The Asus ROG Phone 8 series was teased last week, and we got to see the rear design. The official launch is scheduled for January 8 at the CES, and almost a month before the launch, the official renders and the full spec sheet have leaked, courtesy of Windows Report.
There are two phones – ROG Phone 8 & ROG Phone 8 Pro. So, it looks like Asus is dropping the “Ultimate” branding this time.
Starting with the design, the Asus ROG Phone 8 series has a new design language, compared to the previous generations. The camera module design is different this time, and the series has a two-tone design on the back. On the front, the Asus ROG Phone 8 series has a hole-punch design. This is the first time Asus has gone for the hole punch design for its ROG Phone series since, till now, all the ROG Phones had big bezels on top and bottom. But this time, the bezels are also quite slim around the panel.
Both the Asus ROG Phone 8 & ROG Phone 8 Pro have IP68 certification, a significant upgrade over the IP54 rating of the ROG Phone 7 series. And even with IP68 certification, both the phones have a 3.5mm headphone jack. There is a secondary USB Type-C port on the left side to attach the accessories, and both phones have a flat frame design.
The dimensions of the ROG Phone 8 are not known, but the 8 Pro weighs 225g and the thickness is 8.9mm. This is quite a significant reduction from the ROG Phone 7 series, which weighed 239g and was 10.3mm thick. Usually, both the vanilla and Pro models have the same dimensions, so we expect the same to be the case this time.
Coming to the specifications, the Asus ROG Phone 8 series is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and features LPDDR5X RAM with UFS 4.0 storage. The ROG Phone 8 has 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, while the ROG Phone 8 Pro comes with 16GB or 24GB RAM options and 512GB or 1TB storage.
One of the reasons for a reduction in thickness and weight is the battery size. While the ROG Phone 7 series had a massive 6,000mAh battery, the ROG Phone 8 series has a smaller 5,500mAh battery. Both phones support Quick Charge 5.0 and PD Charging.
Both the phones have a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with Samsung with a Full-HD+ resolution and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. The peak brightness of this panel is 2500 nits, and the refresh rate goes up to 165Hz. Interestingly, the source mentions an LTPO panel for the ROG Phone 8 Pro, not for the ROG Phone 8. So, that might also be a difference between the two devices.
As for the camera setup, the source shared the specifications for the Pro model only. The primary camera has a 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor, the ultrawide camera has a 13MP sensor, and the telephoto camera has a 32MP sensor with 3x optical zoom. The selfie camera has a 32MP sensor.
Finally, both the phones run on ROG UI, based on Android 14.
As always, there are some new accessories with the new Asus ROG Phone 8 series. First, we have a phone case named “DEVILCASE Guardian”, featuring a transparent panel on the back to showcase that RGB logo. This transparent panel is detachable, and that’s because this case supports the “AeroActive Cooler X.” So, you can have the case on and also the cooler attached to the phone (but we wonder who would game with a case on). Finally, there is a TPU case and an antibacterial screen protector.
Well, the Asus ROG Phone 8 series is quite interesting because this time, Asus has focused on making these phones appealing to regular customers too, not just for gamers. Unlike the last generation, using the ROG Phone 8 series won’t feel like holding a brick, and there is no over-the-top design on the back. The camera setup is also pretty solid on paper.
Let’s see at what price the series launches in the global market. Note that the ROG Phone 7 was launched at €999 and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate at €1,399!