introduction
Asus has a very limited presence in the mobile space as a whole. So when a new model comes out once or twice a year, that’s a chance, especially when it comes to a Republic of Gamers phone. It’s that time of year again and now the new ROG Phone 6 is a reality.
Despite its extremely limited lineup as a whole, Asus tends to overcomplicate the different variants of the ROG Phone. Last year the ROG Phone 5 was quickly replaced by the ROG Phone 5 mainly due to the timing around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888+ chipset. The situation was further complicated by the introduction of Pro and Ultimate differences in the mix and some regional market differences in the specs.
This time around, it seems Asus and Qualcomm have managed to coordinate a little better. The ROG Phone 6 is coming out slightly past its expiration date, but it has the latest and greatest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 under the hood. Hopefully this means no “s” variant in a couple of months, and as an added bonus, this makes the ROG Phone 6 more interesting to us as it’s one of the first production devices with the chip to come to the office.
Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro specs at a glance:
- Body: 173.0 x 77.0 x10.3mm, 239g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 3), aluminum frame; IPX4 water resistant, PMOLED display (on the back), pressure sensitive zones (game trigger).
- Screen: 6.78 “AMOLED, 1B colors, 165Hz, HDR10 +, 800 nits (typical), 1200 nits (peak), resolution 1080x2448px, aspect ratio 20.4: 9, 395ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 and 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 and 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
- Memory: Up to 512GB 18GB RAM; UFS 3.1, NTFS support for external storage.
- Operating system / software: Android 12.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f / 1.9, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f / 2.2; Macro: 5 MP, f / 2.0.
- Front Camera: 12 MP (wide).
- Video capture: Rear camera: 8K @ 24fps, 4K @ 30/60 / 120fps, 1080p @ 30/60/120 / 240fps, 720p @ 480fps; gyroscope-EIS; Front camera: 1080p @ 30fps.
- Battery: 6000 mAh; Fast Charging 65W, Reverse Charging 10W, Power Delivery 3.0, Quick Charge 5.
- Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; 3.5 mm jack; stereo speakers (2 amplifiers).
What we have for review in the office is actually the ROG Phone 6 Pro. As far as we can understand, the current lineup consists of a vanilla Pro and ROG Phone 6, which share nearly all of their internal specs except RAM. maximum. Vanilla gets 16GB of RAM while the Pro gets 18GB. They both use Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and are otherwise nearly identical in terms of functionality. Well, without the slightly different back design with the ROG Vision secondary display, which is reserved for the Pro.
From left to right: ROG Phone 3 • ROG Phone 5 Pro • ROG Phone 6 Pro
ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro come with two Nano-SIM slots. Asus reps also confirmed that there would be potential market-to-market differences, which you need to check with your local store. It is likely that they are mostly limited to memory configurations, but we cannot rule out that some color options appear here and there differently.
As far as we currently know, the ROG Phone 6 will be available in both Black Ghost or the glazed White Storm finish. Whereas the Pro will only be available in white, like the one we have.
Asus previously reserved white for its Ultimate skew, but decided to make it widely available this year due to fan interest in the color. Last but not least, when it comes to models and configurations, we believe both the vanilla and the Pro models will go global this year.
Going back to the ROG Phone 6 as a whole, just like last year, it represents an upgrade rather than a major upgrade over the previous generation. Asus has successfully leveraged the game’s formula, or at least its interpretation, and has been tweaking it and keeping it fresh and current for some time now. No blame in this approach as there are few devices out there quite “fooled” like the ROG phone in almost every respect.
This year, the AeroActive cooler is probably the piece that has received the most attention and a thorough overhaul. It now also sports an active Peltier element for better cooling. But we are moving forward on ourselves.
Unpacking
Before we really dive into the ROG Phone 6 Pro, let’s start with the contents of the retail box. In keeping with the ROG tradition, it’s a real treat. The whole has the shape of a trapezoidal prism and has a very elegant sliding mechanism. Once attached, the magnets hold an internal segment of the case closed as a sort of “flap” to cover the base that holds the phone firmly in place.
The base slides out to reveal the bottom compartment, charger and cable. The HyperCharge charger is an extremely compact and surprisingly light unit with a Power Delivery output of up to 65W on a Type-C port. Asus relies on fully standard PD + PPS for fast charging, which is a real treat to see. . It is rated for 5V / 9V / 12V / 15V @ up to 3A, 20V @ up to 3.25A and PPS 3.3-11V @ 3A, 3.3-21V @ 3, 25A for up to 65W. This versatile charger can also easily be used to power some modern laptops. In the box you will also find a nice black braided USB Type C to Type C cable.
There is also an Aero case included with our unit, which Asus says should be part of the sales package. Check with your local store for details on this, though.
In case you’re wondering, you don’t get the AeroActive cooler in the standard package. It must be purchased separately and comes with its compatible case in the box.
The only other thing you get in the retail box is an oddly shaped plastic card that you need to scan as part of the initial ROG AR activation experience for the phone.
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