Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro review

For some time now, Asus has been the market chief in devoted gaming telephones.

2023’s ROG Telephone 7 Final was a beast of a tool, immediately turning into the handset to beat for cellular players.

With 16GB of RAM and Qualcomm’s all-conquering Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, it delivered top-tier efficiency, justifying its weighty price ticket. But as highly effective because it was, Asus is hoping to go one higher with its successor, the ROG Telephone 8 Professional. 

Like its predecessors, the 8 Professional is a particularly highly effective and succesful piece of equipment, however this time, it’s extra than simply one other gaming telephone.

Design & Construct

• New lighter construct 
• Minimalistic black design 
• IP68 water and dustproof score 

Most likely the headline function of the ROG Telephone 8 Professional’s design is that it’s noticeably lighter and sleeker than final 12 months’s entries.

Gone is the (barely brash) white ‘futuristic’ design of the Asus ROG Telephone 7 Final, with the Telephone 8 Professional wielding a extra discreet monotone black color palette that may sit extra comfortably with individuals who aren’t devoted players. 

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Most people can even be happy to listen to that the telephone now weighs 225g, in comparison with 239g for the Telephone 7. Whereas this nonetheless places it on the bulkier aspect of the spectrum, it’s lighter than many different premium Androids (together with the 234g Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely).

The telephone can also be thinner than earlier than, at 8.9mm in comparison with 10.49mm for the Telephone 7 sequence. Once more, it is a pretty modest distinction, nevertheless it helps to offer the gadget a distinct really feel and vibe than its stablemates, heightening the sense that it’s concentrating on a wider demographic than in earlier years. 

Different notable options embrace a redesigned squarish digital camera module on the telephone’s again, which homes its triple rear lenses and flashlight. Aside from that, issues are laudably minimal, with a gloss black stripe working diagonally throughout its matte ‘Phantom Black’ rear. 

One different enchancment over earlier fashions is that the Telephone 8 Professional now carries an IP68 score. This make it waterproof to a depth of as much as 1.5 metres for half an hour, but in addition absolutely protected in opposition to mud. Indisputably, the design of the ROG Telephone 8 Professional makes it a extra sensible on a regular basis telephone than its predecessors.

Display screen & Audio system

• Wealthy 165Hz 6.78-inch AMOLED show
• Smaller prime bezel & always-on show
• Twin front-facing audio system sacrificed

Very like its predecessor, the ROG Telephone 8 Professional boasts a big 6.78-inch AMOLED show. That features the utmost 165Hz refresh charge, however this time it incorporates LTPO expertise. This implies the refresh charge can routinely alter from 1-120Hz relying on what you’re doing, serving to to spice up battery life.

Nevertheless, the upper most brightness is arguably extra important. The 8 Professional can attain a peak of 2500 nits, up from 1500 on the Telephone 7 Final. This makes an enormous distinction when taking part in video games or viewing media which requires a bit extra gentle, particularly given how reflective the display screen is.

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The show might be the most important distinction between the 2 telephones, with the ROG Telephone 8 Professional additionally introducing the choice of getting an always-on show. This function is comparatively restricted, offering the time, date and battery cost, nevertheless it’s nonetheless welcome. 

As a result of it has thinner bezels round its show, the 8 Professional features a pin-hole selfie digital camera this time round. It could be a matter of style, however jettisoning the thicker bezel on the prime of the show does make for a extra refined look.  

Nevertheless, the one draw back of getting a smaller prime bezel is that the telephone doesn’t embrace the spectacular twin front-facing audio system of the ROG Telephone 7 Final, which got here with an onboard amplifier. The audio continues to be good, and does profit from using spatial sound, however lacks a few of that ‘wow’ issue we received earlier than.

Specs & Efficiency 

• Very good Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 
• Max 24GB RAM and 1TB storage 
• Mini-cooling fan 

The ROG Telephone 7 Final was probably the most highly effective smartphones out there on the time of its launch in April 2023, and the Telephone 8 Professional continues Asus’ custom of outgunning most of its rivals. 

To say that the Telephone 8 Professional is a powerhouse can be one thing of an understatement. With the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip onboard, it simply outperforms its predecessor in most benchmark exams. 

