{"id":828230,"date":"2025-02-19T12:12:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T18:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/theres-another-new-ultra-phone-coming-and-weve-tried-it-out\/"},"modified":"2025-02-19T12:12:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T18:12:51","slug":"theres-another-new-ultra-phone-coming-and-weve-tried-it-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/theres-another-new-ultra-phone-coming-and-weve-tried-it-out\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s another new Ultra phone coming, and we\u2019ve tried it out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a> may be the Ultra phone everyone\u2019s talking about today, but there is another Ultra phone about to demand your attention. It\u2019s the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra, and I\u2019ve had a close look to see if it\u2019s the Ultra that should get your money.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Asus makes other phones?<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/a>
Andy Boxall \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asus is best known in the mobile space for its ROG gaming smartphones<\/a>, and while they aren\u2019t for everyone, they are clearly aimed at a specific type of person and are really good at what they do. The Zenfone series has lost its way since Asus decided to forget about making compact flagship phones<\/a>, and go in completely the opposite direction<\/a>. What\u2019s the latest version like?<\/p>\n

The Zenfone 12 Ultra is similarly sized to the ROG Phone 9 Pro and has a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with a 1-120Hz refresh rate, which can also max out at 144Hz when playing certain games. It\u2019s colorful and the quad-curve design means it attractively and comfortably blends into the aluminum frame. The corners are neatly but not dramatically curved, and at 220 grams it\u2019s not obscenely heavy either.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Andy Boxall \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a very simple design though, particularly in the boring Ebony Black color I\u2019ve been trying out. There is a much more attractive Sage Green model and a subtle Sakura White (which looks quite pink) to choose from, and if you prefer your phones with some flair, one of those will be the better choice. The camera module is a bit of an eyesore. It\u2019s not that it\u2019s ugly, and it\u2019s better looking than the Zenfone 11 Ultra, but it extends too far out from the back of the phone. If it was flush, or almost flush, it would be far less offensive.<\/p>\n

<\/a>All the power<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/a>
Andy Boxall \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Zenfone 12 Ultra is just about the same size and weight as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it\u2019s definitely more comfortable to hold, mostly because of the curved sides and it being slightly less wide. It\u2019s no less generally durable either, with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, plus Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 over the screen. No, it\u2019s not quite as good looking, but it\u2019s more incognito.<\/p>\n

You aren\u2019t losing much when it comes to power either. It has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite<\/a> processor and up to 16GB of RAM. Remember, the Galaxy S25 Ultra only manages 12GB of RAM. Asus does software well too, with a choice of its own custom interface or a stock Android look. It\u2019s the same deal as the ROG Phone 9 Pro, just without the extensive gaming features like its X Mode and Armory Crate.<\/p>\n

What about the cameras? The main is a 50-megapixel Sony Lytia 700 with 2x lossless zoom and the company\u2019s six-axis gimbal, joined by a 32MP telephoto camera for 3x optical zoom shots, and a 13MP wide-angle camera. On the front is a 32MP RGBW selfie camera. This is the same as you get on the ROG Phone 9 Pro, where it had some problems. I\u2019ve taken a selection of photos, and also compared it to the Galaxy S25 Ultra to see if it can hold its own, to understand if the Zenfone\u2019s software has fixed the ROG Phone 9 Pro\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Can the camera compete?<\/h2>\n

The Zenfone 12 Ultra\u2019s camera has its own unique style. It\u2019s not awful<\/em>, but it\u2019s certainly not a natural or realistic look. See the clouds in several of the wide-angle example photos for evidence, as they appear otherworldly, almost as if they\u2019ve been added in after the photo was taken. There are times when the main camera takes photos with a lovely tone and balance, and other times where everything just looks off. The 3x zoom isn\u2019t bad, but it can introduce noise.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, even after only a few photos it\u2019s clear Zenfone 12 Ultra\u2019s camera can\u2019t keep up with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra\u2019s camera. What else is there? The Zenfone 12 Ultra has a 5,500mAh battery with wired and wireless charging, plus stereo speakers with plenty of codec support including AptX Adaptive. Like Samsung, Asus is talking up the Zenfone 12 Ultra\u2019s AI capabilities, which range from the usual translation and summary tools, to more interesting features like AI-powered subject tracking when shooting video. There\u2019s also Asus\u2019s take on Google\u2019s Magic Eraser<\/a>\u00a0called Magic Fill, and an audio eraser tool called AI Voice Clarity, which removes unwanted sound from the background of your videos.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Andy Boxall \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although it does have a feature you can\u2019t find on the S25 Ultra, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and both share the Ultra name, it\u2019s probably unfair to compare the two. The Zenfone 12 Ultra will cost 1,099 euros, which is a little less than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in the same currency, making it the true alternative.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The Ultra to get?<\/h2>\n
\"A<\/a>
Andy Boxall \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the subject of price and availability, Asus will launch the Zenfone 12 Ultra in Europe, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with Japan following in a few months time. The company has not decided if it\u2019s 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 hold for a long time, plus it has basically the same processor inside, it\u2019s not really capable (or arguably, even designed) to take it on. Even leaving the camera aside, the screen isn\u2019t as bright and easy to see outside, and lacks the fantastic anti-reflective coating too.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Andy Boxall \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps most egregious of all is it\u2019s lack of true identity, as unlike the ROG Phone series, nothing about it says Asus. It\u2019s a shame, as the hardware is solid and the software is great. Asus hasn\u2019t made final plans about a wider global release, but whatever happens, your current Samsung-based Ultra and Plus phone plans are probably safe.<\/p>\n

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Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra may be the Ultra phone everyone\u2019s talking about today, but there is another Ultra phone about to demand your attention. It\u2019s the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra, and I\u2019ve had a close look to see if it\u2019s the Ultra that should get your money. Asus makes other phones? Andy Boxall \/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":828231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,25270],"tags":[5205,15847],"class_list":{"0":"post-828230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-theres","8":"category-ultra","9":"tag-theres","10":"tag-ultra"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}