Digital zooming is allegedly made easier by the new algorithms in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for higher-quality outcomes. 

 they don't really concentrate on that aspect of their design.

This does, however, discourage the more casual user who wants their smartphone to... similar to a smartphone. 

 if the phone is placed face-down, your pending alerts. 

The non-Ultimate version merely sports a sizable RGB-lit ROG 

 The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate taps out at 8x zoom after that, and even then, we can kind of feel the image degrading

. Although the ROG Phone 7 already has a tonne of (heavy) hardware, we wouldn't be hasty to criticise its lack of a zoom camera