ASUS has finally entered the world of gaming smartphones, and it has brought its first gaming smartphone—ASUS ROG Phone—under the ultra-popular ROG (Republic of Gamers) lineup. The ASUS ROG Phone is equipped with an octa-core 2.96GHz Snapdragon 845 processor, 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and 512GB of UFS internal storage. The phone even features an extraordinary AMOLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate, a dual rear-facing camera and a vapour cooling system to keep the phone cool even during intense gaming sessions.
Asus ROG: Features
To start off with its display, the ASUS ROG smartphone features a taller, 6-inch OLED screen with Full HD+ resolution (1080×2160 pixels) and a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother visuals. The screen has 1ms pixel response time, 108.6% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, 10000:1 contrast ratio, and it is even capable of playing back HDR content, thanks to a discrete image processing chip. The display can also recognise fingers through gloves.
The ASUS ROG Phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, but it isn’t the run-of-the-mill Snapdragon 845 chipset that you see in other phones. Qualcomm has specifically overclocked the chipset’s CPU to 2.96GHz (compared to 2.8GHz) for the ASUS ROG Phone. As usual, the CPU is paired with the Adreno 630 GPU so that users can experience flawless mobile gaming and multimedia playback. Asus hasn’t mentioned the Android version running on this device, but we expect it to run Android 8.1 Oreo.
As mentioned above, the ROG Phone uses a vapour-based cooling technology, and ASUS is calling it GameCool system. It is claimed to offer improved thermals using a copper heat spreader and 3D vapour chamber to transfer heat away from the processor and into the body effectively. If you want something even better, there’s also an optional AeroActive Cooler that can blow off air from the phone’s back panel to improve heat dissipation. To prevent interruption-free gaming, the ROG Phone has an X Mode. When this mode is activated, the phone raises the minimum CPU clock speed to keep the CPU on its heels, and confines tasks to the chip’s four fastest cores to ensure that the maximum performance is achieved. The gaming mode also blocks notification for calls, emails, and other apps.
The ASUS ROG Phone’s X Mode can be activated by squeezing the smartphone from its side. This is similar to the HTC U11, U11+, and U12 smartphone, dubbed HTC Edge Sense. The handset is also compatible with ASUS’ new classic gamepad accessory called Gamevice Controller. This gamepad setup has an analogue stick, two sets of shoulder buttons, and gaming keys on each side. The company even made a Mobile Desktop Dock for the ROG Phone that lets you play all the games you like on a bigger display for an even more immersive experience. This allows the use of a 4K monitor, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel speakers, and a stack of USB peripherals. That’s not all. The phone also supports a specialised accessory with a dual-screen called the TwinView Dock. It has an additional 6-inch 1080p screen, similar to the phone, and has its own set of speakers and a cooling system.
Asus’s ROG: Specifications
- Display: 6-inch OLED display, 2160 x 1080 pixels FHD+ resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio, 90Hz refresh rate, 1ms pixel response time, 108.6% DCI-P3 colour gamut, 10000:1 contrast ratio, HDR support
- Processor: 2.96GHz octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset with Adreno 630 GPU
- Memory: 8GB
- Storage: 128GB/512GB UFS 2.1 internal storage
- Rear-facing camera: 12MP primary sensor, 8MP secondary sensor
- Front-facing camera: 8-megapixel
- Extras: GameCool system, X mode, Gamevice controller, Mobile Desktop Dock, TwinView Dock
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM card slot, 4G LTE + VoLTE, Wi-Fi Direct and WiGig 802.11ad wireless display support, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC,GPS, aGPS, Glonass, BeiDou, USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm audio port
- Dimensions: 158.8 x 76.2 x 8.6mm
- Weight: 200 grams
- Battery: 4000mAh with fast charging support
- Audio: Dual front-facing stereo speakers, smart amplifier, 24-bit/192KHz Hi-Res Audio, Qualcomm aptX High-definition Bluetooth wireless audio
- Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity sensor, e-compass, Hall sensor, ambient light sensor, fingerprint sensor, gyroscope, 2 x ultrasonic AirTriggers
