Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate Review: For Hardcore Gamers

Whereas Asus launched three variations of the ROG Cellphone 5 at launch time a number of months in the past, the top-end ROG Cellphone 5 Final has solely made its approach to India now. All three are purpose-built for gaming, with top-of-the-line {hardware} together with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and shoulder-mounted AirTrigger buttons, amongst different unusual options. The bottom model of the ROG Cellphone 5 is actually highly effective, however as its identify suggests, the ROG Cellphone 5 Final is completely loaded to the gills. I put the ROG Cellphone 5 Final to the check to see whether it is now the perfect gaming telephone on the market.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final value in India

The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final boasts of a ridiculous quantity of RAM, 18GB to be exact. You get just one configuration on the ROG Cellphone 5 Final in India, with 512GB of storage. It’s priced at Rs 79,999 and is obtainable in Storm White solely. The usual ROG Cellphone 5 is at the moment priced beginning at Rs. 49,999 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and Rs. 57,999 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There’s additionally an ROG Cellphone 5 Professional, priced at Rs. 69,999 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Learn on to see what’s totally different in regards to the ROG 5 Final, and whether or not it is definitely worth the value distinction. 

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final design

The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final is an enormous machine and does have a number of design similarities to its predecessors. It has an enormous 6.78-inch show with a tall 20.4:9 facet ratio. The borders on the edges are comparatively slim however there are barely larger ones on the prime and the underside. Asus has neatly tucked a selfie digicam into the house above the display, and there are audio system on the prime and backside for stereo output in panorama.

The body of the ROG Cellphone 5 Final is made out of steel and has a premium really feel to it. All of the buttons are on the proper facet, with the facility button nearly precisely within the centre. The quantity buttons are barely greater and are straightforward to achieve. There may be additionally a microphone gap subsequent to the facility button. Asus has additionally carried out ultrasonic set off buttons known as ‘AirTriggers’ on the identical facet. The location is great and my index fingers rested on them naturally when holding the telephone in panorama to play video games.

The left facet of the ROG Cellphone 5 Final has a Sort-C port and a proprietary connector for ROG Cellphone equipment. This extra Sort-C port can be utilized to cost the smartphone whereas gaming in panorama mode, so the wire does not get in the way in which. Asus has coated these two ports with a removable rubber flap. This SIM tray can also be on the left, completed in a shiny blue accent color. It has two NanoSIM slots however there is no such thing as a microSD card slot for storage enlargement. There’s nothing on the prime,  however the ROG Cellphone 5 Final has an offset USB Sort-C port on the backside together with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The matte white end of the ROG Cellphone 5 Final hides fingerprints nicely

Asus has made the again of the ROG Cellphone 5 Final utilizing Corning Gorilla Glass 3. This smartphone doesn’t have a metallic vent on the facet like its predecessors, the ROG Cellphone 3 (Assessment) and the ROG Cellphone 2 (Assessment). There is a triple digicam module within the prime left nook, which protrudes barely. On the centre of the rear panel is a monochrome PMOLED show which lights up when the display is on, and might be customised to indicate totally different graphics. It additionally exhibits alerts for incoming calls, and animates when a recreation is launched. There are two further Air Triggers on the again that are inside attain whereas holding the telephone in panorama. The again panel has a matte end which manages to cover fingerprints fairly nicely.

The ROG Cellphone 5 Final does really feel cumbersome given its measurement, and its 238g weight is noticeable whereas holding or carrying it. In case you don’t love huge and hulking smartphones, you will not discover the ROG Cellphone 5 Final interesting.

With the ROG Cellphone 5 Final, you get a clip-on AeroActive cooler and a 30W charger within the field. You possibly can connect the AeroActive cooler to the again of the ROG Cellphone 5 to assist it dissipate warmth higher. Asus has additionally added two bodily set off buttons on it, which might be arrange for gaming.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final specs and software program

The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final sports activities a 6.78-inch AMOLED show with a 20.4:9 facet ratio.This panel is HDR 10+ licensed. It has a most refresh fee of 144Hz and a contact sampling fee of 300Hz. There’s additionally an in-display fingerprint scanner. The height brightness is 1200 nits, and Asus has used Corning Gorilla Glass Victus for defense.

