A few months after unveiling the ZenFone 8, ASUS confirmed that it planned on bringing its compact flagship to the Indian market. However, after making the announcement in July last year, ASUS went AWOL, leading many fans to believe that the company had skipped the Indian market altogether. But that's not the case. Today, the company finally launched the compact ZenFone 8 in India as the ASUS 8Z.

ASUS 8Z: Specifications

Specification

ASUS 8Z

Dimensions and Weight

  • 148 x 68.5 x 8.9mm
  • 169g

Display

  • 5.9-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) Samsung E4 AMOLED display
  • 90.02% screen-to-body ratio, 20:9 ratio, 445ppi
  • 120Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, 240Hz touch sampling rate
  • 112% DCI-P3, 151.9% sRGB, Delta E average < 1, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
  • 800nits outdoor-readable brightness
  • 1100 nits maximum brightness
  • Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
  • SGS Eye Care 6.5% & SGS Seamless Pro (120Hz)

SoC

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
    • 1x Kryo 680 (ARM Cortex X1-based) Prime core @ 2.84GHz
    • 3x Kryo 680 (ARM Cortex A78-based) Performance cores @ 2.4GHz
    • 4x Kryo 680 (ARM Cortex A55-based) Efficiency cores @ 1.8GHz
  • Adreno 660 GPU
  • 5nm manufacturing process

RAM and Storage

  • 8GB LPDDR5 + 128 UFS 3.1
  • 8GB LPDDR5 + 256 UFS 3.1
  • No microSD card slot

Battery & Charging

  • 4000mAh
  • 30W wired fast charging (3.3V-11V/3A)
  • Supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0/USB PD 3.0 PPS

Rear Camera

  • 64MP Sony IMX686 image sensor with OIS
    • 1/1.7″ sensor, Quad Bayer Technology, 0.8µm/1.6µm effective pixel size, f/1.8, 78.3° FoV (26.6mm to 35 mm equivalent), 2×1 OCL PDAF,
    • Up to 8K (7680×4320) video recording at 24fps with EIS
  • 12MP Sony IMX363 image sensor
    • 1/2.55″ sensor, 1.4µm pixel size, f/2.2, 113˚ FoV (14.3 mm to 35 mm equivalent)
    • Dual PDAF, Real-time distortion correction, supports 4cm Macro shot
    • Up to 4K (3840×2160) video recording at 60fps with EIS
  • Dual LED flash
  • Video features
    • HyperSteady: 1080p video recording at 30 or 60fps
    • Motion Tracking video: 4K video recording at 60fps
    • Time-lapse: 4K video recording
    • Slow Motion: 4K video at 120fps/1080p video at 240fps/720p video at 480fps

Front Camera

  • 12MP Sony IMX663 image sensor
    • 1/2.93″sensor, 76.5˚ FOV, 1.22µm effective pixel size, F2.45 (27.7 mm to 35 mm equivalent )
    • Dual PDAF, records up to 4K/30fps or FHD/60fps

Ports

  • USB Type-C (USB 2.0) with OTG support
  • 3.5mm Audio Jack: Headphone with Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9385

Connectivity

  • Bands (US):
    • FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 30, 34)
    • TD-LTE (Bands 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 66, 71)
    • WCDMA (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19)
    • EDGE/GPRS/GSM (2, 3, 5, 8)
    • 5G Non-Standalone (NSA): n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20,n25, n38, n40, n66, n71, n77, n78
    • 5G Standalone (SA): n77, n78
  • WiFi 6 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax [6E]), 2×2 MIMO, tri-band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz/6 GHz WiFi
  • Bluetooth 5.2 (EDR + A2DP) & HFP + AVRCP + HID + PAN + OPP
  • Bluetooth audio codecs: LDAC + aptX, aptX HD, aptX, Adaptive + AAC
  • NFC
  • FM radio
  • GNSS support: GPS (L1/L5), Glonass (L1), Galileo (E1/E5a), QZSS (L1/L5) and NavIC (L5)
  • Dual SIM dual standby
  • Dual Nano SIM (DSDV 5G LTE+LTE)

Security

  • In-display fingerprint scanner

Software

  • Android 11 with ZenUI 8

Despite the name change, the ASUS 8Z is the same device that launched as the ZenFone 8 in international markets. It packs Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 chip, a 5.9-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB UFS 3.1 storage, a 4,000mAh battery with 30W wired fast charging support, and a dual-camera setup featuring a 64MP primary shooter and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.

The device also features a 12MP front-facing camera for selfies, a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an in-display fingerprint scanner. It measures just 148 x 68.5 x 8.9mm and weighs about 169 grams, making it one of the most compact flagships of 2021. Other noteworthy features include a stereo speaker setup and IP68 certification for water and dust resistance.

Pricing & Availability

The ASUS 8Z will be available through Flipkart in two colorways -- Horizon Silver and Obsidian Black -- starting March 7. ASUS has launched only one RAM/storage configuration in India, which is priced at ₹42,999 (~$570).