- A Snapdragon-branded Asus phone has surfaced on China’s TENAA website.
- The listing reveals a phone with what appears to be a Snapdragon 888 processor, large OLED screen, and a 3.5mm port.
- One possibility is that this is the Qualcomm-branded gaming phone that was rumored to be in the works last year.
A news report late last year pointed to Qualcomm working with Asus to deliver Qualcomm-branded gaming phones. The US chipmaker hinted to us at the time that it was just a reference platform. Now, it looks like the phone in question may have surfaced online.
China’s TENAA regulatory body has posted images showing a Snapdragon-branded Asus phone (h/t: XDA-Developers), seen at the top of this page. One of the images shows a phone with the Asus logo at the bottom of the back cover, and the Snapdragon name and logo in the center. It also looks like the phone packs a rear fingerprint scanner, although the filing explicitly lists an in-display sensor.
The regulatory filing also lists several specs, including a 6.78-inch OLED screen, 2.84GHz octa-core processor (ostensibly the Snapdragon 888), a 3,840mAh battery capacity (which seems small considering the display size), 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of fixed storage. You’re also getting a triple rear camera setup headlined by a 64MP camera, and a 12MP selfie snapper up-front. Interestingly enough, it also looks like there’s a 3.5mm port onboard according to the listed specs.
More reading: All of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors explained
The TENAA listing also reveals a model number Asus_I007D, and XDA-Developers says this matches a device code-named VODKA that was referenced in the ROG Phone 5‘s firmware. VODKA wasn’t the only device code-name spotted at the time, as the outlet says two devices dubbed SAKE and PICASSO were spotted too. However, the website says the latter two devices launched as the Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip.
It’s worth noting that some of the specs seem broadly in line with the vanilla Zenfone 8, such as the apparent inclusion of a 3.5mm port, a battery that’s roughly in line with the Zenfone 8’s 4,000mAh pack, and the main and selfie camera resolutions. Then again, the Zenfone 8 had a dual rear camera system compared to this phone’s triple sensor layout, and it offered a much smaller screen. Either way, this makes for a very intriguing listing.
Asus told Android Authority that it had no comment to share regarding the listing. We’ve also asked Qualcomm for comment and will update the article if/when they get back to us.
