ASUS ROG Phone 2 is the world’s first smartphone with Snapdragon 855+

The first ASUS ROG Phone pioneered a lot of new features when it was launched last year. During the time it was launched, it was the world’s fastest smartphone with a 10nm octa-core processor and ASUS’ first smartphone to sport an Aura RGB Lighting. It didn’t just look good – though its design isn’t exactly for everyone, but it was built with mobile gamers in mind.

More than a year from its introduction, Taiwan-based computing giant, ASUS, just announced the world’s first smartphone with Snapdragon 855+, the ASUS ROG Phone 2.

ASUS ROG Phone 2 – A response to demands of mobile gamers

According to Chih-Hao Kung, Global Technical PR Director of ASUS, ROG Phone 2 exists as a direct response by ASUS to the demand of consumers for playing mobile games on a smartphone that packs all the necessary features they need to enhance their gaming experience.

This is evidenced in the research conducted by NewZoo in their Global Games Market Report for 2018. According to the research, which ASUS took as one of the source materials for developing the ROG Phone 2, the revenue per device in the mobile industry gained by more than 29.1% YOY this 2019. Also based on the research, it has been projected that 67% of the game revenue in South East Asia will come from mobile.

A gaming smartphone that deserves a worthy follow-up

The ASUS ROG Phone 2 is not a minor upgrade from its predecessor. There’s a lot of new good things that are going on in various departments in the ROG Phone 2, and each section deserves a full rundown. We interviewed Kung during the launch in Taipei, and he shared his thoughts about some of the noteworthy new features of the phone. You can check out the full interview video below.

World’s Fastest smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+

As the world’s first smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+, it marries the speed bump found on both CPU and GPU. Based on specs sheet of the new Snapdragon 855+, it is still using the ARM Cortex A76 Kyro 485 cores, but there’s a noticeable frequency bump on its primary cores from 2.84Ghz to 2.96Ghz. While this may not be significant in the CPU side of things, it is good to note that the new SoC features a much improved Qualcomm Adreno 640 GPU. According to ASUS, with these improvements found on the new SoC, ASUS ROG Phone 2 is faster than other smartphones with Snapdragon 855.

• 4% more effective than phones running on Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 (2.96Ghz vs 2.84Ghz)
• 15% better GPU performance than smartphones with Adreno 640 (675Mhz vs 585Mhz)

ASUS showed 3DMark and Androbench benchmark results, and both show laudable numbers:

• 3DMark (Slingshot Extreme)
  • ROG Phone 2: 6,253
  • OnePlus 7 Pro: 5,579
  • Samsung Galaxy S10+: 4,450
  • Apple iPhone XS Max: 4,271
• 3DMark (Slingshot Extreme Unlimited – OpenGL FS3.1)
  • ROG Phone 2: 6,939
  • OnePlus 7 Pro: 6,164
  • Samsung Galaxy S10+: 4,544
  • Apple iPhone XS Max: 4,945

Cooler to stay cool all the time

ASUS also made sure that the ROG Phone 2 is cooler (literally) than ever before. It now features improved 3 cooling layers, which allows the smartphone to perform with zero throttling and impressive FPS stability.

The direct or level 1 cooling is from its 3D vapor chamber. This is seconded by dissipating heat via its heat sink, internal and external vents. An optional 3rd level, on the other hand, is via its AeroActive Cooler II. Combine all these and you’ve got a gaming smartphone that performs at its exceptional state regardless of how demanding the games are.

120hz – 1ms, a tactical advantage

When playing games with the ROG Phone 2, you’re treated with an improved AMOLED 6.59″ 120hz panel with 1ms response time. This is a huge upgrade from last phone’s 90hz with 1ms display panel. It also features a 240hz touch sampling rate, which is responsible for giving it an ultra-low touch latency. This makes the smartphone 44% faster than its competitors in terms of screen responsiveness.

ASUS proved a point when they compared the responsiveness of the ROG Phone 2 vs its competitors. It is because of its innovative screen, you have the tactical advantage to win in a round of PUBG. In their presentation, due to the responsiveness of the screen, a single tap is quickly registered as an input with 49ms touch latency. This makes ROG Phone 2 the world’s first smartphone with less than 50ms touch latency.

See how colors are meant to be seen by developers

While this may be something that consumers don’t usually find on new smartphones, it is important to note how accurate colors are shown on screen the way developers meant it to be seen. ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a display with Delta E ≦2 score, a feature that is mostly found on monitors used for design and multimedia.

Specification

Price and Availability

With all the new and improved features the new ROG Phone 2 has, it is possible to see this priced at more than $1000. ASUS did not reveal any price reference during its official announcement, but given its predecessor’s official price in PH, it almost crossed the $1000 mark or PhP49,995. ASUS, did not announce the availability of the phone too, but we’re going to update this article once we’ve received news from them.

Giancarlo Viterbo

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Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.