ASUS launched the ROG Phone 2 in H2 2019. The second-generation gaming smartphone from the Taiwanese PC maker debuted with Android 9.0 Pie. It was updated to Android 10 a year later. And now, it has started receiving its second and last major software update in the form of Android 11.

OEMs have begun to roll out Android 12 for their eligible devices. However, the ASUS ROG Phone 2 is receiving the last year’s Android 11 only now.

According to an official announcement post on ASUS ZenTalk Community (via XDA Developers), the latest system update for the ROG Phone 2 arrives with build number 18.0210.2111.160.

The update currently appears to be limited to the brand’s home country of Taiwan. Anyway, it should be available in other regions in the coming days.

Going by the update changelog, the fresh software build brings new ROG UI features, in addition to standard Android 11 features. It was released on November 23 and is expected to reach all units in a week.

In order to check whether your unit has received the latest system update, then head over to Settings > About >  System Update.

ASUS ROG Phone 2 Android 11 Update Official Changelog

• Upgrade system to Android 11
• Some third-party software is not yet compatible with Android 11
• Please backup your data before upgrading. If you want to downgrade from Android 11 to Android 10, you can use the official software package, but all data will be erased
• Import the new ROG UI interface design
• Update Armoury Crate, game wizard, smart housekeeper, contact, phone, file management, computer, clock, picture library, weather, recording program, settings, one-key switch, local backup, boot wizard, system update and other applications
• Support one-time permissions, improved file access permission control, automatic reset permissions and other privacy functions
• Support to maintain Bluetooth connection when flying mode is turned on
• Adjusted to the Android 11 notification bar style, support for displaying notifications of ongoing conversations
• The classic style of the power button menu supports Android 11 device control and Google Pay
• Update the automatic switching system color matching, return to the advanced options of gestures, SIM card and other setting functions. Replaced with the latest one-handed design
• Notification settings Added notification records and dialog settings
• The power control function of the smart housekeeper is integrated into the battery setting
• Adjust the quick setting panel interface. Support media control function. Add nearby sharing option
• On the recent apps page, long press the app icon above the task card to add options such as lock apps, screenshots, and sharing
• Computer adjusted design to the latest native style
• Added the option to display blocked calls in the call log settings of the phone
• Fine-tune the size of the status bar icon to maintain display consistency
• Clock add date setting alarm, group alarm function
• Picture library supports new editing page
• Update the conversion data of one-key switch by default check logic
• Adjust the related pages of the boot wizard
• System update setting adjustment and update logic

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Recently, Asus launched ROG Phone 3 as its third-generation gaming smartphone worldwide. But the company did not announce all the variants of the handset for India. However, the firm’s Indian head has now confirmed to launch the 16GB + 512GB  of the device based on demand. Unfortunately, he also revealed the company’s plans to discontinue ROG Phone 2 in the country.

Last year’s ROG Phone 2 was only available for a short period of time in India. It was out of stock most of the times on official online retailer Flipkart. The smartphone was briefly made available last month in the country with new updated price, thanks to increased GST (Goods & Services Tax) on phones.

At the moment, the device is listed as unavailable on Flipkart, whereas the ROG Phone 3 is noted as “Coming Soon” as it is set to go on sale starting August 6. But the ROG Phone 2 may be soon removed from the platform as per Dinesh Sharma, Mobile Business Head, Asus India (via HT Tech).

EDITOR’S PICK: These Were The Top Mobile App Publishers and Most Downloaded Apps for June 2020

The executive confirmed the discontinuation of ROG Phone 2 in India to the publication. However, he did not mention when and hence, we believe it may be available for the last time during Flipkart sale around August 5-6 when Amazon India will be hosting Prime Day sale.

According to him, customers get a better package in ROG Phone 3 compared to ROG Phone 2 and thus it makes sense for them to remove it from the shelves. However, the price difference between the two is ₹10,000, which is more according to us.

Since India is a price-sensitive market, there is a high probability of people buying the older model, which may cannibalize the sales of the newer model. But Asus could have made use of this situation like OnePlus, which still continues to sell OnePlus 7T from 2019.

Further, the Asus executive also revealed they have no plans to launch ROG Phone 3 Strix Editon powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 in India. However, they may bring the 16GB + 512GB variant of ROG Phone 3 to the country if there’s a “massive demand”.

He also hinted if it comes, it will be priced much higher and that’s the reason they stuck to only two options for the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

The Asus ROG Phone 3 will be available for the following prices starting August 6 in India.

• 8GB + 128GB – ₹49,999
• 12GB + 256GB – ₹57,999

UP NEXT: DxOMark ranks ROG Phone 3 as second best in audio performance

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Asus launched the ROG Phone 2 gaming smartphone in India in September 2019. Ever since its launch, the handset has been rarely in stock on its official online retailer Flipkart. When COVID-19 became intense, it went out of stock for months. But now, the device is coming back in stock with new price as part of Flipkart’s Big Saving Days sale starting June 23.

