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If you use the online food delivery service, there are a few steps you can take.

OpenAI has changed the way that its new ChatGPT o3-mini model displays its chain of thought (Cot) to “make it easier for people to understand how the model thinks," however it has faced an almost immediate backlash from users and accusations that it is copying the way that DeepSeek's R1 model displays its reasoning.

Speaking to TechRadar, OpenAI said: “Users have told us that understanding how the model reasons through a response not only supports more informed decision-making but also helps build trust in its answers."

"While the model’s raw CoT remains hidden as it’s hard to understand, we’ve found a balance: the model can think freely, and then it organises those thoughts so that they are easy to read. To improve clarity and safety, we’ve added an additional post-processing step where the model reviews the raw chain of thought, removing any unsafe content and then simplifies any complex ideas. Additionally, this post-processing step enables non-English users to receive the CoT in their native language, creating a more accessible and friendly experience.”

The new approach effectively provides summaries of the model’s reasoning instead of showing you the raw data. However, despite the new approach being available in both the o3-mini for free and paid users and o3-mini-high for paid users, the response on X to its changes was not entirely positive.

Mayo Oshin responded on X, posting: “We'd appreciate if you showed the full chain of thought, not just summarised version....thank you”, and Conor responded with, “its still a summary and not real CoT, which is disappointing."

Some other users responded by suggesting that OpenAI was simply responding to the threat offered by the new DeepSeek by copying the way it presented the reasoning chain in its R1 model. “Finally DeepSeek changing the O-World for us,” replied Hamza. “So OpenAI copied Deepseek's Chain of Thought feature?” said Ignis Rex, and “That moment when China is the one innovating, and US is the copycat,” said Josip Tomo Licardo.

A big step forward

Personally, I much prefer the new way of presenting reasoning in ChatGPT o3-mini. If you try the model now (just hit the Reasoning button) before you enter your prompt, you’ll find that much more information is provided on how ChatGPT is coming to its conclusion. The previous scarcity of reasoning information, when compared to DeepSeek, was something I criticized 03-mini for in the last few days. So, from my perspective, I think the new approach is a big step forward for ChatGPT o3-mini.

I’m not alone in welcoming the new feature, either. X user Roman Pshichenko said, “Hilariously, the chain of thought is more endearing and funny than the stiff response,” and “That's a nice improvement! I'd love to see some examples of how this update impacts it's reasoning process," said Jesus Vazquezon X.

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Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic member of the Federal Election Commission, says President Trump is trying to improperly remove her from the post.

(Image credit: Alex Wong)

An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”

French big guns meet for the third time in six weeks.

The Bavarians are looking to claim an eighth straight win in the league.

• Amazon’s last quarter capex was $26.3 billion last quarter, with growth set to continue
• Company plans to spend big on AI projects in 2025 to keep pace with rivals
• Microsoft and Google are also spending more on AI

Amazon's CEO appears to have indirectly revealed the company plans to allocate around $100 billion to capital expenditure in 2025, with much of the money destined for AI.

The news comes as the ecommerce and cloud computing giant announced its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results.

Amazon revenue for the final three-month period of 2024 climbed 10% year-over-year to $187.8 billion, boosting its full-year revenue to $638.0 billion, up 11% compared with 2023.

Amazon will invest even more money in 2025

Its Amazon Web Services cloud divison, accounted for around 15-17% of its entire revenue, depending on whether we take a quarterly or annual overview. Both periods saw 19% increases year-over-year.

Speaking with investors on an earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy suggested Amazon may spend more than $100 billion in the year ahead: “We spent $26.3 billion in capex in Q4, and I think that is reasonably representative of what you expect an annualized capex rate in 2025.”

Although a lack of figures doesn’t allow us to quantify the bold claims, Jassy added: “The vast majority of that capex spend is on AI for AWS.”

It’s not just Amazon looking to increase its capital expenditure to keep up with demand for artificial intelligence. Google recently revealed it would be spending $75 billion this year, with Microsoft set to invest $80 billion.

