From the entrance, when the cellphone is powered off, there is not a lot to note in regards to the new Asus ROG Cellphone 5. However on the again, when its brand lights as much as distinction its black dot-matrix sample end with scorching pink ’80s punk rock highlights, you possibly can’t assist however take discover. Significantly, you simply have to play some Blondie or Speaking Heads to finish the impact.

The ROG Cellphone 5 is a fourth-gen gaming cellphone. ROG stands for the Republic of Players. And this yr, Asus knocked it out of the park. This is not a significant redesign however fairly a spherical of great tweaks that make this cellphone one other step nearer to an “ideally suited” that Asus has been chasing since 2018. Each enchancment from the Gorilla Glass Victus on the display and up to date audio system to relocating cooling components to the center of the cellphone are completed with the aim of constructing the last word gaming cellphone.

Maybe the most important change this yr is that there are three new ROG telephones as a substitute of only one. There’s the common ROG Cellphone 5 with the ’80s punk vibe. Then there’s the ROG Cellphone 5 Professional that comes with a removable fan referred to as the AeroActive Cooler 5. And as a substitute of a brand that lights up, the Professional has the ROG Imaginative and prescient show which is a mini coloration show strip on the again to point out off graphics. It could actually show alerts and animations for incoming calls, when the battery is charging and extra. In reality, you possibly can even make your personal customized graphics for the again show. It is an absolute blast to make use of and my inside 9-year-old approves.

The third mannequin is the ROG Cellphone 5 Final. It has a matte white again adorned with black hairlines and neon blue accents, all of which stole my coronary heart as quickly as I laid eyes on it. Just like the Professional, there is a again show strip, nevertheless it’s black and white. The Final additionally comes with an AeroActive Cooler 5 however what actually makes it the “final cellphone” is the 18GB of RAM on the within. My new work laptop computer solely has 16. Once you add in a 2.84GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, Android 11 and a beefy GPU to all that RAM, you get essentially the most highly effective Android cellphone we have ever examined. You possibly can see our efficiency take a look at outcomes on the backside of the evaluation.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 fashions

Cellphone	Worth	RAM	Storage	AeroActive Cooler 5	Lighting
Asus ROG Cellphone 5	799 euros	8GB	128GB	None	RGB brand
Asus ROG Cellphone 5	899 euros	12GB	256GB	None	RGB brand
Asus ROG Cellphone 5	999 euros	16GB	256GB	None	RGB brand
Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Professional	1,zero99 euros	16GB	512GB	Included	Imaginative and prescient show coloration
Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final	1,299 euros	18GB	512GB	Included	Imaginative and prescient show black and white

What do you do when you have a strong gaming cellphone to evaluation? You recreation. I performed driving video games, conflict video games, problem-solving video games, zombie video games, vertical video games and a weird silent movie game. Typically I performed video games with the fan hooked up and different occasions I used the nifty Kunai three Gamepad accent, which Asus sells individually.

144Hz display and the longest battery life we examined

Throughout all this gaming just a few issues stood out. The display is superb. You possibly can set its refresh price up as 144Hz, however I discovered that the auto refresh price labored finest because it did not kill the battery as rapidly. Additionally, this evaluation comes out simply weeks forward of the launch of the RedMagic 6 gaming phone with a 165Hz screen.

Battery life on the Asus ROG Cellphone 5 is unbelievable. It has a 6,000-mAh capability and it’s made up of two three,000-mAh batteries. This design means you possibly can quick cost it with a 65-watt charger. After a day of regular use, I normally had about 40% of the battery left.

Battery assessments on the ROG Cellphone 5 for steady video playback on Airplane mode clocked a mean of 20 hours, 15 minutes and that was with the display locked in at 120Hz. With the display refresh price set to auto, it averaged a time of 28 hours, four minutes. The longest time for any cellphone we examined this yr and the second longest time for any cellphone up to now few years (simply behind the LG V60).

The ROG Cellphone 5 brilliantly helps you to management the battery and handful of various methods. You possibly can set limits for a way a lot of the battery expenses, select sluggish charging speeds and even schedule when it expenses. One of many cooler options is one thing we additionally noticed final yr on the Sony Xperia 5 II. In the event you’re gaming and plugged into energy, the ROG Cellphone 5 will run on energy from the cable as a substitute of charging the battery. This prevents the cellphone from getting hotter which might have an effect on gaming efficiency. 

ROG Cellphone 5 has much more contact recreation controls

There are such a lot of methods to manage and work together with the video games you play. AirTriggers, that are contact sensors situated on the edges of the cellphone, are even simpler to make use of this yr as a result of they’re bigger and go edge-to-edge. In the event you’re utilizing the Professional or Final model, there’s an additional sensor on the again for enter. Add the AeroActive Cooler 5 to the cellphone, and also you get the addition of two mini paddle buttons. That mentioned, I observed a number of cellular video games have simplistic controls. However I think about having extra choices for recreation management mapping will attraction to people who find themselves into esports.

The ROG Cellphone 5 is heavy and cameras are mediocre

Nevertheless it is not all enjoyable and video games with the Asus ROG Cellphone 5. There are some drawbacks. The ROG cellphone 5 is heavy. It weighs greater than the iPhone 12 Professional Max, Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely and final yr’s ROG Cellphone three. The ROG Cellphone 5 is the heaviest cellphone I’ve ever examined. And after an extended bout of gaming, you are feeling that weight. Much more so if you add a case or a fan or the gamepad accent.

