The smartphone industry has been relatively stagnant in recent years. As the performance, battery and camera capabilities of flagship smartphones have plateaued, their affordability has meant that mid-range smartphones have closed the gap in performance and features while still offering great value in terms of cost. In addition to the growing mid-range market, many users are also extending the use of smartphones, and the average usage time has increased from the traditional 1-2 years to 2-3 years. The industry has been desperate to design a smartphone to shake up the market. Asus has cracked that with its ROG Phone 06 release.
The device was deemed both unsuitable for the South African market and too expensive in its first five iterations. Finally, the device has reached our shores in its sixth release. A smartphone designed from the ground up as a mobile gaming device, offering a range of features not found in many other smartphones on the market today. However, with such a niche smartphone, ecosystem support for the launch is important. So, how much value does the ASUS ROG Phone 06 bring to potential buyers?
Build and Design
In recent years, the design of smartphones has hit a bottleneck. However, while most other OEMs kept their rectangular designs to a minimum, with only the camera island showing off any new design, Asus took a completely different route. Yes, the front of the device still looks like your average smartphone — not much can be changed with an all-glass panel — and the back looks unique.
There's a lot going on on the back cover. The unit has the same Asus design aesthetic as most of its other devices, with strong diagonal lines and plenty of RBG colors. In this case, the diagonal runs through the center of the cover. It doesn't have the contrasting pattern we've seen on many other ASUS designs. Instead, it just has a diagonal line with the "ROG 06" logo on it.
The diagonal goes all the way to the camera island. It's a fairly large triple-lens camera and flash housing. Even though it takes up nearly the entire top end of the rear, it's not exactly centered. While it's standard across the industry, the camera housing is angled towards the upper left corner, and it looks a bit clumsy when it's so big and not centered. That said, it still has a relatively unique look.
At the bottom end of the diagonal, there's a very large RGB panel. When the device is turned on, so is the RGB panel, which lights up the ROG logo. On the ROG Phone 06 Pro version, there is a 2-inch OLED screen. This can be customized to your liking using the Armory Crate app on your phone. However, on the standard version, you have to use the ROG logo in RGB colors. That said, it looks less ostentatious this way.
What Asus also did well with the ROG Phone 06 is its color options. While the device may only come in two standard options in black and white, there are already two notable collaborations. This includes versions themed around Batman and Diablo Immortal. Both of these include different color schemes, along with a set of preloaded wallpapers and icons to match.
The device also adds some extras as dedicated gaming technology. For starters, there are two Type-C ports. The first is on the bottom as usual, and the second is on the side under the RGB lighting. Unlike many other modern smartphones, it also retains the 3.5mm jack.
However, by far the standout feature is its shoulder triggers. There are two triggers on the right side of the device. When its sides are open, they're in the top left and right corners, similar to the triggers on a console controller. However, there aren't any physical buttons. Instead, it uses touch-sensitive buttons with haptic feedback to provide the same type of experience as a full-sized controller. It works well and feels just as good.
The downside of all the add-ons for the ROG Phone 06 is that it adds quite a bit of size and weight. It measures 173x77x10.3mm and weighs 239g. That's about 20-25% heavier than other flagship smartphones. There is a small price to pay in the end.
Overall, Asus has taken smartphone design to the next level with the ROG Phone 06. There are plenty of added features, while also retaining some of the more useful elements of older smartphones. The rear reflects the typical style of a gaming device with an RGB illuminated logo. It's still a mostly plastic structure, but it looks like nothing.
Screen and Display
Speaking of the screen, I compared it to the best in the business, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. It must be said that at the end of the day, there isn't much choice between the two. This is great for potential buyers of the ROG Phone 06, as Asus has done a lot of work in terms of peripheral hardware and features to complement your gaming experience.
First, they have a similarly sized panel. The ROG Phone 06 has a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel, while the S22 Ultra has a 6.8-inch AMOLED 2X panel. The former has a screen-to-body ratio of 82.2%, while the latter has an even better 90.2%. The latter also has better contrast and color balance, but the ROG Phone 06 wins in direct comparisons.
In terms of new additions, the ROG Phone 06 includes a 165Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits. By comparison, the S22 Ultra has a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and 1,750 nits of peak brightness. While its overall brightness may be a bit low, it offers a 165Hz screen, which can make a big difference both when using the phone in general and when you're immersed in some games.
Where there is little comparison between the two, the S22 Ultra has a much better display. It has a 1,440×3,088px resolution at 500ppi, while the ROG Phone 06 only has a 1,080×2,448px resolution at 395ppi. However, unless you're staring at every pixel up close, you won't notice much of a difference in resolution clarity when playing games at the recommended viewing distance.
Finally, both screens are protected with Corning Gorilla Glass. However, the ROG unit uses Victus protection, while the S22 Ultra has the latest Victus+ protection.
Specification
ASUS equipped ROG Phone 06 with the best hardware on the market today. It leads the charge with the Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ chipset. It uses an octa-core (3.19GHz Cortex-X2 + x3 2.75GHz Cortex-A710 + x4 1.80GHz Cortex-A510) CPU. It is paired with an Adreno 730 GPU.
