ROG Phone 5S Pro Review – Life in Technicolor Motion

ASUS sent us the new ROG Phone 5s Pro, their line refresh of the ROG Phone 5 series sporting more features, as well as an improved chipset for one of our most recommended gaming mobile phones out this year.

While the new features are definitely notable, it’s overall not too different from its other contemporaries in the ROG Phone 5 Series- which you can read about in our previous review. The 5s Pro isn’t alone either, releasing alongside the ROG Phone 5s.

The phone is available on October 24th from the ASUS Online store on Lazada, so if you think it’s worth your time definitely go pick one up and take part in its launch promotion.

ROG Phone 5s Pro Specs

One of the most important things to note with the ROG Phone 5s Pro is that under the hood, it’s largely the same ROG Phone 5 that we all know and love. Specifically, the 5s Pro shares a lot in common with the 5 Ultimate- save for the previously mentioned fixes.

That being said, it’s not a total repackage either. The biggest change comes in the form of its CPU by way of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Plus- which means you’ll be able to handle even more demanding games, thanks also in part to the phone’s 18GB of RAM, which is comparable to some gaming laptops.

The best place you’ll see this is in Genshin Impact, which sports a much more stable framerate on max settings. While it’s not like the previous models were inept at handling one of the most demanding mobile games ever made, the ROG Phone 5s Pro is definitely a good purchase to consider if you wanted a phone slightly more adept at handling the many new updates to the game.

We’d also tried the since-released mobile version of Pokemon Unite, a MOBA that can flood the screen with effects and objects as well. Unsurprisingly, the ROG Phone 5s Pro handles that like a champ too, with its improved CPU.

An Improved ROG Vision

The other big feature was the improvements to the ROG Vision, the phone’s signature dot matrix screen on the back last seen on the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. Unlike the Ultimate’s black-and-white screen however, the 5S Pro has been granted the gift of color, letting you display any image you want off of the internet thanks to the special ROG Vision app.

Just like the previous ROG Vision you can even add your own text effects, letting you really show your style.

Obviously, the ROG Vision isn’t really what I’d call a hardware pusher- that being said, it’s still one of the most unique features of the ROG phone line, and is sure to catch a lot of eyes since you can’t really see what 18GB of RAM looks like at a glance.

Better yet, the included case for the phone has the screen for the Vision exposed, so you won’t have to worry about covering up your flashy new toy.

Still The Best Gaming Phone On The Market

Aside from that, the ROG Phone 5s Pro still includes all the things that make the ROG Phone 5 series such a blast. From the Air Triggers letting you better replicate the feel of a controller to its great 64MP main camera powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 series chipset, you’re getting a great phone for the price.

That being said, therein lies a potential criticism- if you’d already bought the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, there’s not that much reason to upgrade to a 5s Pro. If you hadn’t jumped into the ROG Phone 5 series though, this is a great reason to do so, acting as a line refresh for the phone and being better prepared to handle the deluge of demanding games on the market right now like Punishing Gray Raven, Genshin Impact and more.

The ROG Phone 5s Pro is available for RM4999, and you can check out the various launch promotions for more information.

Review unit provided by ASUS ROG

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