Gaming smartphones is quite arguably a brand new niche for gaming manufacturers. What started as an experiment to bring gaming features to the mobile world has now become a trend. In fact, the mobile gaming market is forecasted to go up to $100 billion in just a few years. Last year, Razer introduced a phone with flagship specs and a high refresh rate display. Then, Nubia upped the ante by adding RGB lighting to its Red Magic handset. Also, Xiaomi launched its Black Shark to level the competition with Razor. And now Asus is starting off Computex 2018 on a high-spec note with the announcement of its ROG Phone. Bearing the Republic of Gamers branding and an unmistakably gamer-oriented design, the ROG Phone is Asus’ answer to the Razer Phone.
Needless to say, this aggressive-looking device is a powerhouse! But it’s also packed with many unique and thoughtful features that aim to deliver a better gaming experience. There are also a handful of dedicated accessories including an external cooling fan that clips onto the back. The phone also offers an optional handheld dock that adds a second screen to the ROG Phone.
ASUS ROG Phone Overview
As with most other 2018 flagships, the ROG Phone is also powered by Qualcomm’s flagship octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset. But in this case, it’s been given a little boost in its top CPU clock speed – going from the standard 2.8GHz to 2.96GHz, which is a first in any smartphone. Yes, this definitely is the fastest Snapdragon processor around!
Display
Another unique feature here is the 6-inch Full HD AMOLED panel of 2160 x 1080p resolution. It supports HDR content and runs at 90Hz with a 1ms response rate. This means that games will not only play well but also look amazing. This also means that they have optimized it for lag-free gaming. Even though this isn’t quite as fast as the Razer Phone’s 120Hz LCD, it’s still apparently the fastest AMOLED display out there. But if you prefer, you can use the phone’s built-in 802.11ad WiGig connectivity to mirror your gameplay to a nearby TV via ASUS’ WiGig Dock, so long as your handset has a direct line of sight to the receiver.
The RAM on the phone happens to be 8 GB and there is128GB or 512 GB of internal storage variant available for storing your important data as well as games. You’ll also find a front-facing quad-speaker system, shoulder buttons, enhanced force feedback, and a rear fingerprint reader. There is a second USB Type-C port that is positioned on the right side of the phone so that the charging cable does not get in the way while you are playing games in landscape mode. Asus will also be bundling a retroactive cooler in the box which will provide an additional Type-C port bringing the grand total of type-C ports to three.
Cameras
On the camera front, you might expect a compromise, given that it’s a gaming phone. The ROG Phone comes with the same cameras as the ZenFone 5. The rear dual camera includes a 12MP, f/1.8 primary shooter with OIS and an 8MP secondary 120-degree wide-angle camera. For selfies, there is an 8MP shooter upfront. As a bonus, there’s a silver ROG logo on the back that actually features a programmable RGB backlight using the dedicated app.
The bundled cooler obviously is in place to cool down the smartphone during periods of intense gaming. There is also a vapor chamber cooling system inside the phone, the likes of which were seen on the Black Shark. Fueling up the phone is a 4000mAh battery, which supports ASUS HyperCharge, preventing the phone from heating during charging. The phone also makes use of Quick Charge 4.0, which reportedly charges the phone up from 0 to 60% in just 30 minutes.
ASUS ROG Phone Price & Availability
The price of the Asus ROG Phone and its suite of accessories hasn’t been announced at Computex 2018. But it is expected that this phone will go on sale in the third quarter of this year. Given the ludicrous specs, we should probably brace ourselves for an uncompromising price to go along with the uncompromising performance.
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