The Asus ROG Phone sequence has been receiving refined updates through the years. With gaming manufacturers corresponding to Nubia’s Redmagic and Black Shark leaving the Indian market way back, Asus’ ROG Phone stays the final cellphone standing on the subject of high-end, gaming smartphones. This additionally implies that Asus does probably not have any direct competitors in India and as a result of that, it may well take its time refining its successful components 12 months on 12 months, while not having to make any drastic adjustments in an effort to keep related.
The newest Asus ROG Phone 6 is not an enormous leap over its predecessor, the Asus ROG Phone 5s. There are the standard performance-related enhancements that are anticipated from each new replace. There’s a brand new processor, enhancements to the interior cooling system, and a brand new and an up to date cooling accent. Its design additionally stays just like the earlier mannequin, solely with a few adjustments. But there’s additionally an improved digital camera setup, which might make it a premium all-rounder. This final bit is vital, provided that the ROG Phone 6 has seen a noticeable worth hike over the earlier mannequin.
Asus ROG Phone 6 worth in India
The Asus ROG Phone 6 is priced at Rs. 71,999 for the only real 12GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration. It’s obtainable in two finishes: Storm White and Phantom Black, and I obtained the latter for this overview. There’s additionally an ROG Phone 6 Pro that is gone on sale for Rs. 89,999 however the one distinction between it and the 6 is a barely totally different again panel design with an further 2-inch OLED show and extra RAM (18GB) and storage (512GB). You can learn our first impressions of it.
The Asus ROG Phone 6’s price ticket is so much larger than the ROG Phone 5s which was priced at Rs. 57,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant, when launched final 12 months. The worth of this 12 months’s base ROG Phone 6 is definitely nearer to final 12 months’s Pro mannequin which was priced at Rs 79,999.
Combine this elevated price ticket with Asus’ delayed launch in India since the cellphone was introduced in July 2022, and you’ll see the way it must be twice as interesting to its area of interest gamer viewers.
Asus ROG Phone 6 design
Part of that attraction appears a bit misplaced this 12 months, with Asus recycling the identical design 12 months after 12 months. Asus retains taming the design of the ROG Phone yearly, however this 12 months seems a bit totally different. The digital camera module across the again now protrudes a bit and is sort of giant in comparison with earlier gadgets. There’s now two RGB components within the rear panel. Along with the standard “fearless eye” brand which has gotten the dot-matrix therapy (just like newer ROG-branded laptops), there’s now a second customisable RGB component beneath the “Dare to Play” slogan.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 has two customisable RGB components on the true panel
The Asus ROG Phone 6’s Gorilla Glass 3 rear panel remains to be a smudge magnet and the gadget feels fairly chubby with a thickness of 10.3mm, and heavy at 239g (which is sort of near 1 / 4 of kilogram). The ROG Phone 6 lastly will get an IPX4 ranking. This is sweet for serving to it survive towards splashes of water and this brings it slightly nearer to changing into a correct premium flagship.
However, it is nonetheless fairly giant and heavy for use as a day by day driver in my view, even in case you account for its bigger than traditional battery capability. Unless you occur to have actually giant arms, the ROG Phone 6 calls for correct, two-handed operation and I wasn’t capable of sit comfortably with it in my pants pocket. Even whereas taking part in video games, the cellphone feels a bit heavy to carry throughout prolonged classes.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 has thick bezels on the prime and backside edges of its show
I’m not a fan of razor skinny bezels on a smartphone, however the chunky bezels on the prime and backside of the show do seem fairly dated for a smartphone launched in 2022. I’d have most popular barely slimmer ones that may have made the gadget look a bit extra fashionable. Redmagic’s 7S Pro certain seems so much slicker compared with its thinner bezels and the hidden selfie digital camera (like on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4), which makes for a distraction-free show.
The thick bezels on the Asus ROG Phone 6 do cover the massive audio system and so, they have a motive to be there, nevertheless it certain takes away from the attraction of the smartphone. In reality, a clear bezel exposing the {hardware} beneath would have undoubtedly appeared so much cooler than the thick black bands at every finish.
Asus ROG Phone 6 specs and software program
The processor within the Asus ROG Phone 6 will get upgraded from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ within the ROG Phone 5s to the newer Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. While the SoC is pretty new, the delayed launch of the ROG Phone 6 in India might even see just a few consumers holding again their buy till the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC begins exhibiting up on premium smartphones, a few of that are anticipated to reach as early as the tip of this 12 months.
The ROG Phone 6 provides LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage which is the very best which you could get on a premium gadget. Communication requirements embrace assist for a number of 5G bands, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and two USB-Type C ports. There is not any devoted slot for a microSD card however the built-in 256GB of storage must be adequate. The cellphone is powered by a 6,000mAh battery and comes with a 30W charger within the field in India. The cellphone does assist as much as 65W quick charging, however that charger is offered individually.
