Asus, a corporation well-known for its Republic of Gaming emblem of computing hardware, is the cutting-edge get into the mobile gaming area with its ROG Phone ($899.99 unlocked). It is a cell gamer’s dream with an overclocked Snapdragon 845 processor and a 90Hz AMOLED show. But in case you’re a casual gamer or virtually need something more versatile, the Google Pixel 3 XL or OnePlus 6T are each stronger alternatives.
Design and Durability
The ROG Phone has a specific layout that game enthusiasts will possibly love. However, others can also find it a little flashy. At 6.25 utilizing three.00 by 0.33 inches (HWD) and seven.87 oz, it’s a huge cellphone. It’s nearly the same size and weight as the Razer Phone 2; it is heavier than the Pixel three XL (6.20 oz.) and the OnePlus 6T (6. Forty-two oz). The aggregate of length and weight make the ROG a two-exceeded device that takes up several rooms for your pocket.
Flip the smartphone over, and you may, without delay, note the gamer aesthetic. The smoky Gorilla Glass backplate is adorned with geometric line drawings. There’s an uneven warmth sink at the proper facet of the smartphone with copper accents, in conjunction with a hexagonal digital camera sensor. The fingerprint sensor is also hexagonal and rancid-middle, making it difficult to get admission to.
And even as all the geometric flourishes garner interest, the actual showstopper is the big brand that glows while the smartphone is on. The brand does more than glow, although: It can also warn you of notifications or incoming calls. It’s just like BlackBerry’s notification light, however, with a touch of extra flamboyance.
The left aspect of the phone is domestic to its metallic power and volume rocker buttons, each of which provides a satisfying click when tapped. On the proper, there may be a USB-C charging port and a proprietary connector for accessories; a small rubber guard covers the ports when not in use, but it does not attach to the telephone in any manner, so it’s almost sure to get lost. Special markings are also on every aspect of the phone to signify the location of its Air Triggers—strain-touchy buttons that may be used all through gameplay. A 2d USB-C charging port and 3.5mm headphone jack absorb house on the lowest of the smartphone. The ROG Phone isn’t rugged, nor does it convey any IP score for water or dust safety. Since the phone is made of glass over an aluminum body and has a couple of ports, you may need to treat it with care (and purchase a case).
Display
The ROG Phone’s 6-inch, 2, a hundred and sixty-via-1,080 AMOLED show has an 18: nine-factor ratio. And at the same time, as it does not have a notch, the forehead and chin bezels are chunky. Nevertheless, it is a suitable show for gameplay or streaming video. Viewing angles are strong, and the cellphone has the inky blacks and rich colors you anticipate from an AMOLED. Our assessments determined the show to have suitable coloration accuracy, though vegetables had been barely undersaturated. Peak brightness measured at 451 nits, and we had a hard time seeing the display screen in direct sunlight.
The most noteworthy feature of the display is its 90Hz refresh fee—a primary for AMOLED. The Razer Phone 2 functions as a 120Hz LCD, but LCD doesn’t compare with the rich colors on the ROG Phone. The telephone’s high refresh rate gives a greater responsive revel in than the conventional 60Hz smartphone display while gaming or scrolling through websites or social media feeds. You can choose the refresh charge for personal games and apps within the Game Center; however, keep away from setting 90Hz as your default refresh rate unless you need to dissipate the battery fast.
Network Performance and Audio
The ROG Phone is to be had unlocked and works on AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks. It helps LTE bands half of/three/4/5/7/eight/12/thirteen/17/18/19/20/28/29/32/34/38/39/forty/forty-one/forty-six. Band 71 is especially missing, which is a disgrace for T-Mobile clients in rural regions. On T-Mobile’s network, network performance in downtown Manhattan became super, with 28Mbps down and 29Mbps up despite heavy community congestion.
Wi-Fi is supported on the two.5GHz and 5GHz bands. There’s also Bluetooth five—zero for audio and wearables, in addition to NFC for Google Pay. Call satisfactory is awesome. Transmissions got here throughout clear with minimum clipping, and noise cancellation blocked out all heritage noise. At 88dB, earpiece volume is loud sufficient to hold on to a conversation on a hectic avenue. The ROG Phone’s front-firing speakers are solid. At 91dB, they may be loud enough to fill a small workplace, though the sound isn’t as immersive as what you get on the Razer Phone 2. There’s also DTS:X Ultra 1.0 for more desirable audio best with stressed-out headphones.
Processor and Cooling
The ROG Phone functions as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor overclocked at 2.96GHz and 8GB of RAM. The version we examined has 128GB of storage, with about 110GB unfastened out of the field, although Asus also offers a 512GB version for $1,099. There’s no microSD slot on the smartphone. However, Asus does provide 100GB of Google Drive space for twelve months.
In phrases of benchmarks, the ROG is the quickest Android phone to be had. It garnered a Geekbench multi-middle rating of nine,432, and a single-core score of 2,572. That’s barely better than the Razer Phone 2 (nine,044 multi-center, 2,432 unmarried-middle) and much better than the Pixel three XL (8,378 multi-middle, 2649 single-middle). Remember that benchmarks are ideal for comparing further equipped handsets but might not provide a correct representation of daily performance.
Gaming
Since the Asus ROG Phone is constructed for gaming, we placed it via its paces by gambling several prolonged suits of PUBG Mobile. We created a customized profile for the game in X mode, which allows you to create character recreation profiles, personalize speed settings, and notice average performance. After creating our PUBG profile, we configured the cellphone’s built-in gaming buttons, the aforementioned Air Triggers, to intention and shoot. The gameplay turned into the best, with no dropped frames or choppiness.
A vapor chamber, cooling pads, and warmth spreaders are built in to save you overheating, and we observed the phone handiest started to warm up after playing PUBG for an hour. During that hour of gaming, however, battery existence decreased by 20 percentage. If you find the battery depleting too quickly on your liking, Asus bundles a special fan with the telephone known as the AeroActive Cooler. The fan is made frequently for instances whilst you’re charging the phone at some point of gameplay. It has a thoughtfully positioned USB-C charging port that sits on the lowest of the smartphone, alongside a secondary three.5mm jack for multiplayer games.