ASUS today has officially taken the drape off the latest iteration of its gaming mobile device, the ROG Phone. Despite being the fourth-generation model, the 2021 release is called the ROG Phone 5 likely because number four is considered unlucky in the Chinese culture.
This time around, the ROG Phone 5 can be obtained in three models which can be differentiated through their exterior features as well as memory and internal storage setup. Nevertheless, all three versions still have plenty of components that they share with each other.
Among them is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor although this time around, ASUS is not using a speed-binned version of the chip for ROG Phone 5. This is simply because the option is not being made available to the company at the moment, according to its response to our query.
To help cool the new Qualcomm’s flagship chip, the ROG Phone 5 is equipped with GameCool 5 solution that apparently features a new layout to help provide higher thermal efficiency according to ASUS. It includes positioning the CPU at the centre of the layout, so that heat can be dispersed evenly throughout the device with the help of a large 3D vapour chamber and a copious amount of graphite sheets.
At the same time, ASUS has also designed a new AeroActive external cooler for ROG Phone 5 that can help shave as much as 10C off its CPU temperature as well as tone down the phone surface temperature by 15C. Additionally, the new cooler also now comes with two customisable buttons that gamers can utilise for their games.
Speaking about game buttons, ASUS continues to equip the ROG Phone 5 with AirTrigger ultrasonic sensors. On the Pro and Ultimate variant of the phone which we are going to discuss a little bit more later in the article, the company has also added another set of touch sensor on their back which generally designed to mimic the L2/R2 trigger buttons on game controllers.
The ROG Phone 5 is also equipped with a 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display that ASUS has sourced from Samsung. With a refresh rate of up to 144Hz and 300Hz touch sampling rate, the HDR10+ certified display has a peak brightness capability of 1200nits alongside DCI-P33 colour gamut coverage of 111.23%, sub-1 Delta-E rating, and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
In terms of photography, the ROG Phone 5 Series still features the same camera module from ROG Phone 3 which was also used by ZenFone 7 Pro. It comes with a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor alongside 13MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro cameras while there is also a 24MP selfie camera on the front side of all ROG Phone 5 Series devices.
ASUS has also retained the front-facing dual speakers for ROG Phone 5 alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack that is being enhanced by an ESS Tech ES9280AC Pro DAC chip. Completing the ROG Phone 5 Series general specifications is a 6000mAh battery that supports a 65W HyperCharge charger which allows the gaming phone to obtain around 73% of its capacity in just 30 minutes.
As mentioned earlier, the ROG Phone 5 Series can be obtained in three different models. Available in Phantom Black and Storm White colourway, the standard variant of the gaming phone features a ROG logo in dotted matrix style with customisable Aura RGB lighting alongside up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 internal storage.
On another hand, the ROG Phone 5 Pro which comes solely in Phantom Black as well as 16GB/512GB configuration is also equipped with a small matrix display called ROG Vision on its back that would output animations during selected system events such as incoming call, X Mode activation, phone charging, and more. Gamers also create up to three custom animations for the display as well.
ASUS will also be releasing the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate that will be available in just Storm White. Similar to the Pro model, it is equipped with 512GB internal storage but with even more memory capacity at 18GB although the company decided to provide this particular model with a monochrome version of the ROG Vision rear display.
As opposed to its predecessor, the new AeroCooler 5 will only be provided as standard for ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate while those who chose to get their hands on the vanilla variant have to purchase it separately. The Ultimate variant will also be accompanied by a ROG Fan Gift Collection boxset that contains a variety of ROG swags such as a cap, face mask, pins, badges, towel, and more.
In terms of pricing, the standard ROG Phone 5 starts at EUR 799 (~RM 3,921) while the ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate will be available for EUR 1,199 (~RM 5,884) and EUR 1,299 (~RM 6,375) respectively. The exact release date for these three models will be different from one market to another but generally, their rollout will begin from this month onwards.
For those who are wondering, yes, ASUS is planning to release the ROG Phone 5 Series in Malaysia very soon. Keep a look at our subsequent report regarding its pricing and release dates shortly. (UPDATE: Here is the pricing for ROG Phone 5 Series in Malaysia!)
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