It is difficult to judge a device that really has no rivals: a gaming phone in the top of the range. But let’s try this one Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro, the most powerful gaming phone on the market. With the new processor Qualcomma screen a 165Hzas far as 18GB in RAM and a series of dedicated accessories, this device takes mobile gaming to another level. And that also means it’s more responsive and snappy than any phone we’ve ever tried. But with a real top-of-the-range price and a few too many limits, it is certainly not a smartphone for everyone. We help you understand if Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro is for you in our review.
Our Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro review
Gamer aesthetics are evolving over the years, in some cases coming to meet mainstream tastes. But Asus knows that its ROG Phone is the smartphone model for gamers and wants to make it clear right away: this smartphone is for who it is. proud to be a gamer.
Opening the space package we find a smartphone that stands out immediately. In fact, turning the phone you can only notice the display RMOLED ROG Vision, which signals notifications and shows animations with its colored OLEDs, arranged vertically above the classic writing: “For those who dare” (this can only be found in the Pro version). Always vertically you will find the writing Dare to Play, which lights up as you play. And then the Republic of Gamers logo and even the launch date of the “Est 2006” brand. In short: ROG Phone 6 Pro knows well that it is a gaming phone and shouts it to the world.
The frosted glass in Gorilla Glass 3 (while the display is protected by the most resistant Gorilla Glass Foods) in the Pro model is color Storm White. Which shows the footprints slightly, but much less than we thought. Above you will find the raised bump for the cameras, with a blue accent around the main sensor. The same color that colors some details of the cover, the SIM entrance and the outline of the power key.
The design of this device is undoubtedly taken care of. But it must be said that it is a particular taste, which will not convince everyone.
Generous dimensions, but understandable
The magic of this smartphone is above all inside, with infinite power and record-breaking battery. But this means that the device is larger than average: the dimensions are 173 x 77 x 10.3 mm and weight 239 grams. Usually we would complain of a weight over 200 grams, and here it does a lot. But in this case it seems like an inevitable compromise. And once we got used to the weight, we found it comfortable use ROG Phone 6 Pro to text and browse. Not to mention how much fun it is to play with.
In addition to being generous in size, this smartphone is also generous in terms of ports. In fact you find well two USB-C inputs, one of which is on the side, to allow you to play with the charger connected even while playing in landascape mode. Also find the jack audio 3.5mmwhich is always welcome.
The rating for water and dust however is only IPX4, even if it still means it will withstand splashes of water and light rain. Be careful to take it with you to the pool, though.
The screen is lightning fast too
The display of the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro was perhaps the most difficult aspect to judge during this review. The first impression when turning on the device did not convince us, especially knowing that the price is that of a top of the range. The bezels are thicker than other smartphones over a thousand euros, especially the upper and lower ones.
Impressions improve by judging the quality of colors by browsing the system and watching a few episodes of a streaming TV series. On the display from 6.78 inch AMOLED the resolution from 1080 x 2448 pixel allows you to enjoy HDR content to the fullest. The 800nits brightness allows you to play even outdoors (even if the July sun certainly doesn’t make the experience perfect).
But excellence comes, even for the display, when it comes to speed. The display has a refresh rate da 165Hz, with a detection of 720Hz touch and 23 millisecond latency. This means that the games will respond perfectly to your touches, without you being able to notice any delays. But it also means that the overall system is more responsive. Scrolling through the menus, the smartphone responds immediately: trying to do it on ROG Phone 6 Pro and on a “normal” smartphone (120Hz refresh rate and 360 sampling rate) the difference can be seen.
In short, Asus has given up something in terms of thinness of the bezels. But in return it sharpened the overall impression: this smartphone is the fastest around, in all.
Asus also curated the audio in ROG Phone 6 Pro
In addition to a snappy screen, ROG Phone 6 Pro has a great audio department. In fact, you find two speakers at the top and bottom. I’m due 5-magnet 12×16 Super Linear Speakers, with dedicated Cirrus Logic CS35L45 mono amplifier. In addition, they are certified forHi-Res Audio to play back up to 24-bit / 96kHz or 24-bit / 192kHz.
Music and sound effects come out of the speakers with a high volume but without great distortion, ensuring accurate reproduction. The bass is very good but it’s not amazing, but i mid-high tones are clear (great for movie or game dialogue).
Asus also worked with the Swedish audio specialist Dirac to improve audio management, especially by activating the Game Mode. Especially if you’re wearing headphones (even Bluetooth as there’s aptX, LDAC and AAC support), the well-tuned audio helps you feel right at the center of the action. With thepp Asus AudioWizard you can also equalize and manage yours Asus headphones with tremendous precision.
Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro review: performance
Asus knows that ‘specs’ are gamers’ favorite numbers and wanted to make sure they have the best in absolute terms. Starting with the processor, which is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 5Gwith maximum CPU speeds a 3,2 GHz and graphics performance improved by 10% compared to the “normal” Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Also in the Pro version you find 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS3.1 SSD memory. With 5G connectivity and Wi-Fi 6E, not to slow down even in terms of connection.
The result? As you can imagine, it is impossible to slow down this smartphone. We opened Genshin Impact and Aspalth 9, along with a video on YouTube and a series on Prime Video, as well as Telegram and Office. Switching from one to the other, using for a while (especially games and videos), then returning to another. We always started exactly where we were.
Even by raising the graphics settings to the maximum with graphically intense games (Apex Legend, PUBG, Call of Duty Mobile) we never noticed any slowdowns. And the benchmarks confirm our impression: not even the stress tests seem to create problems for this smartphone with monstrous performance.
Heat management
With enormous peak performance and near-perfect stability, the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro proved to be the perfect gaming phone during our review. But all this power generates heat. And it feels. Internally, Asus has inserted a 30% larger steam chamber compared to the last generation, with a larger graphite sheet to dissipate heat both above and below the processor.
And to further increase the dissipation, there is AreoActive Cooler 6. Which with a rather silent (albeit bulky) fan reduces the temperature below the threshold of ‘annoyance’ quite effectively. We judged the heat by connecting AreoActive Cooler 6 to the excessive ROG Phone’s side USB-C only after the benchmark stress test, while during gaming sessions it seems to us to be more tolerable. Although not negligible (also given the summer heat).
The heat feels a little too much, but only when you take full advantage of the processor’s power. In this heat it can be annoying, especially if you don’t have the Cooler with you. We were hoping for something better, but we believe that most players will welcome the excessive heat given the record-breaking FPS.
Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro review: gaming software
The ROG UI based on Android 12 that you find on board this smartphone is undoubtedly designed for gamers. Both in aesthetics and in acoustics: the bright colors and its ‘spaceship’ of gaming leave no room for doubt. There are also several themes to choose from which change backgrounds, icons and animations.
But Asus’ focus is mostly on software. Very little extra software (other than the ubiquitous Instagram, Facebook and Netflix apps, as well as the Google ones). But the one developed by Asus is meant for improve the way you experience games.
L’Armoury Crate allows you to transform your smartphone into a portable console in all respects. In addition to finding the library of games you’ve downloaded and recommendations for which ones to try, find a page to see system performance (speed, battery, heat, etc). You can also manage the rear screen and the Colored LEDs.
Above all, you can personalize your experience with Game Genie, changing the touch accuracy during games, system performance with various scenarios, graphics during games. Also, you can edit the AirTriggers, the two touch ‘buttons’ on the edge of the smartphone that you can use while playing. Which you can add four using theAeroActive Cooler 6. They are quite responsive, although the usefulness varies from game to game. Of…