I was WRONG about the ASUS Zenfone 8 By Joshua Vergara

All right, I'm finally getting around to talking about one of my most controversial phones ever well on my channel, and in my brain I mean, if you look at my content here on JV. Historically, you could predict that this ASUS before 8 would have been my most anticipated phone of the year and potentially every year. I love the flippy dippy, which ASUS themselves actually acknowledged as a fun way of describing their unique flipping camera and I hoped to make it mine every single year. But then we got this a far cry from the mainline releases that had the flippy dippy. It seems before as a term is taking on a new identity, as ASUS decided to actually niche the whole flip camera, and while this phone was destined to get the side eye from me. Because of all of that, I have to give you a spoiler alert right now.

This phone actually has become my main phone for the last number of weeks. So what changed in my brain? Let's talk about that! It's Joshua verger! What's going on everybody, here's what worked and what didn't with the ASUS before 8. Part of. Why the flippy dippy camera on the engines was so great is because they automatically made the design unique and eye-catching not to mention it was a practical and elegant solution to a common problem. The fact that the front-facing cameras are often too under powered for the hardcore selfie or vlogging users.

So when ASUS decided to put the flip camera on a before island and revamp the mainline release, my reaction wasn't very positive compared to my before 7. The screen is so much smaller and doesn't provide the kind of real estate that I actually got used to during quarantine. Given the new nature of this before, there is now an actual front-facing camera in a punch hole that is literally cutting into my content. The once shiny exterior has been made matted and instead of the flippy dippy, there's a very run-of-the-mill camera bump housing just two sensors. At first glance, my and many of my peers reactions to this phone was just that it seemed a little too.

Generic ASUS did state that they wanted to get back to powerful basics, to a form factor that we're seeing less and less of these days. The smaller but easier to handle size, and while that sentiment has proven to be effective enough to make this phone my go-to lately, I have to admit- and you have to admit that the ho-hum design of the before 8 is its least appealing trait. Thankfully, a smaller form factor lends itself to customization that doesn't add too much bulk and to give the phone a better look. You have choices, courtesy of rhino shield, who are the sponsor of this video and a direct accessories partner to ASUS and the before line. Rhino shields, myriad of cases and bumpers, give phones more protection while adding a little of flair.

The best part is: there are many choices for your kind of expression, maybe something flashy and artistic to make the phone really pop, maybe a case with your favorite sports team on it. They sent me this one, even though I'm a Lakers fan, but let's not talk about that right now, or you could just get it really personalized, like this case, that's rocking my actual initials, despite the honestly boring design of the before 8, the small form factor makes it so that these cases don't add much more to the footprint making the rhino shield cases a perfect way of making up for one of the phone's key deficiencies. Thanks to rhino shield, for providing that solution, and for sponsoring this video, you can check out the link in the description below to find cases and bumpers and accessories for your smartphone. You can use the code JV for 20 off your purchase for the next week, after that it will be 10 off your purchase, so check it out in the link below, and thank you again to rhino shield for sponsoring this video. I have to admit.

Asus is kind of right, though we're seeing fewer small phones that pack the same power as their bigger siblings and in that regard, the before 8 is actually an absolute win. Despite the screen being a 5.9-inch full HD plus panel, it is an AMOLED screen that pumps out 120hz refresh rate. That means useful features like an always on display and the ability to play high frame rate games. Sure the screen might be a little smaller to enjoy said media and games, but it's certainly not cramped and games can run at peak performance because of the internals. The snapdragon 888 is in here put in probably its smallest phone, yet backed by up to 16 gigabytes of ram and up to 256 gigabytes of onboard storage.

Now we're definitely used to big phones, providing huge performance, but when you're able to message one-handed but still keep the productivity high, and you're able to still game at a high clip all in just this one little smartphone the size almost becomes more of a feat rather than a detriment. Well, almost after all, the smaller, the phone's body, the smaller the battery becomes, I was personally impressed by how well the four thousand William hour battery was able to stretch its runtime during some heavy usage days. But I wouldn't say this phone is capable of really going the distance 30 watt fast wire charging is quite good at topping up the phone quickly, but that's all you're going to get as far as powering up is concerned. There is a lack of wireless charging on this phone, which is a little of a bummer and tying everything together is zen. UI ASUS's take on currently android 11.

, now full disclosure. I have changed the launcher on my unit, which itself is a surefire sign that I've made this particular phone my main device, my customizations, are all being done through the Microsoft launcher, which I applaud for how useful it can be with my minimalist layout, but even before any of these changes. Zen UI is easy on the eyes and fingers as an android version that is easy to understand and quite close to stock. If you're looking for ASUS software editions, they're, actually almost all neatly organized in their own page. In the settings, for example, the powerful processor gets extra help from gaming forward features, ASUS's well-known game genie from their gaming phones, slides down during gameplay to provide tools and toggles that include navigation blocking which prevents the full screen gestures from interrupting your session.

