Following the launch of its flagship ROG Phone 5, ASUS is working on the next generation of ZenFone smartphones, the ZenFone 8 series, the specifications of which were leaked only a few days ago. According to a recent report, ASUS is working on a “Mini” variant in the ZenFone 8 series. The “Mini” combines premium features with a small footprint.
Earlier leaks suggested that the upcoming ZenFone 8 series will feature top-of-the-line specs and the codenames of the devices were also revealed- “SAKE”, “VODKA”, and “PICASSO”. This confirmed that there will be multiple iterations of the ASUS ZenFone 8, like the predecessor, which offers similar specifications.
According to a recent article by XDA-Developers, they believe that the device with the codename “SAKE” could be a smartphone with a small form factor since the phone was referred to as a “small phone” in the ASUS software. The XDA-Developer team came across this while digging through the kernel source code ASUS ROG Phone 5.
ASUS ZenFone 8 Mini “SAKE” Specifications
The term “Mini” is referred to the device only because of the compact form factor, the ASUS ZenFone 8 Mini is expected to ship with flagship features. The report suggests that the smartphone could boast a 5.92-inch Samsung Full HD+ OLED display with 2400×1080 pixels resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The device could be powered by a top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset. On the camera front, details are a bit unclear here, but, it is expected to feature a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor as the primary camera, along with Sony IMX663 sensor, which is yet to be released.
These camera specs are in line with the earlier leaks regarding the ASUS ZenFone 8 series, which confirms that the device is a part of the ZenFone 8 series.
The XDA-Developers team also spotted devices with codename “SAKE_PLUS” and “VODKA_PLUS”, however, there is no clarity whether these devices belong to the ZenFone 8 series or not.
Interestingly, another device “ASUS ZenFone 8” Flip was also spotted on the Google support document a few days back. There is no confirmation whether the “Mini” and the “Flip” are the same devices or not. It is speculated that the term “Flip” is referred to the flip camera, which has been the trademark of ASUS ZenFone devices in the past.
ASUS ZenFone 8 “PICASSO” Specifications
The specifications of the device codenamed “PICASSO” were leaked earlier. The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC with a 6.67-inch Samsung Full HD+ OLED display panel.
The camera module of the smartphone features a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, a 12MP Sony IMX363, and an 8MP OmniVision OV08A sensor for telephoto. Surprisingly, the kernel source referred to a 24MP sensor as the “front” sensor.
However, these are leaks and should be taken with a pinch of salt. We have to wait for the official statement from ASUS to confirm these speculations.