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ASUS ROG Phone 3 Review

Charles TYK

Introduction

This is the ASUS ROG Phone 3, the company’s third gaming phone. Launched in Malaysia last year, the review unit we got is the highest-end model, which packs 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. I’ve been using the phone for an extensive period, and here’s the full review!

ASUS ROG Phone 3 Specs

Design

In terms of design, the ROG Phone 3 looks quite identical to its predecessor but more polished and simple. The front of the phone is still pretty much the same, ASUS has removed the copper accent on the speaker grill. Yup, it still has dual stereo speakers on the front, still one of the best on a phone!

The I/O ports and buttons are still the same, but ASUS has removed the 3.5mm audio jack from the phone. The right side houses the volume rocker, power button, and upgraded air triggers. As for the left side, it has the same side-mounted connector to connect the accessories. The SIM tray is also located near the corner.

The back now has a piece of glass without the copper detailing grill for cooling. Once again, the ROG logo behind is still RGB-lit. Overall, the ROG Phone 3 looks quite similar to the ROG Phone II with some minor changes.

Display

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 sports a 6.59-inch Full HD+ 144Hz OLED 10-bit HDR display with a 270Hz touch-sampling rate and 25ms touch latency. It’s actually an improvement over the last-gen model, which has a 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch-sampling rate, and 49ms touch latency.

The screen is quite good just like the ROG Phone II, but for some reason, its screen still shows brown instead of showing deep black when it’s low brightness, a common issue on ASUS smartphones with an OLED panel. Personally, I find that the screen is a little bit too vivid for my liking. Thankfully, you can head over to the display settings to change the color profile.

It still has the in-display fingerprint sensor, which works pretty well and fast. The screen brightness issue I had with the last-gen model isn’t happening on the current-gen model.

Performance

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB UFS 3.1 storage. I have to say 16GB RAM is a little too much for a phone, but it’s not a bad thing. The phone is fast without any hiccups and gaming with this phone is just fun. The Active Cooler 3 works pretty well in helping to maintain the phone at a reasonable temperature, and it still has a 3.5mm audio jack!

In terms of gaming, I was able to play Call of Duty: Mobile in “Very High” graphic quality and “Max” frame rate. As for PUBG Mobile, I was able to run “HD” and “HDR” graphics with “Ultra” frame rate and “Smooth” graphics with “90fps” frame rate. It’s actually weird given that this phone actually has a pretty powerful processor, but you can’t play with “Extreme” frame rate on PUBG Mobile. The only explanation I get is some games still aren’t fully optimized.

Software

Speaking of optimization, the ROG Phone 3 runs on Android 10 with ROG UI on top. Nothing much to say about the UI since it’s still the same as last-gen, you can still change to the classic theme to have a stock Android experience. It still comes with the Armoury Crate and Game Genie apps to customize your own gaming settings such as whether to enable X Mode or not, customizing AirTriggers, adjusting the fan speed, and more. ASUS needs to work hard on optimizing the software as some apps don’t work well, the animated stickers on Telegram X appear to be stuttering.

Camera

Since this is a gaming phone, the camera won’t be a strong point. The ASUS ROG Phone 3 has a triple-camera setup on the back — 64MP Sony IMX686 main + 13MP ultra-wide + 5MP macro. Selfie wise, it has a 24MP front-facing camera.

Ultra-Wide

12MP Main

64MP Main

Night Mode (Ultra-Wide)

Night Mode (12MP Main)

Image quality is average, capturing 64MP photos will take a longer time to process and they are all usually darker with poor dynamic range. By default, it shoots in 12MP mode with better image quality, just don’t expect it to be as good as current flagship phones. Check out all the camera samples here.

Battery Life

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 packs a massive 6,000mAh battery with 30W ROG HyperCharge. ASUS claims that a 46-minute charge will push 4,510mAh into the battery, achieving a 70% charge. Once again, the phone has a great battery life, better than other flagship phones. I was able to get more than 7 hours of screen-on-time with only needing to charge the phone once in 2 days.

Final Words

All three variants of the ASUS ROG Phone 3 are now available in Malaysia, pricing as below:

As for the accessories, the pricing as below:

If you are a hardcore mobile gamer or want to have a better mobile gaming experience, especially during the current MCO #stayathome period, the ASUS ROG Phone 3 is a great phone you can get right now. As I mentioned in the ROG Phone II review, which remains the same verdict for the ROG Phone 3, it has an uncompromised performance with long-lasting battery life, though the camera is lacking behind.

Yay

Nay

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