Its pace is boosted additional by the 16- or 24GB of RAM on board. To not point out Qualcomm’s Adreno 750 GPU, which has been designed with gaming in thoughts and might alter body charges to inside 1Hz. 

There’s additionally the choice of getting both 512GB or 1TB of inner storage, which in both case offers loads of area for downloads and saves. Nevertheless, there’s no help for expandable storage.

Not solely does the telephone look like a juggernaut on paper, it performs like one, with the gadget dealing with the entire newest Android video games with none points in any way. I attempted video games akin to Name of Obligation: Cellular, PUBG Cellular and Want for Velocity: No Limits throughout my time with the gadget, and at no level did the ROG Telephone 8 Professional expertise any type of slowdown or lag. 

Simon Chandler / Foundry

This implies it may well deal with all on a regular basis duties with ease, whereas the telephone’s energy and pace additionally make it very best as a piece gadget. It allowed me to run a number of apps on the similar time with none points, making it excellent for engaged on paperwork, photos, movies or anything. 

Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional benchmarks

As with earlier ROG telephones, the Telephone 8 Professional is appropriate with its personal fan accent. Often called the AeroActive Cooler X, Asus says it’s 29% smaller than its predecessor (the AeroActive 7) and in addition presents 1.2x the thermal effectivity.

Clipping this onto the aspect of 8 Professional is advisable when utilizing the telephone’s X-Mode, which switches on routinely everytime you start taking part in extra superior titles. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless bought individually, and prices £71.99 at full value.

Cameras 

• 50Mp principal rear digital camera 
• New 32Mp telephoto with 3x optical zoom 
• Efficient evening mode 

If Asus actually desires the ROG Telephone 8 Professional to transcend the ‘gaming telephone’ tag and excel as an on a regular basis gadget, it must have an incredible digital camera. And it is a tough space to compete in, given the wide selection of nice digital camera telephones obtainable proper now.

Whereas it may well’t fairly compete with these, the 8 Professional is an enormous step ahead on the subject of digital camera efficiency. It encompasses a triple rear lens digital camera module, combining a 50Mp principal lens with 13Mp ultrawide and new 32Mp telephoto. Regardless of shifting to a punch-hole selfie digital camera, it’s nonetheless a 32Mp sensor.

Simon Chandler / Foundry

In follow, the principle 50Mp lens – a Sony IMX890 – is able to taking some very nice images, with the inclusion of gimbal-based optical picture stabilisation (OIS) serving to to forestall blurs and smears. Photographs are sharp and natural-looking, with no actual tendency to oversaturate images or add an excessive amount of brightness.

The opposite two lenses are additionally completely usable, if not fairly as spectacular as the principle digital camera. The 13Mp ultrawide does work properly in good gentle, providing a barely extra saturated – however nonetheless pleasing – picture than the principle lens.

And whereas the telephoto lens does want a cautious photographer to get the very best out of it, its 3x optical zoom can convey you nearer to the motion whereas retaining sufficient element and readability. 

It’s additionally good to notice that the telephone’s evening mode works very properly. As among the digital camera samples present, it may well aid you take fairly vibrant and clear photos as soon as the solar has gone down, offered you’ve gotten a gentle hand.

Battery Life & Charging 

• Smaller 5500mAh battery 
• 65W wired charging 
• 15W wi-fi charging 

At 5500mAh, the ROG Telephone 8 Professional’s battery is 500mAh smaller than the cell (really two cells) discovered on the 7 Final. The principle cause for this discount is to assist make the gadget slimmer and extra light-weight than its predecessors. Nevertheless, Asus claims that battery life stays the identical, because of improved software program efficiencies. 

In follow, on a regular basis customers will discover that the telephone simply lasts a few days without having a recharge. As for normal players, they need to be capable of make it by means of an entire day, until they solidly play extra intensive video games utilizing the telephone’s X-Mode. 

I definitely by no means had any points making it by means of the day on the 8 Professional’s battery, benchmark exams recommend that it doesn’t fairly have the wonderful longevity of earlier ROG Telephones. PCMark’s Work 3.0 battery check simulates real-world utilization at a reasonably typical 200 nits.

The 8 Professional’s rating of 11 hours and 34 minutes is sweet, however not fairly as spectacular 14 hours and 55 minutes of the 7 Final. Nevertheless, neither make it into the highest 10 of your greatest battery life telephones round-up.

