Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
TheAsus Zenfone 10’scamera is attached to a gimbal , and with it comes the hope of shooting unbendable , milkshake - free TV even when you ’re proceed around .
Does this intend it can take on the mighty GoPro , and perhaps mean you only need to pack around one gimmick instead of two ? To find oneself out , we put the Zenfone 10 against the tardy GoPro television camera and two of its smartphone compeer .
Understanding the Zenfone 10’s gimbal
Before we see at the performance , here ’s what the Zenfone 10 ’s gimbal is all about . It ’s the second generation of engineering put in on theZenfone 9 , and its prescribed name is the 6 - Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer . It shoot optical image stabilisation ( OIS ) to the next stage , with the lens capable to react to shifts of plus / minus three degree in any charge , helping keep your picture smooth and steady .
It ’s joined by Adaptive EIS , or electronic image stabilisation , which monitors movement and dynamically adjust the field of honor of view when it notices too much wobble , meaning it will zoom in and out to graze the epitome to maintain steadiness . lastly , Asus says its dissolute autofocus , along with various algorithms related to the EIS , also helps with keep open video recording steady .
In the app , you could choose between the Adaptive stabilisation to buck at up to 8 K resolution , or HyperSteady mood which maxes out at Full HD . There are several long exposure features , such as Light and Star Trails , which also benefit from the gimbal . When you use the camera , an icon come along in the viewfinder showing you how the gimbal is reacting to cause and if you go past its ability .
Testing the Zenfone 10 against other cameras
I ’m no GoPro expert , but since purchasing theHero 11 Black , I ’ve enjoyed experiment with it and have been impressed with how the app has improved too . I ’d previously only used aGoPro Hero5 Sessionwhen it was new , and the experience is so much good now . For the most part , I employ it to shoot in - car videos . The Zenfone 10 ’s camera has an update gimbal organisation compare to the Zenfone 9 , which while decent , was n’t all that much more capable than a salutary OIS system .
How has the second genesis changed the Zenfone ’s camera ? I compared it to the GoPro Hero 11 Black , but I also register television using it alongside theApple iPhone 14 Proand theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultra — two of the good camera speech sound you’re able to buy . The iPhone ’s OIS is excellent , and Samsung has its own Super Steady style to battle exuberant trend when shoot down television . They all map redoubtable opponents of the Zenfone .
Battling the iPhone 14 Pro
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro does n’t specifically mention any stabilisation system for its camera outside of OIS and EIS , so it could be at a disadvantage in an in - car mental testing . Both phones were attached to the passenger side window using suck mounts , and the iPhone ’s was even a little more wobbly than the one used for the Zenfone 10 .
For the test , I put the car ’s suspension into its firmest stage setting and drive along one of the U.K. ’s many jolty back route , so it would really test them out . The results are interesting . The Zenfone 10 absorbs the cockle route and movement more effectively than the iPhone , but it ’s less good at maintaining smoothness in the main video recording . The iPhone has less fuzz too , and I do prefer the less concentrated , more balanced tone of the video recording .
This dispute in ocular appeal is even more obtrusive when I recorded both while even up and when both headphone were hand-held . The Zenfone 10 ’s video is unquestionably more stable , and it oppose quickly to the changes in my pace and as I avoid the many muddle in the ground . The iPhone is shakier and far less steady , yet it ’s better uncover , there ’s a lot more item , a more pleasing tone , and more natural color throughout .
Up against Samsung’s Super Steady
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has its own stabilization characteristic called Super Steady , which is activated in the app and swear on a combination of the wide - slant photographic camera and package algorithms to brace the image . When it ’s activated , the view is cropped down , and it ’s designed for situations where a lot of drive is involved . The earpiece were handheld in this test .
With Super Steady participating , the S23 Ultra ’s television has a floaty look to it , which is n’t unpleasant but also is n’t particularly born either . The Zenfone 10 avoids this and hold a fluid motility that does n’t only lose the normal motions we make when walking around . I ’d prefer to see this rather than give birth no motion at all — as if I ’d inject it using a dolly . During Pan , the S23 Ultra has more blur than the Zenfone 10 too .
Neither take on great - looking video , with the S23 Ultra wash off the environment out and the Zenfone 10 ’s aggressive demarcation and pic obscuring a lot of the surroundings in shadow . However , because the Zenfone 10 does n’t crop the video to maintain constancy , unlike the Galaxy S23 Ultra , you see more of the scene . This effect would be strike down out if you turn off Super Steady on the S23 Ultra .
What about a GoPro?
The GoPro television camera has long been considered the default option alternative for shooting action scenes , and its top - snick image stabilisation is well - known . The GoPro Hero 11 Black is one of the latest models , so how different does its video look compared to the Zenfone 10 ? If you have n’t discover much of a difference between the phones , it ’s about to become very clear .
I shot the television using the Linear place on the GoPro , which remove the super wide - slant view used for activity scenes , but it still takes in a lot more of the surroundings than the Zenfone 10 . However , it ’s the immensely impressive stabilization that stand up out the most . It ’s incredibly smooth yet still natural looking and almost completely removes blur and unsteadiness .
It ’s packed with detail , and although I leave all the setting at the default stratum , it handles the difficult lighting better than the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Zenfone 10 . I held the GoPro on its own , rather than with a hold or selfie stick , just like I did with the earphone . If I was go on a trip or wanted to document something extra and was worried about shaky or bleary telecasting , the GoPro would entirely transfer those concerns and be my number one selection .
Can the Zenfone 10 replace your GoPro?
It ’s in all probability open at this point the Zenfone 10 and its gimbal photographic camera ca n’t replace your GoPro . In all fairness to the Asus phone , it ’s not reallydesignedto replace the GoPro . But the promise of a gimbal suggests it may get close to the power of a dedicated action camera — or at least be used as one in a tweak . In reality , it ’s not quite there , and while it does improve on Samsung ’s Super Steady mode , the iPhone ’s OIS does a great job of vie without a gimbal .
The timber of the video recorded by all four devices is also very different . The balanced looking from the GoPro come out on top , but it ’s tight followed by the iPhone 14 Pro , which I wait may also be more various over time and in dissimilar environment , while the S23 Ultra and Zenfone 10 both suffer from exposure and contrast job ( although the Samsung telephone set does show more item in its video than the Asus ) . I shot the video recording with the GoPro and Galaxy S23 Ultra on a relatively long-winded day , and the Zenfone picked up the stochasticity really bad .
outdoors of the public presentation differences , what impressed me most is how the GoPro can dart beautiful , cinematic telecasting with such little effort . The TV performance of these smartphones means spending more time learning and experiment — and preferably having a academic degree of knowledge about how to create pro - even movies before you get result you ’ll be lofty to show . The GoPro ’s performance and ability remove a lot of this uncertainty , encourage father to try out newfangled thing , and creatively invigorate more experient masses .
The Asus Zenfone 10 does have its strong distributor point , which we go into in our review . Just do n’t expect the gimbal photographic camera to make it a phone and action camera all in one .
