Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate Review: For Hardcore Gamers

While Asus launched three variations of the ROG Phone 5 at launch time just a few months in the past, the top-end ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has solely made its approach to India now. All three are purpose-built for gaming, with top-of-the-line {hardware} together with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and shoulder-mounted AirSet off buttons, amongst different unusual options. The base model of the ROG Phone 5 is definitely highly effective, however as its identify suggests, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is completely loaded to the gills. I put the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate to the take a look at to see whether it is now one of the best gaming telephone on the market.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate worth in India

The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate boasts of a ridiculous quantity of RAM, 18GB to be exact. You get just one configuration on the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate in India, with 512GB of storage. It is priced at Rs 79,999 and is obtainable in Storm White solely. The normal ROG Phone 5 is at the moment priced beginning at Rs. 49,999 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and Rs. 57,999 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There’s additionally an ROG Phone 5 Pro, priced at Rs. 69,999 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Read on to see what’s completely different in regards to the ROG 5 Ultimate, and whether or not it is definitely worth the worth distinction. 

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate design

The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is a giant machine and does have just a few design similarities to its predecessors. It has a giant 6.78-inch show with a tall 20.4:9 facet ratio. The borders on the perimeters are comparatively slim however there are barely greater ones on the high and the underside. Asus has neatly tucked a selfie digital camera into the house above the display, and there are audio system on the high and backside for stereo output in panorama.

The body of the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is made out of metallic and has a premium really feel to it. All the buttons are on the appropriate facet, with the facility button nearly precisely within the centre. The quantity buttons are barely greater and are simple to succeed in. There can also be a microphone gap subsequent to the facility button. Asus has additionally applied ultrasonic set off buttons referred to as ‘AirTriggers’ on the identical facet. The placement is great and my index fingers rested on them naturally when holding the telephone in panorama to play video games.

The left facet of the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has a Type-C port and a proprietary connector for ROG Phone equipment. This further Type-C port can be utilized to cost the smartphone whereas gaming in panorama mode, so the wire does not get in the best way. Asus has lined these two ports with a removable rubber flap. This SIM tray can also be on the left, completed in a vivid blue accent color. It has two NanoSIM slots however there is no such thing as a microSD card slot for storage growth. There’s nothing on the high,  however the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has an offset USB Type-C port on the backside together with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The matte white end of the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate hides fingerprints properly

Asus has made the again of the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate utilizing Corning Gorilla Glass 3. This smartphone doesn’t have a metallic vent on the facet like its predecessors, the ROG Phone 3 (Review) and the ROG Phone 2 (Review). There’s a triple digital camera module within the high left nook, which protrudes barely. At the centre of the rear panel is a monochrome PMOLED show which lights up when the display is on, and might be customised to point out completely different graphics. It additionally exhibits alerts for incoming calls, and animates when a sport is launched. There are two further Air Triggers on the again that are inside attain whereas holding the telephone in panorama. The again panel has a matte end which manages to cover fingerprints fairly properly.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate does really feel cumbersome given its measurement, and its 238g weight is noticeable whereas holding or carrying it. If you do not like huge and ponderous smartphones, you will not discover the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate interesting.

With the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, you get a clip-on AeroActive cooler and a 30W charger within the field. You can connect the AeroActive cooler to the again of the ROG Phone 5 to assist it dissipate warmth higher. Asus has additionally added two bodily set off buttons on it, which might be arrange for gaming.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate specs and software program

The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate sports activities a 6.78-inch AMOLED show with a 20.4:9 facet ratio.This panel is HDR 10+ licensed. It has a most refresh charge of 144Hz and a contact sampling charge of 300Hz. There’s additionally an in-display fingerprint scanner. The peak brightness is 1200 nits, and Asus has used Corning Gorilla Glass Victus for cover.

There’s a further Type-C port and a proprietary connector for ROG equipment on the left

Asus has picked the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC to energy the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. It was the 2021 flagship processor from Qualcomm on the time of its launch and continues to be considered one of probably the most highly effective SoCs available in the market. This processor is matched with 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, which could appear to be overkill for most individuals. Given its {hardware}, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate ought to be capable to deal with each title within the Google Play Store.

You get assist for Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, six satellite tv for pc navigation programs, and twin 5G in addition to 4G VoLTE. This telephone packs in a 6,000mAh battery that is cut up into two cells of three,000mAh every. The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is able to 65W quick charging however solely comes with a 30W charger within the field.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate runs Android 11 with Asus’s personal ROG UI on high. It had the November Android safety patch on the time of this overview. The ROG UI is customised to enchantment to avid gamers, however if you would like the inventory Android look, you’ll be able to change to that within the Themes app. There are just a few preinstalled apps corresponding to Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, and Messenger. I didn’t encounter any spammy notifications through the overview interval.

Multiple gestures have been applied, however not many are enabled by default. You can double-tap the show to wake the telephone or put it to sleep. Smart Answering robotically solutions an incoming name once you elevate the telephone to your ear. You may also hint sure alphabets on the display to launch predefined apps. 

