Asus has finally debuted its next productS in the ROG Gaming Phone lineup, called the ROG Phone 8 series, consisting of the vanilla and the Pro model. The new ROG Phone 8 series has been revamped over its predecessors with a refreshed design along with updated specifications. But are they worth enough to make you upgrade over your previous gaming phone?
Asus ROG Phone 8 Series: Price, Availability, Specifications
The ROG Phone 8 is priced at $1099.99 (approx Rs 91,380) for the base 12GB + 256GB model. The ROG Phone 8 Pro comes in at $1199.99 (approx Rs 99,685) for the 16GB + 512GB model while the top-end 24GB + 1TB model costs $1499.99 (approx Rs 1,24,610). They’ll come in Phantom Gray and Phantom Black shades. The company says that the handset will be available beginning in Spring this year, which means they’ll release in first quarter.
The India price for the ROG Phone 8 Pro has also been confirmed, which stands at Rs 94,999 for the 16GB + 512GB model and Rs 1,19,999 for the 24GB + 1TB version. The Aero Active Cooler X accessory is priced at Rs 5,999. It will be available at Vijay Sales store, Asus E-shop, Asus exclusive store, and the ROG store. The sale date is yet to be announced. On the other hand, the vanilla ROG Phone 8 doesn’t seem to have launched in India, at least as of now.
As for the specs, the ROG Phone 8 series sports a 6.78-inch (2400×1080 pixels) Full HD+ 1-120Hz LTPO (max 165Hz for gaming) Samsung E6 AMOLED panel with 10-bit HDR, 20:9 aspect ratio, up to 2500 nits brightness, 107.37% DCI-P3 / 145.65% sRGB / 103.16% NTSC, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection.
They are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Chipset under the hood, paired with LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. They run on ROG UI based on Android 14. As for optics, the series gets a 50MP rear camera with 1/1.56″ Sony IMX890 sensor, f/1.9 aperture, 6-axis Gimbal stabilisation, paired with a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera and a 32MP f/2.4 3x telephoto sensor with OIS. At the front, there’s a 32MP camera sensor for selfies.
The devices pack a 5500mAh battery with 65W fast charging, 15W wireless charging along with reverse charging support also. Connectivity options include 5G SA/NSA, Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 7 802.11 be, Bluetooth v5.4, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, Galileo(E1+E5a), QZSS(L1+L5), NavIC(L5), 3.5mm Headphone jack, USB Type-C and NFC. For security, there’s an in-display optical fingerprint sensor.
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Additionally, the phones pack a 5-magnet stereo speaker setup with Qualcomm aptX adaptive audio, Dirac Virtuo for spatial sound. The devices are also IP68 rated, making them the first gaming smartphones in the world to do so. There’s an Illuminated RGB logo on the back of the handsets, which is in Dot Matrix format on the Pro model while the vanilla model has the regular LED logo. Then, there are Air Triggers present on the right spine of the handsets.
Asus has further made the thermals even more cooler. The phones have a Rapid-Cooling Conductor design, which is part of the advanced GameCool 8 thermal design that conducts heat directly from the Processor to the back cover. Asus claims it is 20 percent more thermally efficient than the former model. There’s also a new “AI Grabber” feature that makes it easy for players to search online for gaming walkthroughs by recognising and copying in-game text. A load of other new AI features are also in works, according to Asus.
Asus ROG Phone 8 Series: Is It Worth Upgrading?
If you have any previous ROG Phone series smartphone, the ROG Phone 8 series is worth looking at. We think it should attract a broader market this time around, thanks to a more mainstream design rather than a gaming-focused one which is much more flashy compared to other handsets. The devices are not only lighter than before, but also have a slimmer form factor.
Part of that could be due to the toned down battery size, which is now 500mAh less than previous models that had a 6000mAh battery. However, you now also get wireless charging support which hasn’t been there on the previous models in the lineup. The build is now also IP68 rated making the devices more durable than ever. The internals have also been upgraded, with a more powerful chip and a brighter display.
However, price does look like a concern to some extent as it’s undoubtedly on the higher side. Moreover, there are other flagships in its segment which excel in terms of cameras. So, even if you are not a gamer and just a regular customer looking for the utmost premium and powerful flagship with a slight compromise on camera and price isn’t an issue for you, we feel the ROG Phone 8 series should definitely be a part of your list, sheerly based on the amount of changes on offer over its predecessors.