The ROG Phone 2 debuted with aggressive pricing in India compared to its predecessor. The base 8GB + 128GB variant launched in the country for ₹37,999, however, the high-end 12GB + 512GB version released for ₹59,999.

Sadly, the Taiwanese computer giant has hiked the price of its phone due to new 18%  GST (Goods & Services Tax) on mobile phones and depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.

Therefore, the Asus ROG Phone 2 now costs ₹39,999 for the 8GB + 128GB variant and ₹62,999 for the 12GB + 512GB variant in India. Which translates to increase of ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 for the two storage configurations respectively.

Although ROG Phone 2 is a good gaming smartphone, its successor ROG Phone 3 is just around the corner. So it’s worth waiting for the next device if you can. 

On the other hand, we don’t think the price of this handset will ever go down in the near future and given its availability is scarce, do not miss the deal if you are looking to buy a gaming smartphone in India.

UP NEXT: ASUS ROG Phone 3 full specs and AnTuTu listing appear; Listings suggest Snapdragon 865 Plus SoC

(Via)

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Much to the chagrin of those who prefer playing popular games on mobile devices, a feature-rich gaming smartphone doesn’t come cheap. A top-branded gaming phone would set you back a pretty penny on both online, as well as offline stores – but that’s about to change.

It looks like ASUS is bent on making a high-end gaming smartphone available to those on a tight budget. Keeping in line with that, the Taiwan-based handset maker has teamed up with Giztop to offer two variants of the ASUS ROG Phone 2 (or ASUS ROG 2 Gaming Phone) for lowered prices.

ASUS’ next-generation gaming smartphone was launched earlier this year during an official launch event held in China. The registrations for the gaming phone began right after the phone’s launch. The phone garnered over a staggering 2.33 million reservations on JD.com.

The ASUS-branded smartphone that has taken the mobile phone gaming by storm comes in 8GB RAM+128GB ROM and a larger 12GB RAM+512GB ROM variants. The Asus ROG Phone 2 with 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage space usually retails for $699, but you can now buy it for just $549 from Giztop.

The slightly larger model that ships with 12GB of RAM and offers a hearty 512GB of onboard storage capacity usually carries a steep $1,158 price tag. Thanks to a noteworthy reduction in the model’s original selling price, you can now buy it for only $1,008 through Giztop.

The power-packed Asus ROG Phone 2 boasts an impressive array of features that you can check out below:

• 6.59-inch AMOLED FHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate
• An in-display fingerprint scanner
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor
• Adreno 640 GPU
• 8GB/12GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 128GB/256GB/512GB UFS2.1 ROM
• 48MP+13MP dual AI rear camera
• 24MP front camera
• ROG Gaming X mode UI based on Android 9.0 OS
• 6000mAh battery that supports 30W ROG HyperCharge with Quick Charge 4.0+

To take full advantage of the discounts, all you need to do is to follow this link before the promo comes to an end.

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As soon as Qualcomm announced the Xiaolong 855 Plus, more than five handset makers decided they’d launch a new smartphone equipped with the latest flagship chip in the second half of this year.

ASUS is the only manufacturer with Snapdragon 855 Plus and has already incorporated the chipset in the latest smartphone called ASUS ROG Phone 2. Details about exactly when will other manufacturers use this chipset is still far and between.

Aside from the aforesaid upgrade, ASUS is slated to roll out the usual updates to the ROG Phone configuration based on this hardware in collaboration with Tencent cooperation, offering a superior gaming experience to its huge fanbase.

As soon as I arrived at the office today, WinBoy editor handed me a briefcase and said a three-digital password. This gave me an impression that I might be checking the military computer of Latitude 7214. I didn’t expect to open the briefcase but just to take a quick glimpse of ROG Phone 2.

However, it took a whopping 3 minutes to get the smartphone and its accessories out of the briefcase.

The texture is the highlight of the design

The ROG Phone 2 seems to bear a striking resemblance to its 2018 predecessor as far as the design is concerned.

The slender body, which is bigger than my palm also looks quite familiar. Given that there is no specific use of the front of the shaped screen, the phone isn’t very unique in terms of aesthetics. The ROG breathing light, the hexagonal camera, the Maya covering the back Pattern, and the striking plating color are likely to grab your attention.

Although a layman might not understand the importance of certain hardware incorporated in the ROG Phone 2, these features and hardware are important as this is a game phone.

Similar to the gaming computer at Starbucks, that you come up with the brightest on the MacBook and the Surface.

Despite retaining nearly the same appearance, the ROG Phone 2 has undergone a slew of radical overhauls. These changes are more evident on the back of the phone.

First off, the fingerprint identification area has been revamped. The original ROG Phone adopted a capacitive fingerprint design, so we will see a dedicated area on the back of the phone.