Nevertheless, charging stays very speedy with the ROG Telephone 8 Professional, which comes with a 65W charger that may get the telephone as much as round 80% in half-hour. And in contrast to the 7 Final, it additionally helps wi-fi charging at 15W, though you’ll must buy a appropriate wi-fi charger (it’ll work with any which might be Qi enabled) individually. 

Simon Chandler / Foundry

Software program & Apps 

• Android 14 
• Extremely customisable gaming modes and choices 
• New AI options 

As with earlier technology, the ROG Telephone 8 Professional options two key items of software program for players. The primary is Sport Genie, which pulls up a dashboard from the underside of the display screen, enabling players to alter numerous settings whereas taking part in, from the refresh charge and gaming mode to controls and display screen recording. 

This helps to reinforce and refine gaming experiences on the 8 Professional, as does Asus’ Armory Crate app. That is principally a one-stop hub for the gadget’s video games and gaming options, enabling customers to obtain and kind titles or fine-tune the telephone’s efficiency. 

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In fact, these two options assist cement 8 Professional’s place as one of many main gaming telephones available on the market. But there are a variety of different welcome software program options on board the gadget, together with these that may attraction to a wider viewers. 

Arguably probably the most intriguing are a wide range of AI-based instruments. For instance, the telephone can present AI-powered noise cancellation on calls, in addition to a semantic search function that makes discovering the precise app or web site you need a lot simpler. There are additionally AI options for video games, akin to X Sense 2.0, which may present in-game hints and prompts. 

None of those options are ground-breaking on their very own, however mixed, they assist ship a extra immersive and intuitive expertise.

When it comes to core software program, the telephone runs on Android 14, with the user-friendly ROG UI working excessive. Apart from these above, Asus hasn’t made any enormous modifications to software program expertise.

However sadly, it solely ensures two Android model updates, which is properly behind a lot of the competitors. You do not less than get 4 years of safety updates, although.

Worth & Availability 

The Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional is accessible in two variations, one with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and the extra highly effective reviewed right here with 24GB and 1TB. They price £1,099/$1,199.99 and £1,299/$1,499.99 respectively, and might be ordered immediately from Asus, Asus US or from Amazon. 

The telephone is accessible to pre-order within the UK till 4 February, with Asus working an early-bird supply that gives patrons of the 16GB model with the AeroActive X cooler (usually, solely the 24GB model comes with the cooler out of the field).

Regardless of being so costly, there are not any retailers promoting the telephone on contract. So that you’ll have to purchase it outright and mix with a SIM-only deal.

Customers searching for options might strive the usual ROG Telephone 8, which comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and is priced at £949/$1,099.99. It has solely two different variations: no LED lighting on the again, and another ‘Insurgent Gray’ end.

There are many different gaming telephones value contemplating. However for those who’re fascinated about utilizing it as an everyday smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely (from £1,249/$1,199) is one in all only a few similarly-priced Android telephones.

Do you have to purchase the Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional?

The Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional largely succeeds in its mission to evolve past being a mere gaming gadget.  

Not solely does it boast superior processing energy that may deal with any sport or process, nevertheless it provides an attractively streamlined design and an improved triple lens digital camera system. 

Sure, it stays costly, however the mixture of a pointy show, speedy charging, versatile cameras and peerless efficiency assist justify the associated fee. In the event you’re searching for a high-end Android telephone and might afford it, the ROG Telephone 8 Professional is certainly value contemplating.

Specs

• Android 14
• 6.78in HDR10+ LTPO AMOLED (2400×1080) 20:9, 165Hz 
• Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor
• 16/24GB LPDDR5X RAM
• 512GB/1TB UFS 4.0 inner storage
• Cameras: 
• 50Mp principal sensor 
• 32Mp telephoto 
• 13Mp ultrawide 
• 32Mp entrance going through 
• Beneath-display optical fingerprint scanner 
• 2D Face recognition
• Wi-Fi 6E/7 
• Twin SIM (Nano-SIM, twin stand-by) 
• Bluetooth 5.3 
• 5,500mAh battery 
• 65W wired charging 
• 163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm 
• 225g