Another day, another announcement for a new smartphone, but this is one we’ve been looking forward to. The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra looks to be an impressive bit of kit, featuring a good chipset, nice colorway options (the Sakura White model is especially stunning), and numerous specs that are sure to make it a powerhouse in the Android market.
Asus has a reputation for creating some of the best gaming phones, and while the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra isn’t specifically designed for games – our Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro review can tell you all about the company’s best device for gaming – the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset means it can run them like nobody’s business. You can enjoy games like Genshin Impact to the max, especially as the phone boasts up to LPDDR5X 16GB of RAM (8GB less than the ROG Phone 9 Pro.
The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra is essentially the company’s version of a powerhouse everyday phone, and it shows as its specs rival that of the best Samsung phones. More specifically, the AI features in this phone might have the Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup sweating with numerous daily tools for things such as transcribing, article summaries, document summaries, and a call translator that can offer translations during real-time calls. It’s all very impressive, and we certainly can’t wait to put the AI through its paces.
The artificial intelligence capabilities of the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra also expand into the camera, helping you to capture those all-important images. The main camera has a 50MP Sony Lytia® 700 image sensor with a 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer 4.0, while the 32MP telephoto camera features 3x zoom, and the 13MP ultrawide lens has 120° FOV. Finally, there is a 32MP front lens, too. It’s fair to say that this is an impressive set-up for photographers, though not quite as impressive as the rumored 200MP Xiaomi 15 Ultra camera.
For all the great qualities of the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra, there’s one pretty major drawback, as The Verge reports that the device isn’t coming to the US. The reasoning for this omission isn’t clear. Still, a spokesperson for Asus claims that this doesn’t “rule out the possibility of future Zenfone models being made available in the US,” not that this helps people who want the impressive Android phone in the US right now.
If you’re in North America and in need of a new cell phone, we can help you find the best Google Pixel phones and the best Sony phones for you.