Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate review

Gaming telephones aren’t new to the market – in truth, there are extra of them than ever, with Asus ROG, Redmagic, and Black Shark all manufacturers dedicated to gaming-centric gadgets.

Asus ROG could also be feeling the warmth from the perfect gaming telephones, however it stays the market chief and hasn’t slowed down its bi-annual launch cycle for its ROG telephones.

I’ve been testing the top-of-the-line ROG Cellphone 7 Final, and I’m very impressed. It’s a monster of a cellphone with bleeding-edge display tech, cooling options, and software program add-ons to please probably the most discerning gamer.

In order for you a cellphone that can flip heads for its seems and energy in addition to play all of your favorite Android video games flawlessly, then all you want is an eye-watering £1,199/€1,399.

The excessive worth might be this cellphone’s undoing.

Design & construct

• Cumbersome and heavy
• Slick matt white design
• Cooling ‘AeroActive’ again flap

You’ll both love or hate the look of the ROG Cellphone 7 Final. I believed I’d hate it, snooty as I believed I used to be about trendy gamer aesthetics. To my nice shock, after a couple of weeks with the cellphone in my pocket I’m keen on it.

Although the common ROG Cellphone 7 (which I’ve not examined) is available in black or white, the Final version I reviewed solely is available in matt white. It feels nice, exhibiting completely no fingerprints and is way preferable to the shiny end of so many different smartphones.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Removed from plain, the again is interrupted by a symmetrical design punctuated with trtiple cameras in addition to the 2 alien additions of a small LED strip of display and a black flap. That is known as the AeroActive Portal, a cooling gap that mechanically opens when the included AeroActive Cooler 7 fan is connected to the cellphone.

On paper this sounds laughably over-engineered, and it’s! However I took a nerdy glee in seeing all of it work. It’s garish, however it’s properly thought out and feels full.

The construct high quality is superb, with a two-tone white on the again with ROG branding and some blue accents on the facility button, a digital camera lens, and the SIM tray. The perimeters are rounded and there are two USB-C ports – one to the left on the underside so it’s much less in the best way when panorama gaming and one other on the left edge to connect and energy the AeroActive fan.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

With all these ports and holes, the cellphone is just IP54 water and dirt resistant, so gained’t survive a submerged dunk. It’ll sink quick too at 239g.

Display screen & audio system

• 165Hz 6.78in AMOLED
• Additional mini rear show
• Glorious audio system

The display is flat, as you’ll hope for a gaming cellphone. There’s a thick bezel on the prime and backside which means there’s no notch or lower out within the show, plus it’s one thing to carry onto when you’re gaming in panorama.

The 6.78in display is a wonderfully sharp AMOLED with a variable 165Hz refresh charge. It’s HDR10+ licensed, has as much as 1,000 nits of brightness, and has a excessive 720Hz contact sampling charge.

It’s not the brightest show on the market, which I seen when utilizing it as a cellphone, however when gaming in most lights I had no complaints. It’s a great dimension, and the cellphone feels immersive to play video games on for lengthy intervals.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

I additionally seen the coating Asus has placed on the floor of the display “for lowering friction when hand sweating”. Ew. It really works, although, my thumbs gliding across the Gorilla Glass Victus show regardless of the clamminess of a half-hour Name of Obligation session.

A PMOLED color strip display on the again of the cellphone is there for aesthetics and might be switched off, although it does show notification badges in color in case you depart the cellphone face down. You’ll be able to toggle to off to avoid wasting energy.

The twin fron- going through audio system are fingers down the perfect I’ve ever heard on a cellphone. The have full, booming sound that helps to additional immerse you in gameplay. I used to be genuinely shocked at how good they had been on first use.

Specs & efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 16GB RAM and 512GB storage
• Included cooler accent

The ROG Cellphone 7 Final has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, probably the most highly effective of Qualcomm’s arsenal on the time of the cellphone’s launch in April 2023.

Telephones such because the Galaxy S23 Extremely and OnePlus 11 additionally use this chipset however the mixture of further, considerably OTT specs on the ROG Cellphone push it above these telephones when it comes to uncooked gaming efficiency and functionality.

Regardless of the improve in chip, the specs are in any other case extremely just like the ROG Cellphone 6 Professional and ROG Cellphone 6D Final, so the generational step up could be very minimal.

The cellphone has 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of quick UFS 4.0 storage, each top quality. With the Qualcomm Adreno 740 GPU, the factor flies.

I performed a number of demanding sport titles on the ROG Cellphone 7 Final and encountered flawless efficiency. The graphically intense Name of Obligation Cellular, Asphalt 9, Genshin Influence, and FIFA Cellular can generally convey succesful cellphone {hardware} to a standstill, however not this cellphone.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

This implies it’s a dobble to smash out a couple of rounds of Mario Run or Would possibly Doom on the bus, too. Asus additionally contains its overwhelming however general glorious Sport Genie software program that allows you to flip off notifications when you’re taking part in, modify the display refresh charge, and a ton of different customisations to make the gaming expertise your personal.

Bundled within the field is a clip on shell case and the AeroActive Cooler 7, a fan accent powered by the cellphone’s facet mounted USB-C port. It’s big overkill, however I cherished utilizing it. The design is intelligent, including 4 bodily shoulder buttons which you can program to particular strikes in video games, coupled with the contact delicate shoulder set off buttons on the correct fringe of the system.

