7 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm 3000 mah, 5,1" big to... moreBut not enough, I see no reason why the Zenfone 8 couldn't have had a third lens and wireless charging.
You've not made a convincing argument because you've missed the point. Those dual speakers don't take up that much space and a top/bottom stacked SIM/SD holder is tiny. Wireless charging fits in less than a mm depth. The electronics are smaller than they were 5 years ago, yet we get less.
If they did a 512GB version SD cards are moot but at 256 I can still run out of space when I'm travelling with downloaded films - some places don't have solid 3G coverage let alone 4/5G.

    To be honest I don't see anything interesting about this device, it isn't worth the attention it's getting.. it's too thick and both bezels are too big for a phone with this price point, the build is not premium at all, my cheap phone has a better looking build than this peace of crap.. and not to mention the ugly front camera cutout it has, I know xiaomi does the same camera cutouts on their mi brand phones but is nowhere near as ugly as this.. I don't think anyone with their right senses will actually buy this ugly looking device.. just an honest opinion

      Alex, 13 May 2021"No compromises"!? C'mon, Beep, where is SD ... morethe tele lens is not that big of a deal, it has 2x "lossless" zoom which takes pretty good photos, is SD card really that big of a problem? it comes 256gb storage so...

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        • Fahreddin Kaya
        • 0Ib
        • 13 May 2021

        First of all this phone is not compact sized or mini phone, it's bigger than IPhone X-11-12. The worst things, no SD card, no OIS, no wireless charging and 33W charging where we see 120W, it should be at least 65W as Chinese flagships.

        Samsung S10E is much better and it's real compact sized flagship, much more smaller, have SD card, have wireless charging have OIS

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          • Shiny Dave
          • mpm
          • 13 May 2021

          I did not expect this impressively uncompromised a phone at this price and size.

          While it's not for me - I genuinely do like the phablet life - I sincerely hope this is readily available in the UK. I have at least two friends for whom it'll be an absolutely screaming recommendation (one of them was a massive Xperia Compact fan and I think may still be clinging to one - this is the replacement she's been looking for).

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            • Goodboy
            • uv7
            • 13 May 2021

            wongwatt, 13 May 2021It's a wash because that processor gets damn hot, the ... moreCameras are same? Are you sure? Please put your glasses on. Pixels are outdated in this present day. Pixel photos are over processed and noisy something you would expect from 2017. And it doesn't run hot as the review is saying. Thermal throttling us better than most phones with a stability of 85%. Only a fool will compare a SD 888 with SD 765G.

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              • Alexa
              • uv7
              • 13 May 2021

              Alex, 13 May 2021Since you brought the iphone topic, I'd say that those... moreHa ha ha, look at those night shots again. I am certain those are far far better than what your phone takes. Lmao. Unusable? Don't compare it to a Sony A7 III lol

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                • Alexa
                • uv7
                • 13 May 2021

                Alex, 13 May 2021"No compromises"!? C'mon, Beep, where is SD ... moreWow! Don't need lectures from a salty iPhone user. Who wants a slow ancient micro sd memory? I have a phone with expandable memory but I have stopped using it due to its unbearably slow speed compared to the internal ufs storage. Which phone has a good quality tele at this price point? Does the iPhone mini has a tele? Does the S21 has a tele? ( It has a fake tele ). Now, please go back to your iPhone with no headphone jack, 60hz.

                  People be complaining about GG3 on back, when s21 comes with a plastic back. Believe me, my brother has s21 and it looks ugly after getting scratched, while my Redmi K20 back still looks good as new. And GG3 is more scratch resistant to scratches than GG6, and if you're worried about breaking, sorry to break it to you, GG6 will shatter the same way GG3 does.

                  I agree with the storage part, I know they can't put sdcard slot in such a tiny phone, but atleast they should have launched 512gb variant. I don't need more than 128gb, but some people out there do. Apart from that, it's a perfect phone for the price. The cameras are decent, speakers are good, screen is great, and the battery endurance and other things can be fixed with a software update. And Asus listens, I remember initially the smartkey didn't have the feature to launch your favorite app, but they added it later with an update when Dave2d pointed it out. The look is low profile, unlike Realme's hipster "Dare to Leap" branding. Initially the design looked weird to me in renders, but the real phone looks good, especially the silver variant. We'll have to see why the camera island is so low, but if I have the guess, it's there to make space for other compoents (headphone jack, front speakers and front camera probably take the top row completely). Will have to wait for JerryRigsEverything video. You can go on nitpicking about the design or anything, but the omissions it has are practical, since Asus is not selling a Pro variant. Hence they have no reason to omit things intentionally, like Oneplus and Samsung do. The obvious omissions are to meet the compact size and the price point, which is acceptable.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • I@H
                    • 13 May 2021

