We Gamed with the ROG Phone and Now We Couldn't Put It Down

ASUS PHILIPPINES, I DON’T THINK WE’LL BE RETURNING THIS ANYMORE.

Okay, we will but we will do so with much reluctance. First revealed during Computex 2018, the ASUS ROG Phone is still one heck of a smartphone that can go toe to toe with the more recent flagship releases — particularly in the gaming department.

We were already blown away during our first impression last year during Computex and we were utterly amazed at the premium packaging and unboxing you’ll ever experience on a smartphone, and now that we spent some time with it, we’re practically spoiled.

It’s hard to go back to every other smartphone after experiencing raw, unadulterated (and overclockable) power that they ROG Phone has.

Here are our top 5 Reasons why this phone will take your gaming to a whole new level!

SUPER OP

When triggering XMode, you’re treated to some sweet animation

Let’s talk internals. The ROG Phone is fitted with the highest configuration a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 can get. Highest because you can actually overclock the CPU from a standard 2.8Hz to 2.96Hz which will give you more processing juice for heavy graphical and/or multitasking requirement.

The overclocking experience is also something to behold. Literally the ROG phone translates the ROG experience from your laptop/ desktop to a smaller handy-dandy little computer (because that is what smartphones are, ya know).

And just in case it isn’t clear — yes, the phone can play any game at max setting and you’ll get the best gaming experience ever. That’s also because of the 90Hz refresh rate of the damn phone display.

GAMER-FIRST DESIGN

I cannot stress this enough. One of the reasons why the ROG Phone won a lot of awards when it launched was how precise the design about it is and how the company didn’t just pack the phone with the latest specs and decided to call it a gaming phone.

ROG Phone thought of the gamers first before they begin putting plans to paper. According to ASUS, their engineers had to remap a lot of the internal wirings and equipment placements so that they can create two USB-C port and 3.5mm jack docks both the horizontal and vertical ends of the phone.

This configuration allows you unhindered gaming even when and if you need to plug your device to a powerbank or wall charger and/or headset.

Front-facing speakers

All of which you can more or less do without because of its long battery life. But before we go there, here’s a bit of tidbit goodie as well. While most smartphones place the devices speakers on the vertical bottom part of the machine and typically blasts the music outward and surround, ROG phone has the speaker grills placed on both end of the machine and facing towards you. This means you can actually do away with headsets and even on native speakers, the sound quality is superb.

Not feeling that it’s enough, ASUS has an “outdoor” mode setup (similar to the Zenfone 5 and other Zenfone devices) that boosts the audio volume just wee bit up.

Long-lasting battery

As with most flagship when it was released, the ROG Phone comes packed with a 4000mah battery, enough for a day’s-worth of normal usage. But you’re a gamer and you live to play. Okay, we get it. That’s why the phone is equipped with various charging options as mentioned above.

Also, the ROG Phone comes equipped with a portable fan (Aerodynamic Cooler) out of the box that helps cool the unit up when you do decide to overclock it. Remember, heat will help drain your battery as well. That’s why the ROG Phone comes with a built-in liquid cooling case – and you do have that extra fan that you can control with the (name of the module), pretty much like you would control the fan speed on your gaming PC.

Accessories to die for

It wouldn’t be a proper gaming phone without some very cool peripherals. And ROG Phone has them in spades. Of course, that means you’ll have to cough up a pretty penny for this. Still, if you have money to burn, you should have gotten all of this and took advantage of the brand’s one-time large bulk discount before it launched November of 2018.

Among the accessories that took our interest were the Dual Screen Module and Gaming Dock Module. Basically, if you use both accessories in tandem, you’re ROG Phone would somewhat look like a cross between a Nintendo Switch and a 3Ds. 😀

RGB Everything

Lastly, as with all things gaming, the ROG Phone is adorned with beautiful pulsating RGB LED lights. Because nothing defines gaming peripherals than RGB. The lights are customizable and can sync to all the Periphs — much like what an ROG machine can do with its mouse, keyboard, cooling fan, RAM, case, headset and even gaming chair because RGB IS LIFE RIGHT?!

And that’s it. If you still need proof of the ROG Phone’s gaming prowess, you can drop by ASUS and ROG concept stores and we’re sure you can find a sample that you can get your hands on.

The ROG Phone does come with a (very) premium price. At Php 49,995 when it first launched, this is ASUS’s most expensive offering to date. It does come with the ROG premium treatment and it already comes pre-packed with the Aerodynamic Cooler (fan).

The great thing with the ROG Phone, though, is that because it was crafted with such high specs, when new phones get announced this year (and prices will obviously drop), you can still consider the ASUS ROG Phone as a viable flagship gaming device for 2019.

ROG Phone Specs