The ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra is a lesson in AI overkill and short-term thinking - Related to me, overkill, just, but, miss

I tried the new 12 Ultra, but it just made me miss the little ASUS Zenfone

Despite their cult following, I know compact phones don’t sell well. Don’t ask me why; they just don’t. Between Sony’s Compact range, the iPhone Mini series, and smaller ASUS Zenfone models, plenty have tried and failed to make smaller phones a mainstream success. The iPhone SE is still kicking around, but only really because it’s a cheap way to buy Apple cred. Still, having spent a couple of weeks with the ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra, I’m really missing the little Zenfone 10 (again).

It’s not that the gigantic Ultra is a lousy phone. It’s a bit overpriced but offers exceptional battery life, brilliant charging, and top-tier performance. It also has room for a telephoto camera, whereas the smaller Zenfone 10 has a more limited main/ultrawide combo. Bigger is almost always improved when you rattle through core specs and other metrics that are often thought of as making for a great handset. It’s what makes those gigantic Ultras, well, ultra, after all.

Would you actually spend money on a sub-6 inch phone? 71 votes Yes, compact is enhanced. 73 % I like the idea but probably wouldn't. 13 % No, they're too small. 14 %.

The everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach works, but it’ll cost you close to $1,200 these days. Even then, can a phone really be all that special when it looks and feels virtually identical to every other gargantuan phone on the market? My biggest disappointment with the Zenfone 12 Ultra (and many other recent oversized flagships) is that I’d seen virtually all of it before. We’ve leveled very similar criticisms at the new Samsung Galaxy S25 series. Too familiar. Too boring. Littler phones, by comparison, have often been more interesting, at the very least.

Despite appearances, brands know that smartphone hardware is already pretty much as good as anyone needs; it’s why they’re so desperate to cram AI into everything in a vain bid to tiptoe above the crowd. Barring something really exceptional, software tweaks are rarely what motivates consumers to try out something new, and AI isn’t going to change that fact. Even popular functions like iMessage or Call Screen might be a reason to stick with a brand, but they aren’t the defining characteristic that makes the iPhone or Pixel great — that’s down to a combination of what the phone can really do for us, how it feels to use, and even fashionable status.

Compact phones often excel at that mostly intangible but hugely crucial sense of identity. They’re something a bit more unique and even a little bit exciting. Seeing what they can do is just so much more fun, for a start, and simply being a bit offbeat makes them stand out as something to recommend to people bored of the various shades of gigantic glass slabs that have infested the market in recent years. When I was reviewing the Zenfone 10, it turned heads and even started the odd conversation; I can’t say the same about any of the other flagships I’ve reviewed this year.

Reflecting on all the small phones I’ve enjoyed over the years, it’s the essence of doing more with less and working harder to stand out that has often made them so memorable. It’s the Napoleon complex in tech form, I suppose. At the time, the Zenfone 9 experimented with colorful grippy polycarbonate backs, physical back tap gestures, and even crammed in a decent-sized battery, while the little 10 squeezed wireless charging in there, all while keeping the [website] jack. All that felt more impressive in a [website] form than having all the space in the world to work with inside a [website] behemoth.

Compact phones have often stood out thanks to unique ideas and elements.

This doesn’t just apply to the Zenfone. The tiny Pixel 4 tried (and failed) at something new with Soli, but at least it was memorable. Google’s more beloved Pixel 5 was, by all accounts, a mid-range model in the core specs department. However, it stood out with wireless charging, an IP68 rating, and camera smarts that punched well above its weight packaged in a form factor that could slip into the trimmest of pockets. Likewise, Sony’s Compact models always held a special place in my heart because they showed that powerhouse phones with great cameras didn’t have to be absolutely humungous. Sadly, the Xperia 5 doesn’t quite live up to that history.

That’s not to say bigger phones can’t ape these interesting ideas. We all long for more exciting colors and back panel materials, and some brands dabble in additional buttons and aspects. But today’s development budgets are consumed mainly by AI and tech specs, and there’s certainly no appetite for the risk of something too daring or fun. Apple and Samsung, in particular, seem almost afraid to deviate from their current formula, and it’s sucked the joy out of smartphone launch season. Sadly, [website] entry-level flagships seem as small as the market is willing to go, but these models are virtually always shadows of their Ultra siblings in both aspects and interest.

