Our Verdict
The Asus ROG Phone 2 is a definitive gaming telephone, with an eminently smooth screen, more power than you’ll realize how to manage, and splendid battery life. Those highlights, combined with its gigantic extra room, mean the ROG Phone 2 is a fine decision regardless of whether you’re not into gaming – similarly insofar as you’re alright with the structure.
Asus got a ton directly with its unique ROG Phone, and keeping in mind that its successor shares fundamentally the same as styling, a fast take a gander at the ROG Phone 2’s spec sheet shows everything has been turbo-charged this time around.
The Asus ROG Phone 2’s segments are in all cases massive; it has a 6,000mAh battery, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of capacity, a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset overclocked to 2.96GHz, 6.59 crawls of AMOLED screen with a 120Hz invigorate rate, and a husky, 240g body.
To put it plainly, if the ROG Phone 2 was a X-Men character, it would be Juggernaut – immense measures of intensity enveloped with furious looking protection. Be that as it may, do you truly need a juggernaut in your pocket day-in-day-out? We went through a fortnight with the telephone, and for us at any rate, the appropriate response is a reverberating ‘yes.’
Asus ROG Phone 2 discharge date and cost
- Accessible from October 8, 2019
- Expenses $899/£829.99 for 512GB
- Australian accessibility TBC
The Asus ROG Phone 2, reported in July 2019, begins at $899/£829.99 (generally AU$1,500) for the 512GB stockpiling alternative, with a normal delivery date of 8 October.
No bearer or system accessibility has been affirmed starting at yet; the essential retail channel online for pre-orders is Asus’ very own online store. We’re additionally as yet standing by to discover when the telephone will be accessible in Australia, and the amount it will cost there.
Design and show
- Enormous, threatening plan
- 1080 x 2340 show with 120Hz revive rate
The ROG Phone 2 is gigantic, yet in an altogether different approach to other enormous telephones like the Huawei Mate 20 X and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 Plus. It’s forcing in both stature and structure, with Decepticon-esque glyphs, a scaring RGB lighting ROG logo and a substantial weight body.
Beginning with weight, the ROG Phone 2 comes in at a strong 240g – contrast that with the 226g iPhone 11 Pro Max and the 196g Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus. Much the same as those handsets, the ROG Phone 2 is a glass/metal sandwich, however it includes a matte, angled aluminum outline rather than a smooth, bended hardened steel edge, and feels less smooth subsequently.
With bended glass around the back, while it’s huge, the Asus ROG Phone 2 still feels great close by, and the metal casing prevents it from being excessively elusive.
The ROG Phone 2 has an earphone jack total with a 24-piece DAC, and no under two USB-C ports – one on the base, and one on its correct side (when the telephone is in picture direction). There are additionally volume and power fastens on the correct edge.
1.Design and show
The monster show is secured by Gorilla Glass 6 and book-finished by stereo speakers, with a front 24MP camera at the upper right. And keeping in mind that the glass may be extreme, one type of assurance you don’t get is any kind of water opposition rating.
With its 19.5:9 viewpoint proportion and monstrous size, the ROG Phone 2 is a tall piece of pack that establishes a connection in the pocket just as the hand. Thin pants are out in the event that you lift one of these up, and regardless of whether your pants have a touch of give, despite everything you’ll know it’s there.
Show tech doesn’t beat AMOLED, as utilized here, and when you consider the ROG Phone 2’s unfathomably quick 120Hz revive rate and 1ms reaction time, everything meets up well indeed.
High invigorate rate shows don’t will in general be as splendid as standard 60Hz cell phone screens, however the Samsung board Asus has had produced for the ROG Phone 2 gets more brilliant than 600 nits. While that is not exactly the 1,000 nits of the OnePlus 7T, it’s still extremely splendid and makes for phenomenal outside survey.
The screen’s 120Hz revive rate isn’t only there to ensure perfect games look slicker and feel increasingly responsive – it additionally makes the entire telephone feel that bit quicker, with parchments and swipes skimming as opposed to juddering. Returning to a 60Hz showcase like that of the Samsung Galaxy S10 will be discernibly less smooth, regardless of whether different parts of the S10’s presentation look better.
2.Design and show
A gaming show requires a large group of customization alternatives inside the settings, and Asus doesn’t disillusion. Screen shading mode alternatives are broad and offer granular command over immersion and review profiles. You can likewise drop the revive rate to 90Hz or 60Hz, change the framework shading plan by empowering a dim mode, and flip a consistently in plain view on or off.
With a goals of 1080 x 2340, the ROG Phone 2 has a pixel thickness of 391 pixels-per-inch, making it more keen than the iPhone 11, yet less sharp than most Android leads.
With our more awful than 20/20 vision, we didn’t end up aching for it to be more keen presently with it, yet in case you’re a stickler for a stick sharp picture, you should take a gander at a QHD+ telephone like the OnePlus 7 Pro, or even the 4K Sony Xperia 1.
At last, the ROG Phone 2 has an exciting presentation and offers a lot of customization inside the settings, also the smoothest AMOLED looking over and gaming accessible at this point.
