Asus’ new ROG Phone 3 seems like a 5G-ready gaming powerhouse

Asus declares to have made enhancements to the ultrasonic AirTrigger pressure-sensitive touch sensors located around the edges of the phone that mimic the experience of using a real controller. (If you arent familiar with those, examine out my evaluation of Xiaomis Black Shark 2 for a complete breakdown.) Asus is likewise offering gamers more room to customize the control scheme to their preference. It included a swipe gesture to each button for a secondary command and dual-partition button emulation on the AirTriggers that essentially simulates having physical L1/ L2 and R1/ R2 buttons on the phone (you can see that on top ideal part of the image below). It likewise adds the choice to map an in-game command, like reloading your weapon, when you shake the phone.

The ROG Phone 3 will probably be great at typical phone things, like browsing the web, texting, and calls. However where it truly stands out, aside from specs, is with its gaming-specific style features, which Im delighted to report are still a little weird but extremely cool. Theres still a side-mounted USB-C port, so the charging cable television can avoid of the way while you game in landscape mode. Itll even work with Google Stadia when it launches.

Asus also prepares to launch a couple of more accessories later on in 2020 to complement the ROG Phone 3, though they appear useful in other contexts beyond the phone. The ROG Strix XG16 is a 15.6-inch portable video gaming display with an IPS panel and a 144Hz refresh rate. The ROG Cetra RGB are in-ear gaming headphones with active sound cancellation and USB-C connectivity. The ROG Falchion is a cordless mechanical keyboard that has a touch panel that you can customize. Asus claims that the keyboard will have 400 hours of battery life.

In common style, Asus is releasing an entire slate of devices you can buy to assist you get even more out of the phones power. Theres a TwinView Dock 3 coming that adds another display to the mix so you can multitask, and a mobile desktop dock that lets you dock the phone and utilize it with a keyboard and mouse. As I learnt with last years ROG Phone 2, it can get pricey to purchase these accessories, but theyre additive and generally durable to the experience.

The ROG Phone 3 will launch in the US this September and Asus hasnt yet shared a cost. Its predecessor was $899.99, so offered the annual spec bumps and other function enhancements, expect it to straddle the $1,000 line.

The ROG Phone 3 will nearly certainly be excellent at normal phone stuff, like searching the web, texting, and calls. Asus also prepares to release a couple of more accessories later in 2020 to complement the ROG Phone 3, though they appear helpful in other contexts beyond the phone.

This image shows the gestures supported by its pressure-sensitive AirTrigger ultrasonic sensors, including the dual-partition triggers shown in the top right.Asus

Asus brand-new ROG Phone 3 aims to be the peak of smart devices if youre major about video gaming and having the fastest specifications. The ROG Phone 3 features a huge 6,000 mAh battery, as did last years design.

Asus new ROG Phone 3 intends to be the peak of smartphones if youre serious about video gaming and having the fastest specifications. The device features a 6.59-inch OLED HDR color-calibrated screen that has a fast 144Hz refresh rate with a 1ms response time. Its powered by the Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset with 5G assistance, and it can be configured with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 ROM storage. Both of those specs press the borders of what weve seen so far in a phone. The ROG Phone 3 includes a big 6,000 mAh battery, as did last years design.