Does the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra spell the end of the small Android flagship?
Samsung aside, the top-tier compact phone market has all but dried up
My jeans pockets are as big as they’ve ever been. My hands definitely haven’t grown. So why has the phone world decided small flagship phones deserve to die? Practically every upcoming smartphone is now a giant, and even one-time standard bearer Asus has seemingly turned its back on minuscule mobile fans.
Older Zenfones were fabulously compact flagships, with all the power of bigger rivals and equally impressive cameras. Battery life was surprisingly good too, given there wasn’t space inside for a huge capacity cell. Maybe they weren’t class leaders, but they were still great picks for anyone that preferred a more petite device.
So I can’t deny being disappointed when the Zenfone 11 Ultra landed on my desk. This year’s effort is effectively a rebadged ROG Phone 8, with photography skills that simply don’t deserve that Ultra tag. Seeing how you can buy longer-lasting phones with better cameras for less cash, it merely blends into the big-screen crowd.
Asus still has until July to course correct; that’s when the Zenfone 10 will reach its first birthday, at which point the phone world’s obsession with annual upgrades decrees it is due a replacement. Company reps have made it clear that phone is still very much on sale for those that want a more pocket-friendly phone. Whether it will see a direct successor, though? That’s a mystery right now.
Of course, Asus will have its reasons for the growth spurt. For starters, small Android flagship phones just aren’t as popular as they once were. Even Apple decided to pull the plug after the iPhone 13 Mini – insiders say it accounted for less than 3% of sales across the entire iPhone 13 line-up. It’s not like the iPhone 15 is a porker, though, so iOS fans can still go compact if they want.
In the Android world, staying small means competing with the juggernaut that is the Samsung Galaxy S-series – the most popular devices running Google’s mobile OS, by a ridiculous margin. The Galaxy S24‘s screen might’ve grown to 6.2in, but it did so without actually making the phone any bigger than the previous generation, thanks to some seriously skinny bezels.
Competing directly with the combined might of Apple and Samsung is a bold (some would say financially ruinous) move, and one seemingly only Google fancies right now, with the Pixel 8. The closest alternative is the 6.36in Xiaomi 14, with pretty much every other phone maker going 6.5in or larger. Sony has yet to replace the 6.1in Xperia 5 V, but I’ll be shocked if a successor shows up without a bigger screen.
The other reason I think a small Android flagship can’t cut it for the phone-buying public in 2024? One word: Ultra. If you’re spending top dollar, you’re gonna want the best cameras, the best display, the biggest battery. And right now, that means going big.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max gets a third rear snapper missing from the regular version; the Google Pixel 8 Pro gets AI smarts you won’t find on its baby brother; the Xiaomi 14 Ultra‘s huge 1in main camera sensor and twin periscope zoom lenses simply wouldn’t fit inside a smaller handset. The Galaxy S24 isn’t actually a flagship phone any more – it bends the knee to the S24 Ultra, with its four cameras, titanium construction and S-Pen productivity.
Until you can get those sort of specs in a smaller device, I’m not sure I see a world where a small Zenfone – or really the small Android flagship in general – can exist. And if you’re not buying them, can you really complain when manufacturers stop making them?
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
