Asus launched the ROG Phone 5 series in India on Wednesday. There are 3 new phones to boot. Asus has launched one ROG phone every year given that 2018, so you can say that it is breaking from convention this year. There is the ‘regular’ ROG Phone 5 (the topic of this hands-on), ROG Phone 5 Pro, and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate—this is a restricted-edition. The truth that there are more choices to select from is one cause why Asus chose to skip ROG Phone 4, the brand told TheSpuzz Online on the sidelines of the launch.
The other reason—and you can take Asus’s word for it—is that it changed a lot of issues, particularly on the inside, to make the fourth-generation of the ROG Phone stand out from every little thing else it had completed prior to. “This is a ‘majorly’ new chapter which is why this was one of the key thought processes internally in the company to move from 3 to 5 directly to communicate this huge leap,” Asus India company head Dinesh Sharma stated.
That leap has more to do with tangible actual-planet use instances rather than on one thing like say, the style. That is not to say the ROG Phone 5 does not have a new style, it does, and it comes in a new white colourway too—another initially for the ROG Phone—in addition to signature black. You can also get it with a matte finish if you select to go all out for the ‘Ultimate’ edition.
But regardless of all the changes—from a style perspective—the ROG Phone 5 is nevertheless a pretty familiar phone. You’d have to be no much less than eagle-eyed to point out the subtle upgrades but, they are there nonetheless and largely they are there for fantastic. Asus has definitely worked challenging on generating it look much less of a giant and more ergonomic even even though it is by no implies, a little phone. If something, it is even bigger—6.78-inch—than the ROG Phone 3.
“When it came to ROG Phone 5, we did not only make improvements in components, but we also changed the structural aspect of the phone significantly,” Sharma explained.
The phone has a new MMT style wherein the battery is split into two and the PCB is in the middle. By splitting the battery, Asus has attempted to guarantee that the battery temperature rise is decrease and with the PCB in the middle, your hands will not go there pretty usually so you shouldn’t ‘feel the heat’. The fan is also now sitting ideal on major of the PCB.
While mainly intended for maintaining the core hardware cool—Asus calls it GameCool 5 system—the re-engineered internals also entail a more even distribution of weight compared to the ROG Phone 3. It is ‘surprising’ that the ROG Phone 5 has specifically the exact same dimensions and the exact same 6,000mAh battery (that is split into two 3,000mAh units) and but it feels sleeker to hold. At the exact same time, Asus has managed to also raise screen actual estate and trimmed down the major and bottom bezels (by up to 25 %)—without compromising on audio. Not only does the ROG Phone 5 pack the greatest sounding stereo speakers on any phone in the market place today, Asus has also brought back the 3.5mm audio jack following it curiously went missing in the ROG Phone 3.
Coming to the style bit once again, the issue that definitely stands out—this year—is the phone’s back panel which borrows a web page from the ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop. Though it is not as sophisticated from a technological point of view, the style tries to mimic Asus’s dot matrix with its personal twist by way of a clever work-about. Underneath the 3D glass—this is Corning Gorilla Glass 3—Asus has incorporated streaks and in the middle of it all, it has thrown in the ROG logo that, in this generation, can show two colours top to a gradient impact. You can also customize this with up to 8 distinctive lighting schemes.
The Pro and Ultimate models of the phone swap this ROG logo with a PMOLED show (this is colour in Pro and monochrome in Ultimate) named ROG Vision for more granular customization for distinctive scenarios like incoming calls and charging. These models also get you two more AirTrigger touch sensors on the back of the phone.
Speaking of which, these AirTriggers—called AirTrigger 5 now—are also obtaining an upgrade in the ROG Phone 5. They pack more sensors (from 7 to 9), lie closer to the edge of the phone and in the case of the Ultimate model, can map up to 18 certain touch points on the screen simultaneously (with some assist from the AeroActive Cooler 5 accessory that now bundles two more buttons). The standard ROG Phone 5 can map up to 14 certain touch points on the screen.
That screen is as higher-finish as higher-finish can get today even even though Asus is nevertheless sticking with 1080p+. The ROG Phone 5 has a 6.78-inch Samsung-created AMOLED show with HDR10+ help, 144Hz refresh price (with 300Hz touch sampling price and 24.3ms touch latency) and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection.
Under the hood, the ROG Phone 5 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor paired with up to 18GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB UFS3.1 storage (non-expandable). Software is Android 11-based ROG UI with ROG hallmark attributes like Armoury Crate for ‘PC-like control of the SoC.’ The phone has quad microphones with OZO Noise Reduction Technology, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Fueling the phone is a 6,000mAh battery with 65W quickly charging. For photography, the ROG Phone 5 has 3 cameras on the back—a 64MP key (Sony IMX686), a 13MP ultra-wide angle, and an additional 5MP macro camera. On the front, it has a 24MP front camera.
Like its predecessors, the ROG Phone 5 is also jam-packed to the core with higher-finish hardware and features—all working in unison to amplify gaming expertise. That expertise will, also, rely on games. Asus believes the market place has matured—with the ROG Phone pioneering this segment—to an extent that you could essentially justify all this technologies rather than sidelining it as a solution meant for a niche audience.
The proverbial gaming phone jumpstarted the rise of higher-finish mobile games—and E-sports. Today, quite a few developers make mobile ports of their higher-finish AAA game titles. The complete ecosystem is developing. But at the exact same time, Asus does not see the ROG Phone 5 as a phone that is meant only for gamers. It is meant for anyone and everyone hunting to purchase a higher-finish phone like a Samsung Galaxy or an Apple iPhone, that they can also game on. Its stock, ad-free of charge and bloat-free of charge Android application is one thing that Asus is banking heavily on to market place its ROG Phones.
At the exact same time, Asus is hunting at India as a pretty crucial market place exactly where the ROG Phone appears to be working pretty effectively.
“India is already among the top three countries globally when it comes to ROG Phone series in terms of sales. Last year we have had 2x growth rate here,” Sharma stated.
The ROG Phone 5 begins at Rs 49,999 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage going up to Rs 57,999 for the major-finish variant with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The ROG Phone 5 Pro with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage will price Rs 69,999. The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate with 18GB RAM and 512GB storage will set you back by Rs 79,999. Sale begins April 15 from Flipkart. Watch this space for our complete evaluation of the Asus ROG Phone 5 in the days to come.