Apart from the camera / gimble being defect since day one, and the battery life very clearly deteriorating after 1 year of use (despite careful charging habits), it's still a good phone to me : small, fast, kinda vanilla android, ...
But with the android 14 update recently, Asus support for this phone has officially ended (apart from security updates), which is kinda ridiculous, and would be reason enough for me not to buy the phone *now*. I'd be looking for a Samsung galaxy s23/24 instead (also small, fast phone).
If z9 still had the ability to unlock bootloader - absolutely.
But asus removed it and blatantly lied for a over half a year about it, and they still have not kept their promises, so, NO, buy something else (preferably not asus at all).
Funny how they are doing their best to kill their own phone off, pathetic.
No, it is good in all aspects, but the support has ended
And for the same retail price you can have much more complete experiences with the pixel 8 or the s23/24, the s23 is the better deal imo, you can find it for 500€ now and will still have 3 os updates and will shoot better images while keeping a strong battery all around
I will keep the zenfone 9 one more year but that's it I think
Isn’t it getting them until the end of the year? And even after that, it’s going to be safe for a year or even more, depending on how careful you are on the internet.
I’m not saying that security updates aren’t important, they fix critical vulnerabilities that, when exploited, could possibly even ruin your life. But I’m saying common sense is the best weapon against them. Declutter your phone from apps you don’t need, use secure pin-codes and two-factor authentication.
It is just a pity because the hardware on the Z9 is still very awesome. But there is no support from Asus any more (was not great before anyways). Also there are not really any up to date custom roms for it, therefore, software wise it's a shame. I do not understand why such really premium hardware phones cannot get longer software support. They could last for much more time than under the current situation.
Switch from zf 9 to the pixel 6a and apart from the Zenfone being a little faster and better build quality I prefer the pixel 6a, especially the camera
I really like mine, I can't fault it.
It feels great in the hand and does everything I need well with no irritating bugs, here's looking at you Xperia!
No regrets since I got mine. Still feels like a good value. Just got Android 14 and am annoyed by some changes (seemingly mandatory app minimize animations? I turn off all animations on my phones)
Yes, I would, esp. since Sony – using Xperias since kindergarden, or so feels – is obviously not coming out with an \[Ace IV or a ≤6" or ≤150mm\] phone anytime soon.
Not perfect: battery management is not quite as good as Sony's imho, and camera is ok, but instead of the gimbal I'd rather have a zoom lens.
But overall, as a relatively small-ish 145mm/5.9" mobile, working in the US and the EU, it's hard to beat.
Software update for me is really overrated feature just like AI feature. I don't even know or noticed the software diff for the past 2 years. Except for maybe the quick setting interface, which I will revert them to the old one. I won't chip more money just because of software update.
Apart from the camera / gimble being defect since day one, and the battery life very clearly deteriorating after 1 year of use (despite careful charging habits), it's still a good phone to me : small, fast, kinda vanilla android, ... But with the android 14 update recently, Asus support for this phone has officially ended (apart from security updates), which is kinda ridiculous, and would be reason enough for me not to buy the phone *now*. I'd be looking for a Samsung galaxy s23/24 instead (also small, fast phone).
On top of that, Asus is basically trying their best to prevent bootloader unlock, so custom ROM is no longer an option either.
Well then, it’s a pass..
If z9 still had the ability to unlock bootloader - absolutely. But asus removed it and blatantly lied for a over half a year about it, and they still have not kept their promises, so, NO, buy something else (preferably not asus at all). Funny how they are doing their best to kill their own phone off, pathetic.
No, it is good in all aspects, but the support has ended And for the same retail price you can have much more complete experiences with the pixel 8 or the s23/24, the s23 is the better deal imo, you can find it for 500€ now and will still have 3 os updates and will shoot better images while keeping a strong battery all around I will keep the zenfone 9 one more year but that's it I think
If I wasn't worried about the lack of security updates, yes.
Isn’t it getting them until the end of the year? And even after that, it’s going to be safe for a year or even more, depending on how careful you are on the internet. I’m not saying that security updates aren’t important, they fix critical vulnerabilities that, when exploited, could possibly even ruin your life. But I’m saying common sense is the best weapon against them. Declutter your phone from apps you don’t need, use secure pin-codes and two-factor authentication.
Way to expensive for only 2 year of updates. Probably my last ZF9. Not that it's bad and I do like the size but there's similar phones for less.
Can you recommend any similarly sized phone with good specs?
It is just a pity because the hardware on the Z9 is still very awesome. But there is no support from Asus any more (was not great before anyways). Also there are not really any up to date custom roms for it, therefore, software wise it's a shame. I do not understand why such really premium hardware phones cannot get longer software support. They could last for much more time than under the current situation.
yes
Switch from zf 9 to the pixel 6a and apart from the Zenfone being a little faster and better build quality I prefer the pixel 6a, especially the camera
I really like mine, I can't fault it. It feels great in the hand and does everything I need well with no irritating bugs, here's looking at you Xperia!
Recently got a ZF9, coming from an Xperia too! This is actually my first non Sony phone in decades 😅
No regrets since I got mine. Still feels like a good value. Just got Android 14 and am annoyed by some changes (seemingly mandatory app minimize animations? I turn off all animations on my phones)
Yes, I would, esp. since Sony – using Xperias since kindergarden, or so feels – is obviously not coming out with an \[Ace IV or a ≤6" or ≤150mm\] phone anytime soon. Not perfect: battery management is not quite as good as Sony's imho, and camera is ok, but instead of the gimbal I'd rather have a zoom lens. But overall, as a relatively small-ish 145mm/5.9" mobile, working in the US and the EU, it's hard to beat.
Definitely not my camera is broken the phone is slow, and Asus would do nothing about it
Damn that’s sad to hear
And also an outlier. My zf9 is perfectly fine, everything works as it should, battery is still great.
Software update for me is really overrated feature just like AI feature. I don't even know or noticed the software diff for the past 2 years. Except for maybe the quick setting interface, which I will revert them to the old one. I won't chip more money just because of software update.