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Asus ROG Phone Review | Tech News


Asus ROG Phone review


Here we review the Asus ROG Phone&nbsp

Asus ROG Phone is the latest in town that wants to offer the best when it comes to gaming, and there’s no doubt that it’s not for the mass market but can it be the ultimate PUBG device? We review it to find out. 

Smartphones are more than just devices which are used to make calls or text someone, and we have been reviewing some of the greatest and the most high-tech handsets for the longest time now. However, there always comes one smartphone which seems hard to evaluate as we are unable to select the approach with which we will be judging the device. Such is the case with Asus ROG Phone, where ROG stands for Republic of Gamers. This is one smartphone which made us take a long time to decide whether we should review it as a gaming smartphone or as a device we use day in and day out.

The thing with Asus ROG Phone is that the said gaming smartphone is priced right in between the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and the iPhone XR. While these two smartphones come with some high-end specifications, they are still considered to be great daily users but not gaming smartphones. On the other hand, with the Asus ROG Phone, users get the flagship processor, some gaming chops, a stand out design, AirTriggers, high-end camera sensors and more. All of this forces us to see the Asus ROG Phone as a complete package instead of just a gaming smartphone.

But at the same time, the Asus ROG Phone has been launched as a direct competitor to the Razer Phone 2, and while the latter is a little cheaper, the Asus ROG Phone comes with double the storage capacity than the Razer Phone 2. In short, Asus has a lot of ground to cover with its new gaming smartphone in India.

Asus ROG Phone design

The Taiwanese company is yet to make the same impact in the business as it has done with its laptops, we try to make out whether this premium gaming smartphone is worth the price tag and can it make its own space in an already crowded segment.

Pros

Great performance

Vibrant AMOLED display

Loud and clear speakers

Long-lasting battery

Quick biometrics

Cons

Still runs Android Oreo

No expandable storage

Average cameras

The device feels a little heavy

Asus ROG Phone Review: Design and display

The Asus ROG Phone’s design based on the company’s lineup of gaming laptops and the first thing we thought of while unboxing the smartphone was, ‘this device means business’. If you were looking for a gaming smartphone, the Asus ROG Phone has an ample amount of gaming aesthetics to offer. The cold metal frame, massive bezels and the curved Gorilla Glass 6 protection which smoothly envelopes the rear panel, create an impression of a perfect gaming phone. Moreover, the Asus ROG Phone comes with an asymmetric design which includes several elements to make it stand out from the crowd. Irregular polygonal shapes are housing the dual rear camera setup, fingerprint scanner and event the LED flash, all of which seems unique.

There is also a metallic cutout which houses two air vents that look like speakers while the fingerprint scanner is positioned slightly offset from the centre, however, its wide shape makes it easily accessible while using the Asus ROG Phone with a single hand. At the centre, there is the illuminating ROG logo which comes with customisable RGB lighting for notifications and gaming mode. Coming to the sides, the Asus ROG Phone has the volume rockers and the power button placed at the right while on the left, there is the dual SIM tray and a USB Type-C port along with a proprietary port which connects the device to its accessories.

Asus ROG Phone cameras

This connecting port is protected by a rubber flap while there are additional covers as part of the box content as well. There are also the air triggers which are placed on the farthest points of the right side frame while the left side also houses one below the side connector, all of which used as control buttons for gaming.

At the bottom, the USB Type-C port (for charging and data transfer) is placed on the left-hand side while the 3.5mm audio jack placed on the right. The top of the smartphone is a clean slate apart from the IR sensor. This brings us to the front panel where we have the 6.0-inch AMOLED 90Hz HDR FHD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 550 nits brightness, 108.6 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut and Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection. 

There are noticeable bezels in all the sides of the display while the bottom and top chin are huge, which is acceptable from a gaming smartphone as it helps in controlling the device while gaming. There are two audio speakers housed in both the chins while the top one also works as a speaker for calls. On the other hand, the top chin also houses the front camera sensor. Since the audio speakers mounted on the front panel, we had a great time watching videos or playing games on the Asus ROG Phone as the sound quality of the speakers was also excellent.

This brings us to the display, and the one thing that we were impressed with during our Asus ROG Phone review was the fact that the 6.0-inch AMOLED 90Hz HDR FHD+ display offers an enormous amount of colours, saturation levels, brightness levels while also offering sharp visuals in high-quality videos. The colours feel warm while there is more than enough real estate to enjoy extended hours of multimedia consumption and gaming. For those who are thinking why doesn’t the Asus ROG Phone come with a full display front, then they should note that this is part of the gaming aesthetics of the device as the thick chin helps games in not touching any control button accidentally while holding the device.