There’s a further Sort-C port and a proprietary connector for ROG equipment on the left

Asus has picked the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC to energy the ROG Cellphone 5 Final. It was the 2021 flagship processor from Qualcomm on the time of its launch and remains to be one in all probably the most highly effective SoCs out there. This processor is matched with 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, which could look like overkill for most individuals. Given its {hardware}, the ROG Cellphone 5 Final ought to be capable of deal with each title within the Google Play Retailer.

You get help for Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, six satellite tv for pc navigation techniques, and twin 5G in addition to 4G VoLTE. This telephone packs in a 6,000mAh battery that is break up into two cells of three,000mAh every. The ROG Cellphone 5 Final is able to 65W quick charging however solely comes with a 30W charger within the field.

The ROG Cellphone 5 Final runs Android 11 with Asus’s personal ROG UI on prime. It had the November Android safety patch on the time of this evaluate. The ROG UI is customised to enchantment to players, however if you need the inventory Android look, you’ll be able to change to that within the Themes app. There are a number of preinstalled apps equivalent to Fb, Instagram, Netflix, and Messenger. I didn’t encounter any spammy notifications throughout the evaluate interval.

A number of gestures have been carried out, however not many are enabled by default. You possibly can double-tap the show to wake the telephone or put it to sleep. Good Answering mechanically solutions an incoming name while you elevate the telephone to your ear. You can even hint sure alphabets on the display to launch predefined apps. 

Asus additionally preinstalls its personal Armoury Crate app, which showcases all of the video games put in on the smartphone. A console display exhibits parameters of the machine equivalent to storage, RAM, battery stage, and system temperature. It additionally shows CPU and GPU clock speeds together with their temperatures. There are totally different energy modes that may be chosen on this app. “X Mode” dials all the things as much as eleven, providing you with all the facility this telephone has to supply. “Dynamic” retains energy balanced with warmth and battery life, whereas “Extremely Sturdy” focuses on conserving energy.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final efficiency and battery life

The ROG Cellphone 5 Final’s crisp AMOLED show had glorious viewing angles and was additionally shiny sufficient outdoor, in my expertise. The excessive refresh fee makes the UI really feel buttery easy. Asus has set this to Auto by default, which retains it at 120Hz. You possibly can manually bump it as much as 144Hz or gradual it right down to 60Hz. I additionally discovered the stereo audio system on the telephone to be loud, and they didn’t sound tinny at greater quantity ranges.

The ROG Cellphone 5 Final just about bulldozes by means of any workload you throw at it. I performed a number of video games and multitasked with totally different apps, with none points. Throughout my evaluate interval, I had over 10GB of RAM free more often than not and by no means seen any lag. The in-display fingerprint scanner and face recognition have been snappy as nicely.

AirTriggers on the proper facet of the ROG Cellphone 5 Final can be utilized whereas gaming.

Benchmarks helped put some perspective on the place the ROG Cellphone 5 Final stands in comparison with different smartphones out there. In AnTuTu, it scored 837,004 factors which is among the many highest we have noticed. In Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core checks, it scored 1,120 and three,693 respectively. It maxed out 3DMark’s Sling Shot and Sling Shot Excessive graphics checks, and managed to hit 120fps and 56fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex and Automobile Chase scenes respectively.

I then loaded up Battlegrounds Cellular India (BGMI), and it defaulted to the Excessive body fee and HD graphics settings. I bumped the graphics high quality as much as HDR and the body fee to Excessive. The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final nonetheless ran the sport at these settings with none lag or stutter.

