The Asus ROG 5 is one of the greatest gaming phones available, if not the best. It is, nevertheless, one of the greatest phones for enjoying any form of media because of its fantastic display, long battery life and charging speed, and outstanding speakers. There are several improvements to its extremely strong predecessor, and they even discovered a method to reintroduce a 3.5mm jack.
The phone’s minor flaws, such as its restricted camera suite, haven’t been significantly rectified to compete with standouts like the Samsung Galaxy S21 lineup.
They are, however, becoming fewer with each successive ROG phone, and the Asus ROG Phone 5 has managed to gain some quality-of-life benefits over other Android phones to the point where it is competitive with non-gaming smartphones — as long as you don’t want the finest camera smartphones.
Asus has also struck a wonderful balance in the phones’ aesthetic appearance, dialing down its ‘gaming chic’ angled plastic in prior ROG phones to more modest lines racing over the rear cover of the ROG 5.
What you will see here?
Rog 5: Design
The ROG 5 has a rather clean appearance with a modest gaming vibe owing to the optional RGB logo lights. The power button and SIM slot are both a bright blue hue that contrasts with the white back and black front for a splash of color. The design is less overtly “gamer” than prior ROG Phones. It’s just unique enough to stick out without being overly gaudy.
The ROG 5 features a big 6.78-inch display. This 1080p OLED display appears crisp, and the colors are consistent across all brightness settings. This is an upgrade over last year’s model, which featured grit at low brightness levels.
This display has a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, which you may lock to for better animations. This implies that fast-paced games might be simpler to play – your opponents may only see 60 frames per second. However, you can get more than double that in some situations. A fast refresh rate also makes the phone’s user interface feel considerably more snappy.
The design of the rear cover has changed significantly. The ROG 3’s cut-out window inside the heat sink has been removed. There is still a ROG logo on the regular ROG 5 that lights up in programmed patterns. As it is similar to gamer-chic light-up components within a PC desktop setup. The logo is replaced in the Pro and Ultimate versions by a tiny (approximately 1-inch) OLED panel that may show a symbol or message of your choice.
While RGB and OLED display clearly screams gaming style,’ they’re a long cry from the first ROG phone. This featured deep grooves zig-zagging over the rear cover that made it appear like an incognito Decepticon. Over the generations of ROG phones, these flourishes were tamed, and the basic lines seen today are the result of a more mainstream appearance, with a geometric but rounded camera block at the top of the rear cover.
Rog 5: Price & Availability
The Asus ROG 5 has launched on March 10, 2021, with three variants arriving in stages. The regular version became available in some locations later in March, the Asus ROG 5 Pro in April, and the Asus ROG 5 Ultimate in May — but only in limited quantities. While availability varies by area, the Ultimate will be available globally but in limited quantities. The Asus ROG 5 is now available in the United States. However, it is available only in one configuration – the top – with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage for $1,000.
A brief word on the name: the Asus ROG 5 is the direct successor to the Asus ROG 3 that was released in 2020. Given some cultures’ aversion to the number four, the business decided to avoid ‘ROG 4’.
The basic price of the Asus ROG 5 is €799 (about $950 / £684 / AU$1,233) for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, €899 (approximately $1,069 / £769 / AU$1,367) for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, and €999 (approximately $1,188 / £855 / AU$1,541) for 16GB RAM.
Rog 5: Specification
- 6.78-inch display
- The dimensions are 172.8 x 77.2 x 10.3mm.
- 238g.
- Snapdragon 888 from Qualcomm.
- LPDDR5 RAM up to 16GB
- Storage capacity of up to 256GB through UFS 3.1.
- Display size: 6.78in FHD+ AMOLED
- The refresh rate is 144Hz, while the touch sampling rate is 300Hz.
- Front: Gorilla Glass Victus, back: Gorilla Glass 3.
- RGB dot-matrix lighting
- AirTrigger 5 compatibility.
- Rear cameras include a 64Mp Sony IMX686 sensor, a 13Mp 125-degree ultra-wide lens, and a 5Mp macro lens.
- 24Mp front-facing camera
- Video resolutions of up to 8K@30fps, 4K@60fps, and 1080p@60fps are also available.
- With a 3.5mm headphone connector and an ESS Sabre ES9280AC Pro DAC.
- The 6000mAh battery is divided into two 3,000mAh cells.
- HyperCharge capability of 65W
- There are two USB-C ports.
- A 5G connection is available.
- 6E Wi-Fi.
- Bluetooth version 5.2.
Rog 5: Battery life
The Asus ROG 5’s battery has the same 6,000mAh capacity as its predecessor, but it’s been changed inside to improve charging performance. Instead of a single 6,000mAh battery, the ROG 5 has two 3,000mAh batteries placed on either side of the center CPU, allowing the phone to recharge faster with both units charging at the same time. According to Asus, refilling over two-thirds (4400mAh) of the battery in 30 minutes using the 65W in-box charger. Asus says that splitting up the CPU minimizes heat output by up to 46 percent when charging the battery to full capacity.
And in casual play sessions – say, twenty minutes of Call of Duty: Mobile battles – the phone stayed rather cold, with only the metal frame warming up somewhat thereafter. You may also employ bypass charging, which allows you to just plug in your phone to power your gaming sessions – without having to recharge the battery. Why? To reduce unnecessary heat buildup, and knowing that your ROG 5 may already be toasty after lengthy gaming sessions, this is a wonderful alternative to have.
There’s also a new ultra-durable battery mode, which is designed to save as much power as possible while keeping the phone usable — mostly by reducing the phone’s performance. When the mode is enabled, the CPU and GPU function at a lower clock speed, the refresh rate of the display is reduced to 60Hz, touch input is reduced, and background processes are prohibited. It’s only the necessities to get even more life out of the battery.
Conclusion
The Asus ROG Phone 5 unquestionably provides one of the best mobile gaming experiences available, complete with built-in triggers, a stunning 144Hz AMOLED display with impressive touch response times, impressive audio chops, and incredible power under the hood in the form of the Snapdragon 888 and up to 16GB of RAM.
There are numerous attachments available, ranging from the Switch-like Kunai 5 controllers to the AeroActive Cooler 5 to keep your phone cool during long gaming sessions. The software is also excellent, with detailed per-game performance modifications as well as system-wide performance levels. While the huge display makes it ideal for gaming, some may find it too tall to use successfully one-handed, and at 238g, it’s far heavier than most flagships in 2021 – and this is obvious when you pick it up.
There’s also no AeroActive Cooler 5 in the box, which is necessary if you want to get the most out of the smartphone’s processing capability. This, combined with the enhanced Vision display on the back, is exclusive to the ROG Phone 5 Pro.
