ASUS ROG Phone 7 Review: A Gamer’s Delight

ASUS ROG Phone 7 Review: A Gamer's Delight

Introduction:

In the realm of gaming smartphones, ASUS has consistently pushed the boundaries with their ROG Phone series. The ASUS ROG Phone 7, the latest addition to this lineup, is designed to deliver an exceptional gaming experience. Packed with powerful hardware and innovative features, it aims to be a true gamer's delight. In this review, we will explore the key aspects of the ROG Phone 7 and delve into what sets it apart from its predecessors.

Design and Display:

The ASUS ROG Phone 7 boasts a sleek and eye-catching design that embodies the essence of gaming aesthetics. Its premium build quality and attention to detail are evident at first glance. The device features a vibrant and immersive 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a high refresh rate of 144Hz, ensuring smooth gameplay and fluid animations. The display is HDR10+ certified, offering stunning visuals and vivid colors that enhance the gaming experience.

Performance and Hardware:

Under the hood, the ROG Phone 7 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series flagship processor, coupled with up to 12GB of RAM. This combination ensures blazing-fast performance and seamless multitasking. The phone also features advanced cooling mechanisms, including a vapor chamber and heat dissipation technologies, keeping the device cool during extended gaming sessions. Additionally, the ROG Phone 7 offers ample storage options, allowing gamers to store their favorite games and media without any constraints.

Gaming Features:

ASUS has incorporated several gaming-focused features into the ROG Phone 7. One standout feature is the AirTrigger system, which utilizes ultrasonic touch sensors to create virtual shoulder buttons, providing more control and precision during gameplay. The phone also comes with an array of customizable RGB lighting options, allowing gamers to personalize their device to their liking. Furthermore, the ROG Phone 7 supports an extensive range of accessories, including gaming controllers, docks, and external cooling fans, enhancing the overall gaming experience.

Battery and Charging:

To support extended gaming sessions, the ROG Phone 7 is equipped with a generous 6000mAh battery. This substantial battery capacity ensures that gamers can play for hours without worrying about running out of power. The device also supports fast charging technology, allowing for quick top-ups between gaming sessions. Additionally, the phone incorporates advanced power management features to optimize battery usage and prolong overall battery life.

Software and User Interface:

The ROG Phone 7 runs on ASUS' custom user interface, which is specifically tailored for gamers. It offers a clean and intuitive interface, with various gaming-centric optimizations and settings. The phone also benefits from regular software updates, ensuring that gamers have access to the latest features, security patches, and bug fixes.

Camera System:

While the primary focus of the ROG Phone 7 is gaming, it doesn't compromise on the camera front. It features a versatile camera setup, including a high-resolution primary sensor, ultra-wide-angle lens, and a dedicated macro lens. These lenses capture impressive photos and videos, allowing gamers to document their gaming achievements and everyday moments with ease.

Conclusion:

The ASUS ROG Phone 7 unquestionably lives up to its reputation as a gamer's delight. Its powerful performance, immersive display, gaming-centric features, and robust battery make it an ideal choice for mobile gamers. With its striking design and innovative technology, the ROG Phone 7 pushes the boundaries of what a gaming smartphone can offer. Whether you're a casual gamer or a dedicated esports enthusiast, this phone is sure to provide an exceptional gaming experience.

The ASUS ROG Phone 7 embodies the philosophy of mobile gaming. But does it also excel as a smartphone? Let’s find out in Tech Today’s comprehensive review.

The ASUS ROG Phone 7 is currently one the best gaming smartphones that caters to serious mobile gamers seeking an edge in their gameplay. This premium device with cutting-edge specifications, mesmerising RGB lighting, and unrivalled performance exceeding that of traditional flagship phones, the ASUS ROG Phone 7 embodies the philosophy of mobile gaming. But does it also excel as a smartphone? Let’s find out in Tech Today’s comprehensive review of the ASUS ROG Phone 7.

For 2023, ASUS offers two models: the standard ASUS ROG Phone 7 and the Ultimate edition. While the differences between them are minimal, the Ultimate edition stands out with its exclusive features. It comes with a single memory configuration of 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage. Additionally, it boasts a customisable ROG Vision external colour display, an AeroActive Portal, and a massive crate box that includes the new AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory, perfect for keeping the temperatures down during extended gaming sessions. If you already own an AeroActive Cooler 6, don't worry; it is backwards compatible with the ROG Phone 7.

The ASUS ROG Phone 7 retains key features from the ROG series, such as the reliable capacitive Air Triggers that can be used as haptic shoulder bumpers while gaming. It is also one of the few remaining phones to include a 3.5mm headphone jack, allowing for wired listening. The AeroActive Cooler 7, which comes with a subwoofer speaker for enhanced bass volume, features a jack as well. The phone is equipped with two USB-C ports—one at the bottom and another on the left side—enabling you to connect a charger and other peripherals in any screen orientation, even with the cooler attached. The device also features a reasonably fast and highly accurate in-display fingerprint scanner.

Both the standard ROG Phone 7 and the Ultimate edition are powered by Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. They boast an IP54 water and dust resistance rating, improved Wi-Fi 7 and 5G sub-6GHz networking capabilities, and a new 32MP selfie camera. Many similarities exist between the ROG Phone 7 and its predecessor, the ASUS ROG Phone 6 Pro. The design remains largely unchanged, except for the addition of the AeroActive Portal cooling port in the Ultimate edition. This port, which opens up with the AeroActive Cooler 6 or 7 attached, aids in cooling the re-shaped graphene sheet inside the phone. A similar setup was seen in the MediaTek-powered ROG Phone 6D Ultimate, although that variant was never officially released in the US.

The device features a familiar 165Hz 1ms AMOLED display and relies on the same rear camera hardware as its predecessor. However, ASUS has introduced new software enhancements, including RAW super-resolution zoom and AI image segmentation.

ASUS offers two major OS updates and four years of security updates for the ROG Phone 7. Although this represents an improvement over previous generations, it still falls behind the flagship update pledges of the industry leaders. This aspect is worth considering when investing in a device of this calibre, especially given the historically delayed version upgrades for ROG flagships. For instance, the ROG Phone 6 only received the Android 13 update about six months after its initial release.

In terms of colours, the ROG Phone 7 comes in two options: Phantom Black and Storm White, both featuring a two-tone matte and gloss finish.

Performance is the primary reason to choose a gaming phone, and the ASUS ROG Phone 7 lives up to expectations. The device also offers an array of gaming-focused software features, which ASUS has integrated generously.

My only substantial criticism of the phone lies in its striking resemblance to the ROG Phone 6 series. Although there have been some design tweaks and a reduction in flashy slogans, the overall design has not evolved significantly. In fact, the entire range has maintained a similar appearance since the ROG Phone 5 family. The device retains the same camera hardware, Gorilla Glass Victus protection, and Air Trigger system as its predecessors. While this is not inherently negative, it does make it difficult to justify an upgrade from previous models when the formula remains largely unchanged, aside from performance improvements.

After spending considerable time gaming and using the ASUS ROG Phone 7 as my daily driver, I'm uncertain about the necessity of the Ultimate edition. Apart from the included cooler and the cooling flap system, the Ultimate edition offers no additional performance benefits over the base model.