Battery life
- 6,000mAh limit keeps going as long as two days
- 30W Quick Charge 4 charger included
- Battery improvements inside settings
With 6,000mAh of battery inside, even the huge power requests of a tremendous 120Hz screen don’t stop the ROG Phone 2 from intriguing. It keeps going an entire day gracefully on auto-splendor, and in case you’re cautious it can get you through two – simply ensure the gaming-driven X Mode and the telephone’s RGB lighting are killed.
Inside the settings, there’s a PowerMaster highlight that opens up command over applications that auto-start, giving you access to a scope of battery modes, including Power Saver, Super Saver, and Battery Care, as found in Sony Xperia telephones, which backs off charging time to save the life span of the ROG Phone 2’s battery during its whole life.
Turn it off, and gratitude to the 30W Quick Charge 4 HyperCharger that boats with the telephone, you’ll get about 40% of battery in around 30 minutes, which is great given the sheer size of the cell inside the ROG Phone 2. Note anyway that there’s no remote charging.
Concerning screen-on schedule, following an hour and a half of full brilliance HD video playback at 120Hz, the battery dropped by 8%, and with battery investment funds to be had by dropping the screen invigorate rate, the ROG Phone 2 trips to the highest point of our battery leaderboard.
Camera
- 48MP and 13MP back focal points
- 24MP selfie camera
- Camera is great as opposed to extraordinary
On paper, the camera is unquestionably the ROG Phone 2’s least great element. While most leaders (and mid-officers) have in any event three cameras, this gaming telephone highlights two, evading the fax module that gets you closer to the activity.
Its fundamental sensor is the 48MP Sony IMX586, additionally observed on the Honor 20 Pro and OnePlus 7 Pro. The other camera is a 13MP ultra-wide, which likewise utilizes a Sony sensor.
The Asus ROG Phone 2 gives you a chance to shoot for all intents and purposes any scene in great light and you’ll quite often receive a better than average photograph in return in spite of the telephone’s absence of optical picture adjustment (OIS). HDR+ handling additionally kicks in to stay away from extinguished features and such a large number of dull looking territories.
Indeed, even without utilizing the committed night mode, you can expect low-light pictures that seem more splendid and more clear than they appear to the unaided eye, with reasonable sharpness and strong detail. Night mode truly assists with the edges of the shot, which can tint purple in dull scenes when shooting in auto.
The Asus ROG Phone 2’s optional wide camera doesn’t perform very too around evening time. Some fluffiness manifests when you squeeze in. Having said that, in contrast to certain telephones, you can utilize the telephone’s night mode with the ultra-wide camera as well, which pleasantly lights up things up.
Camera 2
In the event that you need more fine grained detail from your shots, and the lighting is immaculate, you can change the default shooting goals from 12MP to 48MP. This deactivates auto-HDR, and recognizably corrupts quality in testing scenes, yet in addition gives you an image you can trim into all the more promptly if the light is your ally.
With a Pro mode that gives you extension to keep the shade open for as long as 32 seconds, regardless of whether the computerized modes don’t give lovers precisely the thing they’re pursuing, there’s a lot of manual control accessible.
Video is taken shots at a most extreme goals of 4K at 60fps, and regardless of the absence of OIS, electronic picture adjustment obviously kicks in crosswise over casing rates not at all like a few telephones like the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE, which top out when you hit 4K goals at 30fps.
Video quality is noteworthy from the fundamental camera crosswise over lighting conditions, however dull regions do erupt with some shading clamor. The wide camera, however, performs less well. In the interim, slow-movement catch tops out at 240fps at Full HD and 480fps at 720p.
The front camera catches selfies at 24MP or video at Full HD 60fps. While there’s no self-adjust, despite everything it catches clear photographs and recordings, and picture adjustment is strong, however it has a restricted field of view contrasted with most selfie cameras – likely advanced for scene in-game live gushing.
Gaming
- Adaptable gaming experience
- Heaps of discretionary embellishments accessible
- Accompanies a clasp on fan in the crate
While everything about a telephone, from its structure and screen through to its battery life and specs; go into its exhibition as a gaming gadget; no different telephones unite the same number of gaming features as the Asus ROG Phone 2.
From a product perspective; the ROG Phone 2’s down focus ‘Ordnance Crate’ comprises of two components; – Games Lobby and a Console, in which you can peruse through games free from the interruption of different applications; and tweak the telephone’s exhibition for every particular title.
This granular control likewise stretches out to overclocking the CPU; changing the shade of the RGB logo around the back; and in any event, adjusting it with your ROG PC or gaming PC. This is additionally where you can control the telephone’s fan speed in the event; that you cut on the discretionary adornment (more on that beneath).
Concerning what happens when you’re messing around; a straightforward side-swipe in from the privilege and a menu springs up with a large group of in-game alternatives.
This is the menu you need in the event that you need to outline; the touch-delicate left and right fastens on the edge of the telephone; close all the foundation applications running, record macros; live stream to YouTube or Twitch, and the sky is the limit from there.
