ASUS’s Republic of gamers phone 5 or ASUS ROG 5 is the latest gaming smartphone from the Taiwanese company hitting the Indian market soon. The smartphone for what it’s worth does what it advertises, for example, play games with the highest and the most well-organized performance possible. But, the ASUS ROG 5 is not a gaming console and we have to judge it as a smartphone for everyday users.
The smartphone comes with all the flagship specifications you would expect from a premium device and we put it to test for weeks to find out if it is worth Rs 57,999.
Display and Design:
The ASUS ROG 5 carries forward its absurd, her the top gaming design language you may have seen on the company’s laptops and motherboards. For fans of games, it gives the smartphone a visual identity that reflects the passion and interests. But, for the smartphone users which are regular users, the aggressive gaming branding might be a bit loud to look at.
The ASUS ROG 5 is a well-built smartphone that does many of the other flagship devices to shame. But, the main complaint about the design of smartphones is their utter weight. The weight of it is around 238 grams which can be a bit cumbersome, even for gamers. The main motive of this smartphone is to play games and if you plan on gaming for long sessions, you will feel the strain on the wrists sooner or later, even when you attach a bombsight controller.
At the back, you will also find the ASUS ROG logo that can light up according to your liking. It’s ASUS’s throwback to RGB lighting on its other hardware products which have been carried forward for smartphones. It is a cool feature to have however it does void the battery if you plan on having it.
The ASUS ROG 5 comes with two USB-C pins where one can be found on the left-hand side. This port is used to charge the smartphone but more importantly, it gets attached to accessories such as a joypad or a radiator fan. This USB-C port is protected by a soft cover but since it is not attached to the body of the phone, you can easily lose it. There is a space softcover in the box but that’s not really helpful.
When it comes to the display part, the ASUS ROG 5 is been used on the highest grade screens you will find on smartphones. It also a refresh rate of 144Hz which is said to be the highest you can find. The display has a response time of 1 minute, a standard feature you can also find on any ASUS gaming monitor. While is it like a 144Hz refresh rate, no competitive game actually takes advantage of this feature at the same movement.
It surely does not feel good to see dead cells support their higher refresh rate as it does come in handy when platforming and attacking enemies in the side-scrolling game. The higher refresh rate also comes with games like Minecraft, CSR Racing, and many more which is a great library to start with it. But, if you would like to conserver battery life, the ROG 5 can also run at a 120Hz refresh rate and the difference is not that noticeable. The one thing which I don’t like about the display is the angle you can find on the top and on the side of the display. This angle doesn’t really make it ideal for watching videos and TV shows in 2021.