I suppose clamshell foldables are where the fun is these days — at least they were until the Galaxy Z Flip 6 became stale, too. They’re pocketable for a start, often come in funky colorways, and the likes of the Moto Razr strive to do more without compromising on their small stature or more affordable price tag. The upcoming slimline Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone 17 Slim will also give consumers something a bit different to mull over. Perhaps seeing what these slim models can do will tide me over, but I’m still longing for someone to have another crack at the compact form factor, even if it won’t conquer the market. Perhaps there’s a small Zenfone 12 on the cards, ASUS?

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I’ve had the Galaxy S25 Ultra for a week, but I already miss my OnePlus 13

In case you haven’t heard, Samsung’s latest Galaxy S25 series has arrived. And, as usual, that means my SIM is moving from one flagship to the next. Usually, I don’t mind that constant change — I’m always excited to try something new. This time, though, I find myself longing for the phone I just finished reviewing. Despite having the Galaxy S25 Ultra for a week, I really miss the OnePlus 13. Here’s why.

There can only be one: OnePlus 13 or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra? 1646 votes OnePlus 13 61 % Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 39 %.

Samsung’s design works, but it’s kind of boring.

As they say, the more things change, the more they tend to stay the same. Unfortunately, in Samsung’s case, I’m not sure that the Galaxy S25 Ultra makes enough changes — nor do I think they’re for the improved. See, I knew that when Samsung’s latest top-tier flagship arrived, it would be absolutely massive. I had no misgivings about how large a [website] display would feel in my pocket, especially after the discomfort of the previous generation’s [website] panel. Yet, somehow, the Galaxy S25 Ultra feels less comfortable to carry and use than its predecessor.

Unlike the previous Galaxy S24 Ultra, which had side rails that curved slightly from front to back, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is flat from front to back. It’s the type of shape you could practically build a house out of, and a very expensive one at that. Sure, Samsung probably changed the shape to more effective match its smaller Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus, but it seems to have ignored how uncomfortable it would be making its top-end flagship device. Personally, I have a little trouble wrapping my hands around the absolutely massive titanium frame, which, in turn, makes it hard to want to use the Galaxy S25 Ultra for long stretches. It feels like it’s digging into my palm, and it doesn’t make me appreciate the S Pen any more than I already didn’t.

Samsung's design is simple and efficient... but maybe a little boring.

Outside of the far less comfortable frame, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s design works, I guess. The rounded corners mean the bezels are practically nonexistent, and the S Pen sits almost flush with the titanium frame, making it even easier to ignore. Even the bezels around the three main cameras add some peace of mind should you drop the phone. However, I’d bet you can’t find a single person who’s excited by Samsung’s latest design. To me, it’s reached a point of being so generic that it looks like Apple’s stand-in Android phone when it needs a dummy to dunk on.

Perhaps what has me so put off by Samsung’s lack of change is that the OnePlus 13 looks and feels so, so good. It’s not massively different from the previous [website] OnePlus 12 in terms of its overall size and the massive, circular camera bump, yet it benefits from changes that make the phone more enjoyable to use. One of those changes is the optional swap from glass to eco-leather, which feels much softer and more comfortable in the palm of my hand, unlike Samsung’s frosty glass. OnePlus’s Midnight Blue leather doesn’t gather fingerprints, either, which is a small improvement but one that goes a long way when I’m using my phone without a case.

Opposite that soft leather back is an upgrade that brings OnePlus on par with pretty much everyone else: A flat AMOLED panel. Of course, only the touch-sensitive part of the OnePlus 13’s display is actually flat — the sides of it still slope gently into the slim aluminum frame, but the result is a large phone that really doesn’t feel so big in my hands. Somehow, it’s something that OnePlus and Google both understand, yet Samsung is chasing iPhone-like frames from a few years back.

