ROG Phone! The time has come... pic.twitter.com/5qp66oMpyr

— ROG Global (@ASUS_ROG) June 4, 2018

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During a surprise announcement today at Computex, ASUS announced that it's jumping on the gaming smartphone bandwagon with the ASUS ROG Phone. Somewhat akin other recent gaming smartphone like the Razer Phone, Red Magic or Black Magic, the ROG Phone boasts high end specs and more unique accessories to emphasize on the gaming aspect.

First off, let's see the specs:

• Processor: Octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset up to 2.96GHz
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 630
• 6-inch 2,160 x 1,080 AMOLED screen (with HDR support and 90 Hz refresh rate)
  
• 8 GB RAM
• Storage: UFS 2.1, 128GB / 512GB
• 4 000mAh battery
  
• Dimensions: 158.8 x 76.2 x 8.6mm
• Weight: 200g
• Dual rear cameras: 12MP + 8MP ultra-wide
  
• Front camera: 8MP
• Rear fingerprint reader

No word pricing or release window yet but let's take a look at what has actually been revealed other than the available specs!

ASUS did not fail to include the "must have" gaming feature in any peripheral worthy of that title as it slapped a customizable RGB ROG logo at the back of the phone.

The sides of the ROG Phone pack programmable ultrasonic sensors: 2 on the sides in landscape which serve as shoulder buttons allowing you to use these functions without touching the screen. A third one is found at the bottom left in portrait which allows the phone to toggle apps when squeezed.

The smartphone also packs 3 USB Type-C ports: 1 on the bottom and 2 conjoined on the side. The idea behind being that it'll prevent the charging cable from getting in the way in landscape mode while gaming.

The 2 conjoined ports also serve as the entry port for the dedicated peripherals revealed during the event. The AeroActive Cooler is one such clip-on accessory with a 6 000 mAh battery with a built-in fan that can be adjusted to your liking with the companion app.

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Another intriguing dedicated accessory announced is the TwinView Dock. The latter is a clamshell dock with a built-in battery and secondary screen at the bottom while the ROG Phone is attached to the top via the USB port. The end product looks very much like an NDS Phat and ASUS actually hopes that developers will come up with ideas to use both screens.

There's also a Mobile Desktop dock that allows streaming of the phone's content onto your bigger desktop screen.

GameVice also announced its own peripheral for the ROG Phone, the GameVice controller, which clips on either sides of the phone to provide physical controller buttons.

If the ROG Phone gets popular enough, we might see more such dedicated add-ons released in the future. What do you think? Will the ASUS ROG Phone the gaming phone that gamers have been waiting for all this time? Or will it go down in history like the N-Gage?

SOURCE

 

[Deleted User]

Following the Switch's success every other company wants a slice of the cake

 

[shaunj66]

First thoughts: wow, that is an unattractive name.

 

[Deleted User]

that sounds way better then the other "gaming" phones...

 

[Kioku]

Ha! Gamevice... I sincerely hope this fad dies. I have no issue with new, dedicated gaming devices.. But "gaming" phones are so niche and pointless. Interesting accessory. Shame they didn't think to make it a clam shell controller like the original shield. Oh well..

 

[Deleted User]

I, too, like my full HD Candy Crush.

Jokes aside, this is the first phone with the "gaming" tag to release with a control option that looks somewhat decent, so kudos to them. Seriously, a D-Pad and some buttons shouldn't be that much to ask for.

As for the dual-screen option; I'm not too confident on that one. Given how Nintendo seems to have dropped Dual-Screen on the Switch, I'm not convinced that the system will exactly flourish in the mobile gaming market, especially if people want to hook these things up to their televisions.

 

[Chary]

Talk about over-excessive

 

[The Real Jdbye]

That phone must be really massive if that powerbank is 6000 mAh.
This whole "gaming phone" thing is ridiculous when none of them even have physical buttons. They could have added some buttons to the side of that extra screen, missed opportunity IMO.

 

[Kioku]

Talk about over-excessive

The weird thing is that I don't mind the dock option. The dual screen thing is... Weird.. Even for ASUS...

 

[comput3rus3r]

Why would i want to dock my phone to play downgraded games on my pc monitor? the whole thing is absurd. Expect this to fail like the others.

 

[dimmidice]

"The end product looks very much like an NDS Phat and ASUS actually hopes that developers will come up with ideas to use both screens." That's not going to happen.

 

[Edgarska]

The whole point of playing games on your phone over a dedicated portable console is the fact that your phone is always there, because it obviously isn't the quality of the games available.
Now you need your phone, plus accessories that make it bulkier than a portable console and require more space to lug around, thereby eliminating the only advantage phone gaming had.

I guess the target demographic is people who don't mind carrying a lot of accessories around, and also have something against portable consoles.

The desktop dock could be useful for something other than gaming, because if you're already at a computer then you probably have better games available to play than what you have on your phone.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Hmmm... Full HD Candy Crash and portable seizure generator all in one. Nice.

Wait, they didn't add battery hungry epilleptic-hater friendly fully configurable RGB LEDs all around it? And the case is not see through? And you say it doesn't have liquid cooling, not even a couple of colored fans?... Not buying then.

 

[WiiUBricker]

This will flop so hard it’s not even funny anymore.

 

[comput3rus3r]

The whole point of playing games on your phone over a dedicated portable console is the fact that your phone is always there, because it obviously isn't the quality of the games available.
Now you need your phone, plus accessories that make it bulkier than a portable console and require more space to lug around, thereby eliminating the only advantage phone gaming had.

I guess the target demographic is people who don't mind carrying a lot of accessories around, and also have something against portable consoles.

The desktop dock could be useful for something other than gaming, because if you're already at a computer then you probably have better games available to play than what you have on your phone.

yeah then you need to carry around a powerbank because you were playing games and your battery ran out so now you're stuck somewhere and can't make a phone call. GG.

 

[Edgarska]

This will flop so hard it’s not even funny anymore.

I think the worst part is that I can see it being mildly successful. Overpriced "gaming" devices and peripherals always have a market, razer sells a mousepad with RGB lights for $50, and it sells.

 

[KingVamp]

Took a double take at Gamevice. lol I wonder how the suing is going. Asus is trying to pull a Switch and a DS, at the same time.

Reminds of that Gbatemp comic. Also reminds me of the ZTE Axon M.

They could have added some buttons to the side of that extra screen, missed opportunity IMO.

Agree. Seems like an odd decision not to do so. Now they have to rely on a whole another company and an accessory for proper controls.

 

[Jayenkai]

What is WRONG with these people??!
if I want great big clunky controller Add-ons then I buy a gaming console.
If I want a little pocketable phone, I DO NOT WANT the giant clunky controller add on.

What I ACTUALLY want from "Gaming Phone" is a little nice phone, that looks like a standard candybar phone, but that then has a lovely little slideout controller.
I don’t care if it ends up being a little bit thicker than a standard phone.. the 3DS fits snuggly in my pocket. Just make sure it has a screen on the front, and a decent slidy-out control panel, with buttons that work properly and don't break.
That’s what I want.
That's a "Gaming Phone"

 

[Alternis]

At least it looks cool

 

[eriol33]

I would be surprised if any serious gamer will ever buy this overpriced ****. asus gaming laptop is okay but I don't get the point of gaming phone, and it's probably with a non-removable battery too