Asus Reportedly Shuts Down Zenfone, Its Tiny Flagship Smartphone Division
These days, if you want a flagship phone, you have to settle on something big. First, we didn't get an iPhone 14 mini, and now one of the better small Android phone options, the Asus Zenphone series, may be on its way out, too.
That's a shame because not everyone wants (or even can use) a large flagship phone. If you prefer something that fits in your pocket better or a smaller hand, the Zenfones have long fit the bill. That's why we called the Asus Zenfone 8 "perfectly pocketable" in our hands-on review. And despite the smaller size, you didn't give up power, as we noted with the Zenfone 7 Ultimate, although you did lose a few features like wireless charging.
The biggest problem with the Zenfones has been availability; as much as we liked previous iterations, you couldn't buy them in the United States. However, that changed with the Zenfone 10 when Asus opened up pre-orders in the US a few days ago. Alas, while the Zenfone 10 will be the first in the series to hit the States, it may also be the last.
To be clear, Asus hasn't confirmed this publicly yet, but according to Taiwanese media (as spotted by 9to5Google), the company is undergoing "organizational restructuring" to reduce its employee roster. While that mainly applies to the PC division, according to an internal letter, Asus will move some of its Zenfone employees into the ROG phone division and some employees to other divisions.
Asus ROG phones, however, are a decidedly different beast, focusing on gaming and power, leading to standout smartphones in bulky sizes for a different set of customers. It seems doubtful that a ROG phone could come in a "tiny flagship" size, even with the former Zenfone employees in the mix.
If Asus does kill the Zenfone, it'll be a
Read more on pcmag.com