Quite simply, it’s just far more enjoyable to pick up and use the OnePlus 13 for long stretches like when flying home from CES or while adrift on a cruise out at sea. Even now, when I could be watching YouTube or streaming Max on the TV in my apartment, I’ll often catch myself using my phone instead. More surprisingly, when I have that choice, I tend to reach for a device with a rounded frame over something as sharp and blocky as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, even though it has a slightly bigger display.

Also, while I know I shouldn’t judge premium flagship phones purely based on their aesthetics, it’s hard not to give the OnePlus 13 a little nod. All three of its colorways have something that makes them unique. From the eco-leather I just mentioned to the Black Eclipse faux woodgrain to the Arctic Dawn shimmer, they’re just more fun to look at — especially without a case. Compare that to Samsung’s massive, almost uninterrupted slab that comes in a dull rainbow of faded blues and grays, and I’ll reach for the OnePlus 13 every time.

One of the other perks I didn’t expect to like about the OnePlus 13 is its use of magnets. Cleverly, they’re not in the phone itself but rather in a series of first-party cases that allow the OnePlus 13 to be MagSafe or Qi2 compatible even though the phone isn’t actually certified. That means you can attach a series of magnetic wallets, phone holders, and other accessories to your OnePlus 13, then pull them off for a slim, sleek look whenever you want to go caseless.

Unfortunately, as I’ll explain in a second, none of those magnetic accessories are even optional for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which means I’ve had to go back to carrying a bulky wallet in my pocket while I review an already massive phone. I’d much rather use my foldable Peak Design wallet that I’ve had since the iPhone 15 launched, but then I’d have to live without the Ultra’s defining productivity feature.

Also, while I expected to be underwhelmed at best by the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s design, I didn’t expect OnePlus to make up ground in other ways, too. We listened to rumors bounce around for a while that OnePlus would be the first to adopt Qi2 wireless charging on the OnePlus 13, and then when that didn’t happen, it became Samsung’s turn to win the magnetic charging race. But, as we all know, magnets tend to interfere with the S Pen, which quickly dashed our hopes of proper magnetic wireless charging coming to the Galaxy lineup.

The Galaxy S25 series is, however, Qi2 Ready, which means that it’s certified to work with the technology but does not feature magnets built into the slim glass and aluminum (or titanium) bodies. You can also pick up a few first-party Samsung cases that feature built-in magnets, which would allow you to use Qi2 accessories with your Galaxy S25 device.

OnePlus, on the other hand, decided to skip Qi2 entirely — no certification, no anything. However, just because the OnePlus 13 doesn’t officially have Qi2 wireless charging doesn’t mean that OnePlus sat by with the same AirVOOC charging as previous generations. Instead, those first-party cases I mentioned above make the phone compatible with magnetic charging and a brand-new, fan-cooled magnetic AirVOOC charger. So, if you want your OnePlus 13 to charge wirelessly at blistering 50W speeds, it’s an option — otherwise, it’ll still reach 80W speeds with the SuperVOOC charger that still comes in the box.

Unfortunately for Samsung, charging seems to be a race that it’s just not interested in winning. Like the several Ultras before it, the Galaxy S25 Ultra continues to top out at just 45W wired charging speeds from compatible USB PD PPS chargers. That means it still takes around 55 minutes to fill its 5,000mAh cell, a solid 20 minutes behind the 35 minutes that the OnePlus 13 requires for its 6,000mAh battery, as seen in the graph below. Granted, it’s still about 10 minutes faster than the previous Galaxy S24 Ultra, but that’s likely due to improved cooling rather than a change in the charging itself.

And yes, I know, a difference of 20 minutes isn’t completely life-changing — especially if you tend to charge overnight and wake up with a full cell each morning. However, I can admit that I’m forgetful, and I’ve had more than my share of winter mornings when I’ve woken up to run and realized that I forgot to charge either my OnePlus 13 or my Galaxy S25 Ultra. On those mornings, I usually only have enough time to scramble and charge my phone while I drink my coffee — give or take 10 minutes. With that time, I can get a solid 50% charge out of my OnePlus 13 and its SuperVOOC charger, more than enough to last into the mid-afternoon. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, on the other hand, chugs its way back to about a 30% charge, which is still good but not necessarily enough for me to trust it through an entire day of work, especially when I’m pushing it harder for the purposes of a review.

