The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro was introduced. Here’s our first impression of the new flagship gaming phone.
The new gaming flagship from Asus is here: the ROG Phone 8 Pro. Aside from the usual improvements in gaming smartphones (such as performance, display, etc.), ASUS has paid particular attention to the shape and appearance of the phone: it no longer screams “gamer”.
We unpacked the cell phone and shared our first impression.
The packaging and the contents
The ROG Phone 8 Pro comes in a fairly large hexagon-shaped box. If you pull on a tab on the side, a flap that is attached magnetically opens and the cell phone appears.
Inside we find the gaming phone itself, a 65-watt power supply, a covered USB-C cable, a plastic case, the AeroActice Cooler X and its fabric cover.
ROG Phone 8 Pro: First impressions
There is a small display on the back that becomes invisible when switched off.
Weight and appearance: The first thing you notice is that not much stands out. In contrast to its predecessor, the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, the new phone doesn’t scream gaming and looks much more like an ordinary smartphone.
In addition, the Rog Phone has lost weight. The new cell phone weighs 225 grams and is therefore 14 grams lighter than its predecessor.
The backside: A special feature is the “AniME” display with a dot matrix on the back, which can display various information. The previous model also had such a display, but the new one is placed much more inconspicuously and fits nicely into the overall design of the cell phone.
The camera system is at the top left with three lenses. The main camera has 50 megapixels, the telephoto camera 32 and the ultra wide angle 13 megapixels. The maximum resolution available for video recordings is 8K.
The camera system of the Rog Phone 8 Pro.
The front: The AMOLED display has a screen diagonal of 6.78 inches and a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. What is immediately noticeable when you first use it is the 165 Hz screen refresh rate: animations look buttery smooth.
The maximum brightness is 2,500 nits. Our first impression: Yes, it’s really bright. Even in bright daylight, reading the screen shouldn’t be a problem. We will then examine this in more detail in the test.
The front camera is located at the top center behind a punch-out hole. The display itself is almost borderless and flat.
The display is nice and big and bright.
The pages: The 3.5mm headset port is still included on the eighth ROG Phone and is located on the bottom. As with some dedicated handheld consoles, you’ll find two USB-C ports on the ROG Phone 8 Pro. One on the side, which is also used for connecting the external cooler, and one at the bottom.
On the right side there are power and volume buttons – and don’t forget: the air triggers. These are capacitive buttons that can be freely assigned.
Der AeroActive Cooler X
The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro comes with an external cooler that can not only shine in bright colors and keep the phone cool, but also adds two additional buttons that can be freely assigned.
In contrast to its predecessor, the Phone 8 Pro is passively cooled (without an attached cooler), which is why it was even able to receive an IP68 certification this time.
Practical: The AeroActive Cooler X has a built-in kickstand to prop up the phone. However, there is only one angle.
The cooler has two additional triggers that can be freely assigned.
Technical data
- Measurements and weight: 163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9 mm, 225 Gramm
- Materials: Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front, Gorilla Glass rear (unspecified), aluminum frame
- Schutz: IP68
- Display: LTPO AMOLED, 165 Hz, 1080 x 2400, HDR10, 2.500 Nits (maximal)
- Memory and RAM: 512 / 16, 1TB / 24 (UFS 4.0)
- CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3
- GPU: Adreno 750
- Main camera: 50 MP, F/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.56-Zoll-Sensor, PDAF, gimbal OIS
- Tele: 32 MP, F/2.4, 1/3.2-inch sensor, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
- Ultraweitwinkel: 13MP, F/2.2, 13mm, 120 Grad Bildwinkel
- Front camera: 32 MP, F/2.5, 22mm, 1/3.2-Zoll-Sensor (1080p30fps)
- Video: 8K24fps, 4K30/60fps, 1080p30/60/120/240fps, 720p480fps
- Sound: Stereo speakers, headphone jack 32-bit/384 kHz
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, NFC, USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4
- Battery pack: 5,500 mAh, 65 watt wired fast charging (39 minutes for 100 percent), 15 watt wireless charging, 10 watt reverse charging
- Preis: 512/16-Variant: 1,200 Euro / 1TB/24-Variant: 1,500 Euro
That was our first impression of the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro. If you want to find out more about the phone, stay tuned for our test, which will be published next week! What do you think of the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro? Would you buy a “gaming smartphone” or would you rather use a dedicated handheld? Write it to us in the comments!
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