ASUS has announced its much-awaited ROG gaming smartphone. Officially referred to as the ROG Phone, the device will take on other gaming smartphones like the Black Shark gaming phone, the Nubia Red Devil, and the Razer Phone.
ASUS ROG Design
The phone has a full-screen display with dual front-facing speakers. The back has the famous ROG logo which lights up and can be customized as you wish. The main design highlight of the phone is its 3D vapor-chamber cooling system for keeping the device from overheating.
ASUS ROG Phone Specs
The ROG Phone has a 6-inch AMOLED FHD+ screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a 1ms response time. That is less than the Razer Phone’s 120Hz but more than the average smartphone. The screen also supports HDR. Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 845 processor that is overclocked at 2.96GHz. It also has 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 512GB of storage.
There is an 8MP camera in front and a 12MP+8MP dual camera combo. This is the same camera configuration on the ASUS Zenfone 5. The ASUS ROG Phone has a 4,000mAh battery with support for ASUS HyperCharge fast charging technology. ASUS has moved the charging chip from the phone to the power adapter to reduce the heat from charging.
The ASUS ROG Phone has three USB-C ports. Two on the side and one at the bottom. ASUS said the reason for this is so that you can charge your device while playing without having to deal with a cord (USB/headphone) sticking out at the bottom. The side ports also work as connectors for some of the accessories.
The ROG Phone has a special X Mode that can be activated by squeezing the sides of the phone. Do this and the phone stops all background tasks and directs all processing power to the game you are playing. When in X Mode, the phone’s UI also changes from blue to deep red.
Apart from activating X Mode, pressing the side of the phone (in landscape) also serves as a sort of shoulder buttons called Airtriggers. They are user customizable.
ASUS ROG Phone Accessories
The ROG Phone is a beast on its own but ASUS has a bunch of accessories that add more features to the device.
- AeroActive Cooler – this is a clip-on cooling fan that comes bundled with the phone. There is an app for turning on/off the fan and modifying speed.
- Gamevice Gamepad – that looks similar to what Motorola offers for the Moto Z series with a pair of shoulder buttons on each side.
- TwinView Pedestal – this comes with a second screen (6 inches too) and turns the device into a sort of Nintendo 3DS. You can play games on one screen and chat on the other. It also has a built-in 6000mAh battery.
- Mobile Desktop Dock – this lets you use the device as a desktop PC. There are a plethora of ports for connecting a monitor, keyboard, mouse and other peripherals. The dock also allows you use the phone as a second display for your regular PC.
- WiGig Dock – a 60GHz 802.11ad dock that works with the Gamevice gamepad and lets you stream to a TV.
READ MORE: Asus Is Said To Be Working On A Snapdragon 1000 Powered Windows 10 PC
ROG Phone Price and Availability
There is no info with respect to price and availability at the moment. Nevertheless, we do not expect it to come cheap. It will probably be the most expensive of all the gaming smartphones available.
