ASUS ROG Gaming Phone Unleashed With 90Hz Display, 512GB Storage, Ultrasonic Triggers

Given that it appeals to gamers, the octa-core Snapdragon 845, which is binned at 2.96GHz, is tamed by a GameCool vapor chamber cooling system. ASUS even includes a [detachable] AeroActive Cooler to keep the processor from cooking itself to death during intense gaming sessions. 8GB of RAM are included along with either 128GB or a whopping 512GB of internal storage.

Your window into the gaming world is through a 6-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2160x1080. The panel has a refresh rate of 90Hz, which is better than what you'll find on the vast majority of smartphones, but still behind the 120Hz display on the Razer Phone. ASUS says that the display features a 10,000:1 contrast ratio and supports 108.6 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The multi-touch display even supports gloved fingers.

One innovation that ASUS is debuting for the ROG Phone to set it apart from the crowd are what it calls AirTrigger sensors. Two of these ultrasonic touch sensors are mounted at the top of the display (with the phone oriented in portrait mode) to operate as trigger buttons. There's a third AirTrigger sensor that is accessible in portrait mode. ASUS says that each sensor is programmable and only requires 20 grams of force compared to about 80 grams for a touch display. There's also a haptic actuator to provide tactile feedback.

And to really show that ASUS has really thought about gamers with the ROG Phone, it has incorporated a second USB-C charging port. In addition to the traditional bottom-mounted USB-C port, there's also one on the side of the phone, which allows you to charge with the phone in landscape mode without an awkward cable sticking out from the side.

Other features of note include programmable Aura RGB lighting (courtesy of the logo on the back of the phone), 2.5D- and 3D- curved Gorilla Glass, and a massive 4,000 mAh battery with ASUS HyperCharge support.

When it comes to accessories, there's a TwinView Dock that enables dual-screen gaming and packs in a quad-speaker sound system, two physical trigger buttons, enhanced cooling for the phone and a 6,000 mAh extended battery. There's a Mobile Desktop Dock that allows you to hook the ROG Phone up to a 4K display, mouse, and keyboard. It also incorporated GbE and can connect to a 5.1 sound system via SP/DIF. And not to be outdone, there's the Gamevice controller with WiGig Dock that provides a low-latency wireless connection with your display and features dual analog joysticks, dual triggers/bumpers, a D-pad and slew of other buttons that you'd expect with a modern gaming controller.

ASUS says that the ROG Phone and its accessories will be available in Q3, but hasn't yet provided pricing.