ASUS has resorted to using the hexagonal design in the original design in this portion in a bid to retain the main style and ensure it doesn’t look cramped.

If you look at the smartphone from an aesthetic point of view or even from the comfort of using the phone, the fingerprint recognition of the back still affects the convenience of the user to use the mobile phone and the integration of the fuselage.

The ROG Phone 2 is equipped with an on-screen fingerprint recognition feature, which enhances the integrity of the back of the phone.

As far as the screen configuration is concerned, the ROG Phone 2 sports a 6.59-inch screen with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. Although it does not have 2K resolution, it supports HDR 10 and 240Hz touch sampling.

The latest ROG phone still has no specific use for the special-shaped screens. Nevertheless, it is highly likely that the shape enhances the overall gaming experience. Even if the special-shaped screen develops in Android for a couple of years, it is worth noting that there are several games that are still not compatible with waterdrop notch and bangs screens seen on some new smartphones.

In my opinion, the most appealing aspect of the screen is the 120Hz refresh rate. To facilitate user control of power consumption, ROG also provides a 60 / 90 / 120Hz three-speed refresh rate option in the settings.

However, as a person who has been “sweet” by a 90-liter 90-Hz screen, a person who does not leave the charging treasure, I, of course often open 120Hz, and then enjoy the silky as a pleasure.

Another evident adjustment can be seen in the design of the Maya pattern and the side edge cutting. The Maya pattern in the back area is no longer placed near the camera but stretches more boldly to the sides of the phone, and the viewing experience is more engaging than the previous generation.

The knife-cut modular filter screen has been replaced with a stripe design, unlike the previous two quadrilaterals. This portion looks more restrained now than the bolder Maya pattern.

Housed in a glass frame, the ROG Phone 2 looks and feels great. On the downside, the thickness and weight of the glass body, along with the internal heat dissipation system have made the ROG Phone 2 “a half-pound” heavier.

As a technical editor, I have used multiple phones including the iPhone XS Max (208 g) and Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (236 g). The ROG Phone 2’s 240 g weight; however, redefines what I knew about the weight of the mobile phone (data source Ministry of Information Technology).

Taking accessories into consideration, the expansion performance of the ROG Phone 2 is nothing short of impressive. Aside from the 3D Vapor Chamber condensing system + copper plate thermal pad + graphene thermal pad design of the mobile phone body, similar to the ROG Phone last year, the new machine features an external cooling fan.

As a result, the side of the old and new ROG Phones will have a set of interfaces for external accessories, unlike ordinary phones. Moreover, we can connect the fan to the mobile phone and enable heat dissipation. Regrettably, this increases the overall weight of the mobile phone.

When you are playing your favorite game, the USB-C interface acts as a charging port of the mobile phone, preventing you from operating in the horizontal screen, as you’d normally do. Alternatively, you can connect the mobile phone to a dedicated base, expand the picture to the display, and use the mobile phone as a portable game console.

As for the conventional interface, the ROG Phone 2 is also quite comprehensive, with a 3.5mm headphone jack, in addition to the USB-C.

Following the elimination of the earphone hole in some phones, several users were left with no choice but to use wireless headphones. But much to their chagrin, the wireless earphones have failed to completely address the concern associated with the delay.

Thankfully, the ROG Phone 2 gaming smartphone has not dumped the headphone hole, and it is a wise decision, according to me.

The first Snapdragon 855 Plus has excellent performance

ASUS’s decision to employ the Snapdragon 855 Plus for its ROG Phone 2 isn’t surprising at all. Given that the ROG Phone used the upscale version of the Snapdragon 845 last year, ASUS has enjoyed a “special treatment” from Qualcomm.

Keeping in line with that, ASUS launched the Snapdragon 855 Plus, which seems more like the bloody version of 2018’s Dragon 845 to me. The only difference is that the upgraded Snapdragon 855 Plus broke the Qualcomm’s consistent product rhythm and was highly praised, and Qualcomm made it available to more manufacturers outside of Asus.

While I didn’t expect much from the Snapdragon 855 Plus before opening the box, it turned out to be the strongest Android phone as soon as I started checking this 855 Plus+12GB+512GB. It is the strongest Android phone. I even figured out the big difference between the Snapdragon 855 and the Apple A12 after running points, games, and comparisons.

This Qualcomm does not include too many adjustments to the configuration of the Snapdragon 855 Plus, particularly in terms of core frequency and GPU performance optimization:

• The core frequency has been upgraded from 2.84GHz to 2.96GHz of the Snapdragon 855;
• The graphics core Adreno 640 is optimized for gaming and entertainment features, with a 15% improvement in performance.

The Snapdragon 855 Plus deserves to bear the Plus suffix. These upgrades confirm that the product is indeed a revamped configuration for the performance of the mobile phone, making it a better gaming phone.

