Asus ROG Phone 2 review: gaming handset’s high refresh rate, processor, monster battery make it a game changer

Taiwanese tech company Asus has been releasing smartphones for more than five years, but it’s still mostly known almost exclusively as a laptop maker, which says a lot about how underwhelming its handsets have been.

But this is shaping up to change in 2019, as Asus has released back to back strong handsets.

The first was the Zenfone 6, released in June, whose flip-over camera system is considered a superior take to Samsung’s similar A80. And this month comes the ROG Phone 2, the second model of Asus’ gaming-centric “Republic of Gamers” line.

I usually find gaming phones to be gimmicks, since “normal” flagship handsets can often run games just as well, but the ROG Phone 2 has changed my mind, with a series of small touches that really improve gaming performance.

Design and hardware

The ROG Phone 2 is the first phone on the market to run on Snapdragon 855+, a minor upgrade over Qualcomm’s flagship mobile processor that’s used in almost all non Huawei Android flagships of 2019. The 855+ is the exact same hardware as the 855, but its CPU and GPU have been overclocked to boost performance in areas such as graphics rendering.

I think the power boost of the 855+ is negligible over the 855. Instead, the real stand-out hardware boost of the ROG Phone 2 is in the display – Asus’ handset sports a 6.6-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, meaning the screen refreshes its frames 120 times per second. This is twice as fast as traditional 60Hz screens seen on iPhone or Samsung screens, so animations on the ROG Phone 2 display appear more fluid to the human eye.

OnePlus’ 7 Pro already pulled off a similar trick earlier this year with a 90Hz display panel, and although Asus’ 120Hz is even better on paper, it’s hard to tell the difference. I think 90Hz is already at the limit of what the human eye can see – 120Hz is nice to have, but it’s overkill.

Talking about overkill, the ROG Phone 2 also has a whopping 6,000 mAh battery (this is almost twice the size of the battery inside the iPhone XS) and either 8GB or 12GB of RAM.

The screen is sandwiched by thin bezels at the top and bottom that house large user-facing speaker grilles. The back of the phone is mostly made of glass, with a small aluminium strip that is solely for aesthetics.

Software and features

The ROG UI Android skin that runs over the Android 9 software here is one of the most customisable I’ve tested. Almost all third party Chinese apps that came shipped with the phone can be uninstalled; users can download and change different themes; and apply individual short cut gestures for opening apps.

There are plenty of game centric software additions, of course, including a floating menu that can be slid over at any time during gameplay, allowing users to respond to chat messages or check the device’s temperature and power consumption without exiting a game. Hard core gamers can also quickly clear all background apps and even turn off notifications with just a tap of a toggle via the menu.

Performance and battery life

The ROG Phone 2 is a performance beast in every sense of the word. The 120Hz screen is fully put to use in certain games such as Real Racing 3, which runs at 120fps. And even though the model I tested only had 8GB of RAM (instead of the maxed out 12GB), performance was never an issue thanks to the Snapdragon 855+. The 6,000 mAh battery is enough to power the phone through marathon game sessions.

Little touches add to the experience, such as the phone having two USB-C ports (one on the bottom, one on the side) so users can charge the phone and play games at the same time without the cable getting in the way of gripping the device.

The aforementioned shoulder buttons also bring tangible performance improvements to certain games, especially first-person shooters. Anyone who’s played console shooters will know why: being able to fire weapons with an index finger frees up the thumb to move around with more efficiency.

Conclusion

With an ultra-fluid display, a huge battery and shoulder buttons that allow for more precision controls, the ROG Phone 2 is in my opinion the first gaming phone to truly offer a superior gaming experience.

But even for non-gamers, the device’s relatively low 3,799 yuan (US$539) price tag makes it an attractive purchase, as you’re still getting the best Qualcomm processor, a clean Android software experience, and a great display.

Dimensions: 171mm x 77.6mm x 9.5mm

Weight: 240g

Display: 6.6-inch 1080 x 2280 OLED panel

Battery: 6,000mAh

OS version reviewed: ROG UI over Android 9

Processor: Snapdragon 855+

Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.8 sensor with a 13-megapixel f/2.4 wide-angle sensor

Memory: 8GB/12GB of RAM; 128GB/512GB ROM

Colours: black

Price:US$539 (8GB RAM, 128GB ROM); to be announced for 12GB RAM, 512GB ROM model