After a little bit of a studying curve to regulate the way you maintain the cumbersome creation, it did enhance my taking pictures accuracy on Name of Obligation, however for less complicated video games it’s pointless to have extra buttons. However you may need to clip it on to chill the cellphone down, because it does run scorching given the masses the system is put beneath by prolonged gaming classes.

Asus says it has improved the floor space of the vapour chamber inside the cellphone, and I discovered the software program intelligent sufficient to choose which of 4 ranges to set the fan to. You need to have the bundled charger linked to the Cooler to get to the highest ‘Frosted’ degree because it wants extra energy than the cellphone can ship.

Try the cellphone’s prime efficiency in comparison with the last-gen of ROG Cellphone, plus some latest standard smartphones:

Software program & updates

• Devoted gaming & efficiency software program
• Android 13
• Solely two assured Android updates

In addition to Sport Genie, Asus’s Armory Crate app is a wonderful technique to entry video games and monitor system efficiency. You may get a learn out of the CPU and GPU temperatures, see storage and reminiscence utilization, change efficiency modes, AeroActive Cooler modes, and shoulder set off settings.

The extent of management is wonderful, letting you choose which efficiency mode you need sure video games to launch in to verify they run properly.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

It even is aware of to run AAA video games in ‘X-Mode’ to spice up efficiency, whereas less complicated arcade video games are preset at extra balanced settings. The eye to element is astounding, and you’re going to get misplaced within the choices.

The cellphone ships with Android 13 and Asus guarantees two OS updates to Android 14 and 15 however 4 years of safety updates, which suggests it’ll be up to date until 2027.

You’ll be able to run the cellphone with both ROG UI or Zen UI – the previous is a decidedly gamer aesthetic theme with RGB-like flashes, fark colors, and stylised icons, the latter is Asus’s common smartphone software program you’d discover on the Zenfone 9. You’ll be able to combine and match sure types from each, true to the cellphone’s customisation beliefs.

Digicam & video

• 50Mp fundamental rear digital camera
• Fundamental ultrawide and macro

It is a gaming cellphone, so cameras aren’t its forte. The 50Mp fundamental sensor is the Sony IMX766, the identical discovered within the Oppo Discover X3 Professional from 2021. It’s under no circumstances a foul sensor, however the reality it has been round for 2 years reveals Asus skimped a bit right here.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

It takes nice clear photographs with good element in daylight, and has a suitable night time mode that helps maintain low mild photographs in focus and higher lit. You may get lossless 2x pictures with zoo however there’s no optical zoom lens right here.

Much less spectacular is the 13Mp ultra-wide, which nonetheless seize good element within the centre of body however stretches the picture on the edges. The 8Mp macro digital camera helped me learn the way soiled my MacBook keyboard was however distorts if nearer than 4cm away.

On the entrance is a succesful 32Mp selfie digital camera that’s at first for gaming and video streaming functions, however bins photographs to 8Mp to take not-great selfie or group photographs.

Battery & charging

• Expansive 6000mAh battery
• 65W wired charging
• No wi-fi charging

Asus crams in 6000mAh of battery to the ROG Cellphone 7 Final by having two separate 3000mAh cells that cost at 65W with the included charger (there’s no wi-fi charging).

This complete is 1000mAh greater than what’s within the Galaxy S23 Extremely, however it’s wanted given Asus expects individuals who purchase it to be operating power-hungry video games more often than not.

When you don’t play any video games you then’ll comfortably get two days on a single cost. With video games fired up and the cellphone powering the fan accent, you’ll run down quick and have to recharge halfway via the day or actually in time for the following day.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Worth & availability

The Asus ROG Cellphone 7 Final prices £1,199/€1,399. You should purchase it direct from Asus.

US pricing and availability is but to be introduced.

This makes it the most costly gaming cellphone you should buy alongside final 12 months’s ROG Cellphone 6D Final. Asus additionally launched an everyday ROG Cellphone 7 in April 2023 for £999/€1,199, which I’ve not examined.

The iPhone 14 Professional Max prices the identical however at that worth solely has 128GB storage, whereas the Galaxy S23 Extremely prices £50 extra and will get you 256GB.

In order for you comparable efficiency you possibly can go for the £899 ROG Cellphone 6 and never miss out on a lot, or take a look at our record of the perfect gaming telephones for choices at a variety of costs.

Verdict

The Asus ROG Cellphone 7 Final is simply that: the last word gaming cellphone.

It has top quality specs, an outstanding show, a battery sufficiently big to deal with the video games it churns via, and probably the most customisable software program settings I’ve ever seen in a cellphone.

You additionally pay large for all these options, with a worth akin to the most costly smartphones from Apple and Samsung. However this cellphone comes with 512GB storage and a charger and cooling fan accent within the field, so if you’re a hardcore cellular gamer no less than Asus gained’t skimp on the extras.

It’s a giant, heavy cellphone although and the design is garish, and you need to ask your self in case you actually do want all its energy. Asus’s 4 years of safety updates is sweet sufficient for me to fortunately advocate this cellphone, however there are cheaper choices in case you don’t want one thing fairly so overkill.

Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• Android 13 (ROG UI & Zen UI)
• 6.78in 165Hz AMOLED show
• Qualcomm Adreno 740
• 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
• 512GB UFS 4.0 storage
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp fundamental sensor
  • 13Mp ultrawide
  • 8Mp macro
  • 32Mp entrance going through
• Wi-Fi 6E (Wi-Fi 7 prepared)
• Twin SIM twin standby
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 6000mAh battery
• 65W wired charging
• 173 x 77 x 10.3 mm
• 239g