The Console part of the Armoury Crate app lets one tweak and modify efficiency settings
The Asus ROG Phone 6 runs Android 12 which has overlays of the model’s ROG UI and Zen UI. The interface seems sometimes Asus with ROG UI components used within the Armoury Crate app, which is the place all of the gaming-specific {hardware} changes could be made. Tinkerers will love this since you are able to do something from modify the contact sensitivity of the show to tweak the battery efficiency modes. While the Armoury Crate app seems the identical as earlier than, the Game Genie slide-out dashboard has seen an overhaul of kinds.
A swipe from the top-left nook of the show whereas in a recreation provides you entry to this dashboard, which helps you to swap efficiency modes on the fly and even helps you to activate some game-specific settings. While the format now pops up from the underside and is way wider, there are nonetheless some choices or toggles hidden in some scrollable menus, which I didn’t learn about till I unintentionally swiped over them.
As for the common Android software program interface, the whole lot is the place it must be and runs fairly fluidly regardless of what number of apps or video games have been opened within the background. The lack of Android 13 on a smartphone launched in the direction of the tip of 2022 stands out like a sore thumb when in comparison with different flagships at this worth level. Asus didn’t remark about when the replace to Android 13 can be obtainable both.
Asus ROG Phone 6 efficiency
As anticipated, the Asus ROG Phone 6 carried out rather well in benchmarks and simply takes down most high-end Android premium flagships. When working most benchmarking apps, the cellphone forcibly used X Mode, however I managed to get common scores as effectively. AnTuTu solely ran in X Mode and returned a rating of 10,83,480, which is the very best we have now seen among the many Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 gadgets we have now reviewed. The cellphone managed 1,220 and three,719 factors in Geekbench’s single and multi-core checks respectively when examined with out X Mode, and 1,325 and 4,284 when examined with X Mode. Other checks additionally confirmed a noticeable improve in scores (or efficiency) when examined with X Mode.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 has a pointy, 165Hz refresh price show with a 720Hz contact sampling price
The cellphone’s 6.78-inch AMOLED show is a tiny bit smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s panel, however due to the thick bezels, it feels so much greater. It produces barely saturated colors within the default color mode, however could be adjusted to a consumer’s preferences in Display Settings. It helps the HDR10+ certification which is accessible in streaming apps corresponding to Netflix and Youtube.
The 165Hz refresh price made the software program expertise seem fairly fluid however this panel is not of the LTPO selection. It can nonetheless swap between 60Hz, 90Hz,120Hz,144Hz, and 165Hz relying on the applying in use. However when it comes to video games, I hardly ever got here throughout a title (even from Asus’s 165Hz library) which managed to cross 144fps. Most widespread video games managed 120fps with no issues.
As for video games themselves, they ran flawlessly with out a hiccup on the Asus ROG Phone 6. The cellphone did get sizzling across the again however the warmth is evenly distributed so it didn’t really feel too sizzling to carry. The show provides as much as a 720Hz contact sampling price. With X-mode on, I managed to tweak the display’s contact sampling price to the very best potential worth and the outcomes have been spectacular when taking part in FPS titles corresponding to Call of Duty: Mobile.
The Aeroactive Cooler 6 with its peltier chip did a great job of protecting the gadget cool throughout intense gaming classes
Asus despatched throughout the Aeroactive Cooler 6 and I used to be fairly excited to attempt it out. In concept, it is a formidable piece of package, with a peltier cooling setup present in some smaller fridges. Of course, the know-how has been miniaturised to ship higher effectivity, however throughout my testing it did let me run Genshin Impact on the highest potential settings and the cellphone was so much cooler than some other premium flagship that I’ve used.
This cooler has 4 further buttons (L1, L2, R1, R2) that may be mapped to numerous capabilities inside video games. However, the thickness of the brand new cooler makes them fairly laborious to achieve, particularly once I wished to make use of the built-in AirTriggers on the cellphone, together with the cooler buttons. Upon utilizing the buttons I additionally seen that the cooler would randomly disconnect, which made it an enormous downside when taking part in aggressive video games. It’s not simply the cooling that stops, however the buttons additionally turn into inactive throughout gameplay. It’s potential this was a difficulty with simply my accent, so I’ll give Asus the advantage of doubt right here.
I additionally discovered the construct high quality of the cooler to be an issue, provided that this accent will set you again by a further Rs. 5,999. One of the buttons popped out in the course of the overview interval and the fold-out kickstand additionally appeared fairly flimsy and felt prefer it might break with slightly strain. I’d undoubtedly suggest utilizing simply the Kunai Gamepad accent for higher controls, however the cooler is a must have to maintain the gadget working cool when taking part in demanding video games at maxed-out graphics and {hardware} settings.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 comes with a top quality plastic case within the field
The two audio system on both aspect of the Asus ROG Phone 6 are probably the very best I’ve heard on a smartphone. Asus claims to have added extra cubic house to ship higher bass, and I can verify that it is doing its job fairly effectively. There’s additionally a 3.5mm headphone jack for individuals who want to plug in whereas gaming.
