What you need to know
- Asus has confirmed that it will launch the next Zenfone on June 29.
- The Zenfone 10 will look slightly different from its predecessor at least in terms of the front panel, with a thinner chin.
- Asus' forthcoming handset is expected to have flagship-level specs, including a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
Asus' next Zenfone model is just around the corner, as the company has just teased the Zenfone 10 and confirmed its launch date.
According to an Instagram post from Asus Taiwan, the next-generation phone will make its debut on June 29 at 9 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). The post doesn't shy away from revealing the handset's front design in all its glory, showing off a thinner chin than its predecessor. Meanwhile, the selfie snapper's position in the top-left corner is the same as before.
Asus also teases a few features coming with the Zenfone 10 that are not available on the current model. One of the most notable elements of the teaser is a charging dock, which may allude to wireless charging capabilities. For what it's worth, the Asus Zenfone 9 did not support wireless charging, so the inclusion of the feature on the next model is a step forward for the company.
The image also shows a gimbal, suggesting improvements in the camera's image stabilization. The Zenfone 9 was equipped with a 6-axis "Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer" to eliminate blur when shooting or recording videos. Any upgrade in this area will undoubtedly challenge the leading Android camera phones.
Asus' teaser surfaced just a few days after the company inadvertently revealed the Zenfone 10's price. Some fine print on an Asus website for a blind camera test disclosed that the handset would start at $749.
The Zenfone 9 earned accolades last year for being compact while offering flagship-level specs, such as a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. In the words of our own Harish Jonnalagadda, the phone's "diminutive design makes it ideal for one-handed use, and it has the same caliber of hardware as $1,000 flagships."
It remains unclear whether the Zenfone 10 will follow the same route, but it's pretty safe to assume that it will offer a compact design like last year's model. Previous rumors claimed that a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor would be ticking inside the phone.
