14 DAY TRIAL // Let’s be honest about it: the madness that took over the world in 2020 ended up giving us more time for the hobbies we even forgot we have, including things like painting, playing games, reading, or just spending more time with the little ones.
As far as the gaming part is concerned, millions of dusty consoles have been brought back to life, while others preferred to do the whole thing in a more convenient manner and just started playing games on their mobile phones.
But it goes without saying that not every phone is the right choice for playing games, but on the other hand, there’s one phone that’s actually the best choice. That’s right, there’s one device out there that has turned providing an immersive mobile gaming experience into its mission.
It’s the Asus ROG Phone, a model that’s been around for a while and earlier this year received another facelift at a time that just makes sense. Everybody plays games these days, so the new Asus ROG Phone 5 fits these crazy times like a glove.
First and foremost, let’s do a summary of the essentials.
The ROG Phone 5 is, just like its predecessors, a device that’s entirely focused on gaming, though given it’s at its core an Android phone, it can do all sorts of other things, such as taking photos, making phone calls, and stuff.
So it’s an Android phone with gaming superpowers, and Asus has tried to make sure that these superpowers are pushed to the upper limit of the tech world.
This is why the ROG 5 Ultimate comes with no less than 18GB of RAM, and although you don’t really need such an insane amount of memory, it’s an easy way to tell gamers their brand-new device is ready for anything you want to throw at it.
The new ROG 5 series embraces an approach that others have used for mobile phones as well, so it lands in three different models, namely the standard version, ROG 5 Pro, and ROG 5 Ultimate. If you want the best of the best, including a little OLED display on the rear, you need to go for the Ultimate.
But the standard version is cool too, and one of the biggest differences as compared to the previous model is the back of the phone. The device no longer lets you see inside but features a grille which at first makes you believe it’s an 8-bit design. It’s not, as the device only comes with an RGB-lit ROG icon sitting under a small grille, with this choice looking pretty cool and, to be honest, it perfectly fits the gaming approach that the whole device is supposed to use in the first place.
If you’ve used a ROG Phone before, then this new model shouldn’t take you by surprise, as the device features a rather familiar approach, with everything still where you’d expect it to be. You still get four microphones, one placed on each side of the phone, just to make sure it captures the perfect sound.
As for the speakers, well, it’s hard to describe in words the awesome quality they provide, so you just need to hold the device in hand to get a taste of the immersive audio experience. These are the best speakers on a mobile device, period, and this makes perfect sense given it’s a gaming phone we’re talking about here.
However, I still recommend using some headphones for even better audio quality but also for longer battery life, of course.
The ROG 5 comes with a USB-C port cleverly placed on the left side, which means you can comfortably hold it in hand while charging. Asus has really tried to get everything right, from smaller details to bigger changes, and this simple design choice shows the company pretty much managed to do it.
And speaking of the USB-C port, it provides insanely fast charging. The 65W fast charging means the ROG 5 can get from 0 to 100 percent in less than an hour, of course, if you’re not using it during this whole time.
The design of the phone isn’t necessarily breathtaking, although it’s pretty clear from the very beginning it’s a device specifically aimed at gamers. However, with a weight of 238 g (8.40 oz) for the Ultimate, the ROG 5 sometimes feels a bit too heavy, especially because after all, you’re supposed to hold it in hand for quite a while. And speaking of holding it in hand for a longer period of time, the device also tends to get a little bit warm when playing more demanding games, so it’s easy to end up with sweaty hands.
But while this is a large phone, the ROG 5 allows for a crazy display to be fitted in its case.
The device comes with a 6.78-inch Full HD Plus AMOLED display with a resolution of 2440x1080 pixels and HDR10+. It features a 300Hz touch sampling rate, which means it’s super-responsive, and this perfectly makes sense for a device specifically aimed at gaming. The refresh rate is 144Hz, so it’s one of the smoothest displays you can find right now.
The picture quality is impressive, but not the best, though I think this is more of a subjective thing. Many people fell in love with Samsung’s display optimizations which increase the contrast and make everything more vivid, so if this is what you expect from the ROG 5 too, you may end up disappointed.
But the ROG 5 overall offers a crisp display, making for a very well-balanced choice when it comes to playing games. And the aforementioned specifications also guarantee a smooth movie-watching experience too, because after all, the super-large display is just perfect for such a thing.
While we won’t talk too much about benchmarks and stuff like this because the WWW is so full of these kind of tests, worth knowing is the ROG 5 comes fitted with a Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G processor paired with up to 18GB RAM on the Ultimate. For storage, you get at least 128GB, while the top version comes with 512GB, which is just enough for most gamers out there.
The GPU is an Adreno 660 unit, and as a bonus, you also get a 3.5mm audio port, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, a fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen, reverse charging, and NFC.
Now let’s talk a little bit about the camera. There are three of them (aside from the selfie unit) with 64 megapixels and f/1.8 for the wide sensor, 13-megapixel and f/2.4 for the ultrawide sensor, and 5-megapixel f/2.9 for the macro.
The camera performance is generally good, but it doesn’t match the quality of leaders like Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro.
The photos it takes are pretty crisp with good detail quality, but on the other hand, the device sometimes gets the colors wrong, with the white balance also occasionally messed up. But in 99 percent of the cases, the camera offers solid performance. And let’s not forget the ROG 5 is a device made for playing games, not for taking photos of your cat running across the room.
When it comes to gaming, the ROG 5 features an impressive arsenal that comprises two ultrasonic buttons on the right side that can become shoulder buttons, as well as Asus’ typical software tools, such as Game Genie that now includes an esports mode to block notifications.
The Kunai 3 gamepad
While playing games with your ROG 5 in hand is pretty cool anyway, there’s one easy way to boost the whole experience to a whole new level.
It’s the new Kunai 3 gamepad, which to be honest, is pretty similar to the one we’ve seen on the ROG 3.
Playing games with such a large device and a connected controller feels unusual at first, but it’s something that easily grows on you. And for fighting games, for example, it’s something that feels extremely natural, pretty much just like the whole thing feels on a PSP, for instance.
However, I wish connecting the controller was easier, as it takes a while to figure out how you need to slide in each pad and connect it to the device. Once you do, however, you could end up being forced to manually map its buttons because, unfortunately, not the entire world of Android gaming is ready for such an immersive experience.
But at the end of the day, the Kunai 3 gamepad seems to be an excellent companion during a long flight when you just want to play some games. Just connect your headphones and you get one of the best gaming consoles around.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Asus ROG 5 comes with a unique combination of hardware and software that provides you with first-hand access to a different side of the Android ecosystem.
It’s gaming, the thing that everybody loves but which has until now been explored pretty much with “regular” devices that have barely been optimized for gamers.
That’s true, high-end phones do come with upgraded speakers and better screens, but who else is offering a dedicated controller, insane audio quality, super-fast charging, an arsenal of software capabilities, and overall crazy specs to offer immersive gaming?
On the other hand, I think that Asus is investing in a niche that could get a plethora of competitors overnight, as soon as other phone brands start investing in the same things mentioned above. For example, Samsung is already building a high-end all-rounder, as the Galaxy S21 Ultra is already capable of doing pretty much anything without focusing on just one specific purpose.
So as soon as other high-end devices end up offering the same capabilities as the ROG Phone without specifically going after gamers, there’s a chance this niche loses its consumer appeal, especially given the current model’s weak points in certain regards, such as the camera.
