After trying several smartphone da Chinese gaming e non, today we talk about ASUS ROG Phone 2, which is the latest device dedicated to gamers produced by the Taiwanese company. The first variant had not wowed us poco, will be successful ASUS to confirm and / or improve the expectations of the public? Let's find out together in our full review.
Review ASUS ROG Phone 2
Unboxing - ASUS ROG Phone 2
The sales package is made of black cardboard and inside we find the following equipment:
- ASUS ROG Phone 2;
- hard plastic cover;
- wall power supply;
- USB cable - USB Type-C:
- pin for the SIM slot;
- manuals.
Design and construction
Il design of the new ASUS ROG Phone 2 it takes up the lines of the previous model and only changes in a few small aspects. So we are always in front of a device from theeye-catching aesthetics, modern and with a gaming soul! In fact, we have several details that recall the products ROG, from the backlit logo, to the various finishes that change color based on the inclination.
Unfortunately, however, the dimensions increase compared to the first version, in fact, the smartphone measures 171 x 77.6 x 9.5 millimeters for a total weight of 240 grams. These are numbers that must be taken into consideration before purchasing a terminal since one-handed use is very difficult, although the appropriate software is present in the software. "One Hand Mode" which will limit the negative aspects of this factor.
However, part of this is due to the fact that the battery has been increased by 4000 mAh a 6000 mAh and that we have gods premium materials including a mirrored back cover in glass and a solid aluminum side frame.
Below are the mini-jack input, the USB Type-C port and the main microphone, while at the top there is only the microphone useful for reducing ambient noise. The richest profiles of keys and customizations are the side ones, as on the right frame we find the Customizable AirTrigger, a third microphone and the volume and power keys, unlike the left one on which we find another USB Type-C port to be able to charge the smartphone even when we use it horizontally (so that we can continue playing without having the charging wire of half) and the dual SIM slot.
Finally, at the rear we find the dual camera flanked by the Dual Tone LED flash and the ventilation system grille, while the two speakers (above and below) and the front camera on the right are positioned in front so as not to be covered by the fingers if if you want to do direct su Twitch o YouTube (in the software there is a specific function).
I would like to conclude with a fundamental aspect for a gaming phone, or the haptic feedback returned by the device during the user experience. In fact, the vibrations do not only occur during gaming, but also in the most classic daily operations such as writing a message and this returns a crazy feeling.
Display
Il dell 'ASUS ROG Phone 2 it is one of its greatest strengths, as there is a panel AMOLED da 6.59 inches diagonal with resolution Full HD + (2340 x 1080 pixel) HDR10, density of PPI 391, 19.5 format: 9, protection Corning Gorilla Glass 6 e refresh rate to 120Hz!
The smartphone allows us to calibrate colors in different ways:
- Natural;
- optimal;
- Cinematic;
- Standard;
- Custom.
As if that were not enough we can manage the color temperature for each single item as we like.
The display of this ROG Phone 2 it is certainly impressive thanks to its generous dimensions and gods faithful colors (in natural mode), as well as excellent maximum brightness. The icing on the cake is the update frequency a 120Hz which makes the experience much more fluid and harmonious, which brings considerable advantages in the gaming phase.
Among the various customizations present in the software we find the Dark Mode, the system gestures and the Always-On display, which has only one flaw, or that of do not show notifications receipts but only the time, date and battery.
Hardware and performance
To move theASUS ROG Phone 2 a chipset takes care of it Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 +, which is inclusive of an octa-core processor maximum clock frequency of 2.96 GHz, a GPU Adreno 640, 8 GB di RAM LPDDR4X e 128 GB di internal memory UFS 3.0 not expandable via microSD. Obviously there are other memory cuts (up to 12 GB di RAM e 1 TB storage), but these are the ones included in our sample. To contribute to the improvement of the performances we think about the GameCool II cooling system, which includes a 3D steam chamber able to remove heat more effectively than the previous generation. Furthermore, the noise level has also been reduced, so using it at maximum power you will not hear any hum.
Needless to say that the ROG Phone 2 is a splinter, as the opening of the applications is lightning-fast, the management of the RAM sublime and the experience of use of the highest level and this is merit also of the very lean software as well as of the hardware from top of the absolute range.
Let's talk about Gaming because this is his main core. In fact, to further improve game performance we have two details mode of software calls "Game Genie" e "Armory Crate" through which you can manage different settings including:
- AirTriggers: customize the soft touch side buttons (for each game can be changed);
- Customize the lighting of the ROG logo;
- Manage touch sensitivity;
- Manage display update frequency;
- Manage performance and activate the X Mode, which is the most advanced mode for gaming, which can be managed in turn between predefined, advanced and extreme;
- Manage the maximum CPU clock;
- check the maximum temperature to be kept;
- clean the memory;
- exclude the reception of calls;
- limit background data consumption;
- change game;
- create game macros;
- record on screen while playing;
- start live directly on Twitch or YouTube;
- block various notifications;
- display current information (temperature, time, battery, clock, etc.).
During the Gaming we can recall most of these functions through a menu to disappear which we can start with a simple one swipe from the left.
Also in this case I seem to say something foregone, because thegaming experience è phenomenal for a number of factors including the power of the hardware, the stereo speakers from exaggerated volume (I'm not kidding, after some time at maximum volume I had to lower because they had literally stunned me), the haptic feedback, the customizable AirTriggers and the display with HDR support and with 120Hz refresh rate.
