The ASUS Zenfone 8 Hands-On Review: A New Compact Direction
by Andrei Frumusanu on May 12, 2021 1:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Asus
- Mobile
- Zenfone 8
GPU Performance
GPU performance of the Zenfone 8 is interesting given that’s it’s currently the smallest Snapdragon 888 device we have at hand. We’ve had determined that the Snapdragon 888 is a quite power hungry SoC, so combining this with a smaller phone which has a lesser thermal envelope isn’t quite the recipe for success.
Throughout the benchmark scores, we can indeed see that while the Zenfone 8 outperforms the Zenfone 7 Pro quite easily when it comes to the peak performance, the new smaller phone actually regresses its sustained performance to below the levels of its predecessor once the device heats up and becomes thermally saturated. ASUS has quite reasonable thermals here and the phone doesn’t exceed 42-43°C peak skin temperatures which is a reasonable and good behaviour, it’s just that the resulting power levels here mean that the SoC and GPU have to throttle quite a bit.
The end results aren’t bad, and the phone is still plenty competitive, it’s just that it doesn’t really showcase any performance advantage over the last generation of devices.
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yetanotherhuman - Saturday, May 15, 2021 - link
They're finally paying attention!! Thank you.. However I'm about to be in the "enormous phone" crowd, sadly, because I'm getting a Galaxy A52 for free from work, and it was that, or an iPhone SE.inperfectdarkness - Sunday, May 16, 2021 - link
When did 5.9" become small?I'll keep my XZ2 Compact, thanks.
ithehappy - Wednesday, May 19, 2021 - link
Thank you for the review, especially in respect to the camera section. I was not liking the dynamic range on the sample photos but I thought I must be wrong because of all the praising words, however, now I am sure that DR is not particularly good on the phone indeed. Shame, I really liked the device but that camera is not acceptable.flyingpants265 - Saturday, June 12, 2021 - link
Ok. Phones have all been the same, for like 10 years now.What I want is: portless/waterproof, in-screen camera, with front speakers. 512GB storage. Case with a kickstand. This should allllll be standard. There is no reason to have leaks, bezels, or run out of space, or need to cup your hand in order to hear stuff. That is a mini-TV/computer I can take with me everywhere. Make them in various sizes, 5" (nexus 5) all the way up to about 7.2" like a Huawei Mate.
raajesh.k - Friday, March 18, 2022 - link
This phone has just launched in India renamed as '8Z'. The phone suits my budget and me perfectly. There's just one thing I need to know: If the stock camera app can shoot RAW photos from both the rear cameras? And also if third-party camera apps (like OpenCamera) atleast access the ultrawide camera (and shoot photo in RAW)? If this works, I'll definitely go with the phone. It'll be great if someone can confirm this.Please do respond.
Insomnicrap - Sunday, July 17, 2022 - link
Currently using Zenfone 8 (16gb RAM/256gb)From what i read and tested, auto doesn't turn on 120hz refresh rate. 120hz active if you put the phone on 'high performance' > system modes. I think default is 'dynamic'. You can tweak each mode (by only a bit) except 'dynamic'.
Since Zenfone 8 also comes with 'fps display' function and also Game Genie - which can show stuff like temp, fps, etc - no matter with 120hz set, game settings maxed, fps is pretty much at 90 but it's a different story when 'high performance' mode is used.
(And of course, without a doubt, any phone running on SD888 with high settings will heat up)
::Just a phone enthusiast with no real knowledge of how my phone works::