It’s no surprise Amazon’s investments will far exceed its key hyperscaler rivals – Canalys has its market share at a staggering 33%; Microsoft and Google occupy 20% and 10% of the market respectively. Just last month, Amazon unveiled an $11 billion investment into data centers in the state of Georgia.

The consensus is that investing more will help make AI more accessible and increase its use cases, therefore bringing more money in for the companies.

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If the Trump administration continues targeting DEI in science and seeking to slash funding, American science will look fundamentally different.

(Image credit: Bryan Allen/Getty Images)

• Yandex developed and open-sourced Perforator which identifies inefficiencies in applications
• This in turn allows DevOps and SysOps to optimize applications and reduce infrastructure costs
• Savings can be billions of dollars for hyperscalers but even SMBs with on-prem servers can benefit

Yandex, Russia's largest tech company, has released an open source tool designed to identify and evaluate code inefficiencies across an entire code base.

“Perforator” can help a range of businesses - from tech giants like Google and Microsoft to SMBs - reduce their infrastructure costs by up to 20%, the company says, helping DevOps and SysOps teams pinpoint the most resource-intensive sections of code and offers detailed suggestions for how to optimize them. Using eBPF technology it can run programs within the Linux kernel safely and without slowing down systems.

The tool supports a range of popular languages, including C, C++, Go, Rust, Python, and Java. Analytics and data visualization are offered through flame graphs, making problem diagnostics much more manageable, and use of profile-guided optimization (PGO) can accelerate C++ programs by up to 10%. Yandex says it intends to improve future versions with better integration for Python and Java, along with more precise event analysis.

Saving hyperscalers a fortune

“Perforator helps businesses get the most out of their servers without sacrificing performance," said Sergey Skvortsov, a senior developer at Yandex who leads the team behind the tool. "Using Perforator, businesses can optimize their code, reduce server load, and ultimately lower energy and equipment costs."

Yandex says Perforator is useful for large data centers, tech corporations, and even smaller businesses with limited resources. Instead of investing in additional equipment, they can use the tool to get more out of their existing infrastructure. Perforator also includes handy A/B testing capabilities.

The tool has been used within Yandex services for over a year and is now available globally for companies, developers, and researchers. Because it runs directly on a company’s servers, Perforator reduces reliance on external cloud providers, making it ideal for organizations with strict data security requirements.

For hyperscalers, the potential savings could be huge, but SMBs with on-prem servers can also see substantial cost reductions. "Perforator can benefit companies of all sizes, from small businesses with 10-100 servers, which can save millions of dollars per year, to larger enterprises with thousands of servers and more, where savings can reach hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars annually,” Skvortsov said.

Perforator’s source code is available for free on GitHub, alongside Yandex's other open-source tools.

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Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Friday, February 7 (game #1110).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1111) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1111) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1111) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1111) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1111) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• A

• H

• T

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1111) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1111, are…

• AFOOT
• ALIKE
• HUMUS
• TOWEL

Another close shave. After a couple of unlucky guesses and one wild one (Pushy was an extremely unlikely punt) I just about managed to complete today’s puzzle.

The word AFOOT is automatically connected to “the game is afoot”, an idiom uttered by Sherlock Holmes to Watson when his detecting senses are pricked by a case. The phrase was not coined by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but by Shakespeare's Henry V and his impassioned plea for the English to take up arms.

Whatever its provenance, for me today’s Classic game was not afoot, but the Sequence most definitely was and I somehow pulled rabbits out of hats to conjure up the four words. A very WOOZY experience.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1111) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1111, are…