Playing with this smartphone is a real pleasure and an experience to do. Obviously any title is reproduced with details at mostin HDR where present, and maintain a high frame rate and constant.
After long gaming sessions with the X mode al maximum power the smartphone will tend to become warm, but nothing excessive, in fact I think that at these levels it falls within the norm.
Benchmark - ASUS ROG Phone 2
Camera
L'ASUS ROG Phone 2 can count on a dual camera from 48 mega-pixels with f / 1.8 aperture and a wide angle from 13 mega-pixels with f / 2.4 aperture, with PDAF autofocus, dual LED flash and digital stabilization.
In conditions of good brightness the shots are enough, as they guarantee quite balanced colors and a good management of the lights even if the level of detail and the general quality could make me think of a sensor better suited to a good medium range rather than to a real top. Even the wide-angle takes good shots and above all the distortion is not accentuated on the sides.
The only particular criticism I would like to make is that with the close macro I have encountered some focusing problems, although the distance from the subject is not so close as to create a similar problem.
At night the situation becomes more complicated, the quality goes down and it shows and as if that were not enough we should keep our hands firmly together so as not to make the micromosse photos come. A good percentage of digital noise can be noticed and the night mode only partially improves the situation. The wide-angle lens cannot handle the strongest lights very well and tends to overexpose them.
On the other hand, on the other hand, there is a sensor from 24 mega-pixels with f / 2.2 opening, which produces very good selfies in conditions of good brightness, guaranteeing high definition and fairly faithful colors. The management of the lights with relative HDR is satisfactory and I have not encountered any problems in general. In the evening the quality obviously decreases, but the evaluation will be insufficient only when the brightness is really too low.
Videos can be recorded up to the maximum resolution of 4K at 60 FPS and in general the colors are good even if slightly contrasted, the focusing is very fast while the stabilization is insufficient. Videos are not his strong point.
Audio and connectivity
L'ASUS ROG Phone 2 It owns two frontal stereo speakers with DTS: X Ultra, which return one very powerful volume, I think the highest I've ever heard on a smartphone, without forgetting the balance of frequencies that turns out to be well balanced and with good presence bass.
I have to be honest, most of the time I used the volume at half its power, because raising it to maximum you can't play more than 1 minute without staying stunned! Experience is completely addictive and also the audio output from the headphones is excellent, not to mention the one captured by 4 microphones. In short, the Taiwanese company has decided to push very strongly on this sector and it has succeeded to the great one.
As for connectivity, theASUS ROG Phone 2 supports theLTE Cat.20 up to 2 Gbps and the Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac / ad e 4 × 4 MiMo, so we have well 4 antennas arranged in different points of the smartphone, which will allow us to handle the device at will without ever covering the antennas and thus slowing down the connection during gaming. The reception, in fact, is very good both as regards the data network and Wi-Fi.
For the rest we find the Bluetooth 5.0, L 'NFC, FM radio and GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS / BDS / Galileo / QZSS which guarantees us accurate and trouble-free satellite navigation.
The rear fingerprint sensor on the old model has been replaced by a fingerprint sensor below the display, which is quite precise, although it needs some strength to be able to read the footprint and unlock theASUS ROG Phone 2. On board we also find the facial recognition 2D that in favorable lighting situations it behaves very well, while it goes a little further into crisis at night.
Software
L'ASUS ROG Phone 2 is based on Android 9 Pie with proprietary interface ROG UI and with security patches updated to 5 June 2019.
We've already talked about the gaming firmware part, so at this stage we'll just tell you more about the daily user experience. Indeed, the system possesses many customizations such as Dark Mode, cloning of some apps, the modification of the theme and dell 'icon pack, gestures system and the most classic and standard digital management.
Here, the only one criticizes that I can move to the software is that thenative icon pack it doesn't make me crazy and that the Always-On display does not show notifications, but otherwise everything works perfectly and the UI è rapid e very slim.
Autonomy
Under the body we find a very generous battery 6000 mAh, which is able to guarantee us an autonomy out of the ordinary (speaking of top of the range). Indeed, with intense use, about 1 now gaming with full power X Mode, 120Hz display, Always-On Display and clear theme I reached about 7 hours of active display arriving until the morning of the following day.
Obviously if we use the device less intensely it will not be difficult to obtain two days full of autonomy, making you forget to recharge the ROG Phone 2 everyday.
Precisely with regards to this last aspect, with the power supply supplied by 18 la recharge it will be a little slow and will take around 2 hours to get from 0 to 100%.
Conclusions - ASUS ROG Phone 2
Before coming to conclusions it is necessary to talk about price, as theASUS ROG Phone 2 12 / 512 GB is available officially in Italy a 899 € (with earphones, fan and bumper). However, if you want to spend less for the international variant with cuts from 8 / 128 GB, then you will need to contact GearBest on which it is available only 486 € thanks to ours that we share daily on Telegram channels dedicated to offers.
To these figures ASUS ROG Phone 2 becomes it gaming smartphone par excellence, since we have top-of-the-range features to a figure very close to that of its competitors, but with the advantage of verging on perfection in almost all sectors. The only one below tone is that of camera, since it is comparable only to that of a good medium range and, moreover, we must take into account the generous dimensions.
For the rest, this device will not disappoint you if your main goal is to have a top level gaming experience.
