“The Asus ROG Phone 3 is a powerful, focused gaming smartphone that’ll make you feel like a champion.”
Incredibly highly effective
Stunning sound
Focused, helpful gaming options
Large, easy display
Great software program
Camera could possibly be higher
Heavy
Asus confirmed how critically it takes cellular gaming with final yr’s launch of the Republic of Gamers-branded ROG Phone 2, which was filled with tech and options particularly engineered to assist enhance gameplay. Now it’s again with the ROG Phone 3. Externally, not a lot has modified, and if something, the space-age design has grow to be much less showy — however the story is totally different inside.
The distinction the internals make is exceptional. It’s so highly effective that if Thanos performed PUBG Mobile, he’d achieve this on an ROG Phone 3. Let’s get into it.
Design
The ROG Phone 3 shares an identical look, and an nearly similar measurement, with the ROG Phone 2, however with the sci-fi insanity ever so barely toned down. The glass again is shiny quite than matte, and the uncovered vents slashed into the again of the ROG Phone 2 have gone, changed by a cool clear part exhibiting the brand new cooling system inside. I’ve not seen glass transition between clear and darkish like this earlier than, and it seems excellent.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsRegardless of its exterior, the ROG Phone 3 has not collected fingerprints, and the RGB-equipped ROG emblem seems even brighter and extra colourful than it did with the matte glass of the ROG Phone 2. The digicam module has gained one other lens to whole three, and it runs horizontally throughout the system. Asus has decreased the silver, angled strains on the physique, which makes the design extra mature.
Still, the gaming focus stays. The USB Type-C port on the underside is about to the facet to make holding the telephone in panorama extra snug when it’s plugged in, and hidden behind a rubber stopper on the other facet is one other USB Type-C charging port. The telephone additionally has shoulder-mounted “AirTriggers” on the facet of the telephone (we’ll discuss extra abut these later).
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsAlthough snug to carry, this can be a giant smartphone. It’s 9.8mm thick, 171mm lengthy, and 78mm broad. For comparability, the OnePlus 8 Pro is 8.5mm thick, 165mm lengthy, and 74.5mm broad.
At 240 grams, the ROG Phone 3 can be one of many heaviest telephones on the market. It’s neatly balanced in panorama orientation, however I discovered in portrait mode that the load was tilted towards the entrance of the telephone. Combined with the slippery physique, it typically threatened to fall on my face when utilizing it laying down.
One factor ROG Phone 2 customers could discover is the disappearance of the 3.5mm headphone jack. The integration of 5G antennas within the ROG Phone 3 is without doubt one of the causes the connector wouldn’t match contained in the telephone anymore, however when you actually need it, there’s a dongle within the field. There’s additionally an add-on AeroActive Cooler 3 accent that clips onto the physique to assist cooling, and also you get that within the field, too.
It’s an amazing accent. Asus has added two very useful options: An area to retailer the rubber port cowl you take away from the telephone to connect the AeroActive Cooler 3, and a kickstand, too.
The kickstand’s nice, placing the telephone on the excellent angle for films or for taking part in video games with a controller. The AeroActive Cooler 2, made for the ROG Phone 2, isn’t suitable with the brand new telephone. However, when you purchased different equipment together with the Twin View Dock or Kunai controller, they may work, because of the two telephones having nearly similar dimensions.
I respect the ROG Phone 3’s new, extra mature design, however do miss among the insanity from the ROG Phone and ROG Phone 2. I believe gaming telephones want craziness. Nothing about their existence is smart, so why not rejoice it a little bit extra?
Gaming
The ROG Phone 3 is the king of gaming smartphones.
I’m an off-the-cuff gamer, which means I don’t spend hours every day enjoying on-line, however the ROG Phone 3 nonetheless manages to make the video games I do play look higher and play extra easily, all of the whereas offering helpful instruments that improve the expertise. If it makes me really feel like that, I’ve little doubt people who find themselves extra into cellular video games will see even higher advantages.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsThe shoulder-mounted AirTriggers are an amazing instance of the place the ROG Phone 3 succeeds. They are simply mapped to on-screen controls, could be tapped, held down, swiped, and even spilt into two sections to successfully make 4 buttons. They made Asphalt 9 Legends’ easy controls faster to make use of, and stopped my fingers from masking the display.