I do know this can be a gaming cellphone however I do want the cameras have been higher. On the again, there is a essential 64-megapixel digital camera that makes use of pixel binning to enhance picture brightness and cut back noise. There is a 13-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and a 5-megapixel macro digital camera. The primary digital camera takes some first rate images in brilliant mild. However if you get into dimmer conditions like indoors the picture high quality suffers. If it is darkish, the cellphone robotically goes into an evening mode that produces mediocre outcomes. Beneath are three of the higher images I took with the ROG Cellphone 5.

The ROG is able to taking pictures as much as 8K decision at 30 frames per second, however the story was the identical as images. Check out the video under of video I shot with the ROG Cellphone 5. I want Asus took benefit of all the ability it has from the processor, RAM and GPU to assist the ROG telephones take higher images.

There is not a US value for the ROG Cellphone 5 but

One other draw back is there is no water- or dust-resistance. For the value, it looks as if there needs to be. And should you’re questioning about that value, that makes two of us. Right now, US pricing hasn’t been introduced. If we go by European pricing and convert to US , a baseline ROG Cellphone 5 can be $950 and the ROG Cellphone Final would price $1,540. (See the chart under for the total breakdown of worldwide conversions.) 

Watch out with these conversions, although. They most likely aren’t the precise US costs — European costs embrace tax — so it is arduous to place a price on these telephones. If the baseline ROG Cellphone 5 was $700 and even $800, it will be a wonderful worth. And if the Final was $1,200, I might don’t have any downside recommending it to somebody in search of a gaming cellphone. However till these costs are introduced, who is aware of. For that cause, I am holding off on scoring this evaluation till US costs are introduced.

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Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final

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Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 specs vs. Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Professional, Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final, Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely

	Asus ROG Cellphone 5	Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Professional	Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final	Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely
Show dimension, decision	6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,448×1,080, 144Hz refresh price, HDR10 Plus, 300Hz contact price	6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,448×1,080, 144Hz refresh price, HDR10 Plus, 300Hz contact price	6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,448×1,080, 144Hz refresh price, HDR10 Plus, 300Hz contact price	6.Eight-inch AMOLED 2x, three,200×1,440 pixels
Pixel density	395 ppi	395 ppi	395 ppi	515 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)	6.09×2.72×0.36 in	6.09×2.72×0.36 in	6.09×2.72×0.36 in	2.97×6.5×0.35 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)	172.8×77.2×10.29 mm	172.8×77.2×10.29 mm	172.8×77.2×10.29 mm	75.6×165.1×8.9mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	Eight.57 oz; 243g	Eight.57 oz; 243g	Eight.57 oz; 243g	Eight.07 oz; 229g
Cell software program	Android 11	Android 11	Android 11	Android 11
Digicam	64-megapixel (broad), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 5-megapixel (macro)	64-megapixel (broad), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 5-megapixel (macro)	64-megapixel (broad), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 5-megapixel (macro)	108-megapixel (broad), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 10-megapixel (10x telephoto)
Entrance-facing digital camera	24-megapixel	24-megapixel	24-megapixel	40-megapixel
Video seize	8K	8K	8K	8K
Processor	2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G	2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G	2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G	2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G
Storage	128GB, 256GB UFS3.1	512GB UFS3.1	512GB UFS3.1	128GB/256GB, 512GB
RAM	8GB, 12GB, 16GB	16GB	18GB	12GB, 16GB
Expandable storage	None	None	None	None
Battery	6,000 mAh (2x three,000 mAh)	6,000 mAh (2x three,000 mAh)	6,000 mAh (2x three,000 mAh)	5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	In-screen	In-screen	In-screen	In-screen
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	Sure	Sure	Sure	None
Particular options	5G-enabled, 65W fast charging, ROG brand, Wi-Fi 6E, Twin-SIM, Comes with case	5G-enabled, 65W fast charging, ROG Shade Imaginative and prescient show, Wi-Fi 6E, Twin-SIM, Comes with case and AeroActive Cooler 5	5G-enabled, 65W fast charging, ROG Black and White Imaginative and prescient show, Wi-Fi 6E, Twin-SIM, Comes with case and AeroActive Cooler 5	IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 100x House Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging, 10x optical zoom
Worth off-contract (USD)	TBA, however European costs convert to $950 (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), $1,zero65 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage), $1,185 (16GB RAM, 256GB storage)	TBA, however European value converts to $1,420 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage)	TBA, however European value converts to $1,540 (18GB RAM, 512GB storage)	$1,200 (128GB)
Worth (GBP)	TBA, however European costs convert to £685 (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), £770 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage), £855 (16GB RAM, 256GB storage)	TBA, however European value converts to £1,025 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage)	TBA, however European value converts to £1,110 (18GB RAM, 512GB storage)	£1,329
Worth (AUD)	TBA, however European costs convert to AU$1,235 (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), AU$1,390 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage), AU$1,540 (16GB RAM, 256GB storage)	TBA, however European value converts to AU$1,850 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage)	TBA, however European value converts to AU$2,000 (18GB RAM, 512GB storage)	AU$1,849