Asus ditches small phone niche with gimbal-stabilized Zenfone 11 Ultra

Asus has announced the Zenfone 11 Ultra, a much bigger phone than anyone who's been following the Zenfone line might have been expecting. While the Zenfone 9 and Zenfone 10 were compact powerhouses, the Zenfone 11 Ultra is a ROG Phone 8 – Asus's 2024 gaming phone flagship – with more mainstream styling.

This growth spurt could spell a win for the Zenfone 11 Ultra camera mix. Past iterations sported two cameras, but the 11 Ultra manages to fi three, adding optical zoom to the mix. 

We've appreciated Asus's gimbal stabilization in the past, especially when capturing video, and it's back with the 50MP main camera, which features a Sony IMX890 sensor. The 32MP telephoto camera captures 3x zoom photos with a native 65.3mm equivalent focal length, and the 13MP ultra-wide pulls out for an expansive view. On first impression and at the phone's $900 / £870 starting price, its camera specs are modest, however, the proof is in the shooting so watch this space.

Asus is also incorporating AI into the phone's camera, specifically when zooming in beyond 10x. As we've seen in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Honor Magic 6 Pro, this can be an effective way of eking out a usable shot even when maxing out at digital zoom ranges.

Asus's new Zenfone is more than just a triple camera photo taker, it's also an 8K mini-gimbal-stabilized video machine at up to 24fps, and if you drop the resolution down to 1080p, it can capture more stable handheld footage than any Zenfone before it in HyperSteady mode.

While Zenfones of old undercut top-tier flagship competition, the Zenfone 11 Ultra packs some of the punchiest pricing we've seen from Asus, and that's, in part, justified by the phone's specs. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and with up to 16GB RAM, you can expect fantastic performance from it, while the 512GB max storage option will give you plenty of space for all that 8K video.

Asus has also injected its latest Zenfone with a 2024-grade dose of AI, so the phone can transcribe meetings, generate summaries of them, create a wallpaper based on some pre-defined cues, and more.

Two of the most notable advantages of the new oversized chassis are a much bigger screen and battery. The display is a 144Hz 6.78-inch panel that promises smooth scrolling and bright viewing at up to 2500 nits when playing back HDR content. It's also Amazon HDR and YouTube HDR certified out of the gate.

As for the battery, its huge 5,500mAh capacity out-specs almost all other flagships, and the fact it powers up at 65W using PD 3.0 standard charging is excellent as it means no proprietary charging bricks and potentially less waste.

So has Asus lost that small phone magic with its latest Zenfone, or is the 11 Ultra a welcome shake-up for the line? Check out our Zenfone 11 Ultra review to find out.