The Asus ROG Phone 3 is a smartphone aimed at gamers… just like the ROG Phone II and original ROG Phone before it.
But this year Asus is going bigger in just about every way. The Asus ROG Phone 3 has a faster processor, a faster screen refresh rate, and support for more RAM.
It’s not the only game in town though — the gaming phone space is more crowded than it used to be, and some competitors are going big in other ways. The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel, for instance, has 90W fast charging. The Asus ROG Phone 3 tops out at 30W.
But the Asus phone has a bigger battery than Lenovo’s phone and support for a whole bunch of Asus-specific modular gaming accessories, including:
- GameCool 3: clip-on accessory with a cooling fan, kickstand, 3.5mm audio jack, and USB-C port
- ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad: game controller
- ROG Clip: connect a PS4, Xbox, or Stadia controller
- ROG TwinView 3 Dock: double your display area with a second 144 Hz display
- ROG Lightning Armor Case: cover the phone with a case featuring Aura lighting effects
The GameCool 3 cooling system comes with the phone, while the other accessories are sold separately.
Here’s a run-down of the phone’s key specs:
Display | 6.59 inch, FHD+ 144Hz 650-nit AMOLED |
CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ |
GPU | Adreno 650 |
RAM | 8GB/12GB/16GB LPDDR5 |
Storage | 128GB/256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 |
Battery | 6,000 mAh |
Charging | 30W |
Cameras (rear) | 64MP primary 13MP 125-degree wide-angle 5MP macro |
Camera (front) | 24MP |
Security | In-display fingerprint sensor |
Ports | 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C w/DisplayPort 1.4 & USB-PD 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 Type-C w/USB PD 3.0 |
Speakers | 2 x front-facing |
Wireless | 5G WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 NFC GPS & GLONASS |
Other | Ultrasonic AirTrigger 3 buttons |
Software | Android 10 w/ROG UI or ZenUI |
Dimensions | 171mm x 78mm x 9.85mm |
Weight | 240 grams |
Asus says the new phone not only has a faster screen refresh rate with a 1ms response time, but it also has a 270 Hz touch sampling rate for 25ms latency. And the company says it’s also improved its pressure-sensitive AirTrigger buttons with the inclusion of a motion sensor and new customization options.
US pricing and availability details haven’t been announced yet, but xda-developers reports the Asus ROG Phone 3 will be available in Europe this month for €799 (~$925) and up, and it’s heading to India in early August for ₹49,999 (~$670) and up.
Did they centre the USB-C port on this one? Apparently the ROG2 can’t be used with the Razer Kishi because of this
You can see from the image that they didn’t. The port on the side is centered though.
At least it’s compatible with RoG2 accessories for the most part, and RoG3 accessories are compatible with the RoG2 for the most part (which wouldn’t be the case if they relocated the port).
Ah, missed that in that picture. That’s absolutely ridiculous though. I get wanting to keep compatibility with their existing accessories, but it also cuts them off from the broader Android ecosystem, both in terms of compatibility with accessories and selling to other Android device owners. This sort of mentality should not be rewarded, I’d buy an iPhone if I wanted to deal with crap like that.
I would’ve liked to see them kill off the bottom USB-C, but re-introduce a 3.5mm Headphone Jack on the side next to the other USB-C (which by the way should be v3.2 with TV/HDMI/DP-out functionality).
It’s just more comfortable having them there when the phone is used in horizontal mode, like watching videos or playing games.
But the biggest improvement I’d like to see is if they upgraded to a 16:9 aspect ratio making the phone more compact, easier to use, and pocketable.
And while we’re at it, throw in a microSD slot to load all our games, and make the battery User Removable. That way when you run out of juice, just slide out a fresh one from your pocket and you’re set. Much safer and faster than those Fast Chargers, and more practical for travellers.
Oh, and since this is a “Gaming” phone, included in the box should be two joycons that can be pocketable. They should slide on the phone’s body without a case, further helping to make things compact. I’d say it’s a Nintendo Switch killer, but it still lacks the games. Guess that’s what a GPD Win 3 is for when they jump on the Zen 4000+ platform.