The ASUS ROG Phone 5 has finally been unveiled for the world to see, in its full gaming glory. The 5th iteration of the ROG Phone series has received quite the aesthetic overhaul, but what’s more enticing is the hardware underneath. There are a couple of different variants to the ROG Phone 5 this time around, so let’s go through them one by one, shall we?
ROG Phone 5 – Specifications
Processor | 2.84 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 888 5G Mobile Platform with 5 nm, 64-bit Octa-Core Processor |
GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 660 |
UI | Android™ 11 with new ROG UI |
Display | 6.78″ 20.4:9 (2448 x 1080) 144 Hz / 1 ms Samsung AMOLED display 800 nits outdoor readable brightness 1,200 nits peak brightness Delta-E < 1 111.23% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™ Supports Always-On HDR display HDR10 and HDR10+ certified Capacitive touchscreen with 10-point multitouch (supports glove touch) |
Dimensions | 173 x 77 x 9.9 mm |
Weight | 239 g |
Battery | 6000 mAh typical capacity |
Memory | ROG Phone 5 Ultimate: 18 GB LPDDR5 RAM ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5: Up to 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM |
Storage | ROG Phone 5 Ultimate and Pro: 512 GB UFS 3.1 ROM ROG Phone 5: Up to 256 GB UFS 3.1 ROM |
Sensors | In-display fingerprint sensor, face recognition, accelerometer, e-compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, ambient-light sensor, ultrasonic sensors for AirTrigger 5 and grip press |
Wireless Technology | Integrated WiFi 6E (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2×2 MIMO) Bluetooth® 5.2 (HFP + A2DP + AVRCP + HID + PAN + OPP) supports Qualcomm® aptX™ AdaptiveWiFi DirectNFC |
GPS | GNSS support GPS (L1/L5), Glonass (L1), Galileo (E1/E5a), BeiDou(B1i/B1c/B2a), QZSS (L1/L5) and NavIC (L5) |
I/O Ports | Side and bottom: USB-C® |
Front Camera | 24 MP |
Rear Camera | 64 MP (Main camera Sony® IMX686) + 13 MP (125° ultrawide-angle lens) + 5 MP (Macro) |
Voice Wakeup | Yes |
Speaker | Symmetrical dual front-facing speakers with Dirac HD Sound 7-magnet stereo speaker with Cirrus Logic amplifier for louder, deeper and less distorted sound effect |
NFC | Supported |
Color | ROG Phone 5 Ultimate: Storm White ROG Phone 5 Pro: Phantom Black ROG Phone 5: Phantom Black and Storm White |
ROG Phone 5 – Hardware
The ROG Phone 5 essentially shares the same internal hardware, with the only difference being the memory and storage configuration. There are three variants – standard ROG Phone 5, ROG Phone 5 Pro, and the top of the line ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. They all run on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 processor, which is a 64-bit octa-core chip built on the 5nm processor, coupled with the Adreno 660 GPU. The standard ROG Phone 5 is paired with up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage and up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The ROG Phone 5 Pro shares the same amount of RAM, but gets upgraded storage of 512GB UFS 3.1.
The creme de la crop, ROG Phone 5 Ultimate gets the same 512GB UFS 3.1 storage, but it is coupled with a whopping 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM. This makes the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate Edition the world’s first smartphone to use 18 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which dramatically increases the overall gaming performance and takes the user experience to the next level.
As for the display, they all feature a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 2448 x 1080 resolution (FHD), a 144Hz refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate, and a 1ms response time. It has got an 800 nits outdoor readable brightness, with a peak at 1,200 nits. The screen is colour accurate in the sense that it has a rating of Delta-E < 1, it supports HDR10 and HDR10+, as well as covering 111.23% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass’ strongest yet, Victus. There is also an Always-On HDR display onboard.
The ROG Phone 5 weighs 239g, and measures 9.9mm thin. Connectivity wise, it has Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 with support for Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive, Wi-Fi Direct, and NFC. There are two USB Type-C ports, one on the side, and another on the bottom of the device, both can be used for charging.
When it comes to the camera department, the ROG Phone 5 is equipped with a 64MP main Sony IMX686 sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 5MP macro sensor. On the front, there’s a 24MP in charge of selfies and video calls, or even livestreams.
Where sound is concerned, the ROG Phone 5 features a symmetrical dual front-facing speaker setup which supports Dirac HD Sound. The 7-magnet stereo speaker has Cirrus Logic amplifier for louder, deeper, and less distorted sound effects.
