Asus Zenfone 9 vs Apple iPhone 13 mini
78
out of 100
VS
73
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.9-inch Asus Zenfone 9 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1) that was released on July 28, 2022, against the Apple iPhone 13 mini, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 11 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Asus Zenfone 9
- Comes with 1894 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 2406 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
- Fingerprint scanner
- 32% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1217K versus 922K)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Slow-motion recording at 480FPS
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 20W)
- The phone is 11-months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13 mini
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Asus
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- Weighs 28 grams less
- 24% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2218 and 1791 points
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.9 inches | 5.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 445 ppi | 476 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1100 nits | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.6% | 85.1% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.8% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 478 Hz | 510 Hz |
| Response time | 2 ms | 4.8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.5 mm (5.77 inches) | 131.5 mm (5.18 inches) |
| Width | 68.1 mm (2.68 inches) | 64.2 mm (2.53 inches) |
| Thickness | 9.1 mm (0.36 inches) | 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 169 g (5.96 oz) | 141 g (4.97 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Red | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 | Apple A15 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3190 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.75 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 730 | Apple A15 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 900 MHz | 1338 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2764.8 GFLOPS | ~1712.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 325882 | 251650 |
| GPU | 426064 | 306762 |
| Memory | 214511 | 162292 |
| UX | 249298 | 194596 |
| Total score | 1217519 | 922909 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39 °C | 38.8 °C |
| Stability | - | 79% |
| Graphics test | - | 53 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 8883 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 16 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | ZenUI 9 | - |
| OS size | - | 12 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4300 mAh | 2406 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (61% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:24 hr |
| Web browsing | 11:15 hr | 10:48 hr |
| Watching video | 15:48 hr | 11:55 hr |
| Gaming | 07:00 hr | 05:11 hr |
| Standby | 90 hr | 124 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 480 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 113° | 120° |
| Lenses | 2 (50 MP + 12 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 23.8 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.7 micron - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 14.4 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 mini from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4247 x 2826 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 27.5 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | - |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.93" | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | - |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | July 2022 | September 2021 |
| Release date | August 2022 | September 2021 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.97 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 30 W | - |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, performance, battery life, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Asus Zenfone 9 . But if the camera, gaming, software, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 13 mini .
