Well, if you do prefer the Pixel 5 size, that compact form factor, the ZenFone 9 is the closest you can get. Not only is it similar in terms of size, but it also doesn’t have a glass back, and it has a similar software experience to the Pixel 5. It’s quite frankly one of the best phones you can upgrade to, while retaining a similar experience. That’s one of the main reasons we’re comparing these two devices. The ZenFone 9 is also not as expensive as most other flagships on the market.
Specs
ASUS ZenFone 9 vs Google Pixel 5: Design
The ZenFone 9 has an aluminum frame, and a soft-touch back (resin). There are three color variants of the phone, and each of them offers a different feel on the back. They differ in terms of softness. The black model that we reviewed is actually right in the middle, and it feels great. It adds more grip than glass, quite a bit more. The Pixel 5 offers an aluminum unibody build, but it has a layer of bioresin on top of it. In fact, bioresin covers the entire phone, aside from the ports, and the display. Both of these phones are more grippy than glass-made phones. The ZenFone 9 does have flat sides all around, well, they do have chamfered edges which make the phone more comfortable to use. The Pixel 5’s sides are way more rounded. Both phones have flat displays, and include a display camera hole in the top-left corner. The bezels are thin on both, and even uniform on the Pixel 5. The ZenFone 9 has a fingerprint scanner on its right side, while the Pixel 5 includes one on the back. Speaking of the phone’s back, the Pixel 5 also has two cameras there, included inside a rather small camera island. The ZenFone 9 has two camera islands on the back, each of which protrudes from the back, and each of which includes one camera sensor. So, it also has two cameras on the back. The ZenFone 9 is a bit taller, a bit narrower, and a bit thicker than the Pixel 5. It also weighs 18 grams more in comparison. Both of these phones are quite compact, and both feel great in the hand. You’ll also be glad to know that both offer IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. To us, the ZenFone 9 does feel more premium, but your opinion may differ.
ASUS ZenFone 9 vs Google Pixel 5: Display
The ASUS ZenFone 9 features a 5.9-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) Super AMOLED display. This panel is flat, and it offers a 120Hz refresh rate. It also supports HDR10+ content, and gets up to 1,100 nits of peak brightness. We’re looking at a 20:9 display aspect ratio here. The ZenFone 9’s display is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus, by the way.
The Google Pixel 5, on the flip side, has a 6-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) OLED display. This panel is also flat, while it offers a 90Hz refresh rate. The Pixel 5’s panel does support HDR10+ content as well, while we’re looking at a 19.5:9 aspect ratio here. Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6 is included on top of this display, for protection purposes. So, both of these displays are good, but the ZenFone 9’s is better. Not only is it brighter, but it has a higher refresh rate, and it feels better to use overall. The colors also look a bit more accurate on it. Both displays do have excellent viewing angles, though, and the touch response is good on both. If you are, however, looking for a better panel, the ZenFone 9 definitely has the edge here.
ASUS ZenFone 9 vs Google Pixel 5: Performance
The ZenFone 9 is fueled by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, one of Qualcomm’s best chips to date. It includes up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.1 flash storage. The Pixel 5, on the other hand, is fueled by the Snapdragon 765G. That was the company’s mid-range SoC when it launched, so it’s quite dated at this point. There is also 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM here, and UFS 2.1 flash storage. The ZenFone 9 is one of the smoothest smartphones we’ve used. It’s immensely smooth in every way, basically. Apps open really fast, multitasking is seamless, and so are more processor-intensive tasks. It’s also great for gaming, in case you don’t mind playing games on a 5.9-inch display. The Pixel 5 still works fine, but in comparison to the ZenFone 9, it does feel a bit sluggish, in all honesty. The ZenFone 9 is definitely an upgrade in terms of performance.
ASUS ZenFone 9 vs Google Pixel 5: Battery
The ZenFone 9 ships with a 4,300mAh battery, while the Pixel 5 includes a 4,080mAh battery. Those battery packs may not seem big, but do consider the screen size on these two phones, and their SoCs. In practice, these battery packs are more than enough for the two phones. In fact, both devices do offer really good battery life. You’d actually be surprised. The ZenFone 9 can easily manage to reach 8 hours of screen-on-time on most days. If you push it a bit harder, it may come under that mark, but it’s still pretty impressive. The Pixel 5 still manages to provide around 6.5-7 hours of screen-on-time, at least in our experience. Your mileage may, of course, vary. You use your phones differently, have different apps installed, and have different signal strengths. The bottom line is, though, the battery life on both phones is really good, but the ZenFone 9 does stand apart. The ZenFone 9 supports 30W wired charging. It does not have wireless charging or reverse wireless charging, but it does offer reverse wired charging. In other words, it can serve as a portable power bank. The Pixel 5 supports 18W wired, 12W wireless, and 5W reverse wired charging. Both phones do include chargers in the box.
ASUS ZenFone 9 vs Google Pixel 5: Cameras
What about the cameras? Well, neither setup is the best around, but you’ll get a good camera experience with both. The ZenFone 9 includes a 50-megapixel main camera, along with a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit. The Pixel 5 has a 12.2-megapixel main camera, and a 16-megapixel ultrawide camera. The images they produce are different, but they both do a good job.
The ZenFone 9 tends to saturate images a bit too much more often than not, and the sharpening can be a bit too extreme at times. The Pixel 5’s images look good, but a bit unrealistic. The ZenFone 9 does provide more details most of the time, while the camera on the Pixel 5 handles HDR conditions better. They trade blows constantly, depending on the scene, to be quite honest. It all depends on what you prefer. Both ultrawide cameras are good, and they do a good job of keeping the colors in line with what the main cameras produce. The video recording, on the other hand, is better on the ZenFone 9. It’s extremely smooth, and overall quite reliable.
Audio
You will find a 3.5mm headphone jack on the ZenFone 9, but the same cannot be said for the Pixel 5. You can still use its Type-C port to connect your wired headphones, though, if you want. Do note that you will need a dongle in order to do that, though. When it comes to speakers, they both offer stereo speakers, but the ZenFone 9 output is much better. Why? Well, the Pixel 5’s secondary speaker sits under the display, so the sound is a bit muffled.