Asus ROG Phone display

The one thing that we thought could have been better was the display’s brightness levels under direct sunlight. It’s not that you will have a bad experience using it under such exposure to light, but the screen is a little reflective and can hamper the overall experience, which is something you wouldn’t expect from a smartphone with such a high price tag.

Asus ROG Phone Review: Performance and software

Performance is what the Asus ROG Phone is made for. If you haven’t heard of the ‘Republic of Gamers’, then you can’t call yourself a die-hard gaming enthusiast, and if this is the case, you will be surprisingly shocked by the kind of experience this particular smartphone has to offer. But before dwelling into more details, let’s see what kind of package the Asus ROG Phone comes with terms of hardware. The Asus ROG Phone is powered by Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 845 10nm processor clocked at 2.96GHz and comes paired with Adreno 630 GPU for graphics. This is backed by 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB (UFS 2.1) of storage. 

There is also an advanced haptic engine which generates nuanced vibrations to offer detailed force feedback in games while the GameCool system improves thermals with the help of the copper heat spreader as well as 3D vapour chamber that transfers heat away from the chipset and into the body. For dispersing this heat from the body, the Asus ROG Phone also comes with a complimentary accessory called the AeroActive cooler which can be connected through the side connector. All this makes the Asus ROG Phone a serious, no-nonsense gaming smartphone, and when it comes to real life performance, the results are just impressive, and you can’t get a better machine at this price point for gaming, period.

Asus ROG Phone performance

But before dwelling into the real-life performance credentials, let’s see how the Asus ROG Phone performed in our benchmark tests. With the X Mode enabled, the Asus ROG Phone scored 2,98,732 on AnTuTu while on Geekbench, it scored 2,613 and 9,312 in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. However, with the X Mode disabled, the Asus ROG Phone scored 2,74,326 on AnTuTu while on Geekbench, it scored 2,431 and 9,102 in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

Let’s start with gaming first. It’s not that you can’t play something like PUBG or Asphalt 9 Legends on this smartphone without using the X Mode, but the real fun begins when you enable this feature. The system automatically frees up more memory for great high-graphic games and shuts down all the unwanted operations which are keeping the processor busy. The Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 845 is overclocked to 2.96GHz, but there is a reason behind it. This substantial overclocking helps the device process inputs faster and the loading time reduced to multifold. On the other hand, you might feel the device getting a little bit warm after an extended gaming session as in the X Mode; the processor is used to its fullest.

It should also be noted that the refresh rate is set to 60Hz by default. However, you can change it to 90Hz manually, either permanently or depending on the game. At 90Hz the display is naturally smooth and offers the purest form of detailed graphics. That said, the 402 pixels per inch is a kind of sore to the eyes as we were left wanting some more out of the visuals considering what our readers might be spending on the Asus ROG Phone. But considering the competition, it is still one of the best experiences we had.

While playing PUBG, the graphics were set to the highest levels, and it had to be because the Asus ROG Phone is claimed to be one of the best gaming phones that money can buy you. On the other hand, there was no sort of lags or frame drop even playing with the X Mode disabled, as this particular model does take more than usual battery life while playing games. Even with Asphalt 9 Legends, we saw one of the fastest app loading time on a smartphone while shifting between multiple apps was also a breeze. Moreover, we even used WhatsApp in between our gaming sessions and the gaming apps reloading in a couple of seconds, sometimes even less than that.

Asus ROG Phone software

But all of this also has to do a lot with the optimised software of the Asus ROG Phone which runs Android 8.1 Oreo with a custom ROG UI on top. There are custom icon packs, less preinstalled apps and we liked the fact that Free Fire and Asphalt 9 game preinstalled cause why not, it is indeed a gaming smartphone! The Game Center app was also a welcomed addition as it let us tweak almost everything that the system is taking up depending on our usage while also giving real-time CPU and GPU temperature along with RAM usage. This option also lets users configure the Aura Lighting along with the AeroActive Cooler’s fan speed.

Then comes the Game Genie app which comes with an option to record your gaming session or even live stream it on your YouTube channel, which is a kind of new trend for online gamers. Even the AirTriggers can be set up with the Game Genie app while they add a vast ‘gaming touch’ to the overall experience on the Asus ROG Phone. You can use AirTriggers with a squeeze gesture instead of buttons on the screen which is something that even an Apple or Samsung flagship won’t give you. But then again, they are not gaming phones as well.

