ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces ROG Phone With Snapdragon 845 SoC, 3D Vapour-Chamber Cooling

The ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced ROG Phone, a game-changing 6-inch smartphone designed specifically for high-performance mobile gaming.

Highlights

  • Epic performance: World’s fastest speed-binned 2.96GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Qualcomm Adreno 630 and GameCool vapor-chamber cooling
  • Unbeatable visuals: AMOLED HDR display with ultrafast 90Hz refresh, 1ms response for smooth, blur-free gaming and 108% DCI-P3 gamut for vivid realism
  • Total control: Designed for comfortable gaming with unique side-mounted port, programmable ultrasonic AirTrigger sensors and powerful force-feedback system
  • Endless possibilities: Enhanced gaming experiences with optional TwinView Dock, Mobile Desktop Dock, and Gamevice controller with WiGig Dock 

With pure ROG gaming DNA at its core, and powered by the world’s fastest speed-binned 2.96GHz octa-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with gaming-optimized Qualcomm® Adreno 630 GPU, ROG Phone breaks every rule to go where rivals fear to tread.

ROG Phone is built to win: its unique GameCool vapor-chamber cooling system — with detachable AeroActive Cooler for an extra cooling boost — sustains blur-free high frame rates in the heat of battle, while its no-compromise AMOLED display blends a blazing 90Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time with gorgeous HDR visuals.

ASUS ROG Phone-back

 

The ultra-comfortable design of ROG Phone includes unique side-mounted ports, and the enhanced, ultra-responsive game controls — including two programmable ultrasonic AirTriggers and advanced force-feedback haptics — let gamers focus all their skills on the game, giving them the edge they need for total domination.

A unique range of powerful expansion accessories further enhances the ROG Phone gaming experience: the optional TwinView Dock for dual-screen handheld mode; the Mobile Desktop Dock for desktop-style gaming; and the Gamevice controller with WiGig Dock using 60GHz Wi-Fi for big-screen gaming. Other ROG Phone innovations include ASUS Aura RGB lighting and Aura Sync support, plus ASUS HyperCharge direct-charge technology for faster, safer and cooler battery charging.

“Qualcomm Technologies and ASUS have enjoyed great successes over many years and we are thrilled to be at the core of their newest cutting-edge device, the ROG phone,” said Don McGuire, vice president of global product marketing, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our entirely re-architected Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with the gaming-optimized Adreno 630 GPU is designed for speed, minimizing thermal throttling and maximizing battery efficiency so users can play longer. Snapdragon 845 is engineered to deliver users an unparalleled gaming experience; supporting exceptional performance, fast and smooth graphics, and Gigabit speeds whether on LTE or 802.11ad Wi-Fi.”

Epic performance

Designed and built to uncompromising ROG standards, ROG Phone takes mobile gaming performance to the next level, with each and every component optimized for a lag-free, responsive experience. Each specially selected octa-core Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform is speed-binned for maximum performance — delivering the world’s fastest sustained clock speeds of up to an incredible 2.96GHz — and the gaming-optimized Adreno 630 GPU is a graphics powerhouse, with performance outstripping the previous generation by up to 30%. This awesome power is complemented by up to 8GB of RAM and a massive up to 512GB of onboard ROM storage.

A high-end phone running graphics-intense, fast-paced AAA action games can generate a killer amount of heat. As well as being uncomfortable to hold, a hot phone is a slow phone: thermal throttling can bring even the fastest CPU to its knees. ROG Phone is built from the ground up to run smoothly even when the action gets frenetic: its exclusive GameCool system features highly efficient 3D vapor-chamber cooling inside that provides a 16X-larger surface area[i] for heat dissipation than a standard heat-pipe cooling system. This cooling system is enhanced with a copper heat spreader and carbon cooling pads on the circuit board for maximum cooling performance.

The end result is a superb cooling system that enables sustained clock speeds up to 50% faster[ii] than a standard smartphone CPU, and which can achieve peak clock speeds for 5X longer than a conventional cooling system. There’s also a detachable external AeroActive Cooler for an extra cooling boost when the going gets really tough. With GameCool, hot hands and spoiled games are a thing of the past.

ROG Phone delivers consistent, smooth and stable frame rates with no lag, even during the toughest marathons. And since performance means nothing if the internet connection is slow, ROG Phone also packs ultrafast wireless connectivity in its inventory, including Cat 16 LTE and the latest gigabit-class 60GHz 802.11ad Wi-Fi.

It’s easy for users to get optimum gaming performance on ROG Phone with the special X Mode. Just a single tap frees up all background RAM and dedicates it to games, optimizes game-data processing performance, and maximizes the efficiency of the AeroActive Cooler. X Mode also prevents RAM-eating and battery-sapping app activity, based on a customizable list of apps.

 

Unbeatable visuals

The ultimate gaming phone deserves the ultimate display — something that the ROG gaming heritage is uniquely qualified to deliver. ROG Phone uses an ultrafast AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a jaw-dropping 1ms pixel response time for blur-free visuals that are as smooth as silk. With a wide 108.6% DCI-P3 color gamut, colors are incredibly vivid too, so game worlds look as glorious as they were intended, and high-dynamic-range (HDR) visuals with a 10,000:1 contrast ratio help reveal every hidden detail in the shadows.

ASUS ROG Phone-front

Total control

In any game, precise control is the key to victory, but the lack of physical buttons on phones all too often compromises gameplay. ROG Phone is designed to give gamers total control and a more console-like experience, with three unique ultrasonic AirTrigger touch sensors.

