Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review

6 February 2025


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Definitely most boring year for phone releases in history. No one is actually bringing anything new, instead most of the brands are removing features.

    For a gimble based camera, there is visible stuttering in the videos. The photos look fine and the gimble seems to help in low light situations as you can keep the shutter open for a longer time.

    I am not sure this is sufficient feature to pay so much for this phone or other flagships. Photo/video quality has plateaued and they all look very similar amongst flagships.

    I would rather put that money towards a mirrorless camera.

      Darth Caesium, 06 Feb 2025This shouldn't get more than 3.5★. This is a pathetic ... moreThe telephoto and front camera can't even record in 4k, that is a fake Ultra phone, even base S25 is more worthy IMO, and ASUS is selling that phone 1100€...

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        • Anonymous
        • 3jX
        • 06 Feb 2025

        "Good (if uninspiring) photo quality"

        So good you were too ashamed to add the usual x2, garbage for 1000€.

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          • Anonymous
          • Mrj
          • 06 Feb 2025

          Invetor, 06 Feb 2025this phone should've come with Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, be... moreHTC already did exactly that, at almost exactly that price point. It didn't work out because somehow they couldn't clear the fairly low bar on software that Xiaomi set. Now Asus usually has better software (when they choose to update it at least) but there's a lot of phones with really good software longevity at that price point.

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            • Anonymous
            • 0p}
            • 06 Feb 2025

            If I have the possibility to spend 1000 euros on a smartphone, then I can also spend 1300 and, with this money, buy a Sony 1VI that takes better photos and also has a micro SD slot, in addition to also having a 3.5 jack.

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              • Anonymous
              • Mrj
              • 06 Feb 2025

              5 years total updates is... a start I guess. Only 2 OS upgrades is a bit unfortunate when OnePlus are offering 4 and Samsung are offering 7 with higher screen resolution and a very similar price point.

              This is pretty much the safest phone Asus can make, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing (the 11 Ultra from what I remember did fairly well) it's just not good value unfortunately. Adding features that shouldn't have been removed in the first place does not automatically make a forgettable phone a class leader, which is a lesson that Sony could do with learning too.

                They should have called it the Zenfone 12 'Meh

                  this phone should've come with Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, better battery life and a sub $400 (or $450 max) price tag.

                  I bet Asus execs themselves don't use Zenfones. Why would they, when they can use iPhones and Samsungs?

                    I don't understand the point of this phone. The Zenfone 11 was released less than a year ago. You can tell that there's no improvement with this one and the battery life even decreased.

                    Who should even buy a 1000€+ ASUS phone first of all, with only 2 years of OS updates. Not worth it.

                      Darth Caesium, 06 Feb 2025This shouldn't get more than 3.5★. This is a pathetic ... moretbf it's priced like a Pro phone, it's Ultra in name only, like the Edge 50 Ultra or the Z70 Ultra. This phone is STILL garbage tho lmao the Oneplus 13 smokes this in all but speaker quality and perhaps display brightness as well, tho how much that matters to someone depends on their preference.

                      For example Tech Droider made a vid out in the sun and it showed that whilst the Oneplus 13 is the dimmest of the flagship crop, it can hold this brightness for 10 mins and that to me is immense if you consider hot countries or just recording videos out on a sunny day. However if you just mostly take your phone out to glance at things for a minute then the Oneplus is worse, just depends on what type of thing you do tbh.

                      Anyways, i find it hilarious that this phone is more of a competitor to the Oneplus 13R in terms of cameras than the Oneplus 13 lmao this is just a joke at this point. Last year they had battery life going for them, what even is available here? The fingerprint scanner is optical as well. Cost cutting in every possible scenario and not to mention the fact that you're not even getting anything better in terms of software here, i couldnt find anything related to the updates so if this phone has 2 year OS and 5 year security updates then it's objectively worse than even Oneplus lmao

                        5 years of security updates? ugh, finally!

                        Would have been nicer if the weight was below 210g

                        The battery life is very underwhelming though. The photos are fine but not flagship grade.

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                          • d%H
                          • 06 Feb 2025

                          Better than s25u.

                            Still a better offer than S25 ultra. I can buy a stylus with no Bluetooth here, too.

                              Asus went 2 generations back with the battery and it charges slower as well, not to mention the speakers being slightly worse, LMAOOO

                                This shouldn't get more than 3.5★. This is a pathetic excuse for an Ultra phone, with the only impressive things about it being the headphone jack and the gimbal stabilisation being able to correct for 5° of movement. Everything else is absolutely pathetic, and even the otherwise great screen is pathetic due to its resolution (388 ppi is absolutely unacceptable for even a cheaper flagship, so why does an Ultra phone have such low sharpness?!?)

                                  4.2 stars for an "Ultra". That says enough

                                    There is no charger in the box! Today's humanity is going through a moment where you buy an electrical device at a high price and it comes without its most important accessory hahahahaha! what's next? Will you buy the phone and they will only send you the screen? you will have to buy the rest

                                      If it wasn't for the still lackluster update promise and that fugly camera island this would be atleast decent. But as is, there just isn't anything that makes you get this over any other phone.

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