Thomas Dietrich
Asus today unveiled its two new gaming flagship phones – the Asus ROG Phone 7 and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. The pair is based around the same chipset, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, accessing up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The Ultimate also features the AeroActive portal for optimal cooling. The small flap at the back opens to let air directly into the built-in vapor chamber. The legendary ROG Vision display on the back is also on board.
Asus boasts major improvements in gaming performance on its new flagships. The GameCool7 cooling system is bigger and better with a boron nitride layer and two graphite plates with a combined area of 16,000mm². The latter promise 10% more cooling performance, and there is also a quick-cycle vapor chamber on board that helps the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to achieve 15% more efficiency.
Asus combines all this with the X mode and the new AeroActive Cooler 7, which is part of the Ultimate box. This should enable sustained gaming performance that no other smartphone can match. The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate opens its AeroActive portal when the AeroActive Cooler 7 is connected for even greater cooling performance. The corresponding values from the Asus test laboratory can be seen in the picture above on the left.
In addition, the new AeroActive Cooler 7 comes with a built-in super linear 5 magnet subwoofer with a 13 x 38 mm speaker. Together with the stereo speakers of the ROG Phone 7 it provides 2.1 audio with stronger bass. However, like the Asus cell phones themselves, the cooler also comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack with Dirac tuning.
Asus ROG Phone 7 again with AirTrigger ultrasonic shoulder buttons
The AirTrigger ultrasonic shoulder controls known from the ROG Phone series are also on board again. They support gestures like Dual Action, Press and Lift, and Gyroscope Aiming. The X-axis linear vibration motor provides vibration mapping to provide realistic haptic feedback for buttons and actions on the display. In addition, the Asus ROG Phone 7 also supports ray tracing, which provides more realistic reflections on water and metal surfaces.
The ROG Phone 7 series features a 6.78-inch Samsung AMOLED display with a resolution of 2448 x 1080 pixels. The brightness peak is 1,500 cd/m², which is even brighter than the ROG Phone 6. The panel supports a variable refresh rate of up to 165 Hz and a touch sampling rate of 720 Hz. As with previous ROG phone generations a 6,000 mAh battery divided into two 3,000 mAh cells provides power. The split into two cells improves cooling and helps with the 65 watt fast charging.
Asus mostly keeps the same camera system. The configuration on the back still consists of a 50-megapixel IMX766 main camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide and a dedicated 5-megapixel macro sensor. The front camera features a 32-megapixel OmniVision OV32C Quad Bayer sensor that outputs 8-megapixel images.
Prices
The Asus ROG Phone 7 measures 173 x 77 x 10.4mm, weighs 239g and is available in Phantom Black and Storm White. The Ultimate is only available in Storm White. Both are splash-proof according to IP54. The ROG Phone 7 is available for pre-order today in Europe and Taiwan through Asus’ online store and retail partners. The basic model starts at €999 ($1,104), but you might want to spend an additional €110 ($122) for the optional AeroActive cooler. The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate costs €1,399 ($1,546) including the cooler.