Two of these ultra-responsive sensors are optimized as left/right triggers at the top of the display for landscape-mode gaming (the third is designed for use in portrait mode), and they’re fully programmable to activate any available on-screen action: aiming, firing, inventory selection — in fact, anything that normally requires a screen tap. With ROG Phone, gamers free up two extra fingers to control gameplay, giving them the edge over their thumb-bound rivals. AirTriggers use ultrasonic technology, so they only need a feather-light touch — just 20g compared to rival touch-sensitive controls that need up to 4X the force. An advanced haptic actuator provides a powerful force-feedback system for totally immersive gameplay.

Charging a phone while playing can make gaming impossibly awkward. ROG Phone throws away the design book away and starts from scratch, optimizing the entire layout for landscape-mode gaming. There’s an additional side-mounted custom USB-C connector that supports direct charging, HDMI output, Gigabit LAN, and headphones. And when the AeroActive Cooler is deployed, it provides a side-mounted USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack for unhindered gameplay. The side connector’s also used for the exclusive expansion modules, including the Mobile Desktop Dock and TwinView Dock.

 

Engineered for battle

Using a combination of tough, precision-crafted 2.5D- and 3D-curved Corning® Gorilla® glass, diamond-cut highlights and copper detailing, the metal-framed, water-resistant ROG Phone combines battle-hardened construction with a supremely comfortable gaming grip for an unrivaled gaming experience. ROG Phone feels instantly good in the hand, ready and waiting for the call of duty.

ROG Phone is the world’s first phone with ASUS Aura RGB lighting, featuring an illuminated rear ROG logo that can display a whole rainbow of lighting schemes: static, breathing, strobing or color cycling. Lighting effects can be triggered with phone events such as incoming calls, notifications and more, to give ROG Phone a unique personality.

The ultra-powerful front-facing stereo speakers on ROG Phone are driven by smart amplifiers to maximize volume and minimize distortion, with an audio engine that supports 24-bit/192Khz Hi-Res Audio playback. DTS Headphone:X provides theater-quality virtual surround-sound over headphones, and there’s support for high-definition audio via Bluetooth®.

ROG Phone is built to cope with the power-intensive demands of gaming, with a high-capacity 4000mAh battery. The bundled ROG Phone power adapter supports ASUS HyperCharge, a direct-charge technology that delivers more power (up to 20W) for shorter, safer charge times, and also means ROG Phone stays cooler when it’s charging.

Endless possibilities

ROG Phone features a unique range of optional expansion peripherals designed to take the mobile gaming experience to new heights.

The amazing TwinView Dock turns ROG Phone into a powerful dual-screen console for the ultimate gaming and live-streaming experience. As well as a 6-inch AMOLED (2160 x 1080) auxiliary screen that’s great for split-screen live-streaming, extended game display or group communication, it packs a front-facing quad-speaker system, two extra physical trigger buttons, dual-haptic force-feedback engine, an enhanced cooling system and a high-capacity 6000mAh extended battery pack.

The Mobile Desktop Dock allows gamers to connect ROG Phone to an external 4K UHD monitor, mouse and keyboard. ROG Phone can be used as an auxiliary display, hooked up to a wired gigabit LAN and drive a 5.1-channel surround-sound system via the SP/DIF output.   

With the Gamevice controller and the WiGig Dock — using 60GHz 802.11ad Wi-Fi — ROG Phone morphs into a portable console with a full inventory of physical gaming controls and ultra-low-latency wireless display connectivity for a seamless big-screen gaming experience that’s perfect for group viewing. It packs dual analog joysticks, left and right fire triggers and bumpers, a D-pad, along with A,B,X,Y and L3, R3 buttons.

ASUS ROG Phone-back

SPECIFICATIONS

ASUS ROG Phone

Processor World’s fastest, speed-binned 2.96Ghz octa-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon 845

Mobile Platform

GPU Qualcomm® Adreno 630
UI ROG Gaming UI
Display 6.0” 18:9 (2160×1080) AMOLED

90Hz refresh rate with 1ms pixel response time

108.6% DCI-P3 color gamut

10000:1 contrast ratio

Capacitive touchscreen with 10-point multi-touch (supports Glove Touch)

Discrete image processing chip support HDR display – gaming, video & images

Dimensions 158.8 x 76.2 x 8.6mm
Weight 200g
Battery 4,000mAh
Memory LPDDR4 8GB RAM
Storage UFS 2.1, 128GB / 512GB
Sensors Accelerometer, e-compass, proximity sensor, Hall sensor, ambient light sensor,

the fingerprint sensor, gyroscope, 2 x ultrasonic AirTrigger sensors

Wireless connectivity Qualcomm® Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad:

2×2 MIMO

Wi-Fi Direct and WiGig® (11ad/60GHz Wi-Fi) wireless display support

 

Bluetooth® 5.0

 

Qualcomm® Snapdragon X20 LTE Modem:

Up to 1.2 Gbps Cat 18 LTE download speeds

Up to 5x20MHz carrier aggregation, 4×4 MIMO on up to 3 aggregated carriers, License Assisted Access (LAA)]

GPS Supports GPS, aGPS, Glonass, BeiDou
I/O ports Side:

Custom USB-C

Supports USB 3.1 Gen 1 / DP 1.4 (4K) / fast charging (PD 3.0) (15W)

ASUS HyperCharge direct charging

Bottom:

USB-C

Supports USB 2.0 / fast charging (PD3.0) (20W) / Direct Charge

3.5mm headphone jack

Front Camera 8MP
Main Camera 12MP + 8MP (120° wide-angle)
Voice Wakeup Yes
Speakers Dual front-facing stereo speakers with smart amplifier

24-bit/192KHz Hi-Res Audio

DTS Headphone:X 7.1 virtual surround-sound

Qualcomm® aptX High-definition Bluetooth® wireless audio

NFC Supported

 

Computer Engineer, Blogger, passionate for tech journalism and loves to explore and play with new smartphones.