The cellphone’s huge battery simply gave me about two days of informal use with some gaming classes and digital camera utilization. Extended gaming classes and the usage of the brand new cooler did drain the battery quicker (a ten % drop as an alternative of 5 %, each quarter-hour). Our HD video loop battery check managed a formidable 17 hours and 41 minutes of runtime with the show’s refresh price set to 165Hz.
Charging the cellphone is surprisingly fast when utilizing the bundled 30W charger. The cellphone fees to 44 % in half-hour and completes the cost in about 1 hour, 7 minutes, which is spectacular. Asus additionally provides a bypass charging mode that can preserve the cellphone powered immediately through the adapter so as to scale back warmth whereas taking part in demanding video games. This mode could be activated within the Game Genie dashboard.
Asus ROG Phone 6 cameras
Asus has upgraded the cameras on the ROG Phone 6 this 12 months. There’s now a Sony IMX766 50-megapixel major digital camera which unusually lacks optical stabilisation (OIS), a brighter 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 5-megapixel macro digital camera. Selfies are dealt with by a 12-megapixel digital camera. The digital camera interface is usually Asus and Zen UI with all the required controls inside attain and customisable digital camera modes. Video recording high quality maxes out at 8K 24fps and the cellphone may report HDR video.
The Asus ROG Phone 6 has three rear-facing cameras
Daylight pictures utilizing the first digital camera had good particulars and sharpness. Dynamic vary was good as effectively so that you get loads of element within the shadows. Colours weren’t overdone however fairly correct. There was loads of element in close-ups as effectively. The macro digital camera did a median job with particulars and dynamic vary. The ultra-wide-angle digital camera additionally captured some high quality pictures with barely much less element in comparison with the first, however have been fairly good on their very own. Barrel-distortion was dealt with effectively, however there was minor purple fringing round brightly lit-up objects. What I actually favored is that each cameras managed to ship a stage of consistency with related color tones, which I didn’t anticipate from a gaming smartphone.
Asus ROG Phone 6 daylight digital camera samples: Primary digital camera, ultra-wide-angle digital camera and selfie portrait (Tap to see full dimension)
In low gentle, the first digital camera continued to impress with good particulars and dynamic vary in street-lit circumstances. Problems started to crop up once I pointed it at darker and dimmer areas. The Night mode is triggered mechanically in most circumstances, however there have been cases when the cellphone indicated that it might take a 3 second auto-night-mode publicity, however snapped a daily photograph with much less element and dynamic vary. The lack of (OIS) could be felt right here as the photographs flip out wanting a bit tender with smudged textures even after firing up the devoted Night mode.
Selfies in daylight utilizing the Portrait mode appeared spectacular, with good dynamic vary and wonderful edge detection. However, it captures fairly common wanting pictures in low gentle.
Asus ROG Phone 6 low-light digital camera samples. Top: Auto mode, backside: Night mode (Tap to see full dimension)
Video recording high quality is sweet in daylight and showcases good stabilisation even at 4K decision. While 4K video recordings hit the candy spot with element, sharpness and dynamic vary, they’ve some abnormally saturated color tones, which nearly seem as if a vivid filter has been utilized. While HDR video recordings managed to deliver out much more element within the darker areas, the standard was not good and the colors appeared irregular at finest. 8K video recordings weren’t usable as they have been too uneven as a result of decrease body price. Video high quality in low gentle is way from the very best I’ve seen at this worth level. with footage having much less element, extra noise, and seem fairly tender basically.
Verdict
With anticipated upgrades on the subject of gaming, Asus did shock me with a top quality major digital camera this 12 months within the ROG Phone 6. It provides good efficiency in daylight and has respectable low-light high quality which is uncommon on the subject of gaming smartphones.
To a gamer who’s predominant precedence is taking part in video games together with having wonderful battery life, this may be sufficient. To a daily shopper, the digital camera efficiency is not the very best when in comparison with equally priced flagships such because the Vivo X80 Pro (Review). This cellphone too has good gaming efficiency (minus the frills of the ROG after all), shoots wonderful pictures and is much more pocketable regardless of having a big show. It additionally will get you an IP68 ranking.
While the cellphone is not going to attraction to informal avid gamers and common consumers, the Asus ROG Phone 6 remains to be the one cellphone out there to supply this stage of {hardware} and software program customisation, which solely skilled avid gamers will recognize. Get one in case you are dead-serious about cellular gaming and do not thoughts lugging this cellphone round. For those that nonetheless need a premium gaming smartphone however do not wish to spend as a lot, final 12 months’s Asus ROG Phone 5s from Rs. 49,999 remains to be a sensible choice.