ASUS ROG Phone 5 Unboxing and First Impressions

ASUS just introduced the ROG Phone 5, the company’s fourth-generation gaming smartphone in India starting at Rs. 49,999. Here we have the unboxing and first impressions of the latest gaming smartphone that brings several improvements in terms of hardware.

Box Contents

• ASUS ROG Phone 5 12GB RAM, 256GB storage version in Phantom color
• USB Type-C to CCable
• 2-pin charger (30W)
• Aero Case
• SIM Ejector tool

The main highlight of the phone is its 6.78-inch (2440×1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED 10-bit HDR display with 144Hz/1ms refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate, 111% DCI-P3 and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. It has 20.4:9 aspect ratio and is easy to access when gaming. You can change the refresh rate between 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz and 144Hz. The phone is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. The phone has an in-display fingerprint scanner and the phone runs Android 11 with ROG UI on top.

It still has the bezels on the top for the perfect gaming experience. There is a 24MP front camera on the bezel, and the camera diameter is 27% smaller compared to the predecessor. It has two symmetrical 7-magnet 12×16 Super Linear Speakers that are powered by Cirrus Logic CS35L45 mono amplifiers. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 888 with 8GB / 12GB of RAM (16GB in the global version) and this has reshaped vapor chamber and extensive graphite sheets for much better and more even heat dissipation compared to the ROG Phone 3, said the company.

Coming to the button placements, the power button and the volume rockers are present on the right side. You can also see the new AirTrigger 5 control and Ultrasonic button system on the edge, which  has been massively improved with more sensors (from 7 to 9) for higher accuracy/sensitivity, better positioning (closer to the edge for smaller hands), more buttons and plenty of new motion sensing inputs. On the other side there is a secondary USB port, protected by a rubber flap. The dual SIM slot is present in the corner in red colour.

On the top there is a secondary microphone and on the bottom there is a USB Type-C port and the 3.5mm audio jack, which is coming back. This has ESS SABRE ES9280AC Pro DAC with HyperStream II QUAD DAC technology and a built-in Class G ESS Sabre Headphone amplifier.

It retains the same camera configuration from the predecessor that includes a 64-megapixel main camera along with a 13-megapixel 125° ultra-wide camera and a 5-megapixel macro camera.

This brings a new ROG RGB light logo on the back with customizable options with software. The ROG Phone 5 Pro comes with ROG Vision Color PMOLED display and the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate version comes with ROG Vision monochrome PMOLED display.

The phone has a glass back with a glossy finish in the black version we have, so it is prone to fingerprints and smudges. Under the hood the phone packs a  dual-cell 6,000mAh battery with MMT battery technology and up to 65W HyperCharge fast charging that can charge up to 4200mAh (70%) in  30 minutes and and 100% in 52 minutes and is also up to 7°C cooler during charging compared to the ROG Phone. The phone has Haptic Audio that offers 2-Zone customizable immersive haptic feedback in any game. Once mapped on the screen, the system will listen to the audio cues after you press the highlighted area on the screen where you have mapped the haptic marker, and it will generate simulated vibrations that match the on-screen action.

The ROG AeroActive Cooler 5 has a new layout and now sits right above the CPU and can, without much noise, deliver up to a 10°C drop in CPU temperature without any external power needed. It also adds two physical AirTrigger buttons, a kickstand and a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can charge the phone while using standard 3.5mm headphones without any cables getting in the way.

The ROG Phone 5 starts at Rs. 49,999 for the 8GB RAM with 128GB storage version and goes up to Rs. 79,999 for the 18GB RAM with 512GB storage ROG 5 Ultimate Limited Edition version. It will be available from Flipkart starting from April 15th.