There are four variants of internal storage and RAM configurations. This includes 128GB 8GB RAM / 128GB 12GB RAM / 256GB 12GB RAM / 512GB 16GB RAM options. It's then bolted together with a massive 6,000mAh battery.
The device supports a triple-lens camera. It works well in most situations, especially in bright conditions. Its main 50MP lens does most of the heavy lifting here. It takes very detailed photos without the oversaturation you'll find on other camera software that tries to enhance color reproduction. Its ultra-wide shots also do a good job, though not as detailed. It has a 125° viewing angle, enough for most landscape shots. Finally, its macro lens lets you get a fairly close-up image when you need it. It works well and won't let you down. That pretty much sums up the triple-lens camera setup - it won't blow your mind, but will deliver solid results when needed. Its full configuration is as follows:
- 50MP (wide), f/1.9, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF
- 13MP (ultrawide), f/2.2
- 5MP (Macro)
Asus has combined the Android 12 operating system with ROG UI and Zen UI firmware. The device switches between these two UIs, balancing general use and gaming modes. It also works great, which means you won't drain the battery as easily when you're not gaming. But more on that later.
One negative aspect of the software is that ASUS claims to only provide two years of software updates for the newly announced ROG Phone 06. It's kind of unbelievable. It appears that there is an attempt to force users to switch to later smartphones by 2024, regardless of previous updates or new enhancements to the feature list. This is in stark contrast to global survey results where users have switched to a two- to three-year replacement cycle.
Performance and Battery Life
While that's an impressive set of specs, it's no surprise that you know it's nearly flawless for general use. You can complete any task and multitasking activity you want in no time. good results.
In some benchmarks of similar smartphones as well as other flagship models, it's in the top three. Using the Geekbench tool, it trails only the homegrown ROG Phone 06 Pro and the Red Magic 7S Pro. In some other tests, it actually outperformed the Pro version due to some drawing and GPU power being used on the rear OLED screen.
As mentioned earlier, the ROG Phone 06 uses a 6,000mAh battery. This is actually split to work with a pair of 3,000mAh batteries. It works well. Even with the 165Hz screen turned on, users can easily spend a full day of use. In fact, you can push it to a full second day with a few tweaks. This speaks volumes about the device's efficiency in terms of hardware and software usage.
The device does heat up a bit under load, which means the battery drains faster when gaming. However, you can still expect 12+ hours of battery life for continuous gaming. That's a huge bonus, considering most other smartphones typically only offer three to five hours of gameplay before needing to be recharged.
When it's time to charge, just plug in the included 65W Type-C charger. Either port will work, as they both support fast charging. Therefore, the charging speed is very fast. I'm not sure about the inner workings of charging its dual 3,000mAh batteries, but it has to offer some advantage. As far as thresholds go, I've often charged up to 30% in less than 15 minutes. You can get to 80% in about 30 minutes and fully charge in 45 minutes. Those numbers are impressive compared to my current daily driver, which takes about 80 minutes to fully charge — almost twice as long.
Gaming with ASUS ROG Phone 06
According to the performance section, the Asus ROG Phone 06 has achieved decent scores in the benchmarks. In addition to that, it can easily complete everyday tasks. However, this smartphone was designed and built with gaming in mind. This is where the real test lies.
Thankfully, when it comes to GPU benchmarks, you'll find leaderboards in much the same way. On most GFX tests, it averages around 50-70FPS in most graphics-intensive games available. This again puts it in the top three in most tests, beating the Pro version in quite a few.
The unit does tend to run on the hotter side when under heavy load while gaming. In most cases, it's not uncomfortable because you can handle it with ease. However, sometimes I decide to let the device rest just in case. It's still not as hot as previous units I've tested, and I can still hold it in my hand -- I just didn't want to risk damaging the review unit.
ASUS does include an optional fan, which attaches neatly to the rear of the unit to keep it cool for hours at a time. I wasn't able to test this add-on, but from what I've read it works fine.
Also, only a handful of games can use the built-in haptic triggers natively. It can be customized using Armory Crate. However, in this regard, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. In some games, you can't use the full potential of the trigger, and in others, it doesn't work at all. This was one of the only major issues I encountered while testing the ROG Phone 06. The lack of native support for games using triggers makes me wary of its usefulness. However, when it works, it works well and is highly immersive.
Thanks to its dual Type-C configuration, you can also add some peripherals to the device while gaming. I managed to add my mouse and keyboard using one port for the Type-C cable and Bluetooth on the other. This allows another port to keep the device charged while gaming, providing an uninterrupted gaming experience.
Is ASUS ROG Phone 06 worth buying?
As with many new devices, the answer is complicated. The problem with novelty is that it tends to be ahead of its time when third-party content is sometimes called for. As much as I like these features and how it's geared towards gaming, more games and other content will need to be developed to get the most out of the ASUS ROG Phone 06. Asus' entry experience is an indicator of how much fun this gaming smartphone can be. However, it fails to deliver excitement from start to finish due to the content.
Asus ROG Phone has been available in many markets in its first five iterations. Now, in its sixth iteration, it has landed on South African shores, bringing with it a bit of a premium. With a retail price of R22,999, it's no small feat either for a saturated market or for trying to gain market share with incumbents. That said, the price is not without merit. With some extra gaming or interactive experiences at your disposal, I'd say it's a good price.
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