ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro hands-on: Close to perfection

I’ve at all times been a fan of gaming telephones, and nobody does a greater job on this section than ASUS. I acquired to make use of all of the gadgets within the ROG Phone sequence, and whereas they delivered excellent efficiency, there have been two issues that prevented these gadgets from gaining extra mainstream consideration: the design wasn’t actually delicate, and the cameras had been a definite afterthought.ASUS is seeking to handle these shortcomings with the ROG Phone 8 sequence. You do not get the identical aggressive styling any longer, with the model as a substitute providing a way more reserved design that makes these gadgets nearer to mainstream telephones from Samsung, Google, and Xiaomi. I used the ROG Phone 8 Pro as my each day driver for simply over every week now, and here is why it is advisable take note of the machine.ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro: Design(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The greatest distinction with the ROG Phone 8 Pro is the design; you now get a clear design on the again, with a two-tone end on the usual ROG Phone 8 and a matte texture that appears implausible on the ROG Phone 8 Pro. There’s nonetheless ROG branding and a few textual content on the again — GLHF, Dare to Win, and so forth — however it is not seen till you are a number of inches away from the machine.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Basically, the design is all grown up, and whereas I used to be a fan of the aggressive styling of years previous, I’ll agree that this design aesthetic seems way more fashionable, and makes the telephones interesting to a considerably wider userbase. Thankfully, ASUS nonetheless retained RGB lighting, however that is restricted to the ROG Phone 8; the Pro model will get a dot matrix panel as a substitute that is dubbed AniMe Vision.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The better part in regards to the display on the again is that you may disable it totally, and doing so makes it invisible — there is not any technique to inform it has a second panel on the again that reveals notifications, cost stage, and incoming calls. And no, there is not a mannequin that has the ROG Vision panel on the again, however ASUS could debut one other variant down the road. Fingers crossed.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The ROG Phone 8 is the thinnest and sleekest cellphone within the sequence by a major margin, and that is instantly noticeable when utilizing it subsequent to the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. It is simply 8.9mm thick, and at 225g, it’s considerably lighter to carry and use. The design additionally sees flatter sides, however with delicate curves the place the again meets the mid-frame, and this makes utilizing the cellphone an absolute pleasure.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)ASUS additionally lavished quite a lot of consideration on the entrance, lowering the scale of the bezels to a major diploma. More than anything, this variation places the ROG Phone 8 on par with one of the best telephones in relation to the design. And whereas it’s thinner and lighter, ASUS nonetheless by some means managed to supply a 3.5mm jack, not like nearly each different model. And sure, you continue to get a second USB-C charging port on the left facet.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)On the entire, it is a acquainted design that has been modernized, and truthfully, ASUS did an excellent job. Talking about positives, the ROG Phone 8 boasts quite a lot of firsts — it has upgraded cameras, together with a 50MP foremost lens, 13MP wide-angle, and 32MP zoom module with 3x optical zoom, and what I notably like is that it will get IP68 mud and water resistance. This is a big deal on a gaming cellphone, and once more, performs into ASUS’s narrative that it’s focusing on a mainstream viewers.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Just these additions would have been sufficient to show the ROG Phone 8 into one of the best gaming cellphone of 2024, however ASUS additionally added 15W wi-fi charging to the machine. You get 65W USB PD charging as effectively, and you need to use any of the 2 USB-C ports to cost the machine.ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro: Screen(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The ROG Phone 8 Pro has a 6.78-inch AMOLED display that goes as much as 165Hz, and it’s brighter and extra vibrant than what we acquired in earlier fashions. But the largest differentiator is that it now makes use of LTPO tech, so it seamlessly switches from 1Hz all the way in which to 165Hz primarily based on the content material on the display. This is a giant deal, and it brings the ROG Phone 8 Pro nearer to the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Xiaomi 13 Ultra on this regard.I additionally just like the thinner bezels across the sides, and the transfer allowed ASUS to shrink the scale of the machine whereas nonetheless providing a display of the identical dimension as earlier years. Color vibrancy and distinction ranges are good out of the field, and the display is a delight to make use of. ASUS put in quite a lot of work to make the machine excel at gaming, and excessive refresh charge gaming is phenomenal on the cellphone.ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro: Hardware(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)ASUS is aware of a factor or two about {hardware}, and the ROG Phone 8 Pro has what’s arguably one of the best {hardware} bundle of any cellphone I used up to now. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and it makes use of an revolutionary cooling system to ship excellent efficiency. Plenty of manufacturers use liquid cooling, however nobody does pretty much as good a job as ASUS on this regard.ASUS sells the machine in three storage variants: 12GB/256GB, 16GB/512GB, and 24GB/1TB. I’m utilizing the 24GB/1TB mannequin, and whereas the RAM is overkill, I’m glad there’s loads of storage — I switched to it from the Pixel 8 Pro and its paltry 128GB of storage, and there is considerably extra headroom on this machine.The 5,500mAh battery is not as giant as what we acquired final 12 months, however it’s nonetheless greater than ample on the machine. I’ll share extra particulars in my assessment, however what it is advisable know now’s that the ROG Phone 8 Pro has a terrific {hardware} bundle.ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro: More to return(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)There’s way more to speak in regards to the ROG Phone 8 Pro, however I’ll reserve that for the full-fledged assessment. The cameras particularly are a lot better than earlier years, and the 50MP Sony IMX890 lens has confirmed reliability. The software program can be among the many better of any cellphone at the moment; ZenUI has a clear interface with none bloatware, and also you get in depth customizability.The solely draw back is that the cellphone will get simply two platform updates. I bugged ASUS for years to alter its stance, however the model solely ensures two Android OS updates together with 4 years of safety updates. That’s not practically ample when you think about most different manufacturers provide 4 OS updates as customary, with the Pixel 8 sequence going as much as seven.There is not a lot of a distinction between the ROG Phone 8 and the Pro mannequin, with the latter getting the 24GB/1TB variant and the AeroActive Cooler X out of the field. There are variances with the design, however aside from that, you get the identical {hardware} and cameras on both machine.Availability has been a problem with ASUS prior to now, and the model notes it’ll do a greater job in that space in 2024. Overall, the ROG Phone 8 Pro is popping out to be an early contender to certainly one of my favourite telephones of 2024, and the adjustments to the design and upgrades to the {hardware} make it a wonderful alternative if you’d like a cellphone that not solely excels at gaming, but in addition takes nice photographs, and has all of the extras.