• WOOZY
• WHOOP
• NOMAD
• BLOKE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1110, Friday 7 February: PETAL, ABASE, AMONG, CORER
• Quordle #1109, Thursday 6 February: MADAM, SCAMP, FAUNA, TRACK
• Quordle #1108, Wednesday 5 February: SIXTH, VERVE, BLURB, CACTI
• Quordle #1107, Tuesday 4 February: BIRTH, DRAWN, MILKY, JOIST
• Quordle #1106, Monday 3 February: SLEET, TENSE, SEIZE, SCAMP
• Quordle #1105, Sunday 2 February: LOUSY, PENNE, CHUMP, SALVE
• Quordle #1104, Saturday 1 February: FACET, BLISS, FLUFF, FRANK
• Quordle #1103, Friday 31 January: PARER, SYNOD, BRAWN, BANJO
• Quordle #1102, Thursday 30 January: WEEDY, CHIRP, STALE, SUGAR
• Quordle #1101, Wednesday 29 January: CROWN, SCENE, AGILE, CRANK
• Quordle #1100, Tuesday 28 January: TOKEN, DAISY, INANE, PLIED
• Quordle #1099, Monday 27 January: ANGEL, GLOBE, MAYOR, BRAVE
• Quordle #1098, Sunday 26 January: WATER, ORBIT, BRIDE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1097, Saturday 25 January: GIVER, GROOM, GUSTO, MAKER
• Quordle #1096, Friday 24 January: GRIND, STOCK, SERVE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1095, Thursday 23 January: RUGBY, SASSY, WORRY, BANAL
• Quordle #1094, Wednesday 22 January: SLANT, TRUNK, WOOZY, EATEN
• Quordle #1093, Tuesday 21 January: CHART, VIGOR, PRINT, SPAWN
• Quordle #1092, Monday 20 January: SIXTY, THONG, TATTY, ROBIN
• Quordle #1091, Sunday 19 January: WREST, RINSE, SCOUR, CANNY

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, February 7 (game #341).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #342) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Westminster assembly

NYT Strands today (game #342) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• NUDE
• GOING
• SPOON
• RIDER
• KING
• DROWN

NYT Strands today (game #342) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Well bred

NYT Strands today (game #342) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 5th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #342) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #342, are…

• WORKING
• HOUNDS
• HERDING
• TOYS
• TERRIERS
• SPORTING
• SPANGRAM: DOG GROUP

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 hints

Despite being a big fan of the movie Best In Show – which parodies the prestigious and pretentious dog show world – it took me ages before I realized what today’s theme was about.

Being British, Westminster automatically triggers thoughts of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and all that tourist malarky, rather than The Westminster Kennel Club and its many canine categories.

Despite my ignorance, this was still a really enjoyable puzzle, with dozens of hint words lurking in the grid to throw us off scent. Top marks, Strands.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 7 February, game #341)

• EMBROIDERY
• LACE
• FRINGE
• TASSEL
• SEQUINS
• SPANGRAM: CLOTHING ACCENTS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, February 7 (game #607).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #608) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FAST
• BUNCH
• TEAM
• PLAYER
• SOUL
• STAT
• SOON
• RUFFLE
• LATER
• GATHER
• BIO
• FINGER
• NOW
• JUNK
• THEN
• PUCKER

NYT Connections today (game #608) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Ballers deets
• GREEN: Ruche it up  
• BLUE: Cometh the hour 
• PURPLE: Eat it

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #608) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: INFO ON A BASEBALL CARD
• GREEN: SCRUNCH, AS FABRIC
• BLUE: TIME ADVERBS 
• PURPLE: — FOOD 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #608) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #608, are…

• YELLOW: INFO ON A BASEBALL CARD BIO, PLAYER, STAT, TEAM
• GREEN: SCRUNCH, AS FABRIC BUNCH, GATHER, PUCKER, RUFFLE
• BLUE: TIME ADVERBS LATER, NOW, SOON, THEN
• PURPLE: — FOOD FAST, FINGER, JUNK, SOUL

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I completed today’s Connections without ever knowing what the four groups were until getting them correct – I just thought they belonged together.

It’s part of the two-tiered wonder/satisfaction/disappointment loop of this particular puzzle. You can whiz through it and still feel as if you know nothing – and I know absolutely nothing about INFO ON A BASEBALL CARD – which in turn can make you feel either blessed or as if you have gotten away with something.

I’m definitely in the latter camp. “He got away with it (until now)” is all that will need to be said in my obituary.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 7 February, game #607)

• YELLOW: BE IN CHARGE OF DIRECT, HEAD, LEAD, RUN
• GREEN: THINGS MADE OF RUBBER BALLOON, ERASER, GALOSH, TIRE
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH THE GENIE IN "ALADDIN" BLUE, EARRING, LAMP, WISHES
• PURPLE: RED -_ BULL, CROSS, HERRING, VELVET

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

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(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

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Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra two-minute review

If you're going to call a smartphone ‘ultra’, it needs to embody that adjective. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a top-tier camera system. The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has mind-boggling charging speeds and a chic textured look. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a stylus (and lots more besides).

