The new Asus ROG Phone 6 is one helluva device. In fact, calling it a phone seems like a major insult to everything it’s capable of. Take a close look at it’s endless list of specs and it starts looking far more like a gaming console than a phone. Asus should really think of rebranding this name. It’s a monstrously capable device that will run any game with ease and that’s not even considering the ecosystem of peripherals Asus has created to go with it. Attach the ROG Kunai 3 gamepad accessory and no one would ever imagine it’s a phone.
However, it is a phone and very good one too. Retailing for $1,799, the ROG Phone 6 sits well and truly in that God-tier of smartphones with the likes of the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. For that money you get the most balls-to-the wall spec’d smartphone money can buy. I’m talking the latest and greatest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile processor for insane performance, a 6.78-inch, 165Hz Samsung AMOLED display with an unprecedented 720Hz touch sampling rate with 23ms latency.
If that’s not enough to convince you, how about 512GB of UFS3.1 storage, a 50MP camera system, 18GB of RAM, 6000mAH battery and so many physical and software features to make gaming an absolute dream. And quite frankly, even for a nerd like me, the ROG Phone 6 is quite an overwhelming device with so many ways to play that I barely scratched the surface in my limited review period.
Asus ROG Phone 6 5G Review
Everything about the design of the ROG Phone 6 is tailored to suit gaming and media consumption. It’s similar to the outgoing ROG Phone 5 but more refined and subtle in its geometric patterns and lighting. It comes in either Storm White or Phantom Black and now has an extra dot-matrix display on the back to show off your RGB, notifications and animations. The camera array looks a lot cleaner and professional and the signature AirTriggers along the edge have also been tweaked.
It’s a big, tall phone that dwarfs my already massive iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s not as wide and its smoother, rounder sides make it more comfortable to hold. Unless you have giant hands, one-handed use is really challenging given how tall the phone is. I was always in danger of dropping the phone while texting one handed. It also didn’t quite fit in my jeans and often slid out of my pockets whenever I sat down. But the phone is really well built and I never got any dings or scratches in my review period. Still, I advise using the bundled hard shell case and a screen protector.
The front massive 6.78-inch display flanked by the still very impressive stereo speakers. On the bottom rail is the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack through which you can enjoy Hi-Res audio thanks to the phones built in DAC. The left edge houses the improved AirTriggers, your volume keys and power button. Everything is lined up neatly for easy access when gaming in landscape. It even two USB Type-C charging ports, one on the bottom and another on the right hand rail which allows you to play in landscape and charge without an annoying cable getting in the way. There’s also a 5G sim card slot highlighted in a brilliant blue in case you forgot that this is a phone.
The biggest changes to the ROG Phone 6 are hidden away on the inside. Asus has done some major work redesigning the internals to greatly improve thermal performance. It split the battery into two so that the CPU and its vapor chamber can sit in the middle of the phone for better heat dissipation. The vapor chamber is 30% larger than previous model as well as an 85% larger graphite sheet ensuring the phone stays nice and cool when under load. I can confidently say that in all my time using the phone, I can’t even remember it getting warm so well done Asus.
Even so, Asus bundles the new Aeroactive Cooler 6 clip-on accessory that further cools the CPU down by up to 25°C. The cooler clips on to the middle of the phone directly over the CPU and uses AI-powered thermoelectric cooler that delivers increased airflow directly to hotspots on the back cover of the ROG Phone 6. It also has four extra buttons and Aura RGB lighting!
Performance as a result is through the roof. I tested a number of games ranging from Xbox Cloud Games to native titles like Grimlord, Dead Cells, Asphalt 9, COD Mobile, Apex Legends, Diablo Immortal, Black Desert and Genshin Impact to name a few. It really didn’t matter what I run, the ROG Phone 6 ran everything beautifully at the highest possible graphical settings. I honestly doubt that you’ll find a game that makes this phone chug unless it’s just poorly optimized Android game.
Apart from the way games run, what makes the ROG Phone 6 special is all the ways you actually play games and not just how smooth. First up is the audio-visual experience which is unlike anything else. The gorgeous FHD+ AMOLED display with HDR support is bursting with color, vibrancy and contrast that makes everything pop off the screen. The 165Hz refresh is the highest on any phone and the touch sampling rate of 720Hz is absurdly responsive. The display is extremely color accurate with a Delta E<1 which shames 90% of gaming laptops out there.
Then there’s the GameFX audio system which comprises of two front-firing stereo speakers which are still the best on any phone and even better than many laptops. Tuned in partnership with Dirac, an audio tuning firm, the speakers are very loud, with superb tonality and range. In game, watching movies or listening to music, they handle it all with aplomb and richness that belies their size. And thanks to Snapdragon sound tech aptX, you also get hi-res audio over Bluetooth headphones as well as low-latency that’s critical for gaming. However, there’s that trusty 3.5mm headphone jack for audiophile who want the full Hi-Res Audio 384 kHz / 32-bit.
The other key thing is the new AirTriggers. These ultrasonic sensors fully support various gestures, including new features such as Dual Action, Press and Lift, and Gyroscope Aiming. You can tap, slide, press, swipe, hell you can even split each trigger into two touch zones effectively doubling your physical controls. They even have haptic feedback to let you know you’ve activated them. Mapping them is so much easier thanks to the improved Armoury Crate interface which is a lot simpler and cleaner.
