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Apple’s new iPhones dropped not long ago. The iPhone 15 Pro is the company’s new compact flagship, and in this article, we’ll compare it to a worthy competitor. We’ll compare the ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro. The ZenFone 10 may not be as popular as phones from Apple and Samsung, but it has proven to be an excellent smartphone, as did its predecessor. Considering that they’re both rather compact phones, and also flagship phones, comparing them does make sense.
We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. These two phones are immensely different, which should make for an interesting comparison, to say the least. Having said that, let’s get this party started.
Specs
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro, respectively
– Screen size:
5.92-inch Super AMOLED display (144Hz, HDR10+, 1,100 nits)
6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits)
– Display resolution:
2400 x 1080
2796 x 1290
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Apple A17 Pro
– RAM:
8GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
8GB
– Storage:
128GB/256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
– Rear cameras:
50MP (f/1.9 aperture, gimbal OIS), 13MP (f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV)
48MP (f/1.78 aperture, second-gen sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 3x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
32MP (f/2.5 aperture)
12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth
– Battery:
4,300mAh
4,355mAh
– Charging:
30W wired, 15W wireless, 5W reverse wired (charger included)
20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, 4.5W reverse wired (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4mm
146.6 x 70.6 x 8.25mm
– Weight:
172 grams
187 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.2
– Security:
Side-facing fingerprint scanner
Advanced facial scanning
– OS:
Android 13 with ZenUI
iOS 17
– Price:
$699
$999
– Buy:
Amazon
Apple
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro: Design
The ASUS ZenFone 10 is made out of aluminum and plastic. Do note that by ‘plastic’ I don’t mean your regular, cheap plastic. This phone’s backplate feels like a sheet of paper, it has some grip, and a specific feel to it. The sides on the phone are flat, but with chamfered edges, for comfort. A display camera hole sits in the top-left corner, while the phone’s display is flat. The bezels are thin, but not uniform. Two cameras are located on the back of the phone, and each one is its own camera island, basically.
The iPhone 15 Pro, on the other hand, is made out of titanium and glass. Its sides are also flat, but have slightly curved edges. The bezels on this phone are very thin, and uniform, but there’s a pill-shaped cutout at the top of the display, much larger than the display camera hole on the ZenFone 10. The phone’s backplate doesn’t exactly curve out a bit, like on the ZenFone 10. This phone has three cameras on the back, and they have Apple’s recognizable alignment. They’re all placed in the top-left corner.
The two phones are almost equally tall, while the ZenFone 10 is a bit narrower, and a bit thicker. ASUS’ handset is also lighter, about 15 grams lighter, though both are fairly light. They do offer a completely different in-hand feel, though. Both smartphones do come with an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, and both are rather easy to use with one hand. The ZenFone 10 more so, though.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro: Display
The ASUS ZenFone 10 includes a 5.92-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) Super AMOLED display. That panel is flat, and has a 144Hz refresh rate. Do note that this refresh rate is only accessible in some games. It supports HDR10+ content, and its brightness gets up to 1,100 nits of brightness at its peak. You’ll also find Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus protection on top of this display.
On the flip side, the iPhone 15 Pro, includes a 6.1-inch 2556 x 1179 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED panel. That display is flat, and has a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10 content, and has Dolby Vision support too. This panel gets up to 2,000 nits of brightness at its peak, and is protected by the Ceramic Shield glass. It has a slightly narrower aspect ratio than the ZenFone 10’s display.
Both of these displays are excellent. They are both sharp enough, and even though the iPhone 15 Pro’s panel is sharper, you won’t really notice that. Well, the vast majority of you will not notice it, not at that display size. The viewing angles are great, and the displays are very vivid with deep blacks. The touch response is good on both. The iPhone 15 Pro does have one major advantage, though, its brightness. This display does get noticeably brighter than the ZenFone 10’s.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro: Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 fuels the ZenFone 10, while ASUS also included up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM here. The phone comes with UFS 4.0 flash storage too. So, the best of the best, basically. The iPhone 15 Pro, on the flip side, has the Apple A17 Pro SoC, Apple’s most powerful processor to date. It also includes 8GB of RAM, and NVMe flash storage, up to 1TB.
Both smartphones are very smooth during day-to-day usage. They simply do not slow down, they’re very smooth and responsive. The same goes for gaming, actually. They can run any game you can find in their respective app stores, without a problem. The thing is, the iPhone 15 Pro does get quite hot, at least in some units. Apple did acknowledge this, and is working on a fix at the time of writing this article. So, chances are that won’t be an issue any longer, we’ll have to wait and see. Heat is not an issue for the ZenFone 10, however. It’s one of the smoothest Android devices on the market.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro: Battery
ASUS included a 4,300mAh battery inside the ZenFone 10. The iPhone 15 Pro, on the flip side, includes a 3,274mAh battery. Apple’s handsets usually have considerably smaller batteries than their Android counterparts. That doesn’t have to mean worse battery life, though, but in this case, it does. The ZenFone 10 is easily the best compact phone in the market when it comes to battery life, at least as far as high-end phones go.
We’ve managed to cross the 9-hour screen-on-time mark on the ZenFone 10 easily, and even the 10-hour mark on occasion. The iPhone 15 Pro will fly closer to 6-7 hours of screen-on-time, though all that will depend on your usage, of course. You’ll use different apps compared to us, and will have different usage habits. Also, we did not really play games during our usage, aside from days when we specifically tested gaming, of course. So, take that into account.
The ZenFone 10 supports 30W wired, 15W wireless, and 5W reverse wired charging. The Apple iPhone 15 Pro, on the flip side, supports 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. Qi2 charging will also be supported when the time comes. Do note that the ZenFone 10 includes a charger in the box, while the iPhone 15 Pro does not.
ASUS ZenFone 10 vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro: Cameras
The ZenFone 10 includes two cameras on the back, while the iPhone 15 Pro has three. ASUS placed a 50-megapixel main camera (f/1.9 aperture, gimbal OIS) inside the ZenFone 10, along with a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera (f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV). The iPhone 15 Pro, on the other hand, has a 48-megapixel main camera (f/1.8 aperture, sensor-shift OIS), along with a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera (4x optical zoom, OIS, 3x optical zoom).
The camera department is the area the iPhone 15 Pro has the edge in. The pictures on this phone do look better in comparison, most of the time. The shots during the day look more natural, with better-looking colors, and more detail. The iPhone 15 Pro does take 24-megapixel shots by default. The ZenFone 10 shots look good, but tend to look a bit oversaturated at times, and also the details when you pixel peep are not as good in comparison. Their ultrawide cameras are both good, but that’s also an area that the iPhone 15 Pro does better in, as does when it comes to telephoto shots, as the ZenFone 10 does not have a telephoto camera.
In low light, both phones perform really well, but once again, the iPhone 15 Pro shots do look better overall. They offer better balance, and better colors, not to mention faster shutter speed. The video is immensely stable on the ZenFone 10, and is good overall, but the iPhone 15 Pro does have the edge when we look at video recording as a whole.
Audio
You will find a set of stereo speakers inside of both of these smartphones. Both sets of speakers are really good, and offer well-balanced audio output. Both sets are loud enough too, in case you were wondering.
The ZenFone 10 does come with an audio jack, unlike the iPhone 15 Pro, in case you still use wired headphones. You can utilize the iPhone 15 Pro’s Type-C port if you need it, though. Both smartphones are also equipped with Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless audio connections.