Asus additionally preinstalls its personal Armoury Crate app, which showcases all of the video games put in on the smartphone. A console display exhibits parameters of the machine corresponding to storage, RAM, battery degree, and system temperature. It additionally shows CPU and GPU clock speeds together with their temperatures. There are completely different energy modes that may be chosen on this app. “X Mode” dials all the things as much as eleven, providing you with all the facility this telephone has to supply. “Dynamic” retains energy balanced with warmth and battery life, whereas “Ultra Durable” focuses on conserving energy.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate efficiency and battery life

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate’s crisp AMOLED show had wonderful viewing angles and was additionally vivid sufficient outdoor, in my expertise. The excessive refresh charge makes the UI really feel buttery clean. Asus has set this to Auto by default, which retains it at 120Hz. You can manually bump it as much as 144Hz or sluggish it all the way down to 60Hz. I additionally discovered the stereo audio system on the telephone to be loud, and they didn’t sound tinny at greater quantity ranges.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate just about bulldozes by way of any workload you throw at it. I performed a number of video games and multitasked with completely different apps, with none points. During my overview interval, I had over 10GB of RAM free more often than not and by no means seen any lag. The in-display fingerprint scanner and face recognition had been snappy as properly.

AirTriggers on the appropriate facet of the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate can be utilized whereas gaming.

Benchmarks helped put some perspective on the place the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate stands in comparison with different smartphones available in the market. In AnTuTu, it scored 837,004 factors which is among the many highest we have noticed. In Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core exams, it scored 1,120 and three,693 respectively. It maxed out 3DMark’s Sling Shot and Sling Shot Extreme graphics exams, and managed to hit 120fps and 56fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex and Car Chase scenes respectively.

I then loaded up Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), and it defaulted to the High body charge and HD graphics settings. I bumped the graphics high quality as much as HDR and the body charge to Extreme. The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate nonetheless ran the sport at these settings with none lag or stutter.

I discovered the AirTriggers to be responsive and helpful whereas gaming. You may also use those on the rear panel and the bodily triggers on the AeroActive cooler for gaming. I performed GBMI for 25 minutes and seen an eight p.c drop within the battery degree. The telephone turned barely heat to the contact which was noticeable on the metallic body. While taking part in video games with the Aeroactive cooler hooked up, the telephone stayed extra snug, however the spinning fan did drain the battery faster.

The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate presents good battery life, and lasted over a day with my utilization. In our HD video loop take a look at, the telephone managed to go on for 17 hours and 28 minutes. Charging the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate with the provided 30W charger was comparatively fast; the telephone obtained to 45 p.c in 30 minutes and 86 p.c in an hour.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate cameras

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has a triple digital camera setup on the rear. It has a 64-megapixel main digital camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle digital camera, and a 5-megapixel macro shooter. The main digital camera captures 16-megapixel pictures by default. I discovered the digital camera app to be fairly simple and simple to make use of. You can simply transfer between completely different taking pictures modes, and it additionally has fast controls for HDR, facet ratio choice, the flash, and Google Lens.

The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has a triple digital camera setup

Photos taken with the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate in daylight appeared good at first. Colours had been pretty correct and objects at a distance had been recognisable. However, on zooming in, I seen grain within the output. The ultra-wide-angle digital camera captures a wider area of view however edges had been distorted within the output. Photos weren’t as detailed as these taken with the first digital camera, and artefacting was seen on zooming in.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate daylight pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate ultra-wide pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

The telephone was fast to lock focus when taking pictures close-ups, and the output was sharp. It managed good separation for the topic and likewise added a depth impact to the background. Portrait pictures had good edge detection and the telephone did let me set the extent of blur earlier than taking a shot. The macro digital camera permits you to get near the topic, and managed respectable pictures too.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate close-up pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate portrait pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Low-light digital camera efficiency was good. The telephone detected low gentle and robotically set itself to seize lengthy publicity pictures. It additionally confirmed how lengthy the publicity could be, so I knew I needed to stand nonetheless. This labored identical to Night mode, and the output was an identical. So whereas this helps seize images at evening with out twiddling with the digital camera app, it does render Night mode redundant. Foreground topics appeared good, however objects at a distance had been smoothened. Shots taken with out the lengthy publicity missed out on element, particularly within the shadows.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate low-light digital camera pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate Night mode pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate selfie portrait pattern (faucet to see full measurement)

Selfies taken with the 24-megapixel entrance digital camera are saved at 6-megapixel decision on account of pixel binning by default. Shots taken in daylight had been crisp and portrait selfies had good edge detection. Low-light selfies with a lightweight supply close by had been good.

Video recording tops out at 8K for the first digital camera and 1080p for the selfie shooter. None of the cameras have optical stabilisation, and the telephone stabilises video electronically. In daylight, movies shot at 4K had a bit shimmer when strolling round, although 1080p footage was properly stabilised. Low-light video had a shimmer impact if recorded whereas strolling, at 4K in addition to 1080p.

Verdict

The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is an all-out gaming smartphone with devoted high-end {hardware}. Asus hasn’t lower any corners in relation to efficiency, and a few may also discover 18GB of RAM overkill. The crisp high-refresh-rate AMOLED panel, stereo audio system, and capacitive AirTriggers make gaming extra partaking on this smartphone. However, digital camera efficiency is not one of the best at this worth, which might flip away folks on the lookout for an all-rounder.

If you desire a purpose-built gaming telephone and you do not thoughts splurging, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is one of the best you will get available in the market proper now. It doesn’t have any direct opponents however you’ll be able to get a lot slicker flagship telephones at this worth. If you do not wish to spend Rs. 79,999, the bottom Asus ROG Phone 5 at Rs. 49,999 presents extra worth on your cash.