Even if you don’t run, tossing the OnePlus 13 on a MagSafe pad for a last-minute charge for a few minutes before an appointment you forgot about can be a huge relief. I’ve reached a point where all of my key data is on my phone, so I’d like to be able to do everything from check-in to payment to scheduling my next appointment all from my phone. Could I do that with the last 5% remaining on my Galaxy S25 Ultra before it dies? Probably, but I feel a lot enhanced about using a phone that fills half of its battery before I’ve had time to say, “Ahh.”.

Of course, I’ll still throw out a small complaint about the overall state of charging accessories. It’s a bummer that the OnePlus 13 comes with a USB-A block and the same flimsy excuse about the likelihood of finding a USB-A port in a hotel room, but I suppose that’s more effective than Samsung skipping a charger altogether, especially when USB PD PPS support isn’t a guarantee in 2025. I’m not trying to have my cake and eat it too, but I sure do miss the days when OnePlus upgraded to a USB-C charger.

I haven’t decided which cameras I like improved.

Although most of my time with the Galaxy S25 Ultra so far has had me itching to put my SIM back into the OnePlus 13, there’s one thing I haven’t quite figured out yet: Which flagship camera phone is the improved one? Honestly, this is often the part of my reviews that takes the longest, and this time, both phones seem set up to compete pretty well.

Like previous generations, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has four cameras on its massive back panel, compared to the OnePlus 13’s three. This year, though, most of its hardware love has gone to the ultrawide camera, shifting from a 12MP sensor to a whopping 50MP version but keeping the same 120-degree field of view. Otherwise, the 200MP primary and 10MP and 50MP telephoto sensors are essentially the same as they were on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung poured most of its love into the ultrawide camera while the OnePlus 13 picked up upgrades all around.

Not to be outdone, the OnePlus 13 also underwent some megapixel shuffling, moving to a trio of 50MP sensors rather than the 50MP, 64MP, and 48MP setup of the OnePlus 12. It also elements the fifth generation of Hasselblad tuning, which has drastically improved OnePlus’s color science over the years — not to mention a dedicated stage mode that helps the OnePlus 13 shine at concerts.

I’m still gathering camera samples in various lighting conditions, but so far, the OnePlus 13 might be the new king of camera zoom. I already put it up against the Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro, and now that I’ve grabbed the quick set of shots you see below with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I have to say that I’m not terribly impressed by Samsung’s showing.

2x zoom 3x zoom 5x zoom 10x zoom 30x zoom 100x zoom.

Sure, the images from 1x to about 10x look pretty good — they should; they’re almost entirely hardware-based, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra falls off very quickly as it moves to 30x zoom and 100x zoom. The maxed-out 100x zoom looks especially bad, taking on the low-poly character of an old video game rather than the sharp, clean lines of a crane across the harbor.

Of course, I will continue gathering camera samples at much closer focal lengths, but I’m still more impressed by what OnePlus has pulled off with its cameras so far.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a good phone, but OnePlus took a bigger leap.

At the end of the day, one thing is for sure — the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a good phone. It should be for a $1,300 device with four cameras, an overclocked Snapdragon chipset, and premium materials like top-shelf Gorilla Glass and titanium. It’s as good as the Galaxy S24 Ultra before it and the Galaxy S23 Ultra before that. And yet, it feels like I’ve seen this movie before. As much as I like what Samsung manages to do in terms of AI attributes, long-term software upgrades, and overall camera science, it doesn’t feel like it’s interested in reaching new heights.

The OnePlus 13, on the other hand, is an excellent phone from top to bottom. It nearly matches the Galaxy S25 Ultra in terms of raw processing power and then outduels it with faster charging, more reliable zoom cameras, and a more eye-catching design. Sure, I’ve also had it for a month longer, which means I’ve had more time to explore OnePlus’s latest attributes, but I feel confident that I got more out of my first few days with the OnePlus 13.

Samsung might offer more software updates, but the OnePlus 13 feels like a more exciting device.

