Both Sony and ASUS have rather compelling flagship smartphones to offer at the moment. In this article, we’ll compare them, the Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra. The Xperia 1 VI arrived back in May, while the ZenFone 11 Ultra launched in March this year. These two devices are on the same playing field in a number of ways, but they are also notably different at the same time.

It is worth noting that the ZenFone 11 Ultra is a considerably more affordable device. The Xperia 1 VI costs a lot more, and it’ll be hard to justify the price difference. Let’s see what the two phones have to offer and how they compare one to the other, though. Who knows, the Xperia 1 VI may be worth it for some of you. We’ll first list their specifications and will take it from there.

Specs

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, respectively

– Screen size:
6.5-inch LTPO OLED display (flat, adaptive 120Hz, HDR)
6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED 2X (flat, 144Hz, 2,500 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
2340 x 1080
2400 x 1080
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
12GB (LPDDR5X)
12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (wide, f/1.9 aperture, 24mm lens, 1.12um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF, OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 123-degree FoV, 1.4um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF), 12MP (telephoto, f/3.5 aperture, 170mm lens, 1.0um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF, 3.5x-7.1x continuous optical zoom, OIS, 4cm macro)
50MP (wide, 24mm lens, gimbal OIS), 13MP (ultrawide, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture), 32MP (telephoto, 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture)
– Front cameras:
12MP (wide, f/2.0 aperture, 1.22um pixel size, 24mm lens)
32MP (wide, f/2.5 aperture)
– Battery:
5,000mAh
5,500mAh
– Charging:
30W wired, 15W wireless, 5W reverse wireless (charger & cable not included)
65W wired, 15W wireless, 10W reverse wired (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
162 x 74 x 8.2 mm
163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm
– Weight:
192 grams
224 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.4
– Security:
Side-facing fingerprint scanner
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical)
– OS:
Android 14
Android 14 with ZenUI
– Price:
€1,399+
$899+
– Buy:
Sony Xperia 1 VI (Amazon)
ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra (Amazon)

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Design

Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass. Sony finally went with a somewhat wider ratio for its flagship. Previous devices were very tall and narrow. Both phones have flat front and back sides and a flat frame all around. The thing is, the ZenFone 11 Ultra’s backplate does curve more toward the edges than the Xperia 1 VI’s, and it feels entirely different when you hold it in your hand. Its flat sides are also thinner because of it.

The Xperia 1 VI does not have a display camera hole, notch, or anything of the sort. Sony placed the front-facing camera in the bezel. Its top and bottom bezels are thicker than they are on competing flagships, but not by much. The ZenFone 11 Ultra does have a display camera hole, it’s centered up top. The two phones have a similar curvature on their corners, neither has particularly sharp corners.

Sony’s handset includes all of its buttons on the right-hand side. The power/lock button sits below the volume up and down keys. The camera shutter button sits lower on the right-hand side. The ZenFone 11 Ultra also has its physical buttons on the right-hand side. It has the same outline for the power/lock and volume up and down buttons. There’s no camera shutter key on the device.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI is slightly shorter and narrower than the ZenFone 11 Ultra, while it’s also thinner. That’s not surprising as it has a smaller display. Sony’s phone is also lighter, quite a bit actually. It weighs 192 grams compared to 224 grams of the ZenFone 11 Ultra. Both phones are IP68 certified (the Xperia 1 VI also has the IP65 certification), while they’re also both quite slippery.

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Display

Sony’s flagship features a 6.5-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) LTPO OLED display. This panel is flat, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz (1-120Hz), and HDR content is supported. This handset has a screen-to-body ratio of around 86%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protects the display of the Xperia 1 VI, in case you were wondering.

The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra comes with a 6.78-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) LTPO AMOLED display. This panel has a 144Hz adaptive (1-144Hz) refresh rate, and it supports HDR10 content. The peak brightness here is 2,400 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is around 88%, while the display aspect ratio is 20:9. You’ll find Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front, protecting the ZenFone 11 Ultra’s panel.