                    when it comes to handling, on paper, it is similar to sony xperia 5ii with 68mm width, both are also pocketable, my pockets can even accept xperia 1ii nicely with some headroom, but this zenfone will fit "better" on most pockets...
                    but, overall, i would still choose xperia 5ii...
                    now, this zenfone 8 will still be the best answer, yet, to the "compact phone" battle outcry (android version) the sales of this will tell if the soldiers are strong enough... the ios version was not strong enough as most apple users settle with the larger ones...

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                      • Anonymous
                      • j83
                      • 13 May 2021

                      GSM Arena does the best phone reviews. They are extensive and unbiased.

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                        • Alex
                        • qC@
                        • 13 May 2021

                        James World, 13 May 2021What the heck,its really outstanding tbh,idk either you... moreSince you brought the iphone topic, I'd say that those two use similar algorithm, resulting in overprocessed daylight shots (Asus has more artifacts). And while iphone night shots are just bad, Asus ones are totally unusable.

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                          • Alex
                          • qC@
                          • 13 May 2021

                          beep bop boop, 13 May 2021this "mini" phone has virtually no compromises un... more"No compromises"!? C'mon, Beep, where is SD card and tele cam? And an acceptable quality for night shots?
                          And this is not "mini", even for nowadays. It's an "average" size (max that I'd get).

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                            • Alex
                            • qC@
                            • 13 May 2021

                            Anonymous, 13 May 2021Compare that with something that you think is excellent and... moreI already did. Comparing with all 2021 flagships, reviewed by GSMA, this phone night shots are among the worst.

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                              • Alex
                              • qC@
                              • 13 May 2021

                              Anonymous, 13 May 2021Terrible?! The review says the opposite. Do you always take what other people say or you have your own eyes to go beyond the "Verdict" section?

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                                • Alex
                                • qC@
                                • 13 May 2021

                                Nick, 13 May 2021It's interesting that GSMA is the only site that revie... moreThat's exactly my question, Nick, how can GSMA say "The photos taken without Night Mode are brilliant - they are sharp, and we observed sufficient detail" about something like this!?
                                https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/reviews/21/asus-zenfone-8/camera/gsmarena_115.jpg

                                I never saw any other phone so heavily promoted here: by both GSMA team and Asus team, flooding the comment area.

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                                  • Sam6536
                                  • YQD
                                  • 13 May 2021

                                  13abySouL-, 13 May 2021Size is great but.. REAR CAMERA island was so ugly. Does... moreLooks okay imo I'll personally go for the silver version that looks better and a case is included in box
                                  Plus what it offers at that pricing is very good

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                                    • Sam6536
                                    • YQD
                                    • 13 May 2021

                                    wongwatt, 13 May 2021It's a wash because that processor gets damn hot, the ... moreThe soc will only get hot if you play something like genshin impact on max graphics on high performance mode in high ambient
                                    Display is one of the best ones available right now
                                    Samsung E4 OLED panel
                                    A pixel 5 literally can't stand in front of zf8
                                    For your info a Zenfone 8's 16gb variant costs same as pixel 5's fricking base variant
                                    Wireless charging emission is pretty okay it's an compact phone they fit all they could
                                    Ip68 and all makes this phone literally perfect on top of that sweet pricing
                                    Asus offers customisation in everything as you can read with different performance modes like Rog

                                      Size is great but..

                                      REAR CAMERA island was so ugly. Doesn't match even 'beauty' size.

                                      How R&D do work something like that ? No survey or some research ??

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • m@A
                                        • 13 May 2021

                                        wongwatt, 13 May 2021Older phones had SD card slots, headphone jacks and wireles... moreSamsung s7 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm 3000 mah, 5,1" big top and bottom bezel,no 5g antennas, one camera, mono speakers
                                        ZenFone 8 148 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm 4000mah, small top and bottom bezel, 5g antennas, bigger stereo speakers.
                                        Thankfully the world is moving forward.