Oh, and the OnePlus 13 manages to stay within striking distance of the Galaxy S25 Ultra in terms of everything but software updates while also costing $400 less. It’s more affordable than Samsung’s middle child, the $1,000 Galaxy S25 Plus — which it beats even easier in terms of specs like charging and camera zoom.

Maybe I’ll warm up to the Galaxy S25 Ultra over time. Perhaps it’ll even pull itself level with the OnePlus 13 as it starts to pick up seamless updates, but for now, it’s hard to see a familiar Samsung flagship beating the best OnePlus phone in years.

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The ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra is a lesson in AI overkill and short-term thinking

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra Aside from a new processor, a few minor tweaks, and a new look, this is the ASUS Zenfone 11 Ultra with a big old AI sticker slapped on it and a Snapdragon 8 Elite stuffed inside. While we applaud ASUS for going the offline AI route and managing to keep up with the industry's behemoths, the unpolished rollout of many of those same AI aspects, the lack of much-needed camera upgrades, and an abysmal upgrade policy make the Zenfone 12 Ultra a disappointingly hard sell for its ultra-premium price tag.

When I finally started to jot down my thoughts on the new ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra, I couldn’t help but feel a creeping sense of déjà vu. Then I checked last year’s Zenfone 11 Ultra review and sighed in relief that I haven’t yet gone completely bananas from reviewing phones for a living. I thought I’d reviewed this phone before because I basically have. Between the increasingly obvious similarities between ASUS’ ROG and Zenfone series, perhaps I’d even written about it two or even three times by now.

Cutting right to the point, not much has changed since 2024’s Zenfone, at least in terms of the hardware. Yes, there’s a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, eSIM support, and some nice color options (I’m a big fan of the Sage Green), but the battery, charging, camera (save an improved gimbal), display, and all the rest are unchanged from last year.

That’s not strictly a negative; ASUS already offers brilliant battery life, arguably the best universal fast charging capabilities, a great LTPO AMOLED display (albeit only an FHD+ one), and even a [website] audio jack — all still present from its predecessor. In fact, battery life is 15-20% superior than the Zenfone 11 Ultra for video calls and web browsing in my testing, a significant boon from its newer and more efficient processor. Plus, the phone has virtually the same outstanding performance as ASUS’ gaming-focused ROG Phone 9 Pro. The essentials are well catered for.

ASUS is also doing a improved job on the aesthetics front, especially in light of the copy-paste design and boring colorways you’ll find at Samsung. The phone is made from a 100% recycled aluminum frame, and the screen is 22% recycled glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) — we’re still confirming with ASUS what the rear glass is. ASUS continues to take the Zenfone in a mainstream direction with a smaller camera housing and more minimalist accents this year. It’s an appealing look, even though the Ultra remains an undeniably huge phone built for enthusiasts. However, if you’re searching for new ASUS hardware, save yourself the trouble. Despite the 8 Elite’s extra performance, it’s not worth upgrading to a whole new phone. For that, ASUS wants to sell you on its software.

This isn’t to say that the ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra doesn’t have new tricks. Like the rest of the industry, ASUS is banking on AI to sell you on its brand-new model. For a quick rundown of what’s new, there’s AI Portrait Video [website], AI Tracking, AI Voice Clarity for video, AI Magic Fill and AI Unblur for photos, AI Call Translator [website], AI Transcript [website], AI Article Summary, AI Document Summary, and Google’s Circle to Search, in addition to last year’s Document Scanner, Panning Shot, and Semantic Search capabilities. Those new aspects will all be , but it’s possible they’ll come to last year’s model at some point (ASUS updates are historically very slow, and can in some cases fail to materialize at all). That’s a pretty comprehensive suite of tools that rivals what you’ll see from Galaxy AI and Apple Intelligence, but as we’ve seen on so many recent flagshio.

Let’s start with the positives; ASUS does some cool things that you won’t find elsewhere. AI Call Translator, for example, works with pretty much every third-party messaging app as it tunes into the audio played on your device. Document scanning and transcriptions work as well as any other app I’ve used, while AI Article Summary is particularly well implemented. Unlike Galaxy AI, which requires the use of Samsung’s browser to summarize pages, ASUS’ method works with everything. Hit the usual share app from your browser (or other app) of choice and send the article to the AI Article Summary app, which will also store all your summaries so you can return to them at a later date.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra can run most of its AI tools offline, a trait everyone should copy.