Through the comparison of GeekBench, we can see the performance gap between Qualcomm and Apple’s two processors:

Compared to the 3010 / 10802 points (single / multi-core) of the Snapdragon 855 (sample plus one 7 Pro), the 3580 / 11206 points (single / multi-core) of the Snapdragon 855Plus is still quite impressive.

When compared to the Apple A12 (the prototype is iPhone XS Max), the multi-core performance is very close, but the single-core performance still has an evident gap in terms of performance.

The 3D Mark score shows the gap between the two Adreno 640s. In the Sling Shot Extreme OpenGL ES 3.1 test, the Snapdragon 855 Plus scored 6203 points, which is higher than the 5,038 points of the Snapdragon 855.

In the Vulkan performance, the Snapdragon 855 Plus surpasses the 5,057 points of the Snapdragon 855 with a score of 5393.

As far as processing power is concerned, the up-and-down Snapdragon 855 Plus can’t outperform the Apple A series in terms of single-core performance, but it has a significant improvement compared to the Snapdragon 855, which is already very strong, so this product without an iota of doubt, deserves to sit on the throne of the strongest processor in the Android camp this year.

As a regular user, you don’t need to worry too much about the score. After all, if there are not two different numbers, the gap between the Snapdragon 855 and the Snapdragon 855 Plus is still difficult to be reflected, because even before the upgrade. Dragon 855 has also run most popular games without any sort of lag.

It is worth mentioning here that the essence of this ROG Phone 2 is not only the replacement of a new processor but also an important part of the cooperation optimization with Tencent.

In other words, Tencent is customizing the game for the ROG Phone 2 hardware advantages and highlighting the features of the phone.

For example, a QQ car with 120 FPS operation:

For example, AirTriggers that can operate a racing game with four fingers:

For another example, let the eye behind the defeated family follow the “Glory of the King” with the rhythm of the game.

Another highlight of the launch of the new machine outside the Snapdragon 855 Plus mobile platform is the use of Qualcomm’s latest real-time dual-band WiFi technology. Ideally, the mobile phone can connect the WiFi signals in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands at the same time, that is, “dual-frequency integration.”

Thanks to the real-time dual-band WiFi technology, when a user connects to the home router, the mobile phone can connect to the network of two frequency bands, giving the network advantage of high-speed, low-latency 5GHz, and it guarantees the network through the 2.4GHz frequency band. Coverage and receiving capabilities.

Likewise, the game acceleration packet transmission can be performed in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands at the same time. This ensures a lower latency and higher performance WiFi network which is ideal for professional e-sports network acceleration mode – behind Qualcomm. The research and development of Tencent Lab allow real-time dual-band WiFi technology to smoothly interface with the company’s game accelerator.

The fire is fully open, is the fever touching?

I tested the two scenarios without a fan and “installing fan + strongest wind speed”. After 30 minutes of continuous operation (room temperature 26 °C; test game “Peace Elite” HD HDR quality, highest frame rate), with the no limit on the maximum temperature of the fan-mounted body is 35.3 ° C, which, I think is just warm, and not too hot.

Next off, I fixed the fan on my mobile phone and switched to the 4th speed to continue the game. After 30 minutes, the maximum temperature of the fuselage was 29.1 °C and the minimum temperature was 25.2 °C. The temperature control performance was in line with ROG’s promotion of “maximum reduction of 5 °C”.

However, there is a theory to enjoy this cooling add-on. This theory is that it needs to utilize a certain amount of electricity.

This battery life is stronger than ever

Rather than the performance of saturated resaturation, I am more concerned about the life span of mobile phones. I have pointed out several times that “the performance of mobile phones is good, and no power is no good.”

On top of that, this is an entertainment-oriented game phone, and it is still a game phone that offers a refresh rate of 120Hz.

More than the overall performance, I am more concerned about how long ROG Phone 2 can play.

In terms of specifications, the ROG Phone 2 is backed by a robust 6000mAh battery. Yes, that’s right.

This is one of the few phones slated to launch this year that would be drawing its juices from a 6000mAh battery. Compared with the 4000mAh of the ROG Phone of the first-generation released in last year, the new machine has increased by 2000mAh, and that’s bigger than the battery capacity offered by the iPhone 8.

In order to juice up this 6000mAh battery without wasting a lot of time, the ROG Phone 2 comes with a 30W charger.

From the measured data, starting from 4% for 30 minutes, it can charge 37% of the electricity; the whole process is charged to 99%, which takes 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Once it was fully charged, I left no stone unturned in a bid to utilize the full battery life. However, I found it difficult to use up the 6000mAh battery.

I started with the zero points on the 22nd, because I was just full of electricity at that time, after 8 hours of standby, the phone power was 96%. After finishing my work, I played games for 1.5 hours, listened to the songs for about one hour, watched 50 minutes of online video, and used WeChat Weibo continuously without going offline. Until the 23rd, my phone still has 10% remaining power, the phone shows the total screen time is 5 hours and 45 minutes.

