Asus finally unveiled the ROG Phone 2 today & it’s one heck of a gaming phone, packing everything that you want in a phone that is made for gamers. There is the most powerful Qualcomm SOC, the world’s first 120Hz AMOLED HDR display, a massive 6,000mAh battery underneath, 30W Fast Charging, improved cooling & what not! Like last year, Asus also unveiled some useful accessories along with the Asus ROG Phone 2.
When it comes to the design, there is almost no difference between the ROG Phone and ROG Phone 2. We have the same design with the exception being the fingerprint scanner that’s not there on the rear in case of the Asus ROG Phone 2. Asus went for an in-display scanner this time. The back panel has the same curves & lines like last year’s ROG Phone & yes, the logo has RGB lights just like the first generation.
On the front, the ROG Phone 2 has a 6.59-inch AMOLED Full-HD+ (1080 x 2340) 10-Bit HDR display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. So yes, it is the world’s first smartphone featuring a 120Hz AMOLED screen. You have the option to choose 60Hz or 90Hz refresh rate in the settings as well. Asus says that the touch latency is now lower than even the iPhone XS Max, which is interesting.
Performance-wise, there is no compromise at all. You have the Snapdragon 855 Plus SOC, the first in any phone, with overclocked CPU & GPU, 12GB RAM & Up to 512GB UFS 3.0 storage. Well, until now, the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro were the only phones with fast UFS 3.0 storage & now the ROG Phone 2 has joined the league. This means better Read/Write speeds, faster app opening time & more.
There are now improved AirTriggers & you can use the new swipe gesture on them as well. Android 9 Pie runs out of the box with the option to choose either the ROG UI (the one with a gaming theme) or the stock UI similar to that on the Zenfone 6. A gaming phone needs a headphone jack & a good quality one. The Asus ROG Phone 2 has that & features lo latency.
The gaming phones aren’t that good when it comes to the cameras, but this time, the cameras on the back are the same as on the Asus Zenfone 6. So, there is a primary 48MP camera & a secondary 13MP 125-degree ultra-wide-angle camera. So, expect an above-average camera performance out of the ROG Phone 2. On the front, there is a 24MP camera.
A phone with such a powerful processor & a high refresh rate display needs a big battery & Asus has done an impressive job by adding a massive 6,000mAh powerhouse in the phone. This is the biggest battery in any Asus device so far, even bigger than the 5,000mAh unit of Zenfone 6. Asus claims that you can continuously play PUBG for 7 hours. And to top it up, there is 30W Fast Charging that the company calls ROG HyperCharge.
Coming to the accessories, there is the TwinView Dock II which features a secondary display which is also a 120Hz AMOLED screen like the one on the phone. The dock further packs a 5,000mAh battery & has a cooling fan as well.
Then there is the ROG Kunai Gamepad that has two halves which you can attach on the left and right of the phone to use it as a well, gamepad. There is also the option to attach these two halves & use them with the phone wirelessly.
That’s not it as there is an improved AeroActive Cooler II which, as per Asus, is 4x quieter than last year’s cooler. You can even use it has a kickstand.
Well, it looks like when it comes to the best gaming phone right now, we have got us a winner here. There is no information on the pricing & global launch date yet so stay tuned for that.