There’s another new Ultra phone coming, and we’ve tried it out

TheSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultramay be the Ultra sound everyone ’s speak about today , but there is another Ultra headphone about to involve your attention . It ’s the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra , and I ’ve had a skinny look to see if it ’s the Ultra that should get your money .

Asus makes other phones?

Asus is best fuck in the mobile space for itsROG gaming smartphones , and while they are n’t for everyone , they are clearly aimed at a specific character of person and are really expert at what they do . The Zenfone serial has lose its direction since Asus settle toforget about make believe compact flagship phones , and go incompletely the opposite focal point . What ’s the later reading like ?

The Zenfone 12 Ultra is likewise sized to the ROG Phone 9 Pro and has a 6.78 - inch AMOLED CRT screen with a 1 - 120Hz refresh rate , which can also max out at 144Hz when playing certain games . It ’s colorful and the quadrangle - breaking ball design entail it attractively and well blend in into the aluminum frame . The street corner are neatly but not dramatically curved , and at 220 Gram it ’s not obscenely heavy either .

It ’s a very unsubdivided design though , in particular in the boring Ebony Black colour I ’ve been trying out . There is a much more attractive Sage Green mannikin and a insidious Sakura White ( which looks quite pink ) to choose from , and if you favor your headphone with some flair , one of those will be the better choice . The camera module is a bit of an eyesore . It ’s not that it ’s surly , and it ’s well looking than the Zenfone 11 Ultra , but it extends too far out from the back of the sound . If it was flush , or almost flush , it would be far less offensive .

A photo taken with the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

All the power

The Zenfone 12 Ultra is just about the same sizing and free weight as the Galaxy S25 Ultra , but it ’s by all odds more comfortable to hold , mostly because of the curve side and it being slightly less wide . It ’s no less in general durable either , with an IP68 junk and water immunity paygrade , plus Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 over the screen . No , it ’s not quite as estimable looking , but it ’s more incognito .

You are n’t losing much when it amount to baron either . It has theQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Eliteprocessor and up to 16 GB of RAM . retrieve , the Galaxy S25 Ultra only manages 12 GB of RAM . Asus does software well too , with a choice of its own usance user interface or a stock Android look . It ’s the same deal as the ROG Phone 9 Pro , just without the extensive play lineament like its XTC Mode and Armory Crate .

What about the cameras ? The main is a 50 - megapixel Sony Lytia 700 with 2x lossless zoom and the company ’s six - axis of rotation gimbal , joined by a 32MP telephotograph camera for 3x optical soar pellet , and a 13MP wide - angle camera . On the front is a 32MP RGBW selfie photographic camera . This is the same as you get on the ROG Phone 9 professional , where it had some problem . I ’ve taken a selection of picture , and also equate it to the Galaxy S25 Ultra to see if it can halt its own , to understand if the Zenfone ’s computer software has fix the ROG Phone 9 Pro ’s exit .

A photo taken with the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Can the camera compete?

The Zenfone 12 Ultra ’s television camera has its own alone style . It ’s notawful , but it ’s sure as shooting not a lifelike or realistic flavour . See the clouds in several of the wide - angle example photograph for evidence , as they appear otherworldly , almost as if they ’ve been added in after the photo was taken . There are time when the independent tv camera takes photos with a endearing musical note and balance , and other times where everything just looks off . The 3x zoom is n’t bad , but it can introduce noise .

alas , even after only a few photos it ’s clear Zenfone 12 Ultra ’s camera ca n’t keep up with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra ’s television camera . What else is there ? The Zenfone 12 Ultra has a 5,500mAh stamp battery with wired and wireless charging , plus stereophony speaker system with plenty of codec support including AptX Adaptive . Like Samsung , Asus is blab out up the Zenfone 12 Ultra ’s AI capability , which array from the common translation and summary tools , to more interesting features like AI - power matter tracking when shooting video . There ’s also Asus ’s take onGoogle ’s Magic Erasercalled Magic Fill , and an audio eraser tool ring AI Voice Clarity , which removes unwanted phone from the background of your videos .

Although it does have a lineament you ca n’t find on the S25 Ultra , a 3.5 mm phone jack , and both deal the Ultra name , it ’s believably unfair to liken the two . The Zenfone 12 Ultra will cost 1,099 euro , which is a small less than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in the same currency , making it the true option .

A photo taken with the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra.

Wide-angleAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Ultra to get?

On the subject area of Leontyne Price and availability , Asus will launch the Zenfone 12 Ultra in Europe , Taiwan , and Hong Kong , with Japan follow in a few months clip . The company has not decided if it ’s going to launch the phone in the U.S. or the U.K. yet . The GalaxyS25 Ultra is an excellent phone , and although the Zenfone 12 Ultra is the more comfortable phone to moderate for a long time , plus it has essentially the same processor inside , it ’s not really capable ( or arguably , even design ) to take it on . Even forget the television camera apart , the screen is n’t as burnished and easy to see alfresco , and lacks the wonderful anti - reflective coating too .

Perhaps most egregious of all is it ’s deficiency of dependable personal identity , as unlike the ROG Phone series , nothing about it says Asus . It ’s a shame , as the hardware is solid and the software is not bad . Asus has n’t made final plans about a wider global release , but whatever materialize , your current Samsung - based Ultra and Plus phone plans are probably safe .

A photo taken with the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra.