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The ASUS ZenFone 10 is the company’s latest and greatest smartphone. This phone is considered to be one of the best compact smartphones on the market, and for a good reason. In this article, we’ll compare the ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 14, another rather compact device. If you’re looking to get a compact phone, regardless of the platform, these two are worth considering.
We’ll first list their specifications, and will then go to compare them across a number of categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. Both of these phones have a lot to offer, but they’re also quite different at the same time. Let’s get to it!
Specs
ASUS ZenFone 10 & Apple iPhone 14, respectively
– Screen size (main):
5.92-inch Super AMOLED display (144Hz, HDR10+, 1,100 nits)
6.1-inch OLED display (60Hz, HDR10, 1,200 nits)
– Display resolution (main):
2400 x 1080
2532 x 1170
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Apple A15 Bionic
– RAM:
8GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
6GB (LPDDR4X)
– Storage:
128GB/256GB (UFS 4.0)
128GB/256GB/512GB (NVMe)
– Rear cameras:
50MP (wide, f/1.9 aperture, gimbal OIS, multi-directional PDAF)), 13MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture,k 120-degree FOV, 1.12um pixel size)
12MP (wide, f/1.5 aperture, 1.9um pixel size, Dual Pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.4 aperture, 120-degree FoV)
– Front cameras:
32MP (f/2.5 aperture, 0.7um pixel size)
12MP (f/1.9 aperture, PDAF)
– Battery:
4,300mAh
3,279mAh
– Charging:
30W wired, 15W wireless, 5W reverse wired (charger included)
20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless (charger not included)
– Dimensions (unfolded):
146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4mm
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8mm
– Weight:
172 grams
172 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3
– Security:
Side-facing fingerprint scanner
3D facial scanning
– OS:
Android 13 with ZenUI
iOS 16 (upgradable)
– Price:
$699
$799
– Buy:
Amazon
Apple
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 14: Design
Both devices have flat sides all around, and also curved corners. The ZenFone 10 does fit a bit better in the hand due to the chamfered edges on its frame. It also has a grippy backplate which seems to be a fancy plastic, rubberized one. It almost feels like eco-leather. The iPhone 14 has glass on the back, which is, of course, not grippy at all. Both phones do include a flat display, and thin bezels. The ZenFone 10 has a display camera hole in the top-left corner, while the iPhone 14 includes a display notch at the top.
Needless to say, the display camera hole is far smaller, and far less annoying. The backplate on the ZenFone 10 is also a bit curved towards all sides, which makes it fit in the hand a bit better. Speaking of the back, there are two camera islands on the ZenFone 10. Each of them hosts a single camera. The iPhone 14 also has two cameras on the back, though they’re a part of the camera camera island.
The two devices are equal in terms of height, but the ZenFone 10 is narrower, noticeably. It is also a bit thicker than the iPhone 14. The two phones weigh exactly the same, they both clock in at 172 grams. They also both offer IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. The ZenFone 10 is far grippier, and easier to use with one hand too. Both feel like high-end devices, they’re really well built.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 14: Display
You will find a 5.92-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) Super AMOLED display on the ZenFone 10. That panel is flat, and it supports a 144Hz refresh rate. It also supports HDR10+ content, and its brightness gets up to 1,100 nist at its peak. The display aspect ratio is 20:9, and the panel is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus.
The iPhone 14, on the flip side, includes a 6.1-inch fullHD+ (2532 x 1170) Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is also flat, and it offers a 60Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10 content, and also Dolby Vision. Its brightness gets up to 1,200 nits at its peak, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. This panel is protected by Ceramic Shield Glass.
It is worth noting that the colors on both displays are quite vivid, vibrant. The viewing angles are also very good, while the blacks are deep, as you’d expect. The touch response is also good, while the max brightness is comparable. It’s good enough, though not up to par with some other flagship phones. The ZenFone 10 panel does have one major advantage, its refresh rate. It’s much higher than the one on the iPhone 14, and you do feel that while scrolling, etc.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 14: Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 fuels the ASUS ZenFone 10. ASUS also included up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM inside the phone, along with UFS 4.0 flash storage. The iPhone 14, on the other hand, is fueled by the Apple A15 Bionic chip, while the phone includes 6GB of RAM, and NVMe storage.
The ZenFone 10 does have a clear advantage in the RAM and storage departments, as it has newer hardware. Both of these processors are immensely powerful, however. Both smartphones do offer outstanding performance. The iPhone 14 can keep up with its ‘Pro’s sibling even, and the ZenFone 10 is one of the fastest smartphones of the year. They can both run even the most demanding games in their app stores, and they offered outstanding performance when it comes to regular, everyday tasks. That goes for opening and closing apps, multitasking, browsing, consuming multimedia, and so on. No complaints here.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 14: Battery
The ASUS ZenFone 10 comes with a 4,300mAh battery, while the iPhone 14 has a 3,279mAh battery pack. iPhones usually have noticeably less battery capacity due to a different way iOS works, so they don’t need as much power. Having said that, both phones do offer really good battery life, but the ZenFone 10 definitely sits above the iPhone 14 in that regard. It goes above and beyond in terms of battery life, and has one of the best battery life numbers we’ve seen this year. That is a bit surprising for a small phone, but there you go, kudos to ASUS.
You’ll be able to cross the 8-hour screen-on-time mark on the ZenFone 10 with ease, at least we were able to. In fact, the phone went above the 10-hour screen-on-time mark for us, several times. The iPhone 14 will offer closer to 7 hours of screen-on-time. These are only our numbers, of course, without gaming thrown into the mix, with our usage. Your mileage may vary, of course, possibly even quite considerably.
Now, in terms of charging. The ZenFone 10 supports 30W wired, 15W wireless, and 5W reverse wired charging. The iPhone 14 offers support for 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging. Not only does the ZenFone 10 offer faster charging, but it also comes with a charger in the box, which is not something we can say for the iPhone 14.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 14: Cameras
The ZenFone 10 includes a 50-megapixel main camera, and a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera (120-degree FoV). The Apple iPhone 14, on the other hand, includes a 12-megapixel main camera, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV). Both smartphones are capable to produce really good photos, and also do a great job in the video department. They’re not at the top of the food chain in terms of photography, though.
The ZenFone 10 delivers a massive improvement compared to the ZenFone 9, in terms of sharpening. The ZenFone 9 had a tendency to oversharpen photos, quite a bit. That’s no longer the case, and the phone manages to provide well-balanced, vivid shots. The iPhone 14 does a great job too, though it does have a tendency to mess up the highlights, at times. Other than that, it does a really good job.
The iPhone 14 tends to keep low light images closer to real life, while the ZenFone 10 likes to boost the brightness a bit. They both do a really good job in low light, though. The video recording is great on both, and both offer outstanding stability. Gimbal OIS on the ZenFone 10 really shines during video recording.
Audio
You will find a set of stereo speakers on both of these smartphones. Those speakers are well-optimized on both, and provide clear, and well-balanced sound. They’re loud enough, though the iPhone 14 does offer louder speakers in comparison.
The ZenFone 10 does have one thing the iPhone 14 does not in terms of audio hardware, a headphone jack. If you want to connect a wired set of headphones to the iPhone 14, you’ll need to do it through the phone’s Lightning port.