Both of these displays are really good. They’re vivid, bright enough, and have good viewing angles. The touch response is good on both panels. They’re also more than sharp enough, even though not as sharp as some of the competing panels. The ZenFone 11 Ultra’s panel will go up to 120Hz most during regular use, the 144Hz refresh rate is reserved for supported games. You can’t go wrong here, both displays will serve you well.

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Performance

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, the company’s 4nm chip, fuels both of these smartphones. At the time of writing this comparison, it’s no longer the flagship chip from the company. However, it’s still plenty powerful. The Xperia 1 VI comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The ZenFone 11 Ultra offers up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Neither phone offers expandable storage, by the way.

Both of these phones do offer great performance in day-to-day tasks. They’re very fluid and offer rather clean versions of Android. They all add their own features on top of Android and offer really compelling Android skins. There has been no slowdown during our use of either phone, in day-to-day tasks, which was to be expected. They’re also really good for gaming, but there’s a catch.

The Xperia 1 VI does make the CPU and GPU throttle when you put some weight on it, or in other words, you fire up a graphically intensive game. The thing is, that’s not something you’ll notice in your gameplay. The games ran perfectly fine on both smartphones, and there was also no excessive heat or anything like that. Yes, they both get warm, but that’s about it. Each phone also has some gaming features to offer, though the ZenFone 11 Ultra offers more in that regard.

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Battery

There is a 5,000mAh battery inside the Xpeira 1 VI. The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra includes a 5,500mAh battery. That difference is not surprising considering that ASUS’ handset has a larger display. Which phone offers better battery life, though? Well, they’re both really good in that regard, actually. The Xperia 1 VI did manage to pull ahead slightly, but they’re on the same playing field in terms of battery life.

You can really get plenty of screen-on-time from both phones. It will all depend on your usage, but in general, both phones do a great job in the battery life department. Getting over the 7-hour screen-on-time mark is possible on both. You can even go higher if you’re being careful. Games will speed up battery drain, as will other graphically intensive tasks, so… your mileage may vary, of course.

What about charging? Well, the Sony Xperia 1 VI supports 30W wired, 15W wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging. The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, on the flip side, supports 65W wired, 15W wireless, and 10W reverse wired charging. The ZenFone 11 Ultra will charge up notably faster in comparison, as long as you charge it via a wired with a compatible charger. It’s worth noting that neither phone ships with a charger, though.

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Cameras

The Sony Xperia 1 VI includes a 48-megapixel main camera (1/1.35-inch sensor size), a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3.5x-7.1x continuous optical zoom, 1/3.5-inch sensor size). The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, on the other hand, has a 50-megapixel main camera (1/1.56-inch sensor size), a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera (1/3.0-inch sensor size), and a 32-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom, 1/3.2-inch sensor size).

Looking at things from the hardware perspective, Sony’s handset does have the advantage. That is kind of visible in the images themselves too, by the way. The larger main sensor in Sony’s phone is generally producing better results, with more detail, and the images do end up looking closer to real life. The ZenFone 11 Ultra does have a tendency to oversharpen some shots, and also the saturation tends to be off at times. They have completely different color profiles. The Xperia 1 VI also does a better job with reflections.

Sony’s handset also has a better telephoto camera, which is actually a periscope telephoto unit. The ZenFone 11 Ultra is limited to a regular telephoto camera, which is good, but not to the extent of what Sony has to offer. Despite the fact the actual camera size of Sony’s periscope telephoto shooter is slightly smaller, the results are better more often than not, even though the ZenFone 11 Ultra does a good job too, as long as you don’t zoom in too much. Sony’s ultrawide unit is noticeably better, and so are the results it provides.

Audio

There are stereo speakers included on both of these smartphones. The ones on the Sony’s handset are louder, though, noticeably louder. The sound output is good from both sets of speakers, though.

If you’re in need of a 3.5mm headphone jack, you’ll be glad to know that both of these smartphones offer one. That is a rarity when it comes to smartphones today, especially flagship ones, but… there you go. Do note that both phones do support Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity.