2023 is a very exciting year for everyone involved in the gaming industry, whether software developers, device brands or gaming enthusiasts. This is because although the number of premieres in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store is increasing, it can also be seen that the number of smart gaming device brands that are shown is decreasing.
ASUS, a gaming brand that is quite popular among gamers, regardless of whether it is a PC or a beginner, has recently introduced their latest gaming devices, ASUS ROG Phone 7 and ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate which we had the opportunity to see and test.
Specifications
ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate
6.78″ AMOLED screen, 165Hz
1080 x 2448 pixels (395 ppi)
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 5G processor (4 nm)
1 x 3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 chip
2 x 2.8 GHz Cortex-A715
2 x 2.8GHz Cortex-A710
3 x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A510
Adreno 740 Graphics Chip
RAM 16GB LPDDR5
Internal Storage 512GB UFS 4.0
Primary Camera 50 MP, f/1.9, (wide), PDAF
13 MP, f/2.2, (ultra-wide)
5 MP, f/2.0 (macro)
32MP f/2.5 Selfie Camera
6000 mAH battery
Wired 65W
Reverse 10W
SIM/Telephony Dual SIM nano / 5G
NFC Yes
Audio Jack Available
Waterproof IP54
Scan System Fingerprint scanner
Face Scan
Selling Price US$1220 (~RM5400)
Design And Screen
If you remember our ASUS ROG Phone 6D device review last year, the design of this ROG Phone 7 Ultimate device is more or less the same as that device. It comes with the same 6.78-inch display size, only with a higher resolution and pixel density per inch.
Just like the ROG Phone 6D, the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate device also comes with a refresh rate as high as 165Hz and comes with support for technologies such as HDR10+ and has a brightness value as high as 1500 nits.
The display of this device is protected by a Gorilla Glass Victus screen, while the back uses Gorilla Glass 3. On the back of this device it can also be seen that ASUS reused the design of the ROG Phone 6D device to accommodate the AeroActive Portal cooling window that helps to drain heat from the components. components inside quickly and easily.
Similar to the previous ROG Phone 6 Ultimate and ROG Phone 6D devices, the ROG Vision OLED display is also shown again, which is a 2-inch display that allows users to slightly modify the appearance of the device with patterns that show the user's personality.
The main gimmick of ROG Phone 7 Ultimate must be present through the AirTrigger ultrasonic button system that can be used to access the buttons in the front more easily. Now, with the ROG Phone 7, users have more options for button layouts, which I feel might be a little difficult to memorize when using it for the first time.
Perhaps the most useful additional feature that I can see is gyroscope aiming, or gyroscope targeting where the user can move the device to direct the vision on the display.
Just like the previous models, the ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate comes with two USB Type-C plugs that support 65W fast charging. For the USB Type-C plug on the side of the device, the use of pogo-pins also returns to support the latest AeroActive Cooler accessory introduced specifically for this device.
Hardware And Software
ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is equipped with the Android 13 operating system and the company has promised two versions of the operating system and security updates for at least four years.
Just like previous ROG Phone devices, ROG Phone 7 appears using the ROG UI or Zen UI interface. This time too, ASUS allows users to mix background packs and application icons according to the user's taste.
The main application of this device is Armory Crate which houses a large number of settings that can be accessed to activate a large number of features on this device, such as ROG Vision, AeroActive Cooler, GameGenie and so on.
A very interesting feature that has just been introduced on this device is the first list that supports a wide variety of display refresh rates, from 120Hz to 144Hz and 165Hz in its own list.
For me as a device reviewer, this is a very useful feature because I don't have to look around for a place where I can demonstrate the usefulness of this fast refresh rate display, and its listing based on supported refresh rates is also very helpful.
Camera
Although ASUS doesn't really focus on the camera capabilities of their smart devices, they will usually still be loaded with quite powerful sensors. The main sensor of this camera system uses the Sony IMX766 which will be assisted by the imaging algorithm on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip.
In the meantime, ASUS has also upgraded the selfie camera of this ROG Phone 7 series device with a 32MP camera to allow users to take brighter selfies.
Battery
Just like the previous models, the ASUS ROG Phone 7 and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate will use a combination of two 3000mAH batteries and can be charged using one of the two USB Type-C plugs with a built-in 65W charging system.
Just like before, this 6000mAH battery is separated because ASUS wants to ensure that the SoC components are located right in the middle of the device so that it can be cooled with the AeroActive Cooler accessory when needed.
ASUS also promises more efficient use of battery power and longer battery life thanks to the shared Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, but we'll see for ourselves if it's really more efficient than the previous model.
Unboxing experience
ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate comes with a different storage box compared to the box of the previous Ultimate version of the device. If the previous box is cylindrical, the ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate box is shaped like a large triangle.
The box is made from recycled materials, and is clamped by a small panel that can be used to activate the device's built-in AR feature that activates a simple game that takes advantage of some of the new features shown on the device.
In this box, apart from the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate device, users will also be given a basic frame for this device, a 65W charger, a USB Type-C cable and also an AeroActive Cooler 7 cooler and a storage bag for the cooler.
Conclusion
After several years of competing in this very niche arena, ASUS seems to be the only brand that remains a pillar of "gaming" class devices left on the market. Other brands such as Black Shark, Lenovo, Razer and so on have not succeeded in breaking ASUS' monopoly in most markets, and for this reason, it is seen that the ROG Phone 7 series of devices is the only premium class gaming smartphone on the market this year. .