The function is activated in-game utilizing the slide-in display Game Genie menu, and whenever you place the AirTrigger activation factors on display, they vibrate whenever you get the position appropriate. In Transformers: Forged to Fight, I used each the faucet and swipe options, and whereas tapping labored effectively, the swipe function could possibly be fairly awkward to activate on the proper time.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsBy squeezing the edges of the telephone, you activate X Mode, which boosts telephone efficiency and minimizes distractions when enjoying video games. Use the Enhanced X Mode setting, the place every little thing will get turned as much as most, and the processor received’t be throttled in any respect. I didn’t discover any slowdown, dropped frames, or different efficiency issues enjoying video games on the ROG Phone 3.
The 6.59-inch AMOLED display has a 144Hz refresh price, 270Hz contact sampling, 10 bit HDR, HDR 10 Plus assist, and 25ms contact latency. It’s insanely responsive. Dariusburst is performed in a small window within the heart of the display, and requires deft, cautious controls to weave between the surroundings and the onslaught of bullets. The ROG Phone 3 made this significantly simpler due to its giant, extremely responsive touchscreen.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsThen there’s the sound. Asus has labored with an audio firm referred to as Dirac, passing over greater manufacturers like Dolby, and the result’s typically extraordinary. There’s a stage of element, readability, and definition you don’t all the time discover on telephones, together with a large soundstage and a genuinely full sound from the twin stereo audio system. The ROG Phone 3 appears like no different smartphone.
Over the course of some hours, I performed Asphalt 9 Legends, 1945, Real Racing 3, and Dariusburst, plus a couple of different informal titles, and it carried out impeccably. You can really feel some warmth generated from the telephone, however it’s situated on the heart backside fringe of the system in panorama mode, so it’s a must to really feel round for it. My arms didn’t get sweaty, and I by no means felt the necessity to shift my grip as a result of the telephone’s physique was heat.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsThe ROG Phone 3 is suitable with Google Stadia as effectively, and it comes with three months of free Stadia Pro entry, which means it’s not all about video games from Google Play. It’s simple to move gaming telephones off as pointless, however after they’re achieved appropriately and thoughtfully, the advantages are apparent. The Asus ROG Phone 3 demonstrates this completely.
Camera
Asus has labored onerous to make the ROG Phone 3 a usable smartphone for each day use, whether or not you’re devoted to gaming or not. The digicam is an integral a part of this.
The triple-lens rear digicam has a 64-megapixel IMX686 important sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, joined by a 13-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. In the bezel above the display, there’s a 24-megapixel selfie digicam. The rear digicam has quite a lot of totally different modes, together with an evening mode, portrait mode, a motion-tracking video mode, and a professional video mode. It shoots video at 4K and in HDR with digital stabilization.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsIt’s respectable, and greater than succesful sufficient supplied it’s your second precedence on a smartphone. There’s no zoom mode, however each the wide-angle and macro modes present artistic enjoyable, so it’s not desperately missed. It could be inconsistent, particularly in overcast situations, the place it underexposes fairly a bit, leading to a lack of element. Sunny day HDR pictures can look nice, and the macro digicam undoubtedly surprises with it capability.
The selfie digicam has a heavy-handed magnificence mode enabled by default, a portrait mode with solely common edge-detection that may additionally wash out pores and skin tones.
I discovered the ROG Phone 3’s digicam to be high-quality for basic use. While there are extra versatile digicam telephones on the market, it’s strong. For a gaming telephone, the place the digicam will all the time be a secondary concern, it’s significantly better than many will anticipate.
Performance and battery
Asus says it desires to “lead the industry to the next level” with the ROG Phone 3. It pioneered 120Hz screens and excessive contact sampling charges, in addition to use a high-end processor to the perfect of its capability, with the ROG Phone 2. For the ROG Phone 3, the 144Hz display, 270Hz contact sampling price, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with as much as 16GB of RAM sees it simply win the present smartphone spec sheet wars.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsThe Snapdragon 865 Plus is a monster, and the primary cellular processor to exceed a 3GHz clock pace. Paired with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage in my assessment telephone, it’s onerous to think about ever needing extra energy or capability.
Here’s the way it carried out in some benchmark assessments:
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 6,601 Vulkan (Without X Mode. App crashes with X Mode energetic)
Geekbench 5: 970 Single Core/3340 Multi Core
These scores beat the ROG Phone 2, however are solely a little bit increased than the OnePlus 8 Pro. They are similar to the Red Magic 5G, the place the 3DMark check was really decrease on the ROG Phone 3, however this can be to do with app points, as it could not run with X Mode energetic on the Asus telephone.
