Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Smartphone Review – Whenever it’s about the gaming-centric smartphone, Asus ROG series phones are always considered as the trend definer. Generally, the company brings cutting-edge technology that blends pretty well with the gaming environment of their phone. Moreover, their device brings impeccable specs and astounding privileges. With both of those factors combined, they were able to produce several phones.
Recently, the smartphone brought their new Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, which brings the latest chipset, amazing software experience, and many more things. As a typical gaming-centric device, you will receive the traditional yet classy design with a Mini-LED on the back panel. But is it worth purchasing in 2024? As there are lots of phones offering similar deals. Therefore, let’s dive into the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro review to understand the pros and cons of getting this phone.
Table of Contents
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The phone arrives with a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED panel and 165Hz refresh rate.
- Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with Adreno 750 GPU.
- As for the software interface, the device will grant the Android 14 operating system.
- The camera section brings the 50MP triple cam setup with a 32MP selfie camera at the front.
- Under the hood, the device will attain a 5500 mAh battery with multiple charging options.
Design and Display
There’s no doubt that the company follows the same design layout on this third-generation gaming phone. The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro arrives with a fully customizable LED on the back panel, which enhances the overall appearance. Apart from this, the camera module is replaced from a single stripe to a squircle. At first impression, the device looks stunning with a gamer appearance.
If you want something charming with a black color, consider getting the Phantom Black variant. Aside from this, the Pro edition comes with a sleek build grants an enhanced touch experience and also offers triggers on the side panel. The phone offers two charging ports, one at the bottom and the other on the side.
As far as the display quality is concerned, the 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED panel brings a combination of FHD+ resolution, LTPO technology for adaptive refresh rate, 2500 nits brightness, and a smoother 165Hz refresh rate to support your gaming needs. Furthermore, the users can utilize the screen and remove the dot-notch front camera cutout to gain convenient gameplay. Following this, the screen can also handle
Memory and Internal
The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro brings the Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which pushes the gaming performance to the roof. Being the top-tier chip, there are hardly any hardware configurations that can fully utilize the performance through the CPU. However, you won’t notice CPU throttling, even if you are playing heavy graphics games. Besides this, the plus point of having the Adreno 750 GPU will bring better visuals.
On the other hand, the device is paired with 16GB to 24GB LPDDR5X RAM that will be accompanied by 512GB to 1TB UFS 4.0 internal storage. Both of the storage units are good enough for storing your games and other media. But still, you can go with the 24GB/1TB variants to freely install any game you want. Not to forget, you are getting the Android 14 out of the box with various gaming customization.
Generally, the Asus ROG phone arrives with an impressive cooling system. With the ROG Phone 8 Pro, the ultimate cooling system ensures to provide hassle-free gaming. Furthermore, the company also provides 20% more thermal efficiency as compared to the Asus ROG Phone 7. Besides this, you can also connect the AeroActive Cooler X (accessory) to reduce heating to a certain extent.
Camera
One of the major concerns with the Asus ROG phone has been the camera department. From the ROG 6, ROG 7, and even the ROG 8 lineup, the triple camera setup stayed constant. But this time, you are getting a 32MP telephoto lens instead of a macro shooter on the back panel. Besides this, the device also includes a 50MP primary and 13MP ultra lens. On the other hand, the 32MP selfie lens appears on the front display.
Not to forget, the device arrives with the new Hybrid Gimble Stabilizer 3.0 system, which will help with hypersteady videos. Plus, the telephoto lens can capture up to 3x optical zoom photos, while the clarity AI zooming ability can grant up to 10x zoom. As far as the lowlight, the native camera handles colors and contrast properly so that you can capture the best moment without any hassle.
Aside from this, the 120-degree ultra-wide lens can capture more detail. Although, it’s not as fancy as other lenses. The same goes for the selfie camera as you won’t find any particularly new. But as for the video recording, you can expect up to 8K video resolution with the main camera. Whereas the selfie lens can capture up to 1080p videos.
Battery and Others
As for the battery endurance, the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro has one of the best screen times on Android phones. With this device, you can expect up to 7+ hours of usage if you are using the phone only for normal social media. But as for gaming, you can expect up to 5+ hours of gaming with the 5500 mAh battery configuration. Aside from this, the device relies on the 65W wired charging.
With this, the device will take around 80% battery in less than an half hour. If you are purchasing the Indian variant, you may receive 30W wired charging. But, it’s confirmed that the device will provide 15W wireless charging support. Yet, the company does take special care of the sound output using the stereo speaker’s setup.
Undoubtedly, the phone has a single speaker, which is a downgrade as compared to the previous gen phones. Yet, there’s no denying that smartphone makers ensure that the phone is getting the necessary sensors and connectivity tools so that the users can enjoy astounding gameplay. Lastly, the phone will be priced at around $1350 (Rs 1,12,200 in India) approx for the starting variant.
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Pros and Cons
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro smartphone.
Specifications | Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro |
Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
Announced | January 2024 |
SIM | Dual SIM |
Dimensions | 6.45 x 3.02 x 0.35 inches |
Weight | 225 g |
Size | 6.78 inches |
Display | LTPO AMOLED 1B colors 165Hz HDR10 1600-2500 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~388 PPI density Always-On display |
Protection/Others | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 IP68 dust/water resistant 341 Mini-LED programmable matrix (on the back) Pressure-sensitive zones (Gaming triggers) |
Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
OS | Android 14 |
Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
CPU | Octa-core 1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 5×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520 |
GPU | Adreno 750 |
Card slot | No |
RAM | 16GB, 24GB |
Internal | 512GB, 1TB UFS 4.0 NTFS support for external storage |
Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF, gimbal OIS 32 MP (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 13 MP (120Ëšultrawide) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 8K@24fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+ |
Selfie | 32 MP (wide) Panorama, HDR Max – 1080p@30fps |
Loudspeaker | Yes (Stereo speakers) |
3.5mm jack | Yes 32-bit/384kHz Hi-Res & Hi-Res wireless audio |
WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless |
GPS | GPS (L1+L5), BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a), GALILEO (E1+E5a) QZSS (L1+L5), NavIC (L5), GLONASS |
NFC | Yes |
Infrared port | No |
Radio | No |
USB | USB Type-C (side), DisplayPort 1.4; USB Type-C (bottom), OTG |
Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
Battery | 5500 mAh 65W wired, PD3.0, PPS, QC5 – International 30W wired, PD3.0, PPS – India 15W wireless (Qi) 10W reverse wired |
Colors | Phantom Black |
Expected Price | $1350 (Rs 1,12,200 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The ROG Phone 8 Pro brings IP68 certification and offers excellent display, improved brightness, magical HDR capabilities, and adaptive refresh rate support. All of those factors combined with enhanced gimbal stabilization and upgraded camera setup. However, the design gives a fresh take on the overall aesthetic, while the hardware pushes the limits to the extreme. Overall, it’s the best deal if you want a gaming-focused device.
But at the same time, if you are looking for a similar deal in the gaming-centric segment, you should consider getting the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro phone. It brings almost the same features and gaming experience. Besides this, it only costs 2/3 of the ROG Phone 8 Pro edition. But nowadays, you don’t need a gaming phone to enjoy an impeccable gaming experience, especially when you have a budget to purchase the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro.
Instead of that, you can check out other popular flagship phones. One of them would be the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the other one would undeniably be the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both of them can provide almost identical gaming while offering additional camera and software perks. But still, if you are a true gamer, those aesthetics are quite difficult to find in mainstream brands. Therefore, choosing ROG Phone 8 Pro would still be a great option.