It should be noted that this test is performed under the condition of a 120Hz screen refresh rate. If you use 60Hz used by most mobile phones, the battery life may get 1.5 days/charge level.

The camera performance is in line with the mainstream, which is good enough

Since the starting of this year, all sorts of mobile phones, whether it carries a one-thousand-yuan price tag or retail for thousands of dollars, the 48 million-pixel CMOS in the past six months, has evolved from a new thing to the current standard configuration of the Android flagships.

In the excitement of the camera, pixel jumped to a higher level again, I also had to admire the application speed of the new domestic mobile phone technology.

The ROG Phone 2 houses a 48-megapixel primary camera with a 13-megapixel sub-camera configuration; the main camera is the familiar Sony IMX 586 CMOS.

The combination of the two cameras is still a “high-pixel lens + 125° wide-angle” design. Since there is no lens specifically for telephoto shooting, the camera only provides 2 lossless zooms.

The three or four shots are quite useless. However, for a game phone, the ROG Phone 2 camera can deemed as a luxury.

When it comes to capturing memorable moments, the image performance of ROG Phone 2 is quite good. It features a 48-megapixel CMOS and has outstanding performance in image resolution.

The apple logo in the proofs can still see the full details after the image is enlarged, and the text under the logo can be displayed clearly after zooming in.

We turned on the automatic HDR mode of ROG Phone 2 at the time of the shooting. With the aid of HDR, the details of the clouds hidden in the highlights can be expressed, while the light and dark matching of the clouds highlight the layering.

Of course, this sample still retains a trace of HDR processing. If the user wants the picture to look more natural, you can adjust the contrast after shooting, and the picture will be better.

The close-up ability of the phone is also something to shout about. The surface details can be clearly displayed when shooting food. The blurring of close-up shooting is not bad either.

The color of ROG Phone 2 is primarily based on reduction, and it does not offer too many color adjustment, so it is still relatively flat when shooting food. For a more vivid and appealing color effect, you need to do some post-adjustment after shooting.

For nighttime photography, the ROG Phone 2 delivers an average imaging performance. We turned off automatic HDR shooting and found that ROG Phone 2 is still able to do light control work. While the night sky can be kept clean, we still managed to capture some of the details of the cloud in the picture.

Despite a complicated light environment on the opposite side, the ROG Phone 2 provides a stable output and capture perfect photos with color reproduction. However, because there is no automatic HDR assistance, some of the lighting positions are still exposed.

In addition to maintaining stability, it is imperative for the user to pay attention to the selection of the metering point. In this complex lighting scene, there are certain occasions when you need to press the exposure to retain more detail in the light.

While the ROG Phone 2 can keep the sky clean, there are still a lot of obvious smearing feelings when zooming in on the picture, and you are likely to experience a situation of low resolution at night. Note that these problems are only noticeable when you enlarge the image. It is ideally used to send Weibo and friends, but the impact is not impressive by any stretch of the imagination.

The battery is like a bull, a big horsepower muscle car

If I used the “Fighter in XX” to describe this product in 2019, you might think of me as a person who passed through in 2009. But in the face of this performance to achieve the same top-class products, I can hardly find an exaggerated sentence to describe this phone.

I am considerably inspired by racing games. As I was playing “Wild Car 9” recently, I suddenly flashed such a word in my head. I think the current ROG Phone 2 can be best described as a “muscle car.” To be precise, it can be described as a “high horsepower muscle car.”

Yes, it is like a high-powered muscle car in a mobile phone, because it packs the largest “horsepower” of all current Android phones. I won’t refer to it as a super run, because it’s obvious that its focus is on both configuration and performance.

Just like a gaming notebook, the phone is solid, it’s cool and it specializes in games, but it is big, thick, and hard at the same time. Although ROG has designed this phone to be less exaggerated, the hardcore style has always interpreted “I am a gaming phone, a Gamer or Geek device lover.”

As a game phone, the inclusion of 120Hz screen and Snapdragon 855 Plus enhances the overall experience and improves its market prospects; the cooperation with Tencent Games also makes ROG Phone’s hardware advantages more widely available. This is the first-generation ROG Phone 2 that has struck a perfect balance between performance and gaming.

If it is a game white, you can use its function as an aid; as an avid gamer, I would say, it is a game machine that offers strong performance, long battery life, a SCAR, and an SSS-class car.

The ROG Phone 2 has achieved a large number of upgrades in configuration department this year, taking the competitive incentives in the mobile phone market into consideration. There are still many aspects such as higher resolution screens (which are more pleasing), eye system design that needs improvement.

Source: ifanr

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The ASUS ROG Phone 2 launched today in China and unlike yesterday’s global launch, there is a price tag.

