- This video is sponsored by sellcell.com.
I don't know about you,
but as I look back over the past year of rolling lockdowns,
I realized that a big part
of what has kept me sane all this time, is gaming.
Yeah, the virtual cockpits of Microsoft Flight Simulator
and Star Wars Squadrons have given me escape from isolation
to destinations, terrestrial and galactic.
Wild titles like The Long Dark
have let me explore a different kind of isolation
in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
As a new spring approaches, along with the hope
that we'll soon be able to ditch this new normal
for a newer and better one, Asus is ready to greet
that new world with a new smartphone.
One that lets us take the escapist weensy
of gaming on the go.
And, you know, even though I'm not really a gamer,
I am really taken with the ROG Phone 5.
(upbeat music)
Now, if your first reaction upon hearing
that there was another Republic of Gamers phone coming out
was wait a minute, do gaming phones even make sense?
It's a good question.
But I find it's often asked for the wrong reasons.
I'm talking about specs,
and yes, the fact is that RAM bonuses not withstanding,
the ROG phone essentially duplicates
the important components of many mainstream flagships.
That means that your Galaxy S21 Ultra is just as capable
as this specialty smartphone at running most mobile games.
But as I often say about the spec sheet,
it's not even half the story.
For me, a gaming phone lives or dies on two points.
One, it has to make the experience
of mobile gaming more enjoyable than other phones do,
and two, if possible it should transmute the feeling I get
while gaming into something physical.
I know that's a little woo woo,
but let me show you how the ROG Phone 5 starts doing
that exact thing right out of the box.
Of the three models in this generation,
Asus sent me two for review
and I chose to focus on one, the Ultimate edition.
Pop open the magnetic clamshell box
and you're treated to what I thought
was just a beautiful Akira themed wallpaper,
but launch the setup process,
and you'll find it's actually
an augmented reality graphic novel
that welcomes you into the phone with an animated story.
That's followed by a registration session
that makes the process of creating a user account
a lot more fun by giving you a choice
of several heads up displays
which you can map to your profile picture.
In the entire time there's a bit
of music playing under everything.
It recalls the loading songs of Flight Simulator
or the atmospheric tunes that used to play
when setting up older versions of Windows.
On any other phone, I'd be looking for the skip button,
but here, these little touches are absolutely perfect
for setting the tone.
The big part of selling that
are the best speakers I've heard on a smartphone.
On all versions of the ROG Phone 5,
the speakers use symmetrical front firing drivers
that are incredibly loud and clear.
And there's also a little bit of noise cancellation
on each channel, which has the effect
of adding tremendous space to the sound.
You get a very clear delineation
between left and right channels here.
It's honestly so effective,
it's a little bit disorienting.
All this means that while Asus
has brought back the headphone jack, two of them actually,
if you prefer to play out loud, you're gonna love it.
That second three and a half millimeter jack
is located on an accessory
that's been with the ROG Phone from the beginning.
Yep, it's a clip on fan.
This comes in the box with the Pro and Ultimate versions
of the phone and promises to preserve your high frame rates
during extended gameplay
by literally blowing cool air onto the portion
of the Gorilla Glass 3 backplate directly
over the processor.
At speeds, you can control manually
or leave to the phone to decide.
I can't say how effective it is.
I mean, the phone didn't show any signs
of struggling with the games I chose to test it.
Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact
and World of Worship Blitz.
But I did prefer to play with the cooler attached
because it did cool off my fingers.
The phone casing definitely does get hot.
And more importantly,
along with the fan comes a handy kickstand
and two physical triggers that you can map
to any onscreen control you want.
Those extra controls are crucial for me.
And I think for a lot of people who grew up gaming
before touchscreens were a thing.
It's just so much more satisfying
to play with physical controls.
And even if you don't clip on the cooler,
you've got extra buttons anyway.
Ultrasonic touch sensors called air triggers
on the top edge can now be divided
into two buttons a piece,
and the Ultimate and Pro editions get an extra set
of touch strips on the back
for your middle fingers to feel out.
Remember, there's no game compatibility needed
for any of this.
It's literally just assigning those fingertips
to virtual buttons that you can put anywhere
on the screen in any game.
So without adding any accessories at all,
you have six offscreen buttons to use for whatever you want.
And, they can tell the difference between taps and swipes
for even more granular control.
They also work for a few non-gaming functions,
like bringing back the squeeze gesture for Google Assistant.
And if that's still not enough inputs for you,
and you're willing to drop some extra dough,
you can snap up the Kunai 3 game pad,
which gives you big, satisfying buttons
D-pads and joysticks on a set of controllers
that can be used in several modes,
many of which recall the Nintendo Switch,
which is a good thing.
And all of this is controlled through a piece
of software called Game Genie,
which is available during gameplay
with a simple swipe from the left.
Speaking of accessories, you do get a charger in the box.
In this case, a 65 watt brick whose cable plugs
into the bottom or the side
of the phone where an extra USB C port doubles as HDMI out,
so you can game on bigger screens.
