There's good news for people who prefer compact smartphones — the Asus Zenfone 9 could launch in India on Tuesday (under possibly a different name). The "super compact" flagship device sports a 5.9-inch screen, among the smallest on the market today after the iPhone 13 Mini. Asus 9z, as the smartphone is likely to be called here, was officially announced last month and was available only in Europe, Hong Kong, and Taiwan regions with a price tag of 799 euros, roughly translating to Rs 65,000. The expected price of the device in the Indian market is around Rs 60,000.
As the smartphone industry grows, so does the screen size with every new generation, which is understandable given how our screen time on the devices is also increasing. But that does not take away the fact that the world is still full of people who have small hands and even smaller pockets.
Most devices with smaller screens are usually not exactly flagship material even if they are sold right next to their bigger counterparts with better features. The Apple iPhone Mini series, the Google Pixel 'a' series, and Samsung’s Galaxy S (barring the Ultra) series — all share the latest processor but miss interesting features from their larger siblings.
The Asus 9z will be powered by the flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset and sports a Full HD AMOLED screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.
The camera setup on the back features a 50 MP primary sensor that has a special six-axis "gimbal stabiliser" and a 12 MP ultrawide lens. The selfie camera is a 12 MP shooter.
Out of the box, the device will run Android 12 and promises major software updates for two years and security patches for three years. It has RAM up to 16 GB and storage up to 256 GB, a 4,300 mAh battery and support for 30W charging.
The device boasts of an IP68 rating forwater and dust resistance and also has the 3.5 mm headphone jack. Asus, however, decided against including the wireless charging option.
Asus has not yet confirmed the news, however, and has also not teased the device on social media. But leaks on the internet are rarely wrong and we are keeping our fingers crossed for this one.
