With gaming smartphones set to touch almost 6.5 per cent of the total smartphone market by 2021, Taiwanese company Asus has unveiled its most powerful smartphone yet with a 144Hz display for ultimate gaming experience along with a powerful Snapdragon 865 Plus processor.
The refresh rate is the number of times a display refreshes to show a new image. The unit of frequency is Hz (hertz). Therefore, 144Hz means the display refreshes 144 times per second to show a new image.
The third-generation Asus ROG Phone 3 price in India has been set at Rs 49,999 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant, while the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage option carries a price tag of Rs 57,999.
At this price point, the power-packed gaming device competes with the OnePlus 8 Pro and fellow gaming phones like the Black Shark 3S and the Nubia Red Magic 5S, among others.
We used the ROG 3 (8GB RAM+128GB) storage variant for nearly a week and here is what it offers.
Since we are talking about gaming here, ROG Phone 3 uses the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus 5G Mobile Platform that crosses the 3GHz mark with relative ease, clocking in at an incredible 3.1GHz.
The smartphone features Snapdragon Elite Gaming, which delivered smooth HDR gaming experiences with sustained performance for longer periods.
Play anything — PUBG Mobile or Call Of Duty or any other popular games — and the device will give its best, without heating issues or any lag when overclocking for higher frame rates thanks to an in-built thermal cooling system.
The new cooling system removes and dissipates the heat generated during full-speed operation via specially designed cooling vents in the back cover.
This allowed ROG Phone 3 to easily sustain peak performance during heavy gaming sessions.
Graphics performance was up to the mark and the 144Hz refresh rate added more delight to the gaming experience.
The smartphone runs ROG UI (user interface) on top of Android 10. The UI offers various interesting modes (like ‘X Mode’ that supports the adjustment of multiple system parameters) to enhance the gaming experience.
The phone can automatically switch to the best refresh rate or you can manually set the refresh rate to 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz or 144Hz. There’s also HDR10+ high-dynamic range support for enhanced visual experience.
The ROG Phone 3 houses a 6,000mAh battery which lasted to around two days while heavy usage which includes gaming as well as watching videos. The device also supports QuickCharge 4.0 and comes with a 30W charge technology.
Design-wise, ROG 3 looks similar to its predecessor. At the rear side lies the horizontally placed triple-camera sensor, followed by the LED flash and mic. The rear side also sports the ROG logo and there is enough lighting.
The glass on the rear side is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 whereas the front screen has the protection of Corning Gorilla Glass 6. At the bottom lies the USB Type-C port which is located off-centre.
On the left, there is a proprietary connector for pairing external accessories, including the AeroActive cooler, a dual card SIM card tray. The top side of the phone lies just a mic nothing else.
Due to the vent on the back, the phone is not IP-certified.
On the right side of the phone lies the power button and the volume rockers, there are also some ultrasonic buttons called Air Triggers that can be used as buttons which add extra advantage while playing the games.
The smartphone features a large 6.59-inch AMOLED 10-bit display with an in-display fingerprint scanner.
The ROG Phone 3 has a triple rear camera setup that includes a 64MP Sony IMX686 primary sensor that has an f/1.8 lens. The camera setup also has a 13MP secondary sensor with a 125-degree ultra-wide-angle lens and a 5MP tertiary sensor with an f/2.0 macro lens.
The phone also has up to 4K-video recording support through its rear camera setup, while the front camera is capable of recording up to 1080p videos.
The rear sensors captured detailed images in daylight with colour balance as well as exposure. However, in the absence of proper light, the camera fails to deliver the same result.
Portrait shots come out looking clean with nice subject detection and Night mode as captures decent images.
The device has a 24MP selfie camera sensor at the front, along with an f/2.0 lens and it captures well-detailed photos as well.
Conclusion: The ROG Phone 3 is an ideal device for quality game time. In case you don’t like gaming on mobile and look for a big-sized device, it is still a good option considering the overall performance and solid internals.
Maybe you can find yourself falling in love with mobile gaming later. (IANS)