The world’s first Snapdragon 855+ phone is available in four variants in China. There is a Tencent Elite version which has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and is priced at ¥3499 (~$509). There is also a Classic Version which also has Tencent Games inscribed on the back but has 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage and a ¥5999 (~$872) price tag. Yes, that is a huge bump in price.

The third version is called the Extreme Edition priced at ¥7999 (~$1163). The RAM and storage for this version weren’t stated but it most likely will be 12GB and 512GB respectively with some added features and or accessories. ASUS says this version will be available in the fourth quarter of the year.

The last version is the e-Sports Armor Editon. This version comes in a custom briefcase with a bunch of accessories including the 30W charger which it seems you have to purchase separately if you are getting the base model. The e-Sports Armor Edition has a price tag of ¥12,999 (~$1890).

At the moment, only the first two are available for pre-order on JD.com. Pre-order runs from today until July 30th while the first sale will begin on July 31.

The ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a 6.59-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit HDR, Gorilla Glass 6 protection (on the back too), 1ms response time, a 49ms touch latency (lowest on any phone), and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz.

It has stereo front-facing speakers with DTS:X 7.1 surround sound, an NXP 9874 Smart Amplifier, a 24MP front-facing camera, and an in-display fingerprint scanner. A 48MP Sony IMX586 primary camera sits on the rear with a 13MP super wide-angle camera. It also has improved touch-sensitive triggers on the side with better haptic feedback.

The ROG Phone 2 packs a 6000mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging, USB-PD, and Quick Charge 4+. It has Dual-SIM support, NFC, FM Radio, and an audio jack. There is also a liquid cooling system called GameCool II with a 3D vapor chamber. The famous Aura logo is also on the back and is customizable too.

There is a USB Type-C port at the bottom that supports USB 2.0 transfer, Quick Charge 3.0 and USB Power Delivery 3.0. The side-mounted USB-C port supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 transfer speeds (up to 10GBps), 4K video output thanks to DisplayPort 1.4, Quick Charge 3.0, Quick Charge 4.0, and USB Power Delivery 3.0.

Next to the USB-C port on the side is the proprietary port for pairing accessories like the TwinView Dock II, the Mobile Desktop Dock, and the AeroActive Cooler II. ASUS didn’t reveal the price of these accessories.

UP NEXT: Nubia’s Snapdragon 855+ phone rumored to launch as Red Magic 3S

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The ASUS ROG Phone 2 is official and for now, it might as well be the king of gaming smartphones. The ROG Phone 2 comes with a lot of mouth-watering features that should make your gaming experience enjoyable. There is an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, so expect animations to be buttery smooth. It also has the new Snapdragon 855+ processor, making it the first phone in the world to be powered by the new chipset. And to crown it, there is a massive 6000mAh battery under the hood.

Coming to the design, the ROG Phone 2 has undergone some subtle changes. There is a single vent on the rear now and the fingerprint scanner is now under the display. You also have dual rear cameras, the same 48MP + 13MP ultra-wide angle combo as you have on the Zenfone 6/ASUS 6Z. There is a 13MP front-facing camera too.

The ROG Phone 2 not only has the fastest Qualcomm mobile processor but it pairs it with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. This is UFS 3.0, so expect apps to open and load faster. There are stereo front-facing speakers with DTS:X Ultra which ASUS says are 2.5x louder than last year’s own.

The device still has the side mount connector from the first-gen and ASUS has new accessories to go with it. There is the second-gen AeroActive Cooler 2 fan which is quieter and more efficient at keeping the phone cool. There is also the Twin View Dock 2 which has a 2nd 120Hz display, a cooling fan, and a 5000mAh battery. The dock has been reported to be lighter and has a better weight distribution.

ASUS also announced the Kunai Gamepad which can be attached to each side of the phone in handheld mode or attached together to form a gamepad if you have the phone docked. You can also use the Kunai Gamepad with the Twin View Dock 2.

Below is the full specification sheet of the ASUS ROG Phone 2:

• 6.59-inch 2340 x 1080 AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 6 Protection, 120Hz refresh rate (adjustable to 60Hz and 90Hz too), 10-bit HDR, 240Hz touch response time and 49ms touch latency.
• Snapdragon 855+ processor
• 12GB of RAM
• up to 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage
• 48MP Sony IMX586 f/1.79 + 13MP dual rear cameras
• 24MP front-facing camera
• In-display fingerprint scanner
• Dual SIM, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, USB 3.0 Type-C, FM Radio, Audio jack
• 6000mAh battery (up to 7 hours for PUBG at 60Hz)
• HyperCharge fast charging (30W), support for Quick Charge 4+ and USB Power Delivery
• Android 9 Pie with ZenUI or ROG UI when you switch to gaming mode

ASUS has not yet revealed the price of the ROG Phone 2 but The Verge says ASUS informed them to expect a similar price tag to the original which had a starting price of $899.

The Chinese version launched tomorrow and will have a glossy back instead of matte finish like the global version.

