ASUS ROG Phone Unboxing and First Impressions

Announced earlier this year, the ASUS ROG phone is finally in the Philippines! The pocket gaming powerhouse starts at PHP 49,995!

The ROG Phone is here

Inside is a higher clocked Snapdragon 845 at 2.9GHz that resulted in 300+K in Antutu that you can read about here.

The headline features is the 90Hz 1080p AMOLED display, ultrasonic Air Triggers,  HyperCharge and the customizable RGB lighting.

Let's take a closer look!

Unboxing/Accessories

ROG Phone box!

The packaging is unique because it comes in a triangle like shape that opens at the top and unfolds to the side.

Inside the box is the phone, Aeroactive cooler, documentation, braided USB to USB Type-C cable and 10V/3A charger!

Build Quality/Design

The back has the cameras, fingerprint scanner, ventilation, aggressive ROG design, LED logo!

The build is metal and glass and it feels premium. The signature aggressive lines with unique shapes and lines from the ROG line of computers have come to the ROG Phone.

Aggressive design, premium build!

I think its one of the designs that you either like it or your okay with it. Being a gaming focused phone, design decisions like the open cooling vents and larger proprietary port on the side has limited the ROG phone's water and dust resistance rating.

Antenna lines and microphone on top!

At the bottom is a 3.5 mm headphone jack, microphone, antenna lines and the USB Type-C port!

At the left side is the an air trigger, a SIM card tray and the proprietary port that connects to the ROG phone's accessories!

On the right side are the two air triggers, volume rocker, and the power button!

On top and bottom part of the frame have antenna lines and each have a microphone. The bottom adds a 3.5 mm headphone jack and the USB Type-C port.

On the left is the SIM card tray, the proprietary accessories port and a single air trigger while the right has the volume rocker, power button and two air triggers.

The back has the cameras, fingerprint sensor, cooling vents, and customizable RGB logo. 

In front are the dual front facing speakers, and the 6-inch 90Hz 1ms 1080p AMOLED display, selfie camera and sensors!

Surprisingly because of the curved textured metal frame, it is easy to hold but the back is prone to fingerprints. The aggressive shapes and cooling vents need some getting used to because it isn't a plain surface like most phones.

It also very prone to fingerprint smudges.

Initial findings

The customizable RGB light-up logo!

1. This is one of the few phones with a 90Hz 1ms display! It is a large 6-inch 2160 x 1080 resolution at 402 ppi that when used with games that don't have a frame rate cap can give the best possible split second experiences. It also has 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio and support for 108 percent DCI-P3 color gamut and HDR making this one of the best screens for cinematic content.

The stereo speakers are in front and provide a top and bottom bezel that serves as surface area for holding the phone in landscape.

2. It is running on a  2.96GHz Snapdragon 845 with the Adreno 630 with ASUS's GameCool 3D vapor chamber cooling technology allows for consistently higher clocked speeds over the standard Snapdragon 845. It is one of the new phones that reach 300K+ in Antutu!

It has 8GB RAM and starts with 128GB of storage. It isn't expandable.

Lastly, it has a 4,000mAh battery that supports ASUS HyperCharge that is Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0 compatible when charged with the included 10V/3A charger. This promises 0-60 percent charge in 30 minutes.

3. It is running Android 8.1 Oreo with ROG themed UI. This means that the icons, color scheme and design are what full of aggressive lines with industrial and red colors. In doesn't seem to be a heavily modified version of Android. 

What stood out is the ASUS Gaming mode with some proprietary software that adds gaming focused features like blocking notifications. We'll have to try each of these features once a review unit arrives.

4. The main cameras are the 12MP f/1.8 with OIS, dual pixel PDAF and the 8 MP with no AF while the Selfie camera is an 8MP f/2.0 shooter. ASUS claims that these are the same modules from the Zenfone 5 so do not expect class leading camera performance even with the latest software. 

5. It has face unlock and a fingerprint scanner. For connectivity it supports 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, and NFC. It supports OTG, GPS and GLONASS.

The sensors include an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and compass.

ASUS ROG Phone Specs

Display: 6-inch 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 6 protected AMOLED screen w/ FHD+ 2160 x 1080 resolution at 402 ppi
CPU: 2.96GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor
GPU: Adreno 630
RAM: 8GB
ROM: 128/512GB
Back Camera: 12MP f/1.8 Sony IMX363 + 8MP f/2.0 OV8856 w/ Tri-tech AF, Dual Pixel, 120-degree wide-angle, OIS, EIS, and dual tone LED flash
Selfie Camera: 8MP f/2.0 OV8856 w/ 83-degree wide-angle lens
Battery: 4,000mAh w/ fast battery charging 10V/3A 30W
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5, OTG, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic, pressure 
Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, USB Type-C, stereo speakers, gaming accessories sold separately, Colors: black
Dimensions: 158.8 x 76.2 x 8.7 mm
Weight: 200 g
Price: PHP 49,995 (128GB variant), PHP 61,995 (512GB model)

As of the moment

The ROG Phone is ASUS's answer to what a gaming phone should be. It even has the design, fit and finish that you find in the high end ROG computers with customizable RGB logo at the back.

It also include gaming focused features like the 90Hz display, the air triggers, the external cooling solution called the AeroActive cooler. It is also one of the few phones that reached the 300+K mark in Antutu so there is no question that ASUS is serious about positioning it as a gaming phone.

Stay tuned for our review and see how it will stacks up with the rest!

What do you guys think? Will you be getting one?