ASUS ROG Phone Review (Gaming Phone Beast)

We've tested a lot of smartphones here, but I just need to be upfront with you. None of them feel as absurd or as over the top like this as this is new ROG, then again, it's a phone devoted solely to gaming is streaming. So there was no way it wasn't going to be completely crazy with prices starting at $900 for the 128 gigabyte model, the ASUS ROG phone is definitely a big investment, but is it worth it?

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Well, if you're the kind of person who stresses out over frame rates and CPU temperatures and has been searching for the best gaming smartphone period, I think ASUS has you covered for everyone else. Hell no, you shouldn't buy this thing. It's overkill. But in this case, it's delicious overkill. Just started moving my face or on the phone. Whereas it's gaming pedigree like a badge of honor. Just check this thing out from these coppery or in stereo speaker grills to the light up logo around back to these air vents. This is every inch of gaming gadget. The whole aesthetic has a lot more in common with expensive gaming laptops than it does any other smartphone and for some people myself included. That's just going to be too much.

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ASUS ROG Phone with Snapdragon 845 chipset and 8GB RAM

Then again, the ROG phone is kind of the epitome of too much that emphasis on overkill starts at a very fundamental level unlike the other premium devices we've tested this year the ROG phone uses a slightly different kind of Snapdragon 845 chipset. These have been chosen because they can hit sustained max clock speeds of 2.96 gigahertz that's about 200 megahertz more than standard Snapdragon 845 when paired with the eight gigabytes of RAM tucked away inside we're looking at what is more than likely the most powerful android phone money can buy right now having a slightly more powerful octa-core chipset is definitely a good thing here and the orgy certainly screens as a result. Here's the thing that I would argue that asis is clever hardware design and software features are really what make the zero G such a great phone for people who care about games.

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ASUS ROG Phone Hardware

Let's start with the hardware. And specifically those air vents I mentioned earlier there carved into the phones back and they provide an exit point for all of the heat being carried away from those processor cores by the internal cooling system. Now if you weren't aware, and I realized I might be preaching to the choir here, but if you weren't aware smartphone shifts that's get throttled and run slower when the temperatures inside the phone get too high. And in my experience, this quote unquote gain core system and yes, it's really called gain cool did an impressive job helping this Snapdragon run as fast as possible.

The phone sides are also pressure sensitive, which is not super novel but is more interesting than it sounds. If you squeeze those slides at the same time, it will activate what Ace is called x mode. It's a feature that shuts off apps running in the background to free up memory fires up that led laced logo around the back and gives you options to max out CPU performance and enable in game anti aliasing. It doesn't just help the phone run better either. Just check this out.

Like I said, this phone is the epitome of too much anyway, you can use those pressure sensitive sites as buttons when you're playing a game two. There are two sensors sitting on the phones right side just for you to expect shoulder buttons to go. And if you're playing a game ASUS recognizes those air triggers will actually automatically mapped to specific on screen buttons in asphalt line. For instance, those triggers are set to virtually taps, parts of the screen where the drift and the boost buttons are. It's also really easy to change the settings on the fly. I started playing pudgy with the air triggers mapped to crouch and fire, and I honestly think my game has gotten a little better. They're not perfect, though, mostly because they're almost impossible to repeatedly tap quickly, so you're probably better off using them to talk with some slightly less important in game tools.

ASUS ROG Phone Game Tools

Speaking of those in game tools, the LG phone has a lot of them, you'll access most of them via in Germany called Game Genie, which, among other things gives you access to real time. Information about the phone temperature lets you block incoming notifications, record macros and stream no real with just a couple tabs you can start broadcasting your gameplay complete with your face in an inset to YouTube or twitch now I'm not a streamer I have no ambition to be a streamer I had to try though and the results were let's just say I have a long way to go hey what's up fan and gadget here streaming some punchy strangely enough, there's one area where he seems to play things safe the screen unlike the new razor phone to which has a displayed running out Quad HD.

ASUS ROG Phone Display

The ROI phone screen only runs 2160 by 1080. And well both of these gaming focused phones have screens that run more smoothly than the standard 60 hertz. The LG phones screen refresh rate tops out at 90 hurts compared to the razor funds absolutely crazy. 120 hertz. A more advanced display would have been nice. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about asis losing ground here the display is still more than enough to keep the high end games I've been throwing at it. looking great.

ASUS ROG Phone Gaming Performance

Okay, we've just been through a lot. But here's the big question. What's it actually like to play games on this thing, well insured It's awesome. Smartphones had become remarkably powerful. But the level of performance and the elegance of the software tools make the zero G phone honestly kind of absurd. I got rock solid frame as well playing pubs G and fortnite and high speed games like asphalt. My looked incredible on this display without a hint of slow down benchmark apps like 3d Mark did push the phone to its breath of the limits. But that is sort of the point. In any case, no one actually needs this much smartphone horsepower. That said if you're really looking for the best mobile gaming experience out there right now I don't think the ROG will leave you hang up the phone is impressive enough on its own.

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ASUS ROG Phone Hardware and Other Features

But here's the real kicker. It's modular back at Computex we saw as a shelf a handful of frankly, badass accessories. There's a customized controller built by the people at gained vice and a mobile desktop out that lets you play PUBG on an auto G phone connected to an external display a keyboard and a mouse. The wildest was a twin view I think gives the phone a second screen and extra battery life which is supposed to be helpful when you're using the phone to play in stream. At the same time. Since I've received the arrow G phone I've been able to test precisely none of these things. All right, that's not exactly true. Every single ROG phone comes with one of these. The company calls it the arrow active cooler, which is basically just marketing speak for a fan that draws power from the phones. Second USB C port on its side. It's a clever addition. But I'm not sure it really helps keep things cooler than the phones built in air vents did while playing games like Pepsi. I routinely saw CPU temperatures hit between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius. And those numbers didn't really change after I attach the arrow cooler. Turns out, it's meant more to help dissipate heat while you're playing a game and charging the phone at the same time. And in that respect, it really does help.

ASUS ROG Phone Design

Here's my issue with this access report design. Though, to plug any accessories in in the first place. You have to dig a tiny rubber cat out of it. And I don't care who you are, this is probably going to get lost. At some point. I'm not worried about the second side mounted USB port. But I am a little concerned about what the right amount of pocket lint is going to do to this specialized 48 pin connector next to it. He says clearly curious enough about this thing to cover it up in the first place would a little bit of rubber to connect this thing to the phone really have been that much trouble ultimately. And in spite of myself. I have kind of fallen in love with this device. It is a device that in my day to day life makes no sense. And I think for a lot of you watching out there. The same probably applies to you. It's just absurd the level of performance the specific tools that brings to the table it's only going to mean something to a tiny, tiny fraction of you. That said, I'm pretty sure that tiny fraction of you is going to be very pleased. This cost $900 on the low end. So you're going to be buying into something for a while. But I don't think you're going to find a better smartphone gaming experience on the market right now. Raise your phone to super into it. Really appreciate what they're doing, but I think asis is intuitive and elegant software features especially with respect to in game tweaks and streaming stead it apart from the competition in a huge way.