Throughout my testing of the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra, I couldn't quite put my finger on what made it worthy of the 'ultra' designation. It’s undoubtedly a highly capable premium Android phone, but in the competitive mobile market, ‘good’ just isn’t good enough.

The latest entry in Asus’ one-per-year line of flagship Zenfone mobiles, the Zenfone 12 Ultra is another top-spec handset that costs a blisteringly large amount of money. On paper, it's a stablemate of the best Android phones and best iPhones – and it certainly competes with those devices in some areas.

Indeed, if you look at the specs sheet below, you’ll see that the Zenfone 12 Ultra bears all the hallmarks of a premium smartphone. Its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor provides a huge amount of processing power, and its giant 6.78-inch display is great for gaming or streaming movies. The phone's three-lens rear camera array also gives shutterbugs much to delight in.

Certainly, from a specs perspective, there's nothing to dispute the Zenfone 12 Ultra's status as an 'ultra' phone. But that's no longer enough.

All of those aforementioned ‘ultra’ phones go that extra mile to justify the suffix, offering unique features or specs that make their hefty price tags seem almost reasonable. I don’t see any such selling point in the Zenfone 12 Ultra. It’s not ‘ultra’, it just is. Ironically, the lack of a non-ultra Zenfone 12 seems to underline this fact.

If you were to ask Asus, the company would likely say that the killer additions here are the phone's AI features. Most new phones nowadays tout a long list of ‘AI features’, a buzzword given to what we’d otherwise call ‘new software tools’ or, less forgivingly, ‘unnecessary software extras’ – but you need to call everything ‘AI’ in today's tech landscape.

Among the Zenfone 12 Ultra’s AI features are an article summary tool, call translation, a feature that creates AI-generated wallpapers, and plenty of AI-powered camera tools. Now, regardless of the usefulness of many of these features (how many people actually phone someone else who doesn't have a language in common?) and the unproven interest of normal tech buyers in AI features, they don’t allow the Zenfone 12 Ultra to collect the 'ultra' suffix for one simple reason – so few of them are actually new. Honestly, the Zenfone 11 Ultra had most of them.

Speaking of the Zenfone 11 Ultra, the 12 Ultra barely brings any upgrades over it to the table. A newer chipset and some minor tweaks to the camera lenses are the only improvements I could discern. I checked the price of the now-year-old Zenfone 11 Ultra one week prior to the 12 Ultra’s release, and it was going for over a third off from Asus itself. So, you’d be saving loads of money on a pretty similar mobile.

What's more, the Zenfone 12 Ultra has even more similarities to the recent Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro. Their appearances are near-identical, as are their specs, with the scant differences being the 12 Ultra's smaller battery and a refresh rate that doesn’t go quite as high, and the ROG Phone's trigger sensors and LED back panel.

Okay, let's take a breath. I may sound down on the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra in this review, but it's undoubtedly a good phone. It provides a top-tier experience across the board and I enjoyed using it throughout my testing process.

That said, Asus loaned me the device for review purposes, meaning I didn’t have to part with a scary amount of my salary to buy it. When you factor in the phone's high price, it’s hard to see why you should opt for the Zenfone 12 Ultra over its equally expensive rivals – or, for that matter, mid-range rivals that offer similar specs for a dramatically lower price.

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Released in February 2024
• Costs €1,099.99 in European markets
• US, UK, and Australian availability unconfirmed for now

The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra was launched in early February 2024, a year on from its predecessor, and with nary a standard or Pro sibling to speak of.

At the time of writing, it's only available in European markets for a price of €1,099.99, which will net you 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. "As for pricing and availability in the US, UK, and Australia", Asus told TechRadar, "we have yet to get a clear date or price at this moment." That said, we expect the Zenfone 12 Ultra to launch in at least some of these regions soon.

