The ASUS Zenfone 8 Hands-On Review: A New Compact Direction
by Andrei Frumusanu on May 12, 2021 1:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Asus
- Mobile
- Zenfone 8
System Performance
System performance of the Zenfone 8 should be quite good virtue of the new Snapdragon 888. On top of that, ASUS’ 120Hz mode and 240Hz touch input rate should result in extremely fluid and responsive experiences.
One thing I have to make note of here is ASUS’s refresh rate modes. By default, the phone comes in the “Auto” mode, which in my experience simply switches between 90 and 60Hz depending on the application. I’ve never actually seen 120Hz used by the phone anywhere in this mode, which is odd. Besides the Auto mode, you can also explicitly set the phone to 120Hz, 90Hz or 60Hz modes all the time. In PCMark and also many other generic applications, Auto mode will switch to 60Hz mode while browser activity will switch to 90Hz mode. I tested that, as well as the explicit 120Hz mode of the phone.
In PCMark which is a good representation of overall device responsiveness, we see that the Zenfone 8 tracks rather very closely to the performance of the Snapdragon 865 powered Zenfone 7, depending on the refresh rate. What’s actually a bit weird is that at 60Hz, the ZF8 is actually a bit slower than the ZF7, a point which I’ll come back to in a bit.
In the browser benchmark, which we’ve lately started from a clean slate due to the new 64-bit browser deployments on Android in the last few months which improve performance compared to past results, we see that the Zenfone 8 tracks closely to the Snapdragon 888 powered Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is expected.
Overall Device Experience - 120Hz Good, Everything Else Bad
At the 120Hz setting, the Zenfone 8 performs extremely well as is as responsive as any other device in the market. What’s actually very strange and extremely concerning for the ZF8 is all the other operating modes, such as 90Hz and 60Hz. For some reason, beyond just a slower refresh rate, these modes have seemingly increased input lag as well as just overall sluggish feel for the device. The 60Hz mode in particular is quite horrible – it feels as if ASUS is also modulating the input touch response based on the refresh rate. Generally speaking, for the best experience, you want to keep the phone in 120Hz always mode and avoid the Auto as well as the lower refresh rate modes.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
66 Comments
View All Comments
yetanotherhuman - Saturday, May 15, 2021 - link
They're finally paying attention!! Thank you.. However I'm about to be in the "enormous phone" crowd, sadly, because I'm getting a Galaxy A52 for free from work, and it was that, or an iPhone SE.inperfectdarkness - Sunday, May 16, 2021 - link
When did 5.9" become small?I'll keep my XZ2 Compact, thanks.
ithehappy - Wednesday, May 19, 2021 - link
Thank you for the review, especially in respect to the camera section. I was not liking the dynamic range on the sample photos but I thought I must be wrong because of all the praising words, however, now I am sure that DR is not particularly good on the phone indeed. Shame, I really liked the device but that camera is not acceptable.flyingpants265 - Saturday, June 12, 2021 - link
Ok. Phones have all been the same, for like 10 years now.What I want is: portless/waterproof, in-screen camera, with front speakers. 512GB storage. Case with a kickstand. This should allllll be standard. There is no reason to have leaks, bezels, or run out of space, or need to cup your hand in order to hear stuff. That is a mini-TV/computer I can take with me everywhere. Make them in various sizes, 5" (nexus 5) all the way up to about 7.2" like a Huawei Mate.
raajesh.k - Friday, March 18, 2022 - link
This phone has just launched in India renamed as '8Z'. The phone suits my budget and me perfectly. There's just one thing I need to know: If the stock camera app can shoot RAW photos from both the rear cameras? And also if third-party camera apps (like OpenCamera) atleast access the ultrawide camera (and shoot photo in RAW)? If this works, I'll definitely go with the phone. It'll be great if someone can confirm this.Please do respond.
Insomnicrap - Sunday, July 17, 2022 - link
Currently using Zenfone 8 (16gb RAM/256gb)From what i read and tested, auto doesn't turn on 120hz refresh rate. 120hz active if you put the phone on 'high performance' > system modes. I think default is 'dynamic'. You can tweak each mode (by only a bit) except 'dynamic'.
Since Zenfone 8 also comes with 'fps display' function and also Game Genie - which can show stuff like temp, fps, etc - no matter with 120hz set, game settings maxed, fps is pretty much at 90 but it's a different story when 'high performance' mode is used.
(And of course, without a doubt, any phone running on SD888 with high settings will heat up)
::Just a phone enthusiast with no real knowledge of how my phone works::