(Sources: 1, 2)

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Listings for ASUS_I001DA and ASUS_I001DB model numbers were spotted on TENAA with images and some specs had appeared yesterday. The leaked specs and images confirmed that the listings belong to the forthcoming ASUS ROG Phone II smartphone. The TENAA listings for the smartphone are now updated with full specifications.

TENAA reveals that the ROG Phone 2 has 170.99 x 77.6 x 9.78mm dimensions. It’s a bulky device it weighs 240 grams. The predecessor ROG Phone that came last year measured 158.8 x 76.2 x 8.3mm and weighed 200 grams. The original smartphone housed a 6-inch 18:9 aspect ratio supporting display that supported full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels. The ROG Phone 2 has a bigger OLED display of 6.59 inches. It offers 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 1080 x 2340 pixels full HD+ resolution. Its already known that the ROG Phone 2’s display will offer a refresh rate of 120Hz. The handset will be coming in a single color option of black.

The front view of the ROG Phone II smartphone shows that its display has regular bezels like the original ROG Phone. Also, it seems to be equipped with dual front-firing speakers. The rear side of the phone largely resembles the predecessor model in terms of design. The horizontally arranged dual camera setup is assisted by two LED flash units. The ROG logo could be equipped with RGB light and it may also function as notification LED. There is no fingerprint scanner on the backside of the smartphone.

The ROG Phone II TENAA listing states it is powered by 2.95GHz octa-core processor. ASUS has already confirmed that the ROG Phone 2 will be launching as the world’s first smartphone powered by the all new Snapdragon 855 chipset. The Android 9 Pie OS runs on the device.

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The smartphone will come in RAM options like 6 GB and 8 GB in China. It will be offered in storage choices like 128 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB. The smartphone is packed with a massive battery of 5,800mAh (minimum) capacity. Its typical capacity could be 5,900mAh. The predecessor model came with a 5,000mAh battery. The handset lacks support for external storage slot.

TENAA usually lists things like fast charging and screen fingerprint in ‘special features’ section. However, both the features are not mentioned on ROG Phone 2’s TENAA listing.  The 3C listing of the smartphone has revealed that it carries support for 30W fast charging. There is a possibility that the smartphone could be equipped with an in-screen fingerprint reader.

(source 1, 2)

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The post ASUS ROG Phone II full specifications appear on TENAA appeared first on Gizmochina.

The ROG Phone 2 will launch next week as the first Snapdragon 855+ powered device. The phone already appeared on Geekbench and live photos also leaked online. Now, it has been spotted on TENAA and the listing reveals some new details.

This is a partial listing, so only a few specs have been made public. To start with, the phone has a 6.59-inch display, which has been confirmed to have a 120Hz refresh rate.

The display size is not the only thing that has increased, TENAA also revealed the phone is getting a bigger battery. The battery capacity is a whopping 5800mAh, a huge increase from the 4000mAh capacity of last year’s ROG Phone.

That increase in battery capacity also plays a part in the increase of the thickness of the phone from 8.3mm to 9.78mm. The device is 170.99mm tall and 77.6mm wide.

There are also pictures of the ROG Phone 2. In front, you can see the bezels are slimmer while the back has also gotten a redesign. There are now two LED flashlights and only one air vent. There is also no fingerprint scanner which means there should be one under the AMOLED display. The ROG Aura logo is still there and like on its predecessor, it should have an RGB light and double as a notification LED.

The volume rocker and power button are still positioned on the right side and on the left is the side-mount connector for accessories like a cooling fan or dock.

The ROG Phone 2 will run Android Pie out of the box and have 12GB of RAM.

(Source | Via: 1, 2)

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The ASUS ROG Phone 2 will be the first smartphone to come with the new Snapdragon 855 Plus processor. Set to be announced next week, July 23, the device has been spotted on Geekbench, giving us a chance to see how powerful the new SoC is.

Benchmarked as the “asus ASUS_I001DC”, the ROG Phone 2 runs Android 9 Pie. It also has 12GB of RAM, though we expect there will be another RAM variant. Last year’s model was only available in a single RAM variant (8GB) but you could choose between 12GB or 512GB of storage.

The Geekebench result shows the motherboard name as “msmnile”, the same name it shows for a lot of other Snapdragon 855 phones. The base frequency is also the same at 1.78GHz. However, the ROG 2 scores slightly higher in its core test.

For the single-core test, the device scored 3616 points and scored 11,103 points in the multi-core test. This is just a bit higher than the average score of Snapdragon 855-powered phones. The difference isn’t large because the only difference between the SD855 and SD855+ is the higher CPU and GPU clockspeed of the latter.

The new processor is expected to show up in phones from Black Shark, Xiaomi, Redmi, Nubia’s Red Magic line, and Vivo’s iQOO later this year.