For a little bit of context, the Zenfone 11 Ultra started at $899.99 / £869.99 (around AU$1,450) for its 12GB/256GB starter model. There was also a 16GB/512GB model, which offers a better price comparison to the Zenfone 12 Ultra, but it was only on sale in the UK (for £949.99). The Asus Rog Phone 9 Pro, meanwhile, is available globally for $1,199.99 / £1,099.99 / AU$1,999.99.

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: specs Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: design

(Image credit: Future)

• Blocky phone that looks like predecessor
• Still has a 3.5mm jack
• IP68 protection

There’s no getting around it: the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra is a blocky phone. I won’t quite call it ‘ugly’, not when the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra lays claim to that term with such an iron rule, but it’s a little on the boring side.

It looks almost identical to the Zenfone 11 Ultra, and pretty similar to the ROG Phone 9 Pro, but without the lines pattern of the former and the ‘gamer chic’ of the latter.

It’s a big phone, measuring 183.8 x 77 x 8.9 mm and weighing 220g, so if you remember how Asus used to cater to the small-phone market with its Zenfones, you’ll be disappointed. It stretched my hands out and I’ve got fairly average-sized mitts, and it was a pretty big burden in the pocket too.

The right edge of the mobile has the power button – pretty easy to reach, despite the phone’s big size – and the volume rocker, which was a little harder to stretch to. There’s also an in-screen fingerprint sensor, positioned higher up than on other phones, which took a little getting used to.

Talking of acclimatizing, the USB-C charging port on the phone’s bottom edge isn’t right in the middle. Instead, it’s to the left – as far as I’m aware, Asus is the only company that uses this design quirk. There’s nothing wrong with it, once you get through the first few days of jamming your charger into the wrong place. There’s another novelty here too, in the form of a 3.5mm headphone jack. How many mobiles cater to wired headphone users these days?! Props to Asus for that.

I mostly used the Zenfone 12 Ultra in a protective case (provided) but even when I didn’t, it took drops and bumps like a champ. It has an IP68 rating, so it can withstand dust ingress, as well as brief drops in the tub or pool.

• Design score: 3.5 / 5

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: display

(Image credit: Future)

• 6.78 inches, 1080 x 2400 resolution
• 144Hz refresh rate max, though usually at 120Hz
• A few display customization features

The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra has a nice big display: it’s 6.78 inches diagonally, which explains how much of a hand-stretch the mobile itself is.

The screen’s resolution is FHD+ or 1080 x 2400 — that’s pretty standard for most smartphones, although you’d be forgiven for wanting a little more at this price range.

Mind you, the phone's refresh rate is super fast at 144Hz (good luck finding many games to utilize that spec, though) and the max brightness is nice and high at 2500 nits. In typical use, you can expect a buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

There's another feature here I love to see in smartphones: a color temperature and balance mode for adjusting the way the screen looks. Max saturation with the warmest possible temperature? Don't mind if I do!

• Display score: 4 / 5

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: software

(Image credit: Future)

• Android 15 with optional Asus overlay
• Only two years of OS updates
• AI features aren't very useful

In a pretty unusual move for an Android phone, you actually have your pick between two software systems when you first boot up the Zenfone 12 Ultra. Both are technically Android 15, but you can choose between stock Android and Asus’ reskinned version. The differences are minimal but it's nice to be given the choice.

Stock Android is, if you don’t know, the standard Google-made version of the Android operating system, and it’s popular for being quite clean-looking. However, it misses many custom features that certain other versions of Android have. Asus doesn’t add any of these features in its own version, mind; it’s just a redesign for how menus and icons look.

Whether you pick stock or Asus Android, you’re getting software that’s quite minimal, which is a good thing; there are few pre-installed apps (beyond lots of Google ones) and a smartly laid-out quick-settings menu with big icons that are easy to press.

Asus has only promised two years of software updates for the Zenfone 12 Ultra, which isn’t a particularly ‘ultra’ commitment given how many years of updates rivals offer. That doesn’t mean it’ll stop working after two years, but you won’t get new features added after that point.

