Goodbye to a compact flagship?

ASUS has confirmed that the ROG Phone 8 series is on the way, previously stating that its next-generation ROG Phone series will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Now, it looks like we have a better idea of what to expect, along with a new Zenfone.

A Bluetooth SIG listing for the new ASUS smartphones has appeared online, and the filing lists two ROG Phone handsets. These are the ROG Phone 8 and ROG Phone 8 Pro. However, we also see a listing for a so-called Zenfone 11 Ultra handset. Check out the screenshot below.

The filing doesn’t give us any more information beyond model numbers, Bluetooth 5.4 support, and a suggestion of Qualcomm silicon. In the case of the latter, it’s safe to say that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will power these phones.

A ROG Phone 8 with a new name?

Nevertheless, the fact that the Zenfone 11 Ultra is listed alongside the ROG Phone 8 series suggests that this Zenfone might be a rebranded ROG Phone. It’s also worth noting that the Zenfone 11 Ultra model number listed here (ASUS_AI2401_H) is almost identical to the ROG Phone model numbers, lending further credence to the idea of the Zenfone 11 Ultra being a rebadged ROG handset.

We hope to see a regular, pint-sized Zenfone 11 too if ASUS is indeed pursuing a rebranding strategy with the Ultra model. After all, we don’t see many compact flagship phones anymore, while the ROG Phones aren’t small by any measure.

We won’t have to wait too long to see these phones, though. ASUS just confirmed that the ROG Phone 8 is coming soon, although it didn’t dish out a specific launch date. Nevertheless, we’re guessing that the Zenfone 11 Ultra won’t be part of this ROG Phone series launch.