In terms of battery life, the ROG Phone 5 has a large 6,000mAh battery onboard, that supports fast charging with the bundled 65W HyperCharge charger in-box. The device is optimized using new software optimizations and power-saving mechanisms, including a charging upper limit, steady charging, and enhanced scheduled charging. There are also passive power-saving mechanisms to limit inactive apps and deliver up to 67% more power savings
When it comes to colour options:
- ROG Phone 5 – Phantom Black and Storm White
- ROG Phone 5 Pro – Phantom Black
- ROG Phone 5 Ultimate – Storm White
Features
Another thing that’s different between the variants is the box packaging and the RGB lighting system on the back of the phone. The ROG Phone 5 standard version gets a regular rectangle box packaging design, while the ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate Edition gets the triangular hazard sign box design that’s similar to previous generation design.
As for the RGB lighting system, the ROG Phone 5 series continues the ROG built-for-gamers design philosophy with ROG Vision, a never-before-seen rear matrix display — available exclusively on ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate — that shows customizable animations in response to a variety of system and in-game events. Owners can even create custom animations to make their phone even more personal.
There are also massive enhancements to the AirTrigger 5 control system, which gives gamers up to four distinct ways to interact with their device. There’s also the powerful GameFX audio system that has been overhauled to deliver even more immersive sound.
To enable maximum sustained performance, the GameCool 5 cooling system in the ROG Phone 5 series now has an optimum thermal structure featuring a centered CPU with the battery split into two parts, one located on each side of the CPU. This ensures that the heat generated by the CPU is transferred to all the edges and corners of the chassis simultaneously for higher thermal efficiency. The reshaped 3D vapor chamber and extensive graphite sheets also help to spread the heat evenly across the device to reduce heat build-up in the middle.
The completely revamped AeroActive Cooler 5 now intakes and expels an incredible amount of air directly onto the center of the phone — right where the CPU is — to deliver an amazing 10°C drop in the CPU temperature. It also features two extra physical buttons to allow a genuine console-like gaming experience.
The ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate additionally features innovative hidden rear touch sensors on the back cover, which provide L2/R2 trigger functions, just like a game console controller. These also work together with the ultrasonic sensors, the AeroActive Cooler 5 buttons and the motion controls to provide full control for a total gaming experience.
The all-new performance manager in Armoury Crate now includes X Mode, with multiple system profiles to give gamers even more performance settings and performance tuning tools, so they can instantly adapt the phone to the task at hand.
Pricing And Availability
Model | Price | Availability | Remark | Colour Variant |
ROG Phone 5 8GB RAM / 128GB Storage | RM2,999 | April 2021 | No AeroActive cooler in box | Phantom Black & Storm White |
ROG Phone 5 16GB RAM / 256GB Storage | RM3,799 | April 2021 | No AeroActive cooler in box | Phantom Black & Storm White |
ROG Phone 5 Pro 16GB RAM / 512GB Storage | RM4,499 | May 2021 | Included: AeroActive cooler | Phantom Black |
ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 18GB RAM / 512GB Storage | RM4,999 | May 2021 | Included: AeroActive cooler ROG Ultimate Fan Gift box | Storm White |
The ROG Phone 5 will be available for purchase nationwide in Malaysia starting from the month of April 2021. However, pre-orders for the device will start from the 11th to 25th of March 2021, where each pre-order will come with a free ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad that is worth RM499. The Pro version gets an AeroActive Cooler 5 included in the box, while the Ultimate Version gets the cooler and a ROG Ultimate Fan Gift Box as pictured below.
ROG Phone 5 – Accessories
As for the accessories, launching with the ROG Phone 5 is the new AeroActive Cooler 5, Lighting Armor Case, ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad with ROG Phone 5 Bumper Case, ROG Kunai 3 Bumper, and the ROG 1.8M USB-C to C cable. These accessories will be launched accordingly in their respective months, together with the availability of the ROG Phone 5 series.
AeroActive Cooler 5
(With two physical trigger buttons)RM149 April 2021 LIGHTING ARMOR CASE (ROG5) RM199 May 2021 ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad
(with ROG5 bumper)RM499 April 2021 ROG KUNAI 3 BUMPER RM69 April 2021 ROG 1.8M USB-C TO C CABLE RM59 May 2021
Apart from the accessories above, ROG is also announcing three products that would work very well with the ROG Phone 5 – the ROG STRIX GO core headphones, ROG Cetra II, and ROG Cetra II core. Customers who purchase the ROG Phone 5 series can purchase the Strix GO Core headphones at a PWP price of RM249 instead of RM319.
Rog STRIX GO core RM319 Available now PWP at RM249 ROG Cetra II RM499 May 2021 ROG Cetra II core RM199 May 2021