Asus’ newest cellphone beats the competitors in 4 key methods, however you’ll be able to’t purchase it within the US

With its recently released Zenfone 12 Extremely smartphone, Asus has tried to tug all of the stops. The gadget is a high-end flagship by means of and thru, with tons of software program options, a seize bag of AI instruments, and a smattering of high-end inner elements.

Sadly, as is seemingly the case with tons of competitive handsets designed and engineered in East Asia, the Zenfone 12 Extremely is not out there for buy on US retailer cabinets. This significantly stings, as previous-generation Zenfone models have been out there inside North America, and since the Zenfone 12 Extremely is a genuinely compelling sweet bar-style cellphone.

The gadget is formally listed at €1,100 (roughly $1,150), and it is available in sage inexperienced, ebony black, and sakura white colorways. For the asking value, the product ships in a base configuration of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with a dearer 16GB/512GB variant additionally on supply.

Listed below are 4 key metrics that make the gadget stand out in my eyes, and which have me looking forward to an eventual US launch.

ZenFone 12 Extremely

The Zenfone 12 Extremely is Asus’ newest flagship smartphone, delivery with a 6.78-inch show, the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and a 6-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer major digital camera setup.

Model

Asus

SoC

Snapdragon 8 Elite

Show

6.78-inch FHD+ (2400×1080 pixels)

RAM

As much as 16 GB

Storage

As much as 512 GB

Battery

5,500mAh

Ports

USB-C

Working System

Android 15

Entrance digital camera

32-megapixel RGBW sensor

Rear digital camera

50-megapixel (major), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 32-megapixel 3X (telephoto)

Dimensions

6.45 x 3.03 x 0.35-inches (163.8 x 77.0 x 8.9mm)

Colours

Ebony Black, Sakura White, Sage Inexperienced

Show kind

AMOLED

Weight

7.76 oz (220g)

IP Ranking

IP68

Launch

February 6, 2025

Develop

1 The Zenfone 12 Extremely is a full-blown flagship

Asus has decked out the 12 Extremely with top-of-the-line specs

On the subject of flagship smartphones, I am usually cautious of phrases like ‘professional’ or ‘extremely’, since they’re fairly nebulous and do not paint a full image. Fortunately, the Asus Zenfone 12 Extremely (for essentially the most half) lives as much as its descriptive moniker. The gadget is decked out with high-end {hardware} internals, all inside an IP68-certified package deal that is simply 0.35-inches (8.9mm) skinny, and seven.76oz (220g) mild.

The Zenfone 12 Extremely is powered by Qualcomm’s latest-and-greatest silicon, the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. In my testing, the gadget landed a powerful Geekbench 6 rating of three,135 in single-core and 9,914 in multi-core. Supplemented by as much as 16GB of speedy LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 inner storage, the gadget would not disappoint within the uncooked specs division.

The exterior facet of the {hardware} equation is equally premium. The soft-touch rear glass panel is silky {smooth}, the front-facing bezel is slim and uniform, and the gadget feels strong within the hand. I discover the triple rear digital camera bump to be aesthetically inoffensive, although the unit’s offset USB-C port placement toys with my muscle reminiscence.

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2 The Zenfone 12 Extremely is nice for gaming

Asus has outfitted the cellphone with a zippy 144Hz refresh fee show

On the show entrance, the Zenfone 12 Extremely ships with a big 6.78-inch FHD+ 2400 x 1080 pixel decision OLED panel. Whereas different flagships finest the 12 Extremely when it comes to decision, refresh fee is one other story solely. The LTPO-based show tech not solely permits for an adaptive velocity fee of between 1 and 120Hz, but additionally a particular 144Hz mode for gaming functions.

After all, not all video games out there on Android are able to tapping into this silky-smooth 144Hz mode, however supported titles are predictably {smooth}. Blended along with the ability of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the generously-sized 5,500mAh battery pack, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it is clear that Asus’ gaming heritage shines by means of on the Zenfone 12 Extremely.

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3 The Zenfone 12 Extremely employs a singular digital camera stabilization system

The gadget’s major wide-angle digital camera incorporates Gimbal tech

With the Zenfone 12 Extremely, Asus is doubling down on its distinctive ‘6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer 4.0’ system that it launched in last year’s 11 Ultra mannequin.

A mixture of {hardware} optical picture stabilization (OIS), a brand new digital picture stabilization (EIS) algorithm, and Gimbal expertise all come collectively for a strong 50-megapixel wide-angle digital camera providing. The result’s a major digital camera sensor that is each sharp and {smooth}, and I had no bother snapping high-quality photographs with the gadget.

Except for the principle digital camera sensor, the Zenfone 12 Extremely additionally incorporates a 13-megapixel ultra-wide shooter with a 120-degree discipline of view, a 32-megapixel telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom, and a 32-megapixel front-facing shooter into the combo.

Collectively, the digital camera system cannot maintain a candle to the easiest of the competitors — the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra included — but it surely’s a fairly serviceable array of sensors with a killer stabilization system as well.

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4 The Zenfone 12 Extremely’s tackle Android is a strong one

Asus supplies loads of customization choices, with out bloatware or unusual UI choices

I am happy to report that the Asus 12 Extremely provides a fairly wonderful working system package deal in my testing. The OS would not stray too removed from the ‘inventory’ Android Open Source Project (AOSP) expertise, and I take into account that to be a great factor.

Asus supplies consumer selection, which I respect enormously — there are alternatives to change between ‘Asus Optimized’ and ‘Inventory Android’ modes, which permits for a versatile UI in the case of vital system parts like the short settings panel.

The dearth of bloatware or main app and repair duplication is one other constructive right here, and I respect that synthetic intelligence is on board, however not in my face. Asus supplies quite a few AI instruments together with Magic Fill for eradicating undesirable parts inside pictures, Portrait Video for blurring background on the fly, Google’s Circle to Search, and generative abstract, transcription, and translation instruments.

My largest concern in the case of the Zenfone 12 Extremely and its software program package deal is longevity. The gadget ships with Android 15 out of the field, however Asus’ observe file in the case of offering well timed updates is fairly hit and miss. The corporate guarantees two years of main function updates and 5 years of safety patches, and I really feel that that is insufficient for a modern-day flagship cellphone, significantly for one as costly because the 12 Extremely.

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