Just a couple of weeks ago Asus had launched their ROG Phone 7 series of gaming smartphones on the world stage, bringing with it the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, an updated design and a brand new AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory. If you’ve been eyeing this generation of the ROG Phone for your mobile gaming needs, you won’t have to wait much longer as Asus is launching it on 10 May 2023, with a four day road show to follow at Pavilion Bukit Jalil.
There’s no word yet on the pricing of these new phones of course—you’ll have to wait till 10 May for that—but it may be a little higher than last year’s ROG Phone 6 series. In Europe, the ROG Phone 7 series have been given slightly higher price tags than the ROG Phone 6 lineup of last year, but whether Asus Malaysia will follow suit remains to be seen. For reference, here’s how much the ROG Phone 6 series costs in Malaysia:
- ROG Phone 6, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage – RM3,599
- ROG Phone 6, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage – RM4,399
- ROG Phone 6 Pro, 18GB RAM, 512GB storage – RM4,999
- ROG Phone 6D, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage – RM3,499
- ROG Phone 6D Ultimate, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage – RM4,999
What we do know though about the ROG Phone 7 series are its specs, with the ROG Phone 7 and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate sharing mostly similar specs barring minor cosmetic differences. They’ll feature a 6.78-inch, FHD+ AMOLED display with a 165Hz refresh rate, a peak brightness of 1,500nits, a 720Hz touch sampling rate, support for HDR10 and a 23ms touch latency along with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus over it for scratch resistance.
The ROG Phone 7 will have the ROG logo with RGB lighting across the back, while the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate has the secondary ROG Vision matrix display that can be customised to display incoming calls, notifications, charging status and other personalised animations. The ‘hood scoop’ AeroActive Portal returns too, which opens up when you attach the AeroActive Cooler 7 for better cooling.
Speaking of cooling, the new AeroActive Cooler 7 isn’t just a cooler anymore either. It now doubles as a 5-magnet super linear subwoofer when you attach it to the ROG Phone 7 series. The 38mm speaker will add 77% stronger bass according to Asus, which builds on the already excellent dual front facing stereo speakers and 3.5mm headphone jack. The AeroActive Cooler 7 still cools though of course, with a new DualCool design that also cools the front of the phone by venting air across the screen.
Under the hood meanwhile is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 system-on-chip with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.You’ll get Android 13 out of the box too with a new look ROG UI skin over it though as usual you can choose the more stock Android theme if you prefer. There’s also the usual suite of gaming software here such as X-Mode and Game Genie for better gaming performance. Unfortunately though Asus is still only guaranteeing two major Android OS upgrades here with four years of security patches on the ROG Phone 7 series.
Elsewhere there’s a triple rear camera setup on the back with a main 50MP shooter flanked by a 13MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro with a 32MP selfie camera up front. There’s also a huge 6,000mAh battery with 65W fast charging, an in-display fingerprint sensor, an IP54 dust and splash resistance rating along with support for WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC and 5G.
