Overkill for gamers: The Asus ROG phone put to the test

Asus's Game Center allows you to set processor clock speed, check the graphics chip's temperature and activate X-mode. — dpa

One thing the new ROG phone from Asus is not is subtle. While premium smartphones are usually characterised by smooth surfaces and straight lines, this device aimed at gamers does everything it can to attract attention.

The speaker bezels on the display side are orange while the back is adorned with orange grids and a colourful ROG logo. ROG stands for the Republic of Gamers brand, under which Asus already sells laptops, desktops and peripherals.

This new gaming phone aims to compete with other high-performance gaming smartphones from manufacturers such as Honor, Razer or Xiaomi. Inside the six inch device is a Qualcomm eight-core, high-end Snapdragon 845 processor and a Adreno 630 graphics chip. The 4000 mAh battery offers plenty of capacity.

The almost rimless display has a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels (FHD+) and a refresh rate of 90 Hertz (Hz) – the standard for other devices is usually 60 Hz. This high refresh rate should provide a smoother presentation in graphics-intensive games.

Asus has copied the so-called Game Center from gaming PCs. This app allows you to set the clock speed of the processor, check the temperature of the graphics chip and activate X-mode, which optimises the device for gaming. Games can also be streamed live onto Twitch or YouTube via the Game Center.

With the phone working so hard it's not surprising that a lot of heat is generated and if you're playing for a long time the phone warms up significantly.

To remedy this, an external cooler is included which can be connected via the side USB-C port. At high loads the cooler can be quite loud and even with it on the phone still feels uncomfortably warm.

Two small areas on the side of the phone, the so-called Air Triggers, can be assigned as keys when gaming. Asus also plans additional accessories, including a type of controller or dock.

Everything about the smartphone screams overkill: the size, the design, the features. And the price is high too: with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space, the ROG costs around US$1,000 (RM4,186).

The only downside is the camera, which compares unfavourably with other phones in the same price range. But then, who buys a gaming smartphone to take pictures? – dpa