As mentioned in the introduction to this review, a few AI features on the Zenfone 12 Ultra seem to be its main selling point, but I wasn’t hugely impressed by any of them. The option to use them is often buried in menus (to use the AI article summarizer, for instance, you need to go into the browser’s ‘share’ menu to share it with the summary tool) and they were often pretty slow to work. In fact, for summarizing articles online, I found it quicker to literally just read the article than to wait for the summary tool to work.

You have to download extra kits for most of the AI features, too, and they’re pretty big, often several GB each. I can see these tools eating up a fair amount of storage space.

I’m always a little cynical of AI features on phones, with most of them seemingly designed to fix problems that no one actually has, and offered in lieu of actual improvements to a given device. Suffice to say, I never used these AI features on the Zenfone 12 Ultra beyond my obligatory testing of them.

• Software score: 3.5 / 5

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: cameras

(Image credit: Future)

• 50MP main, 13MP ultra-wide and 32MP telephoto lenses
• 32MP selfie snapper
• Scene optimization comes in clutch

The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra may not offer the megapixel overload of its rivals, but it covers its bases.

On the back of the phone is a 50MP main camera, which is joined by a 13MP ultra-wide and a 32MP telephoto, the latter of which can reach 3x optical zoom.

All three combine to give you a decent level of versatility and control over the shots you take (as long as you don't want to go above the 30x digital zoom cap), and there's largely a consistency between image quality at these ranges

Coming in clutch is the image optimization and HDR, which was quick to punch up the contrast and saturation of pictures to improve their vibrancy without making them look unnatural. Look at the curry bowl or football field images below as cases in point; neither looked as bright in real life as they do on camera.

These improvements increase the Zenfone's camera grade from 'fine' to 'good', even if the phone misses the extra lenses, sensitive sensors, and super-high-res MP counts of its competitors. That said, the latter would have been preferable for situations in which the AI optimization didn't step in, like in the pizza pic below.

Another thing to note is that photos often took longer to capture than I'd expect; I'd often press the shutter button and assume the photo had been taken, only to move the phone and end up with a blurry end image. My advice to owners would be to hold the Zenfone 12 Ultra in place for a few seconds longer than you think you need to, or else you'll end up with a long list of camera reel mistakes.

(Image credit: Future)

The selfie camera hits 32MP, and its result is largely similar to the rear ones: it has the potential to make some bright and bold pictures, and succeeds most of the time, thanks to software.

The phone can record video in 8K/30fps, 4K/60fps, or down to HD/480fps in the slow-mo realm.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra also has a small selection of extra modes. Some, like Night and Portrait, work well; the latter was great at balancing contrast and exposure, as you can see in the photo below, and Portrait was fantastic at adding a natural-looking bokeh and also balancing the colors and tones of a shot.

There are a few modes being touted as 'AI' ones too, despite the fact that almost all camera software features use artificial intelligence in some way or another. These include AI Panning, which creates a "dynamic focus effect" on a moving object, and in effect, this is very similar to Portrait mode. The other is AI Tracking, which lets you record a video of something moving and it'll output a zoomed-in photo that keeps the moving subject framed center. I can see this being situationally very useful, although I only ever found myself using it for testing's sake.

• Camera score: 4 / 5

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra camera samples Image 1 of 7

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(Image credit: Future) Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra: performance and audio

(Image credit: Future)

• Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
• Fast for gaming and everyday use (mostly)
• Range of audio options

The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra really embodies the ‘ultra’ in its name when it comes to performance: it’s a certifiable beast.

The processor at work here is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is the chipset you'll find inside many of the current best Android phones (at the time of writing, at least) and it tells. It’s paired with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage.

Games were snappy to play, and could easily handle the highest graphical settings; they didn’t lag or stutter once and, in the most noticeable improvement (in my mind) over a lesser chipset, they were really quick to open too.

In a Geekbench 6 multi-core test, the Zenfone 12 Ultra returned a score of 9,818, putting it in the higher echelons of phones we’ve tested. For context, Geekbench’s own rankings mark the iPhone 16 Pro at a score of 8,528 (though no recent 8 Elite-toting phones are listed).