Asus ROG Phone Review: Cameras

This is not one of the strongest areas of the Asus ROG Phone, and we were expecting Asus to do some cost-cutting in this department as well. The Asus ROG Phone features a 12-megapixel primary rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, 1.4µm pixel size, dual pixel sensor, 1/2.55″ Sony IMX363 sensor, 83-degree field of view, PDAF, LED flash, AI Scene Detection, 4-axis, 4 stops optical image stabilization and a secondary 8-megapixel rear camera which comes with a 120-degree wide-angle lens. At the front, there is an 8-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and 84 per cent field of view.

This is almost the similar camera setup that came with the Asus Zenfone 5Z which had nearly half of the price tag of the Asus ROG Phone. Now, we were not expecting much here, and there were also no shocking revelations in this department as well. However, before dwelling into image quality, the camera app of the Asus ROG Phone deserves applause as despite being a little cluttered, it had almost everything on the tip of our fingers. Focus modes, comprehensive resolution selector and the optional grid, could easily be accessed from the left side of the main interface while there is also an option to click photos with 18:9 ratio which fills up the whole screen of the device.

Asus ROG Phone camera sample

On the other hand, switching from one camera to another can also be done quickly through the convenient toggle button placed next to the shutter button while switching between the cameras also tweaks the settings automatically. As part of picture modes, users will get Pro mode, Portrait Mode, Slow Motion, Time Lapse, Panorama, Google Lens and Beauty.

Now coming to image quality, pictures taken from the primary camera of the Asus ROG Phone can only be termed as decent. The primary 12-megapixel camera can take good photos, but it lacks colour saturation under exposure to excessive lighting which makes the pictures look a little dull. Moreover, when you zoom in on the picture clicked from the Asus ROG Phone, the noise reduction seems to haze out the edges compromising on the sharpness. However, the HDR Mode does help a little by offering a dynamic range for details. Overall, we found that the details were a little soft in pictures, but they can be termed as ‘good’ for a gaming smartphone.

Asus ROG Phone camera sample

There is also the Super Resolution mode which is a little satisfactory as it captures a good amount of details while also offering clear edges on the subject when clicked on auto mode. The secondary 8-megapixel wide-angle camera does add some ‘pep’ to the package as we were able to squeeze in a bigger landscape into our pictures, but it also lacks in colour saturation and sharpness. There was a kind of softness which made the pictures look a little dull. However, it is recommended to keep HDR on auto mode as it sharpens the results to some extent. The best part of the dual rear camera setup was the Portrait mode which defined edges clearly while also blurring out the background nicely.

Asus ROG Phone wide camera sample

(Wide-angle shot)

This brings us to the front camera, and this sensor also managed to get the job done. Selfies came out a little blurry while there was a lot of noise under low lighting conditions. However, for those who are looking for selfies that can be shared on social media, they will be left satisfied as the front camera does an excellent job in capturing quick selfies without blurry out the whole frame.

Overall, if you look at Asus ROG Phone’s cameras and compare it with its competitors who are priced at the same price point, you will feel a bit disappointed. But it should be noted that the Asus ROG Phone is a gaming smartphone and it is still capable of offering camera results which can be seen on a mid-range device.

Asus ROG Phone Review: Battery

Asus has left no stone unturned to offer the best hardware at this price point, and while the device comes with several software customisations and a power hungry hardware, all this makes a huge battery back up more of need rather than a premium addition. In this case, the Asus ROG Phone comes with a 4000mAh battery which could not be seen as something exceptional given the needs of this power hungry device. However, a full charge will quickly let you through the day on moderate or mixed usage.

Asus ROG Phone verdict

In the X Mode, we noticed more than usual depletion of the battery while the Asus ROG Phone does get a little warm while put on charging. On the other hand, the HyperCharge fast charging did leave us impressed as it could charge the smartphone from zero to 50 per cent in little over half an hour while a full charge will take around 70 minutes.

Asus ROG Phone rating

Design: 9

Display: 8

Performance: 10

Cameras: 7

Battery: 8

Overall: 8

Asus ROG Phone review verdict

The Asus ROG Phone has been made available in India at price tag of Rs. 69,999 and at this price point, it is the best smartphone for gamers hands down. On the other hand, if you are not a gaming enthusiast and are looking for an overall great package, the premium segment has other options as well. It should be noted that the Asus ROG Phone has been developed keeping in mind the gaming performance and it excels in this department, however, if you look at it like an Rs. 69,999 smartphone which should have offered a great camera and an exceptional display, then this is not the best option for you.





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