The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is a gamer phone that makes significant advancements in both internals and software but doesn’t alter all that much in terms of appearance. The phone, which was unveiled on Thursday and has a $1,000 starting price, retains many of the looks and personality of the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro from the previous year. These include the LED indication on the back, a battery with a capacity of 6,000 mAh that can easily last two days, and a touchscreen with a 720Hz touch sampling rate that is incredibly responsive. However, the most significant modifications are found internally, where a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and new software tools for customizing game play are included.
The phone even has a secret door on the back called the AeroActive.
When you connect the bundled AeroActive Cooler 7 fan, a portal opens. During extended gaming sessions, this door helps blow cold air directly into the phone to prevent it from overheating.
Along with these gaming-specific features, the new ROG also gets enhancements to its phone capabilities. Two years of software upgrades and four years of security updates are promised by Asus. Even if that’s not as long as the four years of software updates Samsung offers for its Galaxy S series, it’s still encouraging to see Asus finally make a commitment to this kind of support schedule. On any game, you can set up an automatic task on the Phone 7 Ultimate’s background mode to run while you use the phone for other things.
Despite these upgrades, the Phone 7 Ultimate still prioritizes gaming over other features and functions that are traditionally highlighted at this price point. The front-facing camera on the Asus phone is mounted in a bezel above the 6.7-inch AMOLED screen rather than inside a display cutout like on many other Android phones, which contributes to the phone’s height. Since there is nothing on your screen blocking the game, this can be advantageous for gamers. However, if you’re used to a phone with a large screen, like the Galaxy S23 Plus or the iPhone 14 Pro Max, you might groan at how much larger the ROG is than its screen. The phone weighs 239 grams, which is just a gram less than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and feels weighty as a result.
The phone doesn’t have wireless charging, but it makes up for it with quick 65-watt cable charging. The power brick is in fact included in the box, too.
Photography is acceptable. It is inferior to the images that comparably priced Galaxy or Pixel phones’ cameras and software capture. The Phone 7 Ultimate takes pictures with a respectable level of quality in both indoor and outdoor environments.
The release of the Phone 7 Ultimate coincides with the growth of the market for portable PC gaming, with Asus itself even launching the ROG Ally as a rival to Valve’s Steam Deck. The Phone 7 Ultimate won’t make the claim to be the mobile gaming device for your PC game library, but it will be available in the US by June.
it does offer a tonne of options and modifications for those hoping to make the most of Android games.
Specifications, software, and gaming capabilities of the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate
Even though it’s not intended to be a computer, the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate has specifications that could outperform yours. The review model I had has 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, which is a slight decrease from the Phone 6 Pro’s 18GB of RAM but still an absurd amount.
The phone includes a Qualcomm Adreno 740 GPU in addition to the previously announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The display on the Phone 7 Ultimate features a refresh rate of 165Hz. It sports two front-facing stereo speakers, Android 13 and headphone jack
The phone’s rear LED display features customizable animations and notification icons, just like the Phone 6 Pro from a year ago. Two USB-C connections are present—one on the left and one on the bottom—to make it simpler to charge while playing games horizontally. There is also passthrough charging, which enables you to play games without charging the battery to prevent the phone from getting too warm.
When I load games on the Phone 7 Ultimate, I can quickly increase the graphics and frame rate settings to their highest levels. Neither running Mortal Kombat at 160 frames per second nor setting Fortnite to run at 90 frames per second caused the phone to lag. The Snapdragon chip and the phone’s memory are useful for games even if they don’t support a high frame rate. For instance, the card animations in Marvel Snap appeared to be quite smooth.
The Phone 7 Ultimate performed similarly to devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23 and the OnePlus 11 in benchmark tests. While raw power may not be what distinguishes gaming phones from non-gaming phones, it does highlight the fact that Asus has tailored its hardware and software to appeal to gamers.
Horizontal game play is prioritized on the Phone 7 Ultimate. It boasts an improved version of its AirTriggers technology, which allows users to customize the numerous sensors on their phone for each individual game. The corners of the phone can be used as shoulder buttons, just like Red Magic gaming phones. For instance, I configure the right shoulder button to shoot and the left shoulder button to switch between aiming modes when I play Fortnite.
The phone’s gyroscope may be configured by Asus for a variety of motion controls and gestures. Overall, there are enough of possibilities for those who prefer to experiment, but I hope that Asus will soon release updates that include suggested controller layouts for well-known mobile games.
Additionally, programme macros—a sequence of repeated commands—allow you to set and forget a few game-related activities when used in conjunction with Background mode. When a game is in Background mode, a persistent notification will show up so you ultimately remember to turn it off. This is done to safeguard the battery on your phone.
Asus ROG Phone 7’s supreme cooling mechanism
Whether or not you use the accompanying AeroActive Cooler, the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate prioritizes cooling. Although I could definitely feel the phone getting warm while playing games or using fast charging, it was never uncomfortable to hold because Asus constructed the inside of the phone to help with heat dissipation. Even so, using a case helps a lot to keep the heat off of your hands. After 30 minutes of gaming, the temperature on the phone reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the temperature gauge.
The side USB-C port on the AeroActive Cooler is used to connect it, and it is clamped over the power button. The attachment opens the covert door on the back and operates cooling fans to force cool air inside.LED lights and customizable buttons are also present. The phone’s temperature plummeted to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) after another 30-minute gaming session with the fan in place. Aside from cooling, the AeroActive Cooler makes the phone’s back feel like it has a large metal spider on it. It hurts, especially when I played games with a lot of touchscreen functionality.Additionally, the attachment has a kickstand so that it may be supported on a table while being used with a Bluetooth game controller, which might be more comfortable.
photography, Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate
A 50-megapixel primary camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera, and an 8-megapixel macro camera are all featured on the Phone 7 Ultimate. A 32-megapixel sensor is on the front-facing camera. Both Portrait and Night modes are available. Videos can be captured in 4K at either 60fps or 30fps and in 8K at 24fps.
Photos are sufficient. In a number of scenarios, such as at Citi Field or in Central Park for a wedding, the Phone 7 Ultimate worked perfectly. Although it won’t be a phone you use to take the best Instagram pictures, it does function as a quick photo-taking tool in most situations.
Compared to shots from my iPhone 12 Pro Max, Phone 7 Ultimate photos generally lacked detail. Look at the pictures of me in Central Park down below. The iPhone photo makes the nuances of the blossoms much more visible. The contrast between the two photographs’ lighting astounds me.
