The ROG (Republic of Gamers) phones from Asus are some of the best ways to enjoy mobile gaming while also having a premium smartphone at your disposal.
What’s more, it doesn’t look like you’ll be waiting for long for the next entries in the series. Here’s everything you need to know about the ROG Phone 6 as we approach its official launch.
When will the Asus ROG Phone 6 be released?
Asus has now confirmed that it will unveil the ROG Phone 6 series on 5 July at 1pm BST/8am EST – with more time zones included in the official launch teaser.
Of course, this will just be when the phones are revealed, and the actual on-sale date is likely to be later, especially for western fans – there’s often a lengthy gap between the phones’ Asian launch and their release in Europe and the US.
For example, the
ROG Phone 5S and 5S Pro models made their debuts on 24 August 2021, but only in Taiwan – it took them until November to launch widely in the US and Europe.
Not every model is guaranteed to launch globally too. The previous Asus ROG Phone 5 and 5 Pro were released in March 2021 in parts of Asia but came to wider markets in May. While the UK saw various configurations of the 5, it didn’t get the 5 Pro. European customers got both, while those in the US had a solitary version of the
ROG Phone 5.
If you can’t wait until then, take a look at our
best gaming phones chart to see what other options are worth your consideration.
How much will the Asus ROG 6 models cost?
As the model has yet to be launched, there’s no firm pricing available. We can take a look at how the previous models lined up though to give us an indication of what you might need to pay when the ROG Phone 6 does finally arrive.
The last two generations (5 and 5S) had roughly the same price tags. The standard 5S model costs £999/$1,099, with the 5S Pro rising to £1,099/$1,299. The ROG Phone 5 series had a third model, the €1,299 5 Ultimate.
We’ve seen a few sites in India, such as
GadgetsNow, reporting that the prices will be 59,999 Rs for the ROG Phone 6 and 79,948 Rs for the Ultimate version, so that is something to bear in mind if you live there.
What about the ROG Phone 6 specs and design?
We have one potential look at the design of the next ROG Phone, and it comes from an unusual source: one of Asus’s other phones.
The
Zenfone 8 Android 12 update
includes a hidden sketch of what certainly appears to be the ROG Phone 6 – either included by accident or as a purposeful Easter egg for devoted fans.
This isn’t a radically altered design, but does feature a larger camera module, with the flash found next to the three lenses, and a bigger rear display running down the middle of the phone.
While this could’ve just been a concept, Tenaa certification reveals a very similar design. This is often one of the last stages before a product is released in China.
Tenaa
This could just be a concept sketch, rather than the actual design that Asus is going ahead with, but at least it gives us a look at the designs the company is considering.
As for the internals, since the ROG Phones are aimed primarily at gamers you can be sure that it will be packing some serious hardware.
Thanks to an official announcement we already know that at least one phone in the series will be powered by the
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, currently the most powerful on the market.
Get ready!
The 1st gaming phone with Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 8+ Gen 1 is coming SOON
#ROGPHONE6
#ForThoseWhoDare
pic.twitter.com/jax1XbDcA5— ROG Global (@ASUS_ROG)
May 20, 2022
Performance is encouraging, if the latest benchmarks are to be believed. As GSMArena reports, a Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 4238 puts it slightly higher than last year’s Snapdragon 888+ powered ROG Phone 5s, but it may not make much difference in real-world usage. However, a new Adreno 730 GPU will supposedly 10% higher clock speeds, which in turn will boost framerates while gaming.
The ROG Phone 5S lineup featured touch sampling rates of 360Hz, which left it trailing one of its biggest rivals (the Red Magic 7) which boasts 720Hz. We can’t see Asus letting this continue, so hopefully the new model will match or surpass that figure when it arrives.
A recent tweet from prominent phone journalist Abhishek Yadav appears to be based on the recent Tenaa certification. It reveals many of the ROG Phone 6’s key specs, but it’s not clear whether this is the regular or Pro model at this stage:
Key takeaways include a new 165Hz screen refresh rate (up from 144Hz), three 64Mp rear cameras and a fractionally smaller 5,850mAh battery. At 229g, it’s also slightly lighter than last year.
Previously, YouTube channel Tech 11 put together an excellent concept video of the ROG Phone 6, which does seem more like a fantasy shopping list of features but looks beautiful.
It seems unlikely that the 6.78in display that was standard on the 5S models will get any bigger for the ROG Phone 6. This isn’t due to hardware limitations, more the fact that you still need to be able to put in your pocket at some point.
Expect the same FHD+ AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, accompanied by the whopping great 6,000mAh battery that will let you enjoy extended gaming sessions.
As with the 5S, rumours suggest that the top spec will offer 18GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, with various other configurations on offer starting from 8GB/128GB. There should also be 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2 on hand to cover all your connectivity needs.
Cameras on the 5S were comprised of a 64Mp Sony IMX686 sensor, 13Mp 125-degree ultra-wide, and 5Mp Macro. It’s true that some of these could be bumped up to match the larger sensors offered by other phones, but with the focus more on gaming performance than optics, we think this could remain the configuration on the Rog Phone 6 as well.
There are still a few specs to be revealed, so we’ll continue updating this article in the run-up to launch. In the meantime, take a look at our guide to the best smartphones to see what the Asus ROG Phone 6 will have to beat.