ROG Phone Review – Priced from RM3499, this is undoubtedly one of the best gaming smartphones so far

We have been waiting a long time for ROG Phone to launch in Malaysia, and now the wait is finally over! ROG Phone will be available in Malaysia soon at RM3499 (128GB RAM) and RM3999 (512GB RAM)! We have got the chance to experience the ROG Phone beforehand as well, so check out our full ROG Phone review below if you want to know how it performs while running the most popular mobile games!

The Design

ROG Phone comes in a combination of tough, precision-crafted 2.5D and 3D curved Corning Gorilla Glass on both front and rear. The body features a bold futuristic styling with diamond-cut highlights and copper detailing too! ROG Phone is having a 6-inch 18:9 AMOLED display with an ultrafast 90Hz refresh rate as well as a superb 1ms pixel response time. No doubt your gaming experience will be blur-free and smooth using the display.

The device is also comfortable to hold, especially thanks to the new phone layout that optimize landscape gaming experience. It comes with an additional side-mounted USB-C connector, HDMI output, gigabit LAN and headphones so that it won’t be awkward if you charge a phone while gaming. The side connector allows ROG Phone exclusive expansion modules such as Mobile Desktop Dock and TwinView Dock too.

The device offers 3 unique AirTrigger touch sensors – 2 at the top of the display for landscape mode gaming, 1 for portrait mode. Of course, they are programmable for any on-screen actions such as aiming and firing, which means you can gain two extra fingers to control gameplay! The sensors only need a light touch to trigger, however those with small hands (like me) might not be able to press it precisely at first (you will need to get used to its location).

As a gaming-focused smartphone, ROG Phone is featuring a great cooling system called 3D vapor-chamber cooling inside so the device could maintain its temperature at a decent level. Not to mention that it comes with an AeroActive Cooler, offering an extra cooling boost for your heavy gaming needs.

Well, the best part of ROG Phone’s design is definitely the Aura RGB lighting on the rear. It has an illuminated ROG logo on it that could display gorgeous lighting schemes including breathing, strobing and color cycling. You can even customize the lighting effects for different scenarios via the ROG Game Center.

ROG Phone Specifications

• Size: 158.83 × 76.16 × 8.3mm
• Weight: 200g
• Color: Black
• Display:  6-inch 18:9 AMOLED display
• Resolution: 2160 x 1080 pixels
• CPU: 2.96GHz specially-binned Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Octa-core Processor
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 630
• OS: Android Oreo 8.1 and ROG UI
• Memory:  8GB RAM + 128GB/512GB ROM
• Camera:
  • 8MP Front Camera
  • 12MP + 8MP (120° wide-angle) dual-rear camera
• Battery: 4000mAh with Quick Charge 4.0 fast charging

The Camera

The cameras of ROG Phone is more like a basic setup that you will get on the most smartphones nowadays. The dual rear camera is 12MP + 8MP (with 120° wide-angle), while the front-facing camera is 8MP – a decent value for a gaming-focused smartphone like ROG Phone.

The camera still offers great camera performance though, thanks to its AI Photography features such as AI Scene Detection, AI Photo Learning and Real-time Beautification. There are a few PixelMaster camera modes too, which includes Panorama, Time Lapse and 8 types of filters.

The Performance and Battery

ROG Phone aims to take mobile gaming performance to the next level, and we think it succeeded. It is powered by Snapdragon 845 Octa-core processor that is speed-binned for maximum performance, as well as Adreno 630 for incredible graphics performance. We experimented the device with a few popular mobile games and unsurprisingly, it is providing an impressive gaming experience that meets our expectation.

We tested the device with PUBG Mobile, Black Desert Mobile, ARK: Survival Evolved, Arena of Valor and Identity V under their best graphics settings. Noted that we are testing the games with X mode on and AeroActive Cooler equipped.

From the video, you could see that ROG Phone runs every of the games seamlessly. Even ARK: Survival Evolved, a very performance-demanding game that many other phones couldn’t run it well, is running pretty good at around 25 FPS on ROG Phone! The device stays cool after all of our game testings as well.

There is also a Game Genie feature allowing you to speed up your device, adjust your AirTrigger buttons, record gameplay and even set up Macro (automatically plays a game by setting up the sequence of screen tapping)! The X mode mentioned earlier helps to free up all background RAM, optimize gaming performance and maximize the efficiency of the AeroActive Cooler too.

ROG Phone is having a massive 4000mAh battery, however due to the high demand on power for its gaming features, it uses up the battery pretty fast. Gladfully, it supports fast-charging as well as the ASUS HyperCharge if you are using the bundled ROG Phone power adapter.

Conclusion

Available at RM3499 (128GB ROM) and RM3999 (512GB ROM), ROG Phone is something you should definitely own if you are looking for a gaming-focused phone and if you have the budget. Aside from the phone itself that is already powerful, it comes with various accessories that offer even better mobile gaming experience too, and (in our opinion) these are worth more than its price!

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ROG Phone is available for pre-order now (October 22) until November 4. You can drop your order online at Lazada or Shopee, or ASUS Brand Stores if you are purchasing it offline. For more information, you can visit the official site or Facebook!