I discovered the AirTriggers to be responsive and helpful whereas gaming. You can even use those on the rear panel and the bodily triggers on the AeroActive cooler for gaming. I performed GBMI for 25 minutes and seen an 8 p.c drop within the battery stage. The telephone turned barely heat to the contact which was noticeable on the metallic body. Whereas taking part in video games with the Aeroactive cooler connected, the telephone stayed extra comfy, however the spinning fan did drain the battery faster.

The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final provides good battery life, and lasted over a day with my utilization. In our HD video loop check, the telephone managed to go on for 17 hours and 28 minutes. Charging the ROG Cellphone 5 Final with the provided 30W charger was comparatively fast; the telephone acquired to 45 p.c in half-hour and 86 p.c in an hour.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final cameras

The ROG Cellphone 5 Final has a triple digicam setup on the rear. It has a 64-megapixel major digicam, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle digicam, and a 5-megapixel macro shooter. The first digicam captures 16-megapixel photographs by default. I discovered the digicam app to be fairly easy and simple to make use of. You possibly can simply transfer between totally different capturing modes, and it additionally has fast controls for HDR, facet ratio choice, the flash, and Google Lens.

The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final has a triple digicam setup

Images taken with the ROG Cellphone 5 Final in daylight appeared good at first. Colors have been pretty correct and objects at a distance have been recognisable. Nevertheless, on zooming in, I seen grain within the output. The ultra-wide-angle digicam captures a wider area of view however edges have been distorted within the output. Images weren’t as detailed as these taken with the first digicam, and artefacting was seen on zooming in.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final daylight pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final ultra-wide pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

The telephone was fast to lock focus when capturing close-ups, and the output was sharp. It managed good separation for the topic and in addition added a depth impact to the background. Portrait photographs had good edge detection and the telephone did let me set the extent of blur earlier than taking a shot. The macro digicam helps you to get near the topic, and managed respectable photographs too.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final close-up pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final portrait pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Low-light digicam efficiency was good. The telephone detected low gentle and mechanically set itself to seize lengthy publicity photographs. It additionally confirmed how lengthy the publicity can be, so I knew I needed to stand nonetheless. This labored similar to Evening mode, and the output was an identical. So whereas this helps seize photographs at night time with out fidgeting with the digicam app, it does render Evening mode redundant. Foreground topics appeared good, however objects at a distance have been smoothened. Pictures taken with out the lengthy publicity missed out on element, particularly within the shadows.

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final low-light digicam pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final Evening mode pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final selfie portrait pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Selfies taken with the 24-megapixel entrance digicam are saved at 6-megapixel decision on account of pixel binning by default. Pictures taken in daylight have been crisp and portrait selfies had good edge detection. Low-light selfies with a light-weight supply close by have been good.

Video recording tops out at 8K for the first digicam and 1080p for the selfie shooter. Not one of the cameras have optical stabilisation, and the telephone stabilises video electronically. In daylight, movies shot at 4K had a bit of shimmer when strolling round, although 1080p footage was nicely stabilised. Low-light video had a shimmer impact if recorded whereas strolling, at 4K in addition to 1080p.

Verdict

The Asus ROG Cellphone 5 Final is an all-out gaming smartphone with devoted high-end {hardware}. Asus hasn’t reduce any corners in terms of efficiency, and a few may additionally discover 18GB of RAM overkill. The crisp high-refresh-rate AMOLED panel, stereo audio system, and capacitive AirTriggers make gaming extra participating on this smartphone. Nevertheless, digicam efficiency is not the perfect at this value, which might flip away folks searching for an all-rounder.

In order for you a purpose-built gaming telephone and you do not thoughts splurging, the ROG Cellphone 5 Final is the perfect you may get out there proper now. It doesn’t have any direct opponents however you’ll be able to get a lot slicker flagship telephones at this value. In case you do not need to spend Rs. 79,999, the bottom Asus ROG Cellphone 5 at Rs. 49,999 provides extra worth in your cash.