Unboxing the Asus Zenfone 9 was like meeting someone new and learning that you like the same obscure movies or went to the same high school. I could tell immediately we\u2019d get along. \u201cYou\u2019re IP68 and<\/em> you have a headphone jack? No way! I love headphone jacks!\u201d <\/p>\n

A lot of the attraction has to do with its size. As it did with the Zenfone 8, Asus has set out to answer the question \u201cwhat would a small (read: reasonably sized) flagship Android phone look like?\u201d The answer starts with a 5.9-inch screen \u2014 not nearly as small as the 5.4-incher on the iPhone Mini. But as far as the Android ecosystem goes, it\u2019s downright tiny. <\/p>\n

\u201cSmall and runs Android\u201d isn\u2019t the only thing going for the Zenfone 9: it offers top-shelf components like a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, a smooth-scrolling 120Hz display refresh rate, and a 12-megapixel main camera with a one-of-a-kind stabilization system. It starts with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $799 and will go on sale in the US directly from Asus in mid-September. Introductory pricing will be lower \u2014 $699 \u2014 and you can find global versions of the phone on Amazon right now for a bit less than MSRP. However, there\u2019s good reason to wait until it\u2019s officially on sale: Asus provides a one-year warranty with the phone when you purchase it directly, and the imported versions floating around now don\u2019t include that.<\/p>\n