Asus revealed two new devices in its gaming-focused Republic of Gamers phone lineup, the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro. They’re gamer phones for gamers who enjoy gaming, and the upgraded displays look stunningly fantastic.
Both models drive Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and reach up to 512GB of storage.
They contain 6.78-inch OLED screens, the exact size as the earlier ROG Phone 5S, but their 165Hz refresh rates and 720Hz touch-sampling rates are noteworthy improvements over the last model. They have 6,000mAh batteries, the same as previous models, and a boosted three-camera setup. The Phone 6 will begin at €999 and the 6 Pro at €1,299 — they’re set to pitch in the UK and Europe, and Asus says they’ll come to the US, India, and elsewhere later.
The ROG Phone 6 comes in black and white, and the 6 Pro only in white. The most significant difference between the two models is the second OLED screen on the back of the 6 Pro, which is sort of cool looking but not generally very practical. You can also get a bit more RAM on the Pro model — the Phone 6 tops out at 16GB of memory, but the Pro will go up to 18GB. However, the regular Phone 6 model will probably be enough for most people.
Asus is trying to build a phone you could use as your everyday device; the company has been slowly refining the ROG Phone’s design over the last few models, so it doesn’t scream “gamer phone!” quite so loudly. But this is very much still a gamer phone. Much of the phone’s design is about optimizing cooling, for instance, and the phrase “we developed a unique 360-degree CPU cooling technology” was uttered during the product’s announcement stream. Asus even updated the Aeroactive Cooler accessory, a giant clip-on fan that doubles as a simple controller for playing games.
The phone’s specs are as impressive as ever, particularly the display’s refresh and response rates. But as usual with the ROG Phones, the question is: to what end? You don’t need 18GB of RAM to play even the most complicated games on Android. Asus has a somewhat spotty history of timely software updates and is only promising two years of Android and security updates for these devices.
For the price, you can probably find a device to do most phone things better. And even as cloud gaming brings more high-powered games to your smartphone, you don’t need as much on-device power to make them work well. The ROG Phone 6 is an excellent device but still doesn’t seem like an efficient one.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro have many specifications in common. The dual-SIM (Nano) smartphones run ROG UI based on Android 12. Both the handsets wear a 6.78-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,448 pixels) Samsung AMOLED display with 165Hz refresh rate, 23ms touch latency, 720Hz touch sampling rate, 1ms response time, HDR10+ support, and up to 1200 nits peak brightness.
The gaming smartphones contain 2.5D curved glass with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, and the display includes a Pixelworks i6 processor. The Pro model also features a miniature PMOLED display on the back panel with ROG Vision.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro have fitted with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, paired with Adreno 730 GPU. The vanilla model arrives with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and the latter brings up to 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM. In addition, Asus has included GameCool 6 cooling system in the mobiles.
The company says it is the most significant update to the cooling since the introduction of the ROG Phone series. It has a redesigned, 360-degree CPU cooling system that is more efficient in heat dissipation. As a result, Asus argues that the performance is improved by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro are characteristic triple rear cameras for photography. They come with 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 primary sensors, 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle cameras with 125 degrees of field of view, and 5-megapixel macro cameras. In addition, the smartphones come with 12-megapixel cameras for selfies and video calls.
Connectivity alternatives on the Asus ROG Phone 6 and the ROG Phone 6 Pro include Wi-Fi Direct, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth v5.2, and Wi-Fi 6 with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, NFC, and two USB Type-C ports. Onboard sensors include Galileo, Beidou, GNSS GPS, Glonass, QZSS, NaviC, accelerometer, e-compass, proximity sensor, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, under-display fingerprint sensor, and ultrasonic sensors for AirTrigger 6 and grip press.
Asus ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro arrive with 256GB and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, respectively. They plug 6,000mAh batteries with up to 65W fast charging support. The phones come with 5-magnet 12×16 Super Linear speakers adjusted by Dirac. Both the mobiles are IPX4 rated for water resistance.
Apart from RAM and storage options, another significant distinction between the phones is that the Pro variant gets a ROG Vision PMOLED display on the back panel. In contrast, the non-pro variant gets an illuminated ROG logo. They both gauge 172.83×77.25×10.3mm and weigh 239g.
Accessories with the Asus ROG Phone 6 and the ROG Phone 6 Pro smartphone include AeroActive Cooler 6 offers an integrated Thermoelectric AI Cooling System to significantly lower your ROG Phone’s temperature. This optional accessory is wire-free and functions with the power from the phone’s battery. In addition, ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad, an expansion dock, and ROG Clip connect the ROG Phone to a PS4, Xbox, or Stadia controller with an adjustable arm.