(Pocket-lint) – The Zenfone 9 will be launched via an online event which will take place on 28 July, the company has confirmed.
Coming as an update to the Zenfone 8, it looks like Asus is sticking to the compact flagship format, aiming to offer a phone that’s different from the rest of the market because it doesn’t have a huge display.
The Zenfone 9 won’t have the same design, that’s said to be completely new, with Asus saying it’s the “most modern-looking Zenfone ever”.
There are going to be updates to the hardware, with the Zenfone 9 packing in the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, the latest flagship hardware. If nothing else, this is going to be a compact powerhouse. What we’d really like to see is better thermal management as the Zenfone 8 ran hot when playing games.
Asus’ teaser page doesn’t give much away, with images of a CPU, camera, telephoto lens, storage, a gaming controller and a gimbal, shown on a smartphone screen.
We think the phone shown is just the Zenfone 8: it does show a front camera initially but then that vanishes as the animation stops, so we don’t think that’s a hint at an under-display selfie camera.
However, the gimbal and telephoto lens might hint at a change – because the previous Zenfone had a normal and ultrawide camera. Perhaps there will be some advanced stabilisation in this future model?
Everything will be unveiled on 29 July, with Asus scheduling the online launch event for 15:00 CEST.
Writing by Chris Hall.
