After releasing the amazing gaming phones ROG Phone 6 and ROG Phone 6 Pro, Asus came up with another flagship, but this time it is a traditional phone, not gaming-oriented. However, the Asus Zenfone 9 still has a distinctive feature: it is one of the most compact flagships of this year. Thanks to its small display, it provides very small dimensions and it is very comfortable to use with one hand and to keep in a pocket. However, it has a few rivals to face and one of them comes from the leader of the smartphone market. We are obviously talking about the Samsung Galaxy S22, another of the most compact flagships out there. This is a comparison between the main specifications of the Asus Zenfone 9 and the Samsung Galaxy S22 which will hopefully help you to find the best compact phone for your actual needs.

Asus Zenfone 9 vs Samsung Galaxy S22

Asus Zenfone 9 Samsung Galaxy S22
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.1 mm,
169 g		 146 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm,
167 g
DISPLAY 5.9 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels (Full HD+), Super AMOLED 6.1 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels (Full HD+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X
PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, octa-core 3.19 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, octa-core 3 GHz or Samsung Exynos 2200 octa-core 2.8 GHz
MEMORY 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 16 GB RAM, 256 GB 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB
SOFTWARE Android 12, Zen UI Android 12, One UI
CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS
CAMERA Dual 50 + 12 MP, f/1.9 + f/2.2
12 MP f/2.5 front camera		 Triple 50 + 10 + 12 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.4 + f/2.2
10 MP f/2.2 front camera
BATTERY 4300 mAh, fast charging 30W 3700 mAh, Fast Charging 25W, Fast wireless charging 15W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES 5G, dual SIM, reverse charging, IP68 waterproof 5G, dual SIM slot, reverse wireless charging, IP68 waterproof

Design

The Asus Zenfone 9 and the Samsung Galaxy S22 come with distinctive designs. The former has two big and circular camera modules, while the latter has a more classic camera module stuck on the upper left corner of the device and containing three sensors, with a LED flash on the right. These phones are made with premium materials, but the Samsung Galaxy S22 has a superior build quality. It comes with a glass back protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and an aluminum frame, as well as a front glass with the same Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The Asus Zenfone 9 has an aluminum frame and a rear side made of polymer, with the glass only on the front side, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus as well. Both the handsets are waterproof thanks to the IP68 certification making them dust and water resistant.

 

Display

When it comes to the displays, these devices are very close to each other and it is very hard to pick a winner. The Asus Zenfone 9 has the smallest panel, with a diagonal of just 5.9 inches. It is the only Android flagship from a mainstream brand released in 2022 with a display sporting a diagonal inferior to 6 inches. The Samsung Galaxy S22 has an AMOLED display just like the Asus, but with a bigger 6.1-inch diagonal. It comes with slightly higher peak brightness (up to 1,300 nits against just 1,100 nits), but for the rest, they are pretty much the same. The displays have a Full HD+ resolution of 1080p, a 120 Hz refresh rate, the HDR10+ certification, and an in-display fingerprint reader. However, you should consider that the Galaxy has an ultrasonic fingerprint reader providing better performance and allowing to unlock the device even with wet or dirty fingers.

 

Specs & Software

The hardware department of the Asus Zenfone 9 is more advanced compared to its rival. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile platform, currently the best SoC released by Qualcomm to date. It is a processor built with a 4 nm production process and with an octa-core architecture composed of a Cortex X2 CPU running at a max frequency of 3.19 GHz, three Cortex A710 CPUs running at 2.75 GHz, four Cortex A510 CPUs running at 1.8 GHz, and an Adreno 730 GPU. The SoC is paired with up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. With the Samsung Galaxy S22, you get either a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform (inferior to its Plus variant found on the Zenfone) or a Samsung Exynos 2200 chipset (even worse than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1), as well as 8 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 native storage. Obviously, both the handsets run Android 12 out of the box and they have customized user interfaces.

 

Camera

The most complete camera phone in this comparison is the Samsung Galaxy S22. On the rear side, it sports a triple camera composed of a 50 MP main sensor with OIS, a 10 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 12 MP ultrawide camera. The Asus Zenfone 9 lacks a telephoto sensor, while the remaining cameras come with the same resolutions.

 

Battery

The Asus Zenfone 9 is equipped with a bigger battery and it surely lasts more on a single charge: its capacity is 4300 mAh against just 3700 mAh provided by the Samsung Galaxy S22. It even charges quicker thanks to 30W fast charging, while the Samsung charges at 25W. On the other hand, the Galaxy S22 is the only one with wireless charging (the power is 15W).

 

Price

The Asus Zenfone 9 debuted a few days ago in the European market with a starting price of €729/$730, while you can currently find the Samsung Galaxy S22 for less than €700/$700 thanks to online street prices. The Samsung Galaxy S22 features wireless charging and better cameras, as well as better build quality, while the Asus Zenfone 9 provides a superior chipset and a bigger battery. Which one would you pick?

 

Asus Zenfone 9 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: PRO and CONS

Asus Zenfone 9

PRO

  • Better chipset
  • More compact
  • Bigger battery
  • Up to 16 GB of RAM

CONS

  • No wireless charging

 

Samsung Galaxy S22

PRO

  • Better rear cameras
  • eSIM technology
  • Wireless charging
  • Wider display

CONS

  • Smaller battery

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