You can take a smartphone and turn it into a gaming smartphone. The ASUS ROG Phone 8 attempts to do the opposite, bringing this tough gaming logo to the mainstream.
The ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro reviewed here ticks many of the boxes that turn an Android smartphone into a gaming phone. But ASUS has to hold back a bit. While all the newest specs are here (including Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 1TB of storage)
So how can this balance work in a single device?When you’re looking for maximum gaming performance, I don’t think you can do it. But there is an answer. . . The AeroActive Cooler X.
The cooler connects through a side USB-C port (which becomes a port on the back of the display when the ROG Phone 8 is in landscape mode) and attaches with a spring-loaded latch to the back of the smartphone.
In addition to two programmable buttons that act as rear-mounted triggers, it has a heavy-duty fan that uses thermoelectric cooling to draw heat away from the phone, and ASUS generates an operating temperature drop of up to 36 degrees Celsius. This provides more sustained functionality while playing stressful games.
This means that some of the compromises discovered in the base phone to make it more “conventional” are minimized through AeroActive. The phone may not have the vents of previous models. Still, the increased cooling provided through AeroActive allows the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the existing best-in-class chipset, to run at full strength for much longer. You have two physical buttons on the back of the phone and, if you need eye-catching cyberpunk neon to flood the phone, the AeroActive LED setup can do that for you too.
Not every compromise is wiped out with the AeroActive Cooler. It can’t alter the orientation or change the speakers from forward-facing to side-facing. It can’t increase the size of the bezels to provide more ‘dead space’ to hold the smartphone while gaming—with the extra weight of the cooler hanging off the back, this is a concern. And neither can it compensate for the second USB-C’s awkward positioning on the base of the device; most third-party controllers expect the USB-C port to be in the middle of the phone and design themselves accordingly.
But this elevates ASUS’ “high-end smartphone” towards the purpose of a “gaming smartphone”. I say objective here wisely. The ROG Phone 8 is classified as a gaming phone, but it compromises too much by moving away from gaming and becoming a more mainstream smartphone. They are no longer the fish in the small pond of gaming-focused hardware; a smaller fish of “good games” but in a much larger group of “high-end flagship platforms”.
ASUS has a giant portfolio of smartphones. It includes the ZenPhone series, which offers premium features in a smaller device, and the gaming-focused ROG series. That view is now distorted with the ROG Phone 8. You have the smaller ZenPhone, the giant ROG phone, and the even more giant ROG phone with a gaming accessory.
Assuming ASUS needs to remain a small portfolio but succeed in a broader market, moving the high-end phone to the mainstream high-end market is a smart strategy.
ASUS ROG Pro Phone
It is also a stimulating space. The ROG Phone series was the first gaming smartphone; I think the compromises made to succeed with a broader audience have left a position in the most sensible position in the gaming market for a competitor to take the crown. And ASUS will now have to position itself in the same ring as the Oppo Find X7 Ultra. the Pixel 8 Pro and the upcoming Galaxy S24 Ultra as a flexible product.
How do you measure the good luck of such an ambitious bet?I think the answer will come with the ROG Phone 9’s design elements.
For now, ASUS has become popular with the ROG Phone 8; those looking for a basic phone deserve a new manufacturer; informal actors have the most productive of both worlds; and hardcore gamers will look for bundles that offer a free AeroActive cooler with their purchase.
Disclaimer: ASUS a ROG Phone 8 Pro and AeroActive Cooler for review purposes.
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