Armoury Crate gives you access to your library of games, performance and lighting controls and there’s even a dedicated section to manage the Aeroactive Cooler and the Kunai Controller. You can set up and customize scenario profiles for each app, not just games, and individually tune performance settings and more. Like any good gaming device, the AC also shows you realtime performance metrics so you can see if your games are running at their best while keeping a close eye on temperatures.
However, as good as the AirTriggers are, they still lack the tactility and feel of physical buttons. That’s why you need to use the ROG Kunai 3 controller, a dedicated mobile gaming controller purposely designed for the ROG Phone. It’s my favorite accessory for this phone and a must have. It’s basically a standalone controller with two detachable halves just like Nintendo Switch Joycons. It has analogue sticks, ABXY buttons, a D-pad and even top and rear triggers. The joycons come attached to a central column that houses a Bluetooth radio and battery for wireless play with the ROG Phone 6.
Alternatively, you can connect it wired via USB-C cable to the phone for latency free operation. But the best way to use it is to attach it directly to the sides of the phone using a special Kunai case that plugs directly into the phone. This transforms the phone into a a Android Steam Deck. And it looks absolutely wicked in this configuration. The only downside is the whole thing becomes too wide — it almost feels like holding a TKL keyboard in you hands. Consequently, it gets pretty fatiguing to hold up for long periods of gaming because even with the big screen, Mobile games are still notoriously cluttered with UI elements and tiny text. I really wish more games had the option to turn off the UI controls when connected to a controller.
It’s a pretty good phone too
So it’s pretty clear that the ROG Phone 6 is a helluva mobile gaming device but it’s worth touching on the fact that it’s also a pretty good smartphone. the same things that make it great for gaming also make it great for pretty much every normal smartphone thing you want to do. At the time of writing this, the ROG Phone 6 runs Android 12 which isn’t the latest and greatest but still a proven entity. Asus has done little to overlay Googles software with bloat so it’s pretty clean.
There are a few extra ROG theming options and accessibility features unique to the phone. Some of my favorites are the Edge tool which is a little drawer that you reveal by swiping from the right edge of the display. In here, you can put some of your frequently used apps which you don’t want cluttering your home screen; things like calculator, notes etc. Tapping on these apps launches them in a smaller floating window above whatever app you have open. This is great for multitasking without having to leave your current app.
Other quality of life features include a very good in-screen fingerprint reader for secure access. The reader is very fast and very accurate that I can barely recall failing to sign into my phone with it. Making phone calls, texting, running apps etc all work flawlessly here too. And if you have the right telco plan, you can also enjoy 5G speeds. Watching and consuming content on this phone is an absolute joy. You can binge House of Dragon or LoTR: Rings of Power in full HDR and stunning sound. I honestly can’t get over how beautiful of a display Asus has packed into this phone.
Unfortunately, while the camera specs are pretty great, the photos that come out of the ROG Phone 6 are just passable. The rear camera setup consists of a 50MP wide, 13MP Ultrawide both with 3-axis electronic image stabilisation. But as I’ve come to learn with phone cameras, big numbers don’t mean as much as you’d think. Compared to my 12MP iPhone 13 Pro Max, the Asus phone simply couldn’t match it shot for shot.
Too many times the photos look fine on the phone but closer inspection on a larger monitor reveals smudginess and lacking detail. It’s perfectly fine for your quick socials but it definitely is a B-tier camera in a world of plenty of A-tier. Videos faired a little bit better and with the phones horsepower, it’s one of a rare breed that can record 8K video at 24fps. Not really sure where you’ll actually be able to share those 8K videos but the option is there.
Battery life remains stellar on the ROG Phone 6. I regularly went 2 full days on a single charge. That’s on your normal use — phone calls, texting, Spotify over Bluetooth and unhealthy amounts of Instagram and TikTok. If you are playing games though, that number drops fast, especially if you are using the AeroActive Cooler accessory. That’s probably why the phone has two USB charging ports so you can charge and play without hindering your ergonomics.
And when you eventually need a top up, thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 5.0, the phones will go from 0-100% in under 50min if you use a 65W charger. That’s…crazy but totally in character for an already over the top phone. What’s also crazy is that Asus actually bundles such a charger in the box unlike your Apples and Samsungs who just give you a cable. Otherwise, this is an all day phone with ease and you’ll never have battery anxiety with it.
Verdict
I really like the new Asus ROG Phone 6. It’s everything its predecessors were and more. It seems like with every iteration, Asus finds ways to make this even more absurdly powered. And when you add on all the excellent accessories, this quickly becomes the definitive mobile gaming experience. The ROG Phone 6 is so capable that the only real flaw is the cameras but if you’re buying this, it’s generally not to take crisp photos for Instagram.
Even if you aren’t big on gaming but love to consume a lot of content on the go, this phone will do that exceedingly well. And as a bonus, the battery will last you days while you do that. However, I can’t recommend this phone to anyone but the most hardcore of mobile gamers because for anyone else, it’s just too much of a device. It’s so big and powerful which makes using it for normal phone things a bit of a workout.
For what it is, the ROG Phone 6 is the best gaming phone on the planet by far and could easily be the best portable cloud gaming device as well. Asus has really thought out every conceivable gaming use for this phone and put some feature or accessory into it. And nothing else comes close.