It’s well executed, although it struggled on some pages, claiming they were too short. Still, you’ll be presented with the option to use online or offline processing and can set your preference or pick each time, which is a nice touch. If I have one complaint, it’s that you have to stomach a colossal, one-time [website] download to use the offline version. That might be fine on my home Wi-Fi, but it’s not something you’ll want to spend your data allowance on for a summary on the go. It would be superior to ask to download this during setup.

Feature Cloud AI On-device AI Feature AI Call Translator.

Speaking of which, most of the Zenfone 12 Ultra’s “AI Daily Tool” suite can run offline on the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s Hexagon NPU, with Google’s Circle to Search being the only feature that requires an internet connection. See the table above for the rundown. This is seemingly essential, given that ASUS has a “cloud service quota” hidden away in the settings menu. I couldn’t figure out exactly how generous it is, but it resets daily, so it is probably aimed at stopping abuse rather than limiting most individuals. Unless ASUS tweaks the quota at some point, which is always possible.

The drawback is that accuracy is reduced and load times are lengthened when running some of these tools offline, and you’ll have to have the foresight to download each tool you want to use. Still, at least it’s up to the user to decide if they prioritize performance or privacy. That’s a tick in ASUS’ favor when considering that some rival functions require you to be online, often even for basic AI tools like summaries.

But while ASUS might have the quantity, it doesn’t always have the quality. AI Magic Fill, which requires another [website] download, leaves plenty of visible artifacts behind when removing objects. Thankfully, there’s a regenerate button. Yes, it’s running offline and has a big red “beta” logo slapped on it (as do most of ASUS’ tools), but this is a commercial product, and the results here are certainly not on par with alternatives from Apple, Google, or Samsung. Honestly, I’m a bit fed up with phone brands (Apple especially) expecting us to see a beta tag and just forgive the dubious results, especially when they’re charging a grand or more for the privilege.

Beta AI attributes, however bountiful, are no substitute for hardware upgrades.

Looking at the whole package, ASUS does AI improved than some, and it’s doing well in keeping pace as a smaller brand. While there’s an Apple Intelligence-like roughness to some edges, there’s more thought paid to ensure that functions are universally useful rather than baked into just a handful of apps. So, points there. That noted, I can probably count the times I used any of these AI functions in a week on one hand. I’d rather summarize a bunch of documents than just a webpage, and regrettably, I haven’t been traveling enough to need a translator. With no significant hardware changes in tow, Zenfone has fallen victim to the AI trap — it needs AI to appear current, but the functions aren’t the most critical thing ASUS could change to make its phone more appealing. As such, I’m not sure banking hard into AI is going to make all that many consumers stand up and notice. But perhaps you’re one of the few?

And even if you are, the real kicker here is the modification policy: two years of software support is abysmal for a phone released in 2025. There are phones that cost less than half the asking price with double the support, and while it’s mitigated somewhat by five years of security patches, the idea that an AI-centric phone will stop seeing new functions and Android versions after only two years is antithetical to the entire premise of a phone built with visions of the future in mind. The same support level just about passes on the ROG series, as it’s a niche product with specific, unique functions catering to gamers, but ASUS needs to do advanced if it genuinely wants to compete in the premium flagship space.

As the camera package is otherwise unchanged from last year, familiar caveats apply. The primary lens remains the strongest part of the setup; the ultrawide struggles with HDR, and the 3x zoom is pretty low on detail but is passable, at least until the lights go down. Contrast and saturation are a bit more muted than last year; a sensible move as you can always jazz up the look with one of ASUS’ five new Photo Vibe filters. However, over-sharpness and noise remain the package’s biggest issues, and you’ll see contrast and colors shift as you move between lenses.

Ultrawide Ultrawide 1x 1x 2x 3x 3x Selfie Portrait Selfie Portrait Low Light.