(Source, Via)

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Earlier today, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 855 Plus processor. This is a more powerful version of the Snapdragon 855 with the same CPU cores and GPU but a higher clockspeed. Now, ASUS has revealed that its gaming smartphone, the ROG Phone 2 will be the world’s first Snapdragon 855 Plus device.

The ASUS ROG Phone was one of the most powerful smartphones of 2018, if not the most powerful. While other Snapdragon 845 phones had their processor clocked at 2.8GHz, the ROG Phone’s Snapdragon 845 processor was clocked at 2.96GHz. So it is not a big surprise that its successor is also gunning to be one of the most powerful phones released this year.

So far we know the ROG Phone 2 will have a display with a 120Hz refresh rate and also have games made by Tencent optimized to take advantage of the feature. The rest of the specs are still under wraps but we expect it to pack a large battery, have stereo speakers, and run Android 9 Pie out of the box. The phone will first launch in China on July 23.

(Source)

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On July 23, ASUS will be holding a launch event for the ASUS ROG Phone 2 gaming smartphone. It will be arriving as the successor for the last year’s ROG Phone smartphone. The Taiwanese company has collaborated with Tencent Games for the upcoming ROG Phone 2. Hence, users can expect optimized performance of popular titles from Tencent Games on ROG Phone 2.

Tencent Games is well-known for its games like “Game for Peace” (formerly known as PUBG), “Call of Duty” and “Arena of Valor.” It also wholly or partially owns gaming firms such as Grinding Gear Games, Miniclip, Riot games, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive and Supercell. The partnership between ASUS and Tencent Games suggests that ROG Phone 2 will offer enhanced gaming performance for some of these games.

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The ROG Phone 2’s display will offer a refresh rate of up to 120Hz (120 frames per second). Most of the mainstream mobile phones available in the market offer 60 Hz refresh rate. Phones with higher refresh rate such as OnePlus 7 Pro (90Hz), Nubia Red Magic 3 (90Hz) and Razer Phone 2 (120Hz) promises smoother viewing experience when it comes to scrolling through apps drawer, webpages and also while playing games.

Higher refresh rate can also cause the phone to lose battery power faster. A smartphone with a 4,000mAh battery should easily last until next day in normal usage. However, the OnePlus 7 Pro with 4,000mAh battery offers an on-screen time of around five and a half hours when its display is set to 90Hz. The Nubia Red Magic 3 has a 5,000mAh battery. The ASUS 6Z (aka ZenFone 6) also features a same sized battery. Hence, there is a possibility that the ROG Phone 2 may come equipped with the same sort of battery.

There is no concrete information available yet on the specifications of the ROG Phone 2 smartphone. Its 3C certification has revealed that its charger carries support for up to 30W fast charging. Also, the handset is very likely to feature the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform and it may come with up to 12 GB of RAM like the predecessor model. It is rumored to arrive in two variants and its base model may carry a price tag of 4,399 Yuan (~$639).

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A new ASUS phone that has a model number of ASUS_I001D has been spotted receiving approvals from bodies like China’s 3C, Wi-Fi Alliance and Taiwan’s NCC. The exact identity of the phone is not known yet. However, some reports are claiming that it could be ASUS ROG Phone 2 that is scheduled to go official on July 23.

The database of China’s 3C certification has new listings for ASUS_I001DA and ASUS_I001DB variants for an upcoming ASUS phone. The listings reveal that the ASUS_I001DA handset will be available with a charger that will support for 30W rapid charging whereas the ASUS_I001DB will be arriving with an 18W fast charger. The support for 30W fast charging suggests that it could be the ROG Phone 2. However, the Wi-Fi certifications tell a different thing. The Wi-Fi Alliance listings of ASUS_I001D and ASUS_I001DD have revealed that it runs on Android 9 Pie OS and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n which suggests that it could be a mid-range device.

The same model number has been also certified by the National Communications Commission (NCC) in Taiwan. A schematic of the phone is available in the NCC documents, but sadly it reveals nothing on its design. There are no details of the phone’s specifications in NCC filings.

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The Taiwanese company has previously confirmed that the upcoming ROG Phone 2 will be coming with a display that carries support for 120Hz refresh rate. The predecessor model had supported 90Hz refresh rate. The Snapdragon 855 mobile platform could be present under the hood of the device and it may feature up to 12 GB of RAM. The handset is rumored to release in two variants and its base model could be priced at 4,399 Yuan (~$635).

The ASUS ROG Phone from last year came with 6-inch AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio, Snapdragon 845 chipset and 8 GB of RAM. It did not feature a microSD card slot but came in bigger internal storage options of 128 GB and 512 GB. The smartphone featured 12-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual camera setup and a selfie camera of 8-megapixel. It houses a 4,000mAh battery that supported 30W fast charging. For heat dissipation, it featured a carbon cooling pad, copper heat spreader and 3D vapor-chamber. It delivered enhanced gaming experience through built-in ultrasonic sensors that were dubbed as Air Triggers.

(via)

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