After a long wait, Asus has finally launched its flagship smartphone Asus 8Z in India. This is the first non-gaming phone by Asus to have been announced in India after the Asus 6Z which debuted in June 2019. For some odd reason best known to the company, its successor never made its way to India.
Even though the phone has been delayed due to various reasons already discussed earlier, it is one of the most capable compact Android flagship phones in the market.
It is also worth mentioning that initial reports had hinted that both the phones – Asus 8Z and Asus 8Z Flip will be introduced in the country, however, it’s only the stock variant that has been announced in India.
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Despite all the delays, its feature list includes a Snapdragon 888 SoC, up to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, 5.9-inch Samsung AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,100 nits of peak brightness, near-stock Android experience and a dual-camera setup helps make it a worthy device even in 2022.
Asus 8Z price and availability
The Asus 8Z comes in a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage and is priced at Rs. 42,999.
The phone is available in two colour options - Obsidian Black and Horizon Silver. The phone will start retailing from March 7 on Flipkart.
Asus 8Z specifications and features
The Asus 8Z was first launched almost a year back and the subsequent delays in its India launch means that some of its core specifications might sound outdated. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC at its core and we’ve already seen a couple of its successors – Snapdragon 888 Plus and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, introduced by the chipset maker.
While Asus has decided to launch the phone with either of these updates, the phone still doesn’t feel dated as we still have various smartphone makers announcing phones with both Snapdragon 888 and 888 Plus in the market – though at a slightly more aggressive price point.
In fact, the recently launched Moto Edge 30 Pro is available to purchase at just a couple of thousand rupees extra but comes with way better hardware specifications.
The phone comes with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It features a 5.92-inch Full HD+ AMOLED panel with a 20:9 aspect ratio and 120 Hz refresh rate. This display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
The phone is IP86 certified for dust and water resistance. It comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers and also has a 3.5mm headphone jack - which has been missing from all the flagship phones otherwise.
The Asus 8Z comes with a dual-camera setup and the primary sensor is a 64 MP f/1.8 primary camera with OIS. It is the same sensor, Sony IMX686, that the company used in the Zenfone 7. The secondary sensor in this camera setup is a 12MP ultra-wide lens. There’s a 12MP shooter present under the left-aligned hole-punch cutout on the front for selfies and video calls.
Powering the phone is a 4,000 mAh battery with 30W fast charging. The Asus 8Z runs on Asus’ near-stock Android skin ZenUI with Android 11 out of the box.
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