Last year’s Zenfone 9 was one of the most highly acclaimed devices of the year, and now Asus has ushered in a successor that enhances its stature without increasing its size.
I’ve been testing the Zenfone 10 for several weeks and it’s one of my favourite smartphones of 2023 so far.
The standout features include the blazing fast chip, super smooth AMOLED display, great photos and videos, excellent battery life, top-notch speakers, ace software and wireless charging.
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One of the most compelling attributes is its stylish frame – the size makes it so easy to use one-handed and it’s so comfortable to hold.
Zenfone 10 is available in a choice of five refreshing colours, all apparently inspired by the harmonising colours of the cosmos.
Here are my thoughts on the device...
Performance
Zenfone 10 breezes through everything you throw at it.
I’ve run benchmark tests from the likes of 3DMark and Geekbench and the scores have been terrific, up there with the top-performing Android devices of 2023 such as ROG Phone 7 Ultimate and Galaxy S23 Ultra.
It backs up the scores in real-world use which is more important. Animations are fluid, apps open and switch quickly and you can sustain heavy workloads such as an intensive gaming session without any hint of overheating.
The latter capability is no doubt aided by the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features onboard.
The device is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform and my review unit had 16GB of the latest LPDDR5X 8533 Mbps RAM along with superfast UFS 4.0 storage.
Zenfone 10 runs Android 13 out of the box and promises two years of OS upgrades and four years of security updates.
I’m a fan of the firm’s ZenTouch 2.0 software which sits atop Android 13 and has lots of neat customisation features. And I use the Edge tool quite a lot – this is a sidebar you can slide in to access system shortcuts quickly or open a second app in a floating window.
Display
I never found myself longing for a larger display despite my general preference for larger displays whether I’m working on phones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers.
Zenfone 10’s 5.92in screen has a 144Hz refresh rate that kicks in when you are gaming while the default 120Hz refresh rate makes everything else feel fluid and fast.
The screen looks dazzling whether using the phone to work on or consume content – colours are accurate and vivid. Viewing angles are great and it is bright enough to see clearly even on sunny days.
Cameras
Zenfone 10 uses a 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabiliser in its main 50MP rear camera. The firm has pushed this feature and boasted of its prowess in delivering blur-free and shake-free videos.
The combination of optical image stabilisation, electronic image stabilisation, software and superfast autofocus does work wonders.
Footage is sharp and smooth, even if the video I captured is not quite at the level of the iPhone 14 Pro Max or Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra. Bear in mind those devices cost considerably more than Zenfone 10.
The phone does a decent job of eliminating background noise such as wind when shooting video, thanks to OZO Audio tech onboard.
It’s not all about video, however. Zenfone has done a stellar job on the photography front too. Images from the 50MP camera are generally crisp, detailed, colourful and well-exposed. It has a large 1/1.56in sensor and an f/1.9 aperture.
And on the 32MP front camera, which features an RGBW sensor with large 1.4 μm pixels, white pixels have been added to the traditional RGB pixels. This results in more detailed images when shooting selfies in lowlight conditions.
Worth a mention too are the superb Portrait Mode and the fun Light Trail mode which both benefit from the device’s stabilisation.
And you can enable the phone’s Quick Shot mode (which takes three pics in 1.7 seconds) so it works straight from the lock screen – a nice feature to have.
There’s a 13MP 120-degree ultrawide angle camera too with an f/2.2 aperture. Images are less sharp and detailed than on the main camera but are still perfectly usable.
Overall, the camera system and its software, along with the Gallery app, are super responsive and fun to use.
Battery life
The stamina of the Zenfone 9 was impressive to me, but the new phone has beefed up endurance by 12.9 per cent. Asus said this is due to the components used and the more power-efficient CPU.
This is even though the power pack is a relatively small 4300mAh capacity.
During testing, even on days of heavy usage that most consumers would not put their phone through, Zenfone 9 lasted from 7am to 11pm with on average 10 to 15 per cent left in the tank.
On more typical average usage days, I had up to 25 per cent left at 11pm.
There is support for 30W fast charging and 15w wireless charging too. Neither is the fastest on the block by any means, but it’s good to see wireless charging introduced.
The firm reminds users that slower charging is better for your battery’s long-term health and the phone allows users to set up a custom charging limit at lower speeds.
Design and build
Zenfone 10 has been built with sustainability in mind too, incorporating eco-friendly bio-based polycarbonate materials and an increased proportion of recyclable packaging.
My review unit was in the new Comet White colour – there are four other options including two more new hues, Aurora Green and Eclipse Red.
The device feels so good in the hand as it weighs just 172g. To put this in context, Samsung’s S23 Ultra weighs 234g and its Z Fold 4 weighs 263g.
Zenfone 10 measures just 68.1mm across and this makes it one of the best phones on the market for one-handed use.
Other features
The phone includes a 3.5mm audio jack and supports HiRes audio. It also includes Dirac audio processing tech and Dirac Virtuo spatial sound technology.
It supports codecs such as Qualcomm aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless.
There’s a brilliant AudioWizard app too in the Quick Settings menu which includes a 10-band equaliser so you can tweak the sound from your audio content exactly how you like it.
It’s great to see a smartphone manufacturer putting such an emphasis on audio quality.
The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is fast and reliable, along with face unlock.
I would recommend getting the Connex protective case accessory. It features a handy pop-out stand for the phone if you want to place it on a desk while watching video content or listening to music.
Verdict
If you are looking for a 2023 smartphone that has all the power but only a fraction of the heft, Asus Zenfone 10 is king.
It can match the skills and speed of the year's best Android smartphones such as OnePlus 11 and S23 Ultra and is an enjoyable and fun phone to use.
Pricing and availability
In the UK, Zenfone 10 is available now and costs £749.99 for 256GB storage and 8GB RAM or £819.99 for 512GB storage and 16GB RAM. Early adopters get up to £70 off if they order before July 31.
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