ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro launched: SD8G3, up to 24GB RAM, IP68, and 50MP IMX890 w/ 6-axis Gimbal!

ASUS kicks off the year by releasing the ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro flagship gaming phones.

The ROG Phone 8 Series

ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro launched!

One of the key highlights for the ROG Phone 8 series is the thinner form factor which now measures at 8.9mm and weighs 225g versus the predecessor ROG Phone 7 with 10.3mm and 239g numbers. 

ASUS achieved this feat by toning the battery capacity down to 5,500mAh capacity against the 6,000mAh previous. The good thing is that ASUS claimed they optimized the hardware so it can still perform similarly to last year's version's battery life.

The features

In terms of display, both phones offer 6.78-inch Samsung E6 AMOLED screen with 165Hz refresh rate (1-120Hz LTPO), FHD+ resolution, 10-bit HDR, 107.37 percent DCI-P3, 20:9 aspect ratio, 2500 nits max brightness and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection.

Powering these devices is the 3.3GHz 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 octa-core CPU with New Adreno GPU that offers significant performance in gaming. These phones can be configured with either 12GB/16GB/24GB LPDDR5X memory and choices of 256GB/512GB/1TB UFS 4.0 storage. 

As mentioned earlier it is powered by a 5,500mAh battery and charges using 65W Hyper Charge and 15W Qi wireless charging.

The design of the ROG Phone 8 series

Another worth mentioning is the upgrades on the camera. Both phones now feature 50MP Sony IMX890 and have brought the Zenfone 10's 6-axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer 3.0 plus the Super HyperSteady Video mode software. 

The main sensor is also accompanied by a 13MP 120-degree ultrawide shooter and a 32MP sensor with 3x telephoto zoom. This also has OIS and 4-in-1 pixel binning. There's also 10x Hyper Clarity AI zooming and up to 30x digital zoom.

However, the brand notes that in some regions the base ROG Phone 8 will have a macro sensor instead of a telephoto. But the ROG Phone 8 Pro will have a telephoto sensor in all regions.

As for selfies, the device boasts a 32MP sensor with 90-degree FOV.

The brand also boasts that this is their first gaming phone with an IP68 water resistance rating. Usually, gaming handsets like these prioritize cooling means that water resistance is little to none. The company explained that the previous ROG Phone 7 Pro had AeroActive Portal that allows convective cooling, however, the new 8-series uses conduction cooling instead.

The new cooling tech

This is accomplished by inserting a copper block through the motherboard and tapping the rear panel. Heat is transported here to the air or, alternatively, to the new AeroActive Cooler X, which is 29 percent smaller and 10 percent lighter, making it easier to transport. It boasts a 2.6x larger contact area, a quicker fan, and a higher thermal efficiency, all of which contribute to much-improved cooling.

For connectivity, the phones have 5G SA/NSA, dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 7 (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, NFC, and dual SIM.

For software, the devices run Android 14 with ROG UI skin on top.

US price with direct-to-PHP conversion (no taxes and duties yet):

ROG Phone 8 16GB/256GB - USD 1,099.99 (around PHP 61,414)

ROG Phone 8 Pro 16GB/512GB - USD 1,199.99 (around PHP 66.9K)

ROGPhone 8 Pro - 24GB/1TB - USD 1,499.99  (around PHP 83.7K)

As per the company, it will be available for sale by Spring 2024 in the US (sometime in March). No word yet for other countries as of the moment. Stay tuned and we will update you once it's here in the Philippines.

Source: FoneArena