That charger took my review device
from dead to 47% in 15 minutes,
and it filled the battery completely in 54 minutes.
That's quite a feat given the monster 6,000 mAh
power pack in here.
And because fast charging tends to be tough
on battery chemistry, there are special charging modes
to allow you to replenish more slowly overnight
while you're sleeping,
so you can prolong the batteries overall life.
Now huge though it is,
if you're doing any gaming at all, the phone needs every bit
of that power reserve to keep you chugging.
I found it surprisingly easy
to blow through the power reserve with my test games,
which I played at maxed out settings
and with the AMOLED screen more often than not cranked
to its full 144 Hertz refresh rate
and brightness that tops out between 800 and 1,200 nits,
depending on mode.
In plain English, that means this is one
of the brightest and one of the fastest screens around,
covered by Gorilla Glass Victus,
which should also make it pretty sturdy.
All of which helps make up for a rare aesthetic compromise
in the form of these somewhat stocky bezels.
But you know what they say,
if you can't make one perfect screen, just add another.
Yeah, on the stock ROG Phone 5,
you get a simple stippled RGB logo,
but the Pro and Ultimate,
pack an OLED display called ROG Vision,
complete with animations for things like incoming calls,
battery charging status or custom text banners and logos
that you upload yourself.
Just like everything else on this phone, it's pure overkill.
An extravagance with no real utility
other than to look cool.
And even though its placement
means the phone lacks wireless charging,
I'm fully here for it.
Just be aware that unlike the color panel on the Pro,
the Ultimate's vision display is monochrome
to keep in line with the phone's aesthetics,
which I understand,
but I still think is kind of a bummer.
Also I do wish Asus offered a way to preview messages
or other notifications on this screen.
As it stands now, it doesn't illuminate at all,
unless the main display is on,
which seems like a missed opportunity.
Still to come, camera, pricing, special perks
and my final thoughts after a quick word
from a sponsor who might just be able
to help you afford this thing.
- If you're thinking of trading
in your old phone to help finance the ROG Phone 5,
well here's a company that can help you do that.
This video is sponsored by sellcell.com,
which isn't just another used phone marketplace.
See when you punch in your old devices details
at sellcell.com, it compares buyback prices
from over 40 mobile tech trade-in companies.
That means two things.
One, you save a lot of time you'd otherwise
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In fact, they're so serious about that promise
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Don't settle for less
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Hit the link in the description
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Thanks to sellcell.com for sponsoring this video.
Now Asus says that camera performance was not a big focus
for ROG Phone 5 and it shows.
Not in a terrible way, the photos are fine,
the video is stable,
you get what you expect from a high-end phone.
But these optics are essentially the same ones
from the last ROG Phone.
That means a 64 megapixel primary, 13 megapixel ultra wide
with 125 degree field of view and a five megapixel macro.
All well and good, but there's none
of the telephoto magic we're starting
to see on other flagship phones,
and certainly, none of the crazy camera experimentation
I'm gonna show you in my next video, stay tuned.
The pictures are competent if a bit blown out,
passable, unless you're shooting side-by-side
with a Pixel 5, especially at night.
Again, they'll probably serve most people fine,
but I do wish Asus had taken these cameras
to the next level.
And this is probably my one true disappointment
with the device.
The ROG Phone 5 will begin its launch in March,
with the 5 Pro following in April,
and the Ultimate completing the offering in May.
Region specific pricing will vary,
but the figures on screen should offer a rough idea
of what you'll have to pay for the privilege.
And maybe it's just because I've gotten used
to foldable sticker shock,
but I have to say I think 1,199 Euro for the Pro
and 1,299 for the ultimate are absolutely fair.
I mean, think about everything you get here.
And in some markets, consumers will get even more
in the form of a Republic of Gamers swag bag
that I showed off on Instagram a while back.
It doesn't check all the boxes
that militant phone fans might like, such as a micro SD slot
or a giant telephoto camera,
and I may not be anywhere near the gamer
that the target customer is, but folks,
I know a masterpiece when I see one.
Asus has blended its technical acumen with a clear sense
of what its customers want and a heaping helping
of fun to make what could have easily
been worthless gimmicks into compelling features.
And it's packaged and presented with the kind
of confidence that comes from having also produced some
of the most compelling computing hardware I've seen
in the past year as well.
It's all a far cry from the company I lambasted
for its iPhone rip offs, just a few short years ago.
To Asus, I say bravo on a brilliant product.
And to those who buy it, I say, good luck, have fun.
I know I did.
(bright music)
This review was produced following nine days
with an ROG Phone 5 Ultimate review sample
provided by Asus, which had no editorial input
into this content, provided no compensation for it
and was given no early look at it.
The opinions contained here in are mine and mine alone.
But, this phone is way too involved for just one review
and there are plenty of things I missed.
So I've linked to some of my friends reviews below.
Check them out to learn more.
Until next time, thanks for watching
and remember to stay safe and mask up
when you're around others, as you stay mobile, my friends.