The 6,000mAh battery lasts two days, which can appear a little bit disappointing given the general capability, however don’t overlook it’s powering a substantial amount of high-end {hardware}. Asus’s personal assessments say it’ll play 9.6 hours of Asphalt 9 Legends on a full cost, in comparison with 5.7 hours from a OnePlus 8 Pro.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsAsus has added a brand new PowerMaster app, a part of its efforts to extend the longevity of the battery. Interestingly, it has a slow-charge mode, definable limits to verify the battery doesn’t simply sit at 100% all evening (not good for making it final, says Asus), and a number of battery modes too. The wired charging offers 30W of energy, however there isn’t a wi-fi charging.
Elsewhere inside, when you have been to take the telephone aside, you’d discover rigorously positioned Wi-Fi antennas to make sure the perfect sign doable in portrait or panorama orientation, 4 microphones positioned in order that they don’t get lined throughout panorama gameplay, and 5G assist. Cellular and Wi-Fi reception has been persistently wonderful, and name high quality is nice, too. I don’t have 5G reception in my native space, so I’ve not been in a position to check this facet.
Software
There are two important theme choices on the ROG Phone 3: Showier, stylized themes, and a basic theme to make the telephone look extra like Android on a Pixel. It’s the identical method the corporate took with the ROG Phone 2 and the Asus Zenfone 6, and a really wise choice. Both function in an similar approach, however there’s no query the Classic theme makes the telephone look extra mature, and is probably a little bit quicker for on a regular basis use.
Apps are hidden inside a drawer in each themes, whereas the notification shade offers interactive notifications, plus there’s a customary darkish mode. Asus installs its personal recreation app referred to as Armory Crate the place all of your video games are saved collectively, with the choice to set particular person parameters for every, like robotically activating X Mode, upping the display refresh price, and assigning macros. It’s additionally the place to switch the system lighting.
Andy Boxall/Digital TrendsI used swipe gesture controls, which labored with out a drawback. Although there’s an always-on display choice, the notification choices are restricted, decreasing its usefulness.
Asus’ software program on the ROG Phone 3 has been dependable and quick, and it’s nice to see the corporate persevering with the nice work it started on the Zenfone 6. The in-display fingerprint sensor is quick and dependable, with face unlock to again it up. I’ve had no issues with both.
Price, guarantee, and availability
Asus has not introduced the ultimate value in {dollars} for the ROG Phone 3 on the time of writing, solely the worth in euros. The 16GB/512GB model reviewed right here is 1,099 euros, and a 12GB/512GB model is 999 euros. The telephone shall be out there from the top of July in Europe, however beginning out with the essential “Strix” version, which has a Snapdragon 865, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB storage for 799 euros.
The ROG Phone 3 shall be out there in North America earlier than September, and we’d anticipate the euro costs to transform straight over to {dollars}, which means the 16GB/512GB mannequin needs to be round $1,099. Asus will formally verify costs when the U.S. launch date is introduced. The most cost-effective Strix mannequin is not going to be offered within the U.S..
Our Take
The ROG Phone 3 is unmatched amongst gaming telephones. This ought to let you know all it’s essential to learn about whether or not it’s for you. It’s a spec monster, offering all the facility anybody will want for nearly any job they’d need to do on a telephone. If a recreation doesn’t run effectively on the ROG Phone 3, it doesn’t run effectively on a telephone, interval.
What when you’re not a giant cellular gamer? The ROG Phone 3 is without doubt one of the greatest multimedia telephones out there. Video is great because of the telephone’s wonderful display and audio system. However, you received’t have a use for the various game-centric options, and will miss a greater digicam.
Is there a greater different?
If you desire a straight-up gaming smartphone, no. If you desire a telephone that’s an all-rounder, the $900 OnePlus 8 Pro has good gaming credentials and lots more and plenty of energy, whereas the $1,100 Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus and the $1,300 Oppo Find X2 Pro are robust flagships that put the emphasis on the digicam. Perhaps the perfect different to the ROG Phone 3 is the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, due not solely to the telephone’s efficiency, however to the video games out there within the App Store.
How lengthy will it final?
Asus guarantees Android 11 will come to the ROG Phone 3, and that it’ll get safety updates for at the least two years. However, it has not given a time-frame for Android 11’s arrival. The ROG Phone 3 just isn’t waterproof. It’s manufactured from glass and fairly heavy, so getting considered one of Asus’s cool instances is smart.
This apart, the huge specs make sure the telephone will nonetheless really feel recent in a few years time, and Asus’ efforts to assist the battery carry out its greatest for longer ought to assist push the telephone’s usefulness well past two years as effectively. If you need to hold on to your new telephone, the ROG Phone 3 is a really secure buy.
Should you purchase one?
Yes. It’s the cellular gaming champion that has the center and talent to make you a cellular gaming champion too.
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