OptiPlex is just a feature. That's always working in the background to boost performance for your most used applications. There are gestures, galore and the power button can be catered to certain functions via double presses and holes, and if you do quick swipes on the bottom, you get yet another ergonomically friendly feature as ASUS adds their own version of iOS reachability. Even for a small phone like this, it kind of comes in handy. I've said this often people sleep on ASUS as a smartphone maker, and if you just look at the software their takes on what makes an android, smartphone tick are actually quite mature.

Zen phones have done a great job of being feature rich but easy to understand on the surface, for people who don't want to be overwhelmed, they're zen, if you will, and that attention to detail, does spill into a few other aspects of the before 8, namely the way they approached. This polarizing move to a conventional form factor, and indeed a conventional camera system to be fair right off the jump. The before 8 and the before 8 flip. Don't update the main cameras compared to last year's offerings. You still get the Sony mix 686, but it's still considered a top performer.

It's just not a bleeding edge camera sensor here in 2021 and with the before 8 being a decidedly normal smartphone. A new camera sensor had to step in to provide the front-facing shooter. I was delighted to find that the front-facing camera of the before 8 not only shoots 4k but also has autofocus. These are features that most higher-end competitors don't bother, providing and all in a Sony sensor that we haven't seen, of course, until now more to my specific usage, these two features also make it possible to clip a wide-angle lens to the front camera and retain high amounts of quality for photos and for videos so for no longer able to use the rear cameras as our front cameras at least ASUS made sure to make this front-facing camera as good as they could and to that end, the overall camera experience is just fine. It's perfectly fine for the vast majority of users out there who are not content.

Creators by trade, the sensors and the tools that ASUS put into the before 8 will easily fulfill their duty. If you want to get nuts, there are some tools for that to 120 frames per second 4k video is one great example. The main sensor provides the high quality photos and videos with enough stylish shallow depth of field. While the wide angle camera is actually pretty detailed and sharp, despite stepping down in the spec department, but stepping down the camera quality is exactly the choice. Asus had to make with this latest device, which is both a good and a bad thing.

Again, I give credit to ASUS for trying to fill a void in the smartphone world by making practical powerhouses a priority, but by choosing not to run the same race of putting in crazy cameras, they're also kind of falling a little behind. This is true for both the before 8 and the before 8 flip, which both are using last year's camera offerings and that hardware just doesn't hold a candle to the likes of the Samsung gn2 uh, the sensor, that is in the Xiaomi mi 11 ultra or even the finely tuned, updated Sony, mix, sensors and phones like the opp, find x3 pro. It's, admittedly, a measured approach. That then begs the question: what exactly do you prioritize in your smartphones? That's exactly why I loved the flippy dippy zen phones, because they felt like a unique way of answering that very question, which is to say I kind of prioritize everything in the case of the before 7, the 7 pro and then the barely updated before 8 flip that we got this year. I wouldn't be getting the absolute best cameras on the market today, but I'd be able to use the phone's best cameras effectively for all of my shooting scenarios and to see this feature become.

A niched item is kind of concerning, especially after hearing Dave 2d speculate that the flippy dippy might eventually be no more. The shift that ASUS has made this year eventually made sense to me, but it's still a move that hopefully isn't a scary exercise in foreshadowing, as I alluded to before. The work from home lifestyle made me warm up to having larger and better screens in my life media gaming and everything in between were just better on screens like on my before 7 that I used every day since Christmas 2020. , but as the world is starting to find its way outside and beyond again, the before 8 might have just come along at the right time when being able to comfortably do. What I need to in the digital world allows me to be more present in the physical world.

It's actually the same feeling I got with the Pixel 3a and the 4a, and it did continue with the pixel 5. And those phones are common but honestly appropriate comparisons to the before 8, but while the pixels might be picture taking beasts, the before 8 is a beast in pretty much every other aspect, making it a phone that most users can rely upon far beyond the lifespan of the mid-range processors that the pixel phones use- and it's not like these cameras are slouches anyway, with word that even apple is doing away with the mini versions of their iPhones. The small form factor flagship is becoming a bit of a rarity and ASUS is showing foresight in filling that gap. I just hope that, in shifting focus to the practical powerhouse, ASUS doesn't forget that the flippy dippy deserves to stick around too and especially after the smartphone world, recently lost lg as a contributor. Perhaps these two particular niches are exactly what ASUS needs to put equal amounts of energy behind, to make more people flip out for their offerings, and so there you have it.

Let me know your thoughts on the ASUS before 8 in the comments below and if you enjoyed my take on this phone drop, this video a like and subscribe for, even more with all of that said, I'm going to go ahead and call it on this one. Thank you so much for watching. Please take care of yourselves and each other, and let me just remind you to enjoy your tea. Everybody.

Source : Joshua Vergara