I don’t rate the phone’s long-range capabilities, but you might achieve passable results up to about 5-6x in ideal lighting. There’s far too much noise for any upscaler to extract meaningful detail much beyond the phone’s optical zoom. Combined with the lack of close-range focus, the 3x lens has limited utility. I can’t say the ultrawide is all that brilliant either, given it’s only a small step back from the main lens and inferior to it in every way. If you want to flex your creative muscles, ASUS includes an AI panning mode that’ll add extra blur to moving subjects, a bit like Pixel’s Action Pan. Edge detection can be a bit hit-and-miss, but it works.

Overall, the camera is functional, but it’s not without flaws, and it is hardly all that exciting compared to other elite camera phones at this price point. It’s probably the one area ASUS needs to invest more in if it really wants to elevate the latest Zenfone.

The camera is the one area ASUS needs to invest more in if it really wants to elevate the latest Zenfone.

Video is the phone’s stronger suit, thanks to a continually impressive showing from the gimbal stabilizer. The Zenfone includes 4K portrait video from the main lens, which looks good unless you peep too closely at subject edges (but it’s no worse than everyone else’s software bokeh), and has an adjustable Aperture shape. There’s also an AI Tracking option to keep moving subjects in focus by cropping in on your video, which works well with the further improved gimbal stabilizer. However, you’re still stuck with the phone’s pretty dubious noise performance, and just like last year, 4K video capabilities are restricted to the main lens. Maybe next year we’ll have a camera package that is more competitive with the best in the business.

You can find full-res image samples in this Google Drive folder. Check out our video at the top of this review for video samples and even more camera shots.

ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra verdict: Easy to like, hard to recommend.

Despite doing a lot competently, it’s hard to recommend the ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra to many people. It’s not that the Zenfone 12 Ultra is a bad hardware package; far from it in many respects. Battery life, charging, and performance are top of the class. If you’re coming from an older model, say something from the 2021 era, the other unchanged bits of hardware will certainly feel new enough to be worthwhile. Likewise, the stock-like UI is super for those looking to avoid the typical clutter, while the AI extras keep the software feeling current and competitive. Even so, you can try and grab last year’s model at a discount and won’t miss out on all that much.

ASUS is also moving in the right direction with cool colors, but it needs to do more than reskin the same hardware package to stand out from the crowd. Stale camera hardware is a particular disappointment for something boasting “ultra” capabilities. After two weeks with the phone, I guess Zenfone’s hook has switched from just being a mainstream ROG to dining at the AI top table. It’s executed that idea well for the most part, but without the aggressive launch hype of Apple or Google, the industry weight of Samsung, I’m not sure the Zenfone will have quite the same cut-through. Plus, AI still isn’t a top priority when walking into a phone store compared to price, cameras, and battery life (the Zenfone only nails one out of three).

A higher price for mostly the same hardware is a tough sell.

But the big problem is we have to ask if ASUS’ flagship strikes the right balance for value for money, and it’s hard to argue that it does. Yes, it’s not charging the absolute maximum, but it’s more expensive, starting at €1,099 (~$1,143) this year, although you can grab it for a more reasonable €999 during the early bird launch window. Official US and UK availability is reportedly undecided at this point, but in Europe, that puts it right up against the excellent OnePlus 13 ($[website] at OnePlus) that’ll see five years of OS upgrades compared to ASUS’ two.

To give it its dues, if long battery life, speedy charging, and a big display for multitasking are your must-haves, the ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra does everything else OK enough to avoid disappointment. However, those who want the best camera money can buy or want their phone to stay fresh with new updates throughout its lifespan should give it a miss.

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra Superb battery life • Excellent universal charging • Blazing performance MSRP: $1,[website] The AI-powered Zenfone. The ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra packs Snapdragon 8 Elite power, a 5,500mAh battery, a [website] LTPO AMOLED display, IP68 dust/water resistance, up to 512GB storage and 16GB RAM, and a 50MP + 32MP + 13MP rear triple camera. See price at Amazon.

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Right now, the iPhone can control your TV or unlock your car, but Apple wants to push this further to the point of sci-fi: one device for everything, ......

While consumer demand was high, sales of the Mate XT were ......