Asus Rog Phone 3 The Republic Of Gamers

ASUS ROG 3 SERIES

A 5G powerhouse with premium gaming appeal.

The Asus ROG 3 is a fantastic phone, with top-tier specs and perks that even non-gamers will love, like a 6,000mAh battery and smooth 144Hz display. Its unique features, like AirTriggers and clip-on accessories, could improve anyone’s gaming, though they’ll have to fiddle with the software to activate them.. It’s the most mainstream gamer phone to come out in awhile, but typical consumers may value photography over playtime. For the gamers out there, though, there’s no better machine.

Pros:

• Absolute best specs in phone such as 6,000mAh battery.
•  144Hz screen attracts non-gamers too.
• AirTriggers are neat.

Cons:

• So-so cameras
• AirTriggers and other gaming features only work with select games
• No wireless charging at the pricepoint.

Quick Review:

The Asus ROG 3 is one of the most advanced gaming phones ever released, if not the most advanced. Its blend of gaming-focused hardware and software features justify its existence in a crowded field, and gamers willing to spend more can actually get an edge with the ROG 3.

. The Asus ROG 3 is the Asus ROG II, but better.The differences between the two phones are worth pointing out. This is the first smartphone with the Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset, and it outperformed nearly every other phone we’ve tested on Geekbench. And the ROG 3’s looks are the most mainstream yet: rather than the original ROG Phone’s Decepticon-like angles, the new handset has a sleek flat back, with only the clear window that gives you a peek at the internals hinting at the series’ gamer chic origins.Asus execs claim that supercars inspired this design shift, but it’s hard not to see the transition as a concession to a more mainstream smartphone look, to draw in consumers who don’t go for aggressive lines and RGB adornments. Showing it off won’t garner you much cred in gamer circles, but normies will be able to take it out in public without raising too many eyebrows.Instead, all the progress is on the inside: in addition to the aforementioned Snapdragon 865 Plus, the ROG 3 ups the RAM to 16GB (and opts for DDR5) while the display has been improved to 144Hz refresh rate and 270Hz touch sampling. Asus claims this results in a halving of the touch latency to 25ms compared to the ROG II – and while such distinctions won’t be perceivable to most users, Asus knows that such marginal improvements will appeal to its performance-obsessed core base.

While those power users might be sore over the visual redesign, in most other respects the ROG 3 is a love letter to them. Asus’ signature Armoury Crate software has even more settings for owners to tinker with, from CPU and GPU refresh rates to internal temperature control and network preferences. The AirTriggers, which operate like touch shoulder buttons when the phone is held in landscape orientation, have been refined to track fingers making gestures that previous ROG phones couldn’t track for more finite control.

Outside of gaming, the phone ticks most boxes, with a triple rear camera array comprising 64MP main, ultra-wide, and macro shooters – which are fine, although the lack of a serious zoom capability is noticeable. And some of the phone’s gaming-centric features are also a boon for the casual user, with the 144Hz display making web browsing and interface navigating a smooth experience, while the 6,000mAh battery is handy to keep your phone lasting longer than a day.

Overall, the Asus ROG 3 is a strong phone that offers fantastic performance, a smooth display, a colossal battery, and a more mainstream-friendly design – and on paper, all the gaming features make the phone seem like a serious contender against the current crop of flagship phones, gaming-focused or otherwise. But the software-focused gaming perks require some dedicated finagling, and won’t benefit casual users, while its camera suite isn’t as strong as other phones at its price point. The Asus ROG 3 is a great gaming phone, but it’s not quite for everyone yet.

Price and availability

• Launched: July 22, 2020; Release date: September 2020
• Regional availability: TBD
• Price: likely above $899 / £829.99 (roughly AU$1,500)

Specs

Weight: 240g

Dimensions: 171 x 78 x 9.85mm

Display size: 6.59-inch

Resolution: FHD+ (2380x1080)

Refresh rate: 144Hz

Pixel density: 391ppi

Chipset: Snapdragon 865 Plus

RAM: 12GB / 16GB

Storage: 512Gb

Rear cameras: 64MP + 13MP + 5MP

Front camera: 24MPBattery: 6,000mAh

Design

• Same size & weight as the ROG II to ensure compatibility with accessories
• Less 'gamer chic' angles & lines for a cleaner, mainstream look
• Upgraded AirTrigger touch shoulder buttons

The Asus ROG 3 edges closer towards the look of mainstream phones with a mostly seamless back marked with more subtle accents than its predecessor, bringing the phone closer to the sleek (though not necessarily black) rectangle look the industry has settled on. The sharp-angled cutouts of its predecessors have been reduced to a spare few lines running across the ROG 3’s back.

ROG 3 accessories

• Mostly gaming-focused, from controllers to docks
• AeroActive Cooler 3 clip-on fan, included with phone
• Kunai 3 controllers look less angular

The Asus ROG 3 isn’t just a phone – like the previous ROG models, it’s the core device of a gaming platform, with several optional accessories that are mostly geared toward augmenting mobile gaming. 

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The most widely-useful of these is the clip-on fan, the AeroActive Cooler 3, which, as we’d hope with a gaming phone, is included in the box. This plugs into the side-mounted dual port to help keep the ROG 3 cooler during intense gaming sessions; we never found the phone got so hot that it required the fan, but it’s nice to have – and best of all, it has the aforementioned a pass-through 3.5mm jack for plugging in your headphones. It’s also got a little kickstand that, while a bit flimsy, is a nice inclusion.

The other accessories aid gaming more directly: the TwinView Dock 3 adds a second screen, which is much like the LG V60 Dual Screen in the sense that it’s identical to the main phone’s display, with the same resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. Sure, it can help you multitask, but it’s really about playing with multiple screens, so you can watch one and press buttons on the other. 

The ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad is the most straightforward accessory, with a smoother look than the Kunai controllers launched with previous ROG phones. This works much like the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons: it consists of two controller halves which can be used as separate right and left controllers locked to the sides of the ROG 3 when it’s fitted into a special ‘bumper’ case, or slid onto a frame to handle like a proper gamepad. 

There’s also the ROG clip, which secures the phone to a PS4, Xbox One, or Google Stadia controller (sorry, it won’t fit a PS5 or Xbox Series X controller, if you were wondering). There’s a pair of docks, too, with a slew of ports to hook the ROG 3 up to keyboards and mice: the more portable Professional Dock and the Mobile Desktop Dock, which adds a 3.5mm audio jack and more input/output ports.