Introduction

Compact smartphones have a constant demand as there are some users around the globe that do not want to carry new age enormous smartphones. Asus Zenfone 10 is the latest compact smartphone that will be ideal for those who want to upgrade to a new compact android smartphone. Last year Asus Zenfone 9 created a lot of buzz because of its flagship level specs packed at such a compact size. There are several reasons why smartphone brands have been hesitant to produce compact smartphones. Firstly, the trend towards larger screens and immersive multimedia experiences has influenced their product strategies. Larger displays allow for better media consumption and enhanced user experiences. Secondly, compact smartphones often face design and engineering challenges, such as fitting powerful hardware into a smaller form factor without compromising performance. Additionally, the demand for compact smartphones has diminished over time as users prioritize larger screens for multitasking and productivity. But Asus is still trying prove it's metal in compact smartphone world. As the introduction suggest the main usp of Zenfone 10 is its size and its 5.9 inches of display is great for single hand usage.

Design and build quality of Asus Zenfone 10

Asus Zenfone 10 continues the legacy of Zenfone 9 by providing a tough aluminium frame along with the latest gorilla glass victus protection from the front. The design of the new Zenfone 10 is quite similar to the zenfone 9 with a few minor changes like the text on the back, bigger camera rings and it is slightly heavier and thicker than its predecessor. New Asus Zenfone 10 comes with 5 colour options to choose from that are midnight black, comet white, eclipse red, starry blue and arura green which provides a quite modern look to the smartphone as these colours are very much in today’s trend. The phone qualifies all the toughness characteristics by providing an IP 68 rating, an aluminium frame and a polycarbonate back that makes it feel sturdy and also provides much-needed grip which is something missing in the phones that comes with a glass back. The phone's dimensions justify its compactness as this phone is specifically designed for those who like to use their phone single-handedly and the brand packed all of this without eliminating everyone’s favourite headphone jack. This year Asus has also introduced their new logo on the back which was missing in the previous models.

Asus Zenfone 10 Compact Display - Is the display really feel flagship?

Asus Zenfone 10 comes with a 5.9 inch AMOLED display with an upgraded refresh rate of 144hz. This display is provided by Samsung which means it is capable of offering true vibrant colours as Samsung is known for its displays. The peak brightness of the Asus Zenfone 10 is 1100 nits which is a very impressive and will provide sufficient outdoor visibility. The layout of the display is similar to its predecessor with left aligned punch hole camera. The144 hz refresh rate is a quite big update but this update comes with a catch as it offers a 144hz of refresh rate only while gaming as normal smartphone scrolling will work only at 120hz. The problem with the display that still persists it’s bezels as there is a noticeable chin at the bottom which is a deal breaker for some users as all the other smartphones at this price point come with very minimal and uniform bezels. The display size is the smartphone's usp as it makes it different from the others but on the same hand, the content consumption experience of the smartphone also get affected as smartphones with bigger display offer a much more engaging experience with the same hardware.

Camera Department of Asus Zenfone 10 - Upgrade or downgrade?

The Gen z’s are very interested in the front camera so we will start off with it as this smartphone comes with a 32MP front camera which has a bigger sensor size than its predecessor which helps to capture more light that will result in noise reduction and better low light selfies. The front camera of the Asus Zenfone 10 is capable of recording 1080 at 60 FPS.

Now comes the rear cameras, Asus Zenfone 10 features a dual camera set-up in which the main camera is a 50MP Sony IMX 766 sensor that clicks pictures with very sharp details with proper edge detection and very impressive dynamic range. It handles skin tones very well but the main thing in the primary camera is SIX AXIS HYBRID GIMBAL STABILIZER which helps you record jitter-free video and the output of video samples is quite stable.

Now the second camera is a 13MP ultra-wide sensor that captures 120 degrees of view which is quite wide but it comes with a fixed focus which makes it only usable for wide angle shots which means it will not able to perform macro photography.

Asus Zenfone 10 Performance bump - All thanks to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The processor makes or brakes a smartphone's performance which is majorly handled by its chipset. Asus Zenfone 10 doesn’t compromise with performance as it is packed with the most high-performance chipset in the Android world yet that is Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and availability of the latest LPDDRX5 RAM and UFS 4.1 storage makes the performance great. When you compare it with its predecessor there is a 15% CPU bump and 20 % GPU bump which means you will feel the noticeable difference while gaming on this smartphone. The best thing about Snapdragon 8 gen 2 is that it is very efficient which leads to low battery consumption and more screen on time in a compact phone is must as it is difficult to pack a bigger battery in zenfone 10.

Asus Zenfone 10 battery and charging technology

Asus Zenfone 10 comes with the same 4300 mAh battery but the overall screen on time has been increased all thanks to the efficiency of Snapdragon 8 gen 2. One more unique thing about this smartphone is the box content. As this smartphone is bundled with a 30w charger inside the box, a tough back cover for utmost protection and for the first time ever Asus is coming with 15w wireless charging with Zenfone 10.

Conclusion

There are very less options when you are looking for a compact smartphone as it requires more sophisticated engineering which leads to increased selling prices. Even brands like Apple stopped manufacturing their mini versions with the arrival of the iPhone 14 series. The market for small-sized smartphones is very limited and Asus is doing everything it can by packing a smartphone with 5.9 inches flagship display, high performance chipset and a good camera set up