Gaming 2
With respect to discretionary adornments, the new fan; or to give it its complete name, the AeroActive Cooler II; is multiple times calmer than the previous form and cools the suspension temperature by up to five degrees. It’s likewise remembered for the case.
A large group of extras can be purchased independently, including the TwinView Dock II; which has a similar showcase as the one on the ROG Phone 2 alongside a 5,000mAh battery and Turbofan for cooling. The telephone can be appended to the dock; and both the screens can be utilized at the same time.
The new ROG Kunai GamePad has a lot of 21 keys and can be associated with any telephone or PC.
The left and right controllers can likewise be disengaged from the base and utilized independently; Nintendo Switch-style, and keeping in mind that the keys do should be mapped; Asus is taking a shot at a stage in which ROG Phone 2 clients can share controller data; while additionally working with engineers to auto-map explicit titles to explicit controls.
Moreover, Asus likewise makes a MobileDesktop Dock and a Pro Dock; which we’ve seen before at the dispatch of the first ROG Phone to explode the gaming; experience to a greater screen total with quicker web speeds. We attempted PUBG with a mouse and console; and the experience was fabulous on a screen.
Interface and dependability
- Runs Android 9 with an adjustable UI
- Incorporates both an in-screen unique finger impression scanner and facial acknowledgment
- Felt truly steady and smooth being used
Running Android 9, the Asus ROG Phone 2 approaches a lot of applications and games; and gratitude to the reality Asus has overlaid such an adaptable UI; everything can look decent and stock. At the point when you initially set up the telephone; you can pick between forceful, ROG-theming, or a much more clean, stock-looking Android UI.
In the event that you need to swap out topics after arrangement; fire up the telephone’s settings, hit the subjects catch; and you can pick either Dark Reactor Core for a generally dark and dim furious topic; Light Luminous Core for a for the most part white and blustery irate topic, or Classic; the stock topic referenced.
Whichever topic you go for, the interface is included home screens; Google’s newsfeed to one side, an applications plate, and a draw down warnings bar. While it feels stock, Asus has stacked up upgrades that go past gaming, for example; simple throwing from the warnings bar; and an Audio Wizard to calibrate the sound understanding from the uproarious; fresh stereo speakers that bookend the showcase.
Between the telephone’s casing rate and power; the presentation is smooth as silk and solidness was on-point presently with the ROG Phone 2 also. The under-show unique finger impression scanner likewise functioned admirably; and there’s face open as well, however; without the sensors stacked up in the indents of the iPhone 11 or Huawei Mate 30 Pro; it isn’t as secure as a finger impression.
Performance and specs
- Snapdragon 855 Plus and 12GB of RAM
- Splendid execution
- 512GB of capacity, with a 1TB model landing later
Obviously, with a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset joined with 12GB of RAM; the ROG Phone 2 is a presentation champ, and this is most perceptible when you close an application; and return to it hours after the fact.
Instead of power close foundation applications pretty forcefully like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro or OnePlus 7T; the ROG Phone 2 keeps it ticking over out of sight; much the same as the Note 10 Plus.
Benchmarking is great; with a multi-center score of 2,718 and an AnTuTu score of 395,090; putting at the highest point of our outline close by the OnePlus 7T.
The telephone’s 512GB of capacity is additionally huge and offers all that anyone could need space; for everything except the most no-nonsense document hoarder; so while there’s no microSD card development; that shouldn’t be an issue. In the event that it may be; a 1TB matte dark release of the ROG Phone 2 will dispatch towards the finish of 2019.
Verdict
The Asus ROG Phone 2 is a definitive gaming telephone, with furious looks; a suite of over-the-top adornments; truckloads of intensity and an interesting screen that is ridiculously smooth.
Regardless of whether you’re not into gaming; the ROG Phone 2 is still a fantasy to utilize given its excellent battery life; execution, and capacity.
So while it won’t be for everybody; in the event that you like what you see and are set up to spend lead costs; it’s an extraordinary all-rounder and a hero of a gaming telephone.
Who’s this for?
Obviously, in case you’re a portable gamer it doesn’t beat this; yet we’d venture to such an extreme as to state the ROG Phone 2 rises above gamer-just intrigue.
Anyone searching for the most preposterously spec’d telephone that shows up as; over-burden as it is ought to consider the ROG Phone 2; – nothing else approaches from a nerd factor perspective.
On a useful level, the ROG Phone 2 is likewise a battery champ and has piles of capacity; making it a victor in case you’re an incessant in a hurry motion picture watcher; or long stretch flyer anxious to download media.
Should you get it?
In case you’re hoping to spend leader bucks, love the ROG Phone 2’s look and can manage its size; it’s anything but difficult to prescribe. Everything about this telephone dazzles; with its least noteworthy element, its camera, as yet being an expert.
There’s no water obstruction or remote charging and it isn’t the sleekest telephone around; so it doesn’t have each thingamabob going, yet it isn’t far-removed.
