Asus Zenfone 8 series Australian pricing revealed

Though more commonly known for its high-performance laptops, Asus has been quietly kicking goals in the smartphone space for a while now, particularly overseas. Here in Australia, we’ve had the Asus ROG Phone series for a while now and we’ve been thoroughly impressed with the gamer-centric smartphone series so far (last year, the ROG Phone 3 made our list of the best phones available). But just like its laptop range, the ROG series is only half of the Asus story, the other half belongs to its Zen-branded products. In 2021, the Asus Zenfone range is heading to Australia with the Asus Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip.

Check out our review of the Asus Zenfone 8. 

After a long wait, the Asus Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip are now available in Australia. The Zenfone 8 range starts at $999 for the 8GN/128GB version and is available exclusively through JB HI-FI.

• Asus Zenfone 8 (8GB/128GB): $999
• Asus Zenfone 8 (8GB/256GB): $1,099
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip (8GB/256GB): $1,199

It looks like Australia misses out on the top-end 12GB and 16GB RAM variants of the Asus Zenfone 8 and the cheaper 8GB RAM version of the Zenfone 8 Flip.

As mentioned above, the Asus Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip are available exclusively through JB HI-FI and aren't available on a plan. You'll need to sort yourself out with a decent 5G SIM if you want to take full advantage of the Zenfone 8. Here are some of the most popular 5G SIM plans in Australia this week:

The flagship handset from the new range is the Asus Zenfone 8, a smaller 5.9-inch smartphone that doesn’t compromise on power. Unlike the iPhone 12 mini, which failed to meet Apple’s sales expectations, the Zenfone 8 isn’t a step-down or budget alternative, it’s the premium handset Asus is leading with this generation. The Asus Zenfone 8 sports a compact 120Hz Samsung AMOLED display, a Sony-made dual rear camera array and is packing a burly Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chipset.

The Zenfone 8 has been designed for one-handed use, which is evident in its size and the features available in the Android 11-based ZenUI 8 operating system (which includes a one-handed operation mode).

The Asus Zenfone 8 is available in Obsidian Black and Horizon Silver.

The second handset Asus announced today was the Zenfone 8 Flip. Another first for Australia, the Zenfone 8 Flip is the quirkier sibling in the Asus family of phones. The unique feature that inspires its name is the “Flip Camera,” a triple-camera array on a motorised hinge that serves as both a rear camera and a front-facing selfie camera. Rather than taking up space on the display with a front-facing camera, the rear camera flips up to face the user when initiated in the camera app.

Outside of the Flip Camera, the Asus Zenfone Flip 8 features a larger 6.67-inch Full HD+ Samsung AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It’s also got the same CPU (Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) and GPU (Qualcomm Adreno 660). As mentioned above, the Zenfone 8 is the premium option in the new Asus range, which might confuse people who are used to the larger phone being the most advanced. See below for the full spec comparison.

The Asus Zenfone 8 Flip is available in Galactic Black and Glacial Silver.

As touched on above, the size and flippable camera array are only the two most obvious differences between the Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip. There are also some crucial differences between the devices in areas like waterproofing, display refresh rate, RAM and more. Here's a full list of specs side-by-side so you can compare the two new handsets.