Many gaming phones are no different from the standard smartphone rate. But that’s not a problem for Asus’ new ROG Phone 3, which has massive specs, expensive RGB lighting, and arguably the most responsive performance I’ve ever experienced on a phone.
While I only had a chance to use the phone for a couple of days, the ROG Phone 3 player-centric design without apologies is really charming. With a 6.59-inch AMOLED display, the ROG phone is already huge even by today’s standard, but because the ROG 3 phone also has nice bezels above and below its screen, it feels even bigger than it is. And weighing in at 0.53 pounds, the ROG Phone 3 is also one of the heaviest phones on the market.
On the back, Asus has once again included its signature ROG logo, which gets full customizable RGB lighting along with some abstract lines that are likely to remind you of a circuit board or something like that, plus dual rear cameras. New to the ROG Phone 3 is a clear section that lets you see the phone’s built-in wind tunnel that’s designed to work with Asus’ additional cooling fan (more on that later), with Asus even having the nerve to write AERODYNAMIC SYSTEM under the glass, so there is no doubt what it is for. It’s such an unnecessary flex that you should love it: The phone’s design is almost an affront to the super-stylish phones that major device makers like Apple and Samsung have been rolling out.
That said, all the neon lights and vents in the world don’t mean much if the ROG Phone 3 doesn’t have the performance it needs to back up its design, which it does. The ROG Phone 3 not only works with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ 5G processor, which Qualcomm claims offers 10% better graphics and performance than a Vandragon 865 vanilla chip. By 2020, Asus also increased the ROG Phone 3’s refresh rate to 144Hz while reducing the screen’s touch latency to just 25ms. From the moment you pick up the phone, the effects of all that speed are instantly recognized because the phone seems to respond instantly to whatever you do, regardless of whether it’s a simple gesture or starting an app.
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Looking at its gaming credibility, I really appreciate what Asus has done to support landscape phone use. Instead of using weak bottom-mounted speakers, the ROG phone has true front-end stereo audio that pumps out serious volume. This thing is loud. But even more importantly, in addition to the usual USB-C port on the bottom, Asus also includes a USB-C port on the side of the phone, which would be on the bottom if you hold the phone on its side. That means you can easily plug in a pair of headphones or a charging cable while gaming without any cables getting in your hands.
However, the ROG Phone 3 doesn’t really reach its full potential until you plug in the included GameCool 3 accessory, which adds a fan for additional cooling along with a handy 3.5mm audio jack, a pass-through port via USB-C and even a kickstand. Now I admit that putting a fan on a phone is probably more style than function, although Asus says the fan can reduce the surface temperature of the ROG Phone 3 up to 8 degrees Fahrenheit, that little fan also helps keep your hands dry. which is something that great mobile gamers would appreciate.
But perhaps my new favorite addition to the ROG Phone 3 is the new built-in pressure sensors on the side of the phone. We have seen that other devices, such as Pixel phones, use similar technology before, usually to do things like summon the Google Assistant. But on the ROG Phone 3, Asus has configured its pressure sensors to activate Mode X, which not only turns on the phone’s RGB lighting, but also enables the phone’s high-performance profile while changing the default background of the phone. phone from blue to red. It’s pure cyberpunk nonsense and it’s amazing.
Meanwhile, when it comes to gaming, Asus has partnered with ultrasonic component maker Sentons to improve the phone’s AirTriggers, which serve as customizable touch-based shoulder buttons. The big update for the ROG Phone 3 is that the triggers can detect touch and slide gestures, and each trigger can be split into two different buttons in case you need four buttons instead of just two.
If that’s not enough, the ROG Phone 3 supports fully customizable on-screen controls that work in almost every game. The ROG Phone 3 is also one of the first phones I’ve used that has Google Stadia pre-installed, which is an interesting move, as it suggests that third-party device makers are really starting to embrace the idea of cloud-based gaming on the go.
Finally, the anchor of all this technology is a giant 6,000 mAh battery that Asus is the highest capacity power supply that could get stuck inside the ROG Phone 3 without making it bigger. To give you an idea of how much juice it is, the Galaxy S20 Ultra (which is a massive phone in its own right), it only offers a 5,000 mAh battery. What’s more, Asus has also included a special low-voltage charging mode and improved heat regulation to ensure that, even with heavy use and multiple charging cycles, the ROG Phone 3’s battery status doesn’t degrade as fast as other phones.
Look, I know the ROG Phone 3 isn’t for everyone, but somehow that’s what makes it so special. It’s made for the type of hardcore mobile gamers who crave for higher update rates and built-in trigger buttons. It has beastly specs, monstrous battery life, and a design that aggressively ties everything together, and I hope to spend more time getting an idea of how it works in the real world.
Unfortunately, this probably won’t be cheap, because while Asus has yet to reveal official pricing, it is expected to cost roughly the same (or maybe a little more) than last year. ROG Phone 2, which launched at $ 900. It’s also unclear when this thing will actually be available, as Asus only says to be on the lookout for more information sometime in September.
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