Update (10 March 2021): More rumors are continuing to surface about the ROG Phone 5 in the days leading up to its release. The first is that the new gaming phone will have a variant with 16GB of RAM. Something we highlighted in our original article. In addition to this, we’ve got our first look at the phone thanks to leaker @IshanAgarwal on Twitter. It seems like the phone will be coming in a new, sleek white color similar to the Zephyrus G14/15. The official renders also show a new AeroActive Cooler with a slight redesign.
ASUS’s ROG Phone is arguably one of the most popular gaming phones on the market. ASUS launched the first ROG Phone to much fanfare in 2019 creating a new niche for loud, gamer-proud devices. They also pack specifications and software features that allow users to get the most out of their phones when it comes to performance and comes with software optimizations for gaming. Don’t forget the plethora of gaming-centric accessories that is now a signature of the ROG Phone lineup.
In the past, ASUS has announced their gaming smartphone closer to mid year. However, this year, the company has already announced that they will be revealing their new entry into the ROG Phone line up on March 10 at 7pm. With that in mind, we thought it’s be an opportune time to round up the rumours and everything else we know so far about the ROG Phone 5.
Bringing New Design Cues from Successful Laptops
Yep. You read that right. No you didn’t miss a ROG Phone somewhere in between. Instead, ASUS has decided to skip straight to 5 as the number 4 in Mandarin and other Chinese dialects sounds similar to the word for death.
With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. You’d have realised that ASUS has been teasing the ROG Phone 5 for about a week now. If you’ve been paying attention, it looks like the AniMe matrix from the ROG Zephyrus G14 is coming along for the ride. It seems to be the hallmark design feature of the phone and will be replacing the RGB logo which was one back of the phone.
From the leaks, it looks like this may be complemented by a small display. The small strip could be used as a notification ticker or possibly in a similar way that the HTC One Ultra used it for interactive features. However, there’s no confirmations so far on the functionality of the display.
This would be an excellent complement to the triggers that we already know will be coming to the ROG Phone 5. It also seems like there is an extra red button on the phone’s lower left edge. Keep in mind, that the ROG Phone series has historically come with a side mounted USB-C port.
Specc’d to Kill
As is the usual, it seems like the ROG Phone 5 is specced to kill – in a matter of speaking. We know the phone will be coming with a Snapdragon 888 processor. However, what we don’t know is whether the processor will come with a special build like previous years. Typically, ASUS and Qualcomm have launched the ROG Phone 5 with a “plus” or + variant of the year’s top processor. However, this year, the ROG Phone seems to be coming with the run of the mill Snapdragon 888.
We know from TENAA documentation that there will be an 8GB version of the smartphone, possibly the Tencent or STRIX version which we’ve seen in the past. However, we also have an inkling through rumours that ASUS is likely to have a 16GB and 12GB versions as well. Of course, they will be using the UFS 3.1 standard of memory for that snappy runtime. We will definitely see versions with 256GB and 512GB of internal storage however we wouldn’t put it past ASUS to offer a whopping 1TB version too perhaps paired with 16GB of RAM.
When it comes to the battery, we know for a fact that ASUS hasn’t shied away from large battery capacities. This year’s ROG Phone seems to be coming with a 6,000mAh battery if rumours are to be believed. ASUS is apparently achieving this by doubling up on 3,000mAh battery modules. Of course, the phone will be able to support up to 65W Fast Charging and come with Quick Charge 4, USB-C Power Delivery 3.0 and maybe even reverse charging. However, we don’t expect to see wireless charging in the ROG Phone 5 if ASUS keeps to its trends.
On the display front, it looks like ASUS might be equipping the ROG Phone 5 with a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen. However, rumours point to the gaming smartphone only coming with a Full HD+ resolution. That said, the display may be getting a boost from the HDR10+ feature it’s rumoured to be touting. It also looks like the smartphone will be coming with Android 11 out of the box.
Thanks to DxO Mark’s audio review, we know that the ROG Phone comes with stereo speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack – hooray~! In addition, it looks like the phone will be equipped with an ESS DAC for better quality sound and it will also have at least four microphones. On the optics side of things, not too much detail is known. However, we do have leads showing that the phone will be coming with a triple sensor setup. It will be fronted by a 64-megapixel main sensor. The remaining sensors are unknown but if we are to go with what came in the ROG Phone 3 and similar phones this year, we’re betting on an ultrawide sensor and a macro sensor.
Pricing & Availability
While nothing much has been said about the price, we’re expecting ASUS to maintain the general price point of the ROG Phone 5. The ROG Phone came with a price tag of $999 in the U.S. and €999 in Europe at launch. In Malaysia, pricing was about MYR4,499 at launch.
However, given Samsung’s move to make the barrier to ownership a little lower this year, we can probably expect that ASUS may do the same; either with a lower specc’d entry or a very slight price decrease. We’ll have to wait and see.