Gaming phones used to define themselves by having high-refresh-rate screens and the fastest mobile processors around. But in a world when flagship Android phones are starting to feature 120Hz displays and blazing fast chips, standing out is getting to be that much harder.
With that in mind, I’ve been eagerly waiting to see how Asus would top itself again with the ROG Phone 3, and I’m glad to say I haven’t been disappointed. This new top-range handset comes fully loaded with a 144Hz screen plus a 270Hz polling rate, which together makes this the fastest, most responsive mobile gaming device around. That said, with a jaw-dropping price of €1,099 (about $1,270), you really have to prioritize mobile gaming to justify getting a device like this.
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Asus ROG Phone 3 – Design and Features
The Asus ROG Phone 3 is a pretty massive device in person. Thanks to its large 6.59-inch display, it’s even taller and just slightly wider than some of the largest flagship handsets like the OnePlus 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
All of that extra height comes from the AMOLED screen’s slightly longer 19:9 aspect ratio. Plus, the phone has some actual bezels on its top brim and bottom lip to make room for dual front-firing speakers.
Size aside, the ROG Phone 3 features a more subdued design that doesn’t quite scream gaming as much as its previous renditions. There are fewer circuit board-inspired lines on the back of the phone, and the integrated heatsink stands out less now that it’s been swept under the phone’s glossy shell.
It only becomes apparent that this device is a gaming phone when you switch it into its gaming-focused X-mode and the RGB logo lights up.
Just above that logo, you’ll also find the camera hump which has gained an additional 5MP macro camera since last year’s model. Along with the new up-close snapper, you also have a 64MP main camera – 16 megapixels sharper than last year’s model – and a 13MP Ultrawide camera.
Flip the phone and it looks like the spitting image of its predecessor. The only visible difference on the 2020 model is the removal of copper accents on the otherwise all-black speaker grills. But beyond aesthetics, the screen has seen an almost complete overhaul with a new 144Hz panel that also has a touch sampling rate of 270Hz. Those are marked increases over the ROG Phone 2’s 120Hz display and 240Hz touch sampling rate.
The new model is HDR10+ certified with bonafide 10-bit color, so it can display 1.07 billion different hues to cover 113% DCI-P3 gamut, and everything is calibrated to a Delta-E <1 accuracy. What this all means is you’re looking at a display that’s as color accurate as some media production monitors.
Asus ROG Phone 3 – Gaming and Performance
Internally, the ROG Phone 3 has seen a spec bump with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 865 Plus processor. The new chip runs at a higher clock speed of 3.1GHz, putting it a step over the 2.84 GHz Snapdragon 865 found in high-end Android phones. The Adreno 650 GPU is also overclocked to deliver 10% more graphical performance. Lastly, this CPU sports 16GB of LPDDR5 memory that’s roughly 600Mhz faster than the LPDDR4X we’re used to seeing in most smartphones.
The overall effect of this faster, more powerful chip allows you to turn up all your mobile graphics options to their highest levels. This high-powered processor can also drive a game at the display’s full 144Hz refresh rate – or at least that’s what we would say if most games could actually run that fast.
Just as we found when reviewing the Red Magic 5G, the only mobile game that could actually run at 144Hz was Real Racing 3. Now it looks simply stunning to have your F1 racer fly to every corner and perfectly hit the apex in one smooth motion, but sadly you can get this buttery smooth experience with a majority of most popular Android games. Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9, PUBG Mobile, and pretty much every game we could think of only ran at a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz.
Although the majority of Android games won’t be able to run at 144Hz, playing them on the ROG Phone 3 still feels like the best gaming experience you can have on a phone.
First off, the screen just looks gorgeous with amazing colors, contrast, and deep blacks. Secondly, the 270Hz touchscreen polling rate makes aiming with your thumbs feel incredibly smooth and responsive to the point that I could lineup a headshot a second before my opponent could.
Of course, another big advantage you have here is the two touch areas on the right side of the edge. These touch areas emulate the shoulder buttons on any standard controller, you can shoot and aim down sights with your index fingers, leaving your thumbs free to move your character and aim at all times.
Out of all the gaming phones on the market, the Asus ROG Phone 3 has the widest array of accessories. In the box, you get an attachable AeroActive Cooler 3 fan that now features an integrated kickstand.
Add the pair of optional Kunai 3 controllers and their holder case, and suddenly you can play with this gaming phone in a Nintendo Switch-like experience. Throw it into a Twin View Dock 3 for a second touch screen like the Nintendo 3DS. And then you can fuse the two to turn it all into a giant Frankenstein of a gaming phone with dedicated controllers and two screens.
There’s even a Mobile Desktop Dock that allows you to connect the Asus ROG Phone 3 to a gaming monitor or TV for big-screen mobile gaming. It sounds ridiculous, but it was genuinely fun to push the gaming phone’s video to a 4K TV, grab a pair of Kunai controllers and play a fighting game in versus mode.
The ROG Phone 3 is also compatible with all of the same accessories for its predecessor. So, if you’ve already acquired a few or prefer the older accessories, all of them will work with Asus’ new handset.
The only other accessory I had trouble with was the Kunai 2 controllers, which simply refused to allow me to pull both triggers at the same time. I could only either aim down sights and be unable to fire or vice versa, it was almost as if the controller couldn’t understand that I was holding down two inputs at the same time. Asus tells me that this isn’t an issue with the Kunai 3 controllers, which I’m hoping to test in the future.
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Asus ROG Phone 3 – Camera
The Asus ROG Phone 3 comes well equipped with just as many cameras – and quality cameras at that – as a high-end Android device. Between the wide-angle, Ultrawide, and Macro cameras you can have a lot of fun taking shots at different focal lengths. And while there isn’t a telephoto, I hardly miss having one here.
For the most part, the Asus ROG Phone 3 captures images with a good amount of detail, but the color and dynamic range you can capture is particularly amazing for a gaming-focused device. The only fault I can find in the images is the shadows are often a little too dark, so any areas with black or near black pixels end up losing a lot of detail.
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The main 64MP camera captures intensely detailed images when left to snap photos at its native resolution. Annoyingly though, as with most new phones, choosing to capture photos at your maximum resolution locks you out of all your other camera options like the Ultrawide and Macro mode. To access your other cameras and a lossless 2x digital zoom, you have to drop your main camera resolution down to 16MP.
Asus ROG Phone 3 – Battery Life
Not only does the Asus ROG Phone 3 make gaming on a phone feel better, but you’ll also be able to do it for longer thanks to the device’s massive 6,000mAh battery. I put this device through some heavy usage consisting of watching four hours of streaming video and playing games for three hours with some regular browsing in between, and I still managed to end the day with 40% of my battery life left on the device.
Thanks to the included 30W HyperCharge adapter you can juice up the ROG Phone 3 quickly too. Plugging in the phone for just 30 minutes will give you back 47% of your charge and after a full hour, I was sitting at 85% of my full battery capacity.
Purchasing Guide
The Asus ROG Phone 3 will release in the US later this September. US pricing has yet to be announced but in Europe the 12GB/512GB variant retails for €999 (about $1,150) while our review unit with 16GB/512GB €1,099 (~$1,266).
For those who can’t spend as much, Asus has also introduced a more affordable Strix version that sports ony 256GB of storage and 8GB of memory for a lower €799 (about $920) price. Unfortunately, the Strix model won’t be releasing in the US
All Asus ROG Phone 3 models also come bundled with three months of Stadia Pro.
Source: IGN.com Asus ROG Phone 3 Review