The Asus Zenfone 10 could be one of the best phones of 2023, but the company will need to learn from the failings of the Asus Zenfone 9, which was in many ways one of the most disappointing phones of 2022.
It achieved 3.5 stars in our review, which isn’t bad at all, but it’s a massive drop from the 4.5 stars that the Asus Zenfone 8 achieved the previous year. These phones have a lot of potential though, so we’re cautiously optimistic about the next model.
There will likely be a while to wait for it though, and we haven’t really heard anything about the Asus Zenfone 10 yet. Once we do, however, we’ll add any leaks, news, and rumors to this article. But in the meantime, you’ll find our release date and price predictions, along with a wish list of things we want to see.
Cut to the chase
What is it? The next model in the Zenfone lineWhen it is out? Probably around July 2023How much will it cost? It’s likely to have an upper mid-range price
Asus Zenfone 10: release date and price
There’s no news on when the Asus Zenfone 10 might release but it probably won’t for quite a while, as the Zenfone 9 only landed in July 2022. However, the company isn’t totally consistent with its launches, as the Zenfone 8 launched in May of its release year, and the Zenfone 7 in August of its.
So we can’t say with any confidence when the Asus Zenfone 10 will be announced, but we’d guess around the middle of 2023.
We can’t say how much it will cost either, but for reference the Zenfone 9 starts at $699 / £699 (roughly AU$1,210), so the price of the Zenfone 10 might be similar.
The Zenfone 10 might have a similar price to the Zenfone 9 (Image credit: Future)
Asus Zenfone 10: news and leaks
While we haven’t heard anything about the Asus Zenfone 10 yet, we know that one or more Asus phones will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, so there’s a decent chance the Zenfone 10 will be among them, especially as the Zenfone 9 was powered by the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.
The Gen 2 will be the top Snapdragon chipset of 2023 (at least unless and until a Plus version is launched), and it’s likely to be the best chipset found in any Android phone for at least the first half of the year.
What we want to see
The Asus Zenfone 9 left lots of room for the improvement, so the following things are what we most want to see from the Zenfone 10.
1. More cameras
The Zenfone 9 could do with more cameras (Image credit: Future)
The Asus Zenfone 9 only has two rear cameras, which isn’t very many by Android phone standards. So for the Zenfone 10 we’d like to see at least a third added – specifically a telephoto one.
It would also be good if Asus could improve the shutter speed, as in our Zenfone 9 review we found the phone would often take a while to actually snap a photo, which could lead to blurry shots.
2. A lower price
The Asus Zenfone 9 has an upper mid-range price, but it’s verging on high-end, only sitting a little below the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 and iPhone 14. It’s also more expensive than the Google Pixel 7, and the specs and features on offer just can’t quite justify that.
So for the Asus Zenfone 10 we’d like to see either the price lowered, or a significant improvement in the phone itself.
3. A small screen
The Zenfone 9 has a small screen – hopefully the Zenfone 10 will too (Image credit: Future)
The Zenfone 9 has a compact 5.9-inch display, and we want the Asus Zenfone 10 to have a similarly small screen. So we’re not asking for changes here – we very much want that aspect to stay the same.
There aren’t many compact phones these days, and especially not ones with fairly high-end specs like the Zenfone 9, so we’d love to see that continued with the Zenfone 10, as there’s surely an audience for them, however niche.
4. A glass back
Despite having a fairly premium price, the Zenfone 9 has a plastic back, which is something we’d more expect from a budget phone, despite Samsung’s attempts to make it acceptable at the high-end.
So hopefully the Asus Zenfone 10 will have a glass back. We can’t imagine it would add a vast amount to the cost, and it would make the phone both look and feel significantly more worthy of its likely upper mid-range price.
5. A bigger battery
The Zenfone 9 has a fairly small 4,300mAh battery, and while that might seem reasonable given that it also has a fairly small screen, it’s worth noting that the Sony Xperia 5 IV is only marginally bigger, yet manages to fit a 5,000mAh battery in.
Regardless, the Zenfone 9 doesn’t have great battery life, so it’s clearly in need of a bigger juice pack, or some optimizations, and we’d like to see life improved for the Asus Zenfone 10. If it is, then that could end up being one of the best small phones.