Asus on Thursday revealed the Zenfone 12 Extremely, which inherits a number of cool options from the Asus ROG Cellphone 9 gaming cellphone collection and retools them for a extra mainstream viewers. Like final yr’s Zenfone 11 Extremely, because of this the cellphone has a 6.78-inch show, quick 65-watt wired charging and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.
However in different methods, Asus scaled the Zenfone 12 Extremely from its gaming cellphone sibling by supporting a (nonetheless very clean) 144Hz refresh price (the ROG Cellphone 9’s is185Hz) and a smaller 5,500 mAh battery in comparison with the ROG’s 5,800 mAh. The cellphone will are available in three colours: ebony black, sakura white and sage inexperienced.
The Zenfone 12 Extremely has a bunch of latest AI options, a number of of which Asus is billing as unique to the brand new cellphone at launch. These embrace up to date editions of the AI Name Translator, a transcription app and portrait video. The up to date name translator provides assist for third-party chat apps like WhatsApp, which ought to present extra flexibility past simply commonplace cellphone calls.
There are additionally new AI article and doc abstract options, together with picture enhancing options for unblurring a photograph or erasing an undesirable object or individual within the background. Many of those match related AI options that we recurrently see on Google’s Pixel and Samsung Galaxy telephones, and the Zenfone 12 Extremely may also obtain Google’s Circle to Search.
The Zenfone 12 Extremely’s headphone jack continues to set it aside as one of many few flagship telephones from any firm to assist wired headphones with out an adapter. For video recording, Asus can be updating its 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer for smoothing out shaky cam whereas taking video — a characteristic that is useful after I’ve examined prior Asus telephones in bumpy autos.
Pricing for the brand new Zenfone 12 Extremely wasn’t instantly accessible, and this yr Asus is omitting the US from the cellphone’s worldwide launch. I am bummed by this, as final yr’s Zenfone provided most of the media-focused advantages of the ROG gaming telephones. This contains the large display, highly effective processor, the gimbal stabilizer for video recording and that headphone jack — whereas offering a level of restraint by providing these options at a barely lower cost than Asus’s gaming telephones. However Asus has all the time confronted an uphill battle in the case of the US market, the place the viewers for Android telephones is dominated by Samsung, in accordance with Counterpoint Analysis.
This implies rather less Zenfone for Asus followers within the US this yr, however not less than the Asus ROG Cellphone 9 gaming telephones which are accessible embrace cool LED screens on the again for enjoying video games.
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