Asus ZenFone 8 series starts at $599 w/ Pixel 5 size, Snapdragon 888 [Update: Now available]

Ben Schoon | Jun 29 2021 - 11:16 am PT

With LG calling it quits, there’s room for smaller brands to make an impact on the smartphone market. Asus today unveiled its latest attempt at the mainstream smartphone market with the ZenFone 8 series, a pair of flagship-tier smartphones with affordable prices and a solid overall package.

Small flagships are a rarity nowadays. The only flagship-tier smartphone that comes to mind in the Android space is the Pixel 5, but it’s running with a step-down Snapdragon 765 chipset. The Asus ZenFone 8 hits roughly the same size but with a more powerful and up-to-date Snapdragon 888 under the hood. That’s underneath a 5.9-inch display and within a body that straddles the line between Pixel 4a and Pixel 5.

Filling out the spec sheet, you’ll find an under-display fingerprint sensor for that 1080p AMOLED 120Hz display, between 6GB and 16GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of storage, 5G support, Android 11 with Asus’ mostly-stock ZenUI 8, and a 4,000 mAh battery with USB-C quick charging at 30W. There’s also a headphone jack — a rarity on high-end phones nowadays — and IP68 water/dust resistance. In the camera department, there’s a 64MP primary shooter and 12MP ultrawide, both using Sony sensors. There’s also a 12MP selfie camera, and the power button doubles as a programmable key for opening apps and performing user-defined tasks.

The Asus ZenFone 8 will be available in the United States around July but in Europe a bit earlier. Pricing in the States lands at an extremely reasonable $599.

Update 6/29: Asus has opened sales of the ZenFone 8 in the United States. The company is selling the device in two variants in its online store. The 8GB/128GB variant is $599 while the 8GB/256GB model is $699.

Alongside this compact device, Asus is also debuting the ZenFone 8 Flip, which is basically a refreshed ZenFone 7 Pro with the Snapdragon 888 chip. It’s got the same 6.67-inch 90Hz display, triple-camera array on a swiveling mount, and a 5,000 mAh battery. This device also moves the fingerprint sensor from the frame to underneath the display, and Asus says the durability of the camera hinge should be about 50% better. The Flip will be available in Europe soon from €799.