In a move that’s bound to surprise many, Asus — known primarily for its PC components and laptops, today unveiled the ROG Phone. The gaming phone packs beastly specs and is aimed at gamers with an equally aggressive design to go along with it.
Asus is not the first in the market with a gaming phone. We have already seen Razer, Xiaomi, and a few other Chinese companies launch gaming smartphones in the market. However, Asus’ approach is definitely unique. The ROG Phone has a bold design includes a unique GameCool vapor-chamber based cooling system. It even comes with a detachable AeroActive Cooler which is a small fan that you can attach to the ROG Phone to improve its cooling efficiency. As if this was not enough, the ROG Phone also features an RGB ROG logo at the rear which can be customized for various events. Interestingly, for optimum ergonomics while gaming, Asus has placed two USB-C ports at the left side. There’s also a third USB-C port located at the bottom. The phone also has 2 AirTrigger sensors which use ultrasonic sensors. They can be configured for custom in-game actions.
As for specs, the ROG Phone goes beyond others in this department. Firstly, it sports a 6-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. It also has HDR support and 108 percent of DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. Inside the 8.6mm thick phone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset which is speed binned to 2.96GHz. Yes, Asus is ensuring that each and every unit of the ROG Phone ships with an overclocked 2.96GHz Snapdragon 845 chip. Other notable specs include an Adreno 630 GPU, 8GB RAM, 128/512GB storage, and a beefy 4,000mAh battery with 20W HyperCharge technology. There’s also a dual-camera set up at the rear which includes a 12MP primary rear shooter along with an 8MP wide-angle 120-degree wide-angle shooter. There’s also an 8MP shooter at the front.
To ensure an optimum gaming experience, the ROG Phone also comes with front-facing speakers, a headphone jack with 7.1 virtual channel support, and even Wi-Fi ad support. For the phone to run at its maximum 2.96GHz clock speed, you need to put it into ‘X Mode.’ This can be done by squeezing its sides similar to the Pixel 2 and HTC U11.
Asus also unveiled tons of accessories and dock for the ROG Phone. One of them is a dock similar to Samsung’s DeX which comes with plenty of ports. There’s also a TwinView Dock which features a 6,000mAh battery and adds a second display to the device.
Asus says the ROG Phone will go on sale in Q3 2018, and it will provide more details about its pricing nearer to its launch.
