Being one of the key players at the CES 2024, Asus have once again brought in their progress of making gaming better on their smartphones. They have redesigned their ROG gaming phone line, namely the Asus ROG Phone 8 series by maintaining a concentration on gaming while simultaneously enhancing overall phone functionality. This marks another significant step in their gaming smartphone upgrade.
In fact, having taken customer feedback into account, the company has designed these phones to be lighter, thinner, and equipped with improved cameras. Let’s take a closer look at the redesigned Asus ROG Phone 8 series by looking at the provided specs in detail.
Asus ROG Phone 8 Series
The Asus ROG Phone 8 series are made up of the three smartphones under the line, Asus ROG Phone 8, Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, and Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition. Although there are three variants in the ROG Phone 8 series, they all possess nearly identical specifications, with the exception of variations in RAM and internal storage.
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Specs
1. Physical Dimensions and Design
The three variants have identical dimensions of 6.45 by 3.02 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and weigh 7.94 ounces, making them smaller and lighter compared to the ROG 7 (6.80 by 3.03 by 0.40 inches, 8.4 ounces). The 8 Pro Edition exhibits a robust and dense feel with a premium build. Despite the notable camera bump on the back, the 8 Pro Edition maintains balance when held in any orientation. Furthermore, it easily fits into a pocket.
On the right edge, you’ll find a volume rocker and power button, accompanied by two capacitive buttons designed for gaming. The bottom of the phone houses a USB-C port, SIM card tray, speaker grille, and a 3.5mm headset jack. Meanwhile, the left side incorporates an additional USB-C port, facilitating convenient direct connection of the fan accessory to the phone.
2. Display and Screen
The screen of the ROG Phone 8 series features a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,400 by 1,080 pixels and an impressive maximum brightness of 2,500 nits. With a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, it can be adjusted to 165Hz for enhanced gaming smoothness. Asus chose an under-display front-facing camera, allowing for minimised front bezels, creating a screen-dominated front. To enhance durability, the screen is shielded with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The screen on the Asus ROG Phone 8 series is not only impressive in terms of visual speed but also features a remarkable 720Hz touch sampling rate, ensuring faster responsiveness to touch compared to other phones. This attribute is particularly crucial for games that demand swift button presses and high levels of responsiveness.
3. Inner Chip and Cooling Conductor
Fuelled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the phones share the same processor as the RedMagic 9 Pro. Asus has incorporated faster UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5x specifications for storage and memory, respectively.
To manage heat during gaming sessions, the ROG Phone 8 utilises the Rapid-Cooling Conductor design by Asus, which dissipates heat from the processor to the back cover. While Asus claim that the AeroActive Cooler X can potentially reduce the back cover temperature by up to 26 degrees Celsius (Around 79 degrees Fahrenheit), this assertion has not been independently verified. However, unlike the previous ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, the new model will not feature a rear door that opens for that specific purpose.
4. Camera
The ROG Phone 8 series phones have embraced a punch-hole front-facing camera design, eliminating the prominent top bezel that concealed the front camera in earlier ROG models. While this results in a slight interruption in the screen space for games played in full screen due to the punch-hole, Asus offer the flexibility to slightly reduce the display area to avoid the front-facing camera. This diverges from the approach of competitors like RedMagic, who position the selfie camera under the display for an uninterrupted full screen, albeit often at the expense of photo image quality.
Moreover, Asus have overhauled their camera setup, featuring a 50-megapixel main camera supported by a stabiliser, termed the 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabiliser 3.0, to enhance the stability of both videos and photos. This main camera is accompanied by a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 32-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The device now incorporates a 32-megapixel front-facing selfie camera seamlessly integrated into the display.
5. Battery, Storage, Colour and Price
The Asus ROG Phone 8 series comprises two colours, Rebel Gray and Phantom Black. The Phone 8 series maintains the 65-watt wired charging feature from its predecessor and introduces a slightly smaller 5,500mAh battery, down from the Phone 7’s 6,000mAh battery capacity. A new addition is the 15-watt wireless charging, although it does not incorporate the new Qi2 standard.
As for the price, it differs based on the storage capacity provided. The Asus ROG Phone 8 commences at $1,100, featuring 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage, whereas the Pro model begins at $1,200 with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. The top-tier Pro model, equipped with 24GB of memory and 1TB of storage, is priced at $1,500 and includes the AeroActive Cooler X. Alternatively, the cooler attachment can be purchased separately for $100. The phones are set to launch in the first quarter of 2024, with an early bird promotion offering a $100 discount during the initial period.
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Unique New and Upgraded Features
1. New AI Features From the Chip
Leveraging the AI-centric Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Asus ROG Phone 8 series elevates several aspects of its phone functionalities. Semantic Search, integrated into the launcher, device settings, and photo gallery search boxes, processes entries to provide relevant results. The phone incorporates AI noise-cancelling for both standard calls and in-game chat during voice and video calls. Additionally, users can utilise AI to create a phone wallpaper by selecting objects, tones, and backgrounds. This marks another step in the phone lineup to integrate AI to better elevate the user experience.
2. Rear LEDs
In the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro models, the rear display on the back of the phone transitions from a full-colour screen to a mini-LED display, akin to the small rear screen on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro. Termed AniMe Vision by Asus, this display can be configured to showcase contextual animations. Conversely, the standard Phone 8 models feature an RGB-lit logo instead of the mini-LED display.
3. Dust-Protective and Water Resistant
According to Asus, the ROG Phone 8 series holds the distinction of being the world’s initial gaming phone with an IP68 rating. This implies full protection against dust and the capability to endure immersion in water at a depth of one metre or more. Notably, the predecessor, ROG 7, only had an IP54 rating, making this a substantial enhancement. Additionally, the device supports 5G (C-band, excluding mmWave), NFC, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.3.
Concluding Statement
The above marks as the detailed specs provided by Asus in their Asus ROG Phone 8 series on the redesign from in and out. The upgrade is poised to bring in a better user experience in smartphone gaming. In addition, according to PCMag, the 8 Pro Edition is exceptionally powerful, where it can power the famous HoYoverse game Genshin Impact smoothly with the game’s highest quality settings. The collaboration of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the substantial 24GB of RAM undoubtedly contributes to this performance.
As we wait for the first badge of the Asus ROG Phone 8 series to reach the first consumer’s hands, be sure to check out other players at the CES 2024 such as NVIDIA and Invoxia Minitailz.