If you're a mobile gaming enthusiast, you're likely going to be in your happy place this morning. ASUS has just announced the third coming of its ROG Phone, aptly named the ROG Phone 3. Hailing from the
ASUS Republic Of Gamers line of products, everything about this new mobile beast is dialed in for serious gaming, from its 6.59-inch 144 Hz OLED display to Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 Plus mobile platform that powers it for measurable gains in performance.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 Plus has both goosed-up CPU and Adreno 650 GPU clocks, in a specially-binned octal core SoC that scales up to 3.1GHz. Our device is also equipped with a bodacious 16GB of fast LPDDR5 memory and 512GB of storage, though 12GB/512GB versions will also be available when the phone officially launches in September. Side note, that storage is also now UFS3.1 and combined with the new Snapdragon platform and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, you have what ASUS claims is "the fastest Android phone ever built."
Finally, that fast 144 Hz display also sports low blue light and reduced flicker for better eye comfort over long game sessions, according to ASUS. Take a gander at it in our quick video guided tour here first, then we'll circle back with more hands-on particulars...
In the box, ASUS packs a fair assortment of additional gear, including a nice long USB-C cable, a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle (sorry kids, no headphone jack), a gamer-styled bumper case and yes the new AeroActive Cooler 3 with its new kickstand. The AeroActive Cooler 3 quietly pipes cool air into backside vents on the ROG Phone 3 and works in concert with what ASUS notes is a 6X larger, over-sized copper heatsink and redesigned vapor chamber inside the phone. What can all this tech do for your mobile gaming prowess, you ask? Let's take a quick look...
Preliminary ASUS ROG Phone 3 Benchmarks With Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 Plus Mobile Platform
We have two sets of numbers here with the ROG Phone 3, standard performance and X-Mode, which makes a return as well in this new ROG Phone variant. Turning X Mode on raises the minimum CPU frequency a bit, but it also "optimizes both the memory and game-data processing" to devote all system resources to the game you are playing. When enabled, X Mode prevents "RAM-eating and battery-sapping app activity, based on a customizable list of apps," as ASUS explains it.
ASUS makes claims that the
ROG Phone 3 can deliver up to 10 percent more performance over standard Snapdragon 865 devices, and here we see that claim proven out. The ROG Phone 3 put up graphics, gaming and GPU scores that are about 9 - 11 percent ahead of the fastest standard Snapdragon 865 handsets we've tested. We're just getting warmed-up with our benchmarks though, so stick around in the weeks ahead for our full deep dive review.
For now, the answer to the question of "what's the fastest Android phone on the planet?" (at least currently), can be easily summarized as this -- the ASUS ROG Phone 3. No word from ASUS on pricing just yet unfortunately, though again general availability here in the US is slated for September; just a couple short months away. Stay tuned for our full review, which we are feverishly working on now. After spending a short time with the ROG Phone 3, however, you can color us impressed
ASUS. The Republic Of Gamers is apparently bringing the fight yet again.