The speed is mostly noticeable in other parts of the phone, too, for example when you’re trying to edit a big photo. However, I noticed that the AI features could cause the phone to slow down noticeably. This isn't a deal-breaker, especially given that most of the features take only a second to use, but the minor slowdown was still noticeable.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra has stereo speakers and, in a surprisingly retro turn, a 3.5mm headphone jack. As a result, audio fans have a choice as to how they’d like to listen to content on this phone, which is a rarity in this day and age.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: battery life

(Image credit: Future)

• Pretty big 5,500mAh battery
• Lasts for over a day of use
• 65W charging, 15W wireless

The Zenfone 12 Ultra packs a 5,500mAh battery — that's pretty big, but it’s also necessary for a phone of this size and power.

When I used the Zenfone as a normal mobile (i.e. not as a gaming phone) it could reliably coast through a single day of use and reach mid-way into the second day without trouble, but I wouldn’t go quite so far as to say it’s got two-day battery life.

When I did go heavier on the gaming side of things, I was happy with how well the Zenfone 12 Ultra could handle a few hours of gaming without losing too much battery — it’s hard to be scientific when talking about experiential battery use, but the phone lost charge slower than lots of other handsets I’ve tested recently.

Charging is a little slow. That feels silly to say for a phone with 'fast charging', but it’s at 65W, which is slower than lots of its rivals. There’s also 15W wireless charging.

• Battery score: 3.5 / 5

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: value

(Image credit: Future)

The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra is an undeniably pricey premium phone. While an argument could be made that no phones in this price range really offer value for money, it's doubly the case with the Asus.

I say this because it doesn't really offer any killer features, either over its predecessor or comparatively priced rivals, that make it a must-buy. When you cost this much, specs alone will only get you so far.

If you can find the Zenfone 12 Ultra at a meaty discount, it's potentially more deserving of your money, but I'm talking a 25% discount as a minimum for that to be the case.

• Value score: 2.5 / 5

Should you buy the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra? Buy it if...

You need lots of processing power
The Zenfone 12 Ultra is one of the most powerful phones on the market right now, and it'll stay a contender for years to come.

You're a wired audio fan
Few Android phones come with headphone jacks these days, especially towards the premium end of the market.

You play 144Hz games
Very select mobile games can play at 144 fps, but for the ones that do, it's hard to find mobiles that support this high refresh rate. The Zenfone 12 Ultra is one of them.

Don't buy it if...

You don't like big phones
The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra will stretch smaller hands; don't buy it thinking it's one of the compact Zenfones of old.

You find the Zenfone 11 Ultra discounted
The Zenfone 12 Ultra doesn't offer that many upgrades over its predecessor, and that older phone is now poised for sizeable sales.

Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra review: Also consider

If you want other 'ultra' smartphones to compare the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra to, here are some other similar-priced picks.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
The natural rival, this Android powerhouse has a wider array of cameras, a bigger and higher-res display, and a stylus. However, its chipset is the same as the one in the Asus, its battery is smaller, and it charges slower.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

iPhone 16 Pro
The other natural rival, the iPhone 16 Pro, costs roughly the same as the Asus. It has a smaller screen, a weaker battery, and, if the benchmarks are anything to go by, a lesser chipset. But I'd be remiss not to mention the Apple rival at a phone this costly.

Read our full iPhone 16 Pro review

Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Another ultra-branded Android phone, this Xiaomi has an unbeatable camera array, a better display, and faster charging, but last year's chipset and software.

Read our full Xiaomi 14 Ultra review

How I tested the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra

• Review test period = 2 weeks
• Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
• Tools used = Geekbench 6, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native Android stats

To properly test the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra, I used it daily for two weeks; this doesn't include a short period beforehand when I set it up, took the review photos, and played a few games on it.

The testing of the handset occurred in two parts. The first saw me run benchmark tests, take sample photos, and run down the battery. The other was more experiential; I used the handset for personal things like music and video streaming, social media scrolling, mobile game-playing, and other everyday tasks.

At the time of this review's publication, I've been writing reviews for TechRadar for exactly 6 years (happy anniversary, me!). I've reviewed countless smartphones in that time, including multiple Asus models as well as headphones, smartwatches, and tablets.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed February 2025