In this article, we are going to give you our ASUS ROG Phone 5S review, including the design features, specifications, performance, and more.
ASUS ROG Phone 5S review
The ROG brand, a sub-brand of Asus that specializes in gaming PCs and laptops, introduced its 5s series last year. The most recent is the ROG Phone series’ 5s and 5s Pro. We spent a day with the Asus ROG Phone 5s to see if it could impress us. To find out if it succeeded in doing so, keep on reading our Our ASUS ROG Phone 5S review.
The design
The Asus ROG Phone 5s has a 6.78″ AMOLED front screen with corning gorilla glass victus and supports HDR10+. The phone’s back features a glass finish, which is characterized by a dot matrix design, one of the most apparent changes from previous models. The ROG Phone 5s comes with a stylish, modern appearance but lacks the gaming phone vibe. The smartphone is a little hefty at 238 grams. The base model of the ROG Phone 5s costs $645 and includes 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the top-end variant costs $750 and has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Specifications
The ROG Phone 5s is powered by a Snapdragon 888 Plus processor, which significantly improves the device’s performance. The ROG Phone 5s also includes Wi-Fi 6.1 and a 3GHz CPU. The cooling system in the ROG Phone 5s comprises a thermal structure that divides the battery into two parts, one on each side of the CPU. This is necessary to ensure that heat generated by the CPU is distributed throughout all sides and corners of the housing, which isn’t quite as efficient. The device heats up quickly and has minor lags. You can find a detailed table about the specs below.
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2021, August 16 |
| Status | Available. Released 2021, August 26 | |
| BODY | Dimensions | 172.8 x 77.3 x 9.9 mm (6.80 x 3.04 x 0.39 in) |
| Weight | 238 g (8.40 oz) | |
| Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 3), aluminum frame | |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| RGB light panel (on the back) | ||
| Pressure-sensitive zones (Gaming triggers) | ||
| DISPLAY | Type | AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1200 nits (peak) |
| Size | 6.78 inches, 109.5 cm2 (~82.0% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2448 pixels (~395 ppi density) | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android 11, upgradable to Android 12, ROG UI |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888+ 5G (5 nm) | |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×2.99 GHz Kryo 680 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680) | |
| GPU | Adreno 660 | |
| MAIN CAMERA | Triple | 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.73″, 0.8µm, PDAF |
| 13 MP, f/2.4, 11mm, 125˚ (ultrawide) | ||
| 5 MP, f/2.0, (macro) | ||
| Features | LED flash, HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 720p@480fps; gyro-EIS | |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Single | 24 MP, f/2.5, 27mm (wide), 0.9µm |
| Features | Panorama, HDR | |
| Video | 1080p@30fps | |
| SOUND | Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers (2 amplifiers) |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive | |
| GPS | Yes, with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, GNSS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.1 (side), USB Type-C 2.0 (bottom), accessory connector, USB On-The-Go | |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
Features
The phone’s most noteworthy feature is its HyperFusion, which links to the fastest internet connection available and may also combine mobile data and Wi-Fi connections to boost surfing speed. The ultrasonic shoulder side sensors on the phone that allow for dual gestures, such as tap-and-slide and tap-and-swipe, for the total command are another intriguing function.
The performance
A professional mobile gamer seeks a smartphone with a decent performance, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The screen has a refresh rate of 144 Hz and 1 ms response time, which feels great at 1080p. The colors and images on the phone run extremely smoothly and give you a fast gaming experience. It is also worth noting that the device is 5G-enabled.
Camera
The ROG Phone 5s features a standard triple-camera layout on the rear. The 64MP primary camera can shoot up to 8K Pro video, while the 13MP ultra-wide-angle secondary camera and the 5MP macro camera for closer look detail are available. Images captured by the device’s camera are comparable to those achieved in previous models. Front 24 MP cameras produce selfies with warm tones that can also capture 4K videos.
Audio
Audio is essential in providing an immersive gaming experience, as evidenced by the Asus ROG Phone 5s. The phone’s top and bottom have seven magnet dual front-facing speakers that produce louder and less distorted stereo sounds. This smartphone offers a 3.5 mm jack at the bottom of the device for your wired headphones or earphones if you like to play games or listen to music with your headphones on.
Battery
With a 30W charger, the gaming phone has a 6000mAh non-removable battery that takes two hours to charge.
Our verdict
Our ASUS ROG Phone 5S review wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t tell you what we thought about the phone overall. The Asus ROG Phone 5s impressed us with its performance and is probably one of the greatest gaming phones on the market right now, but it lacks heft in terms of weight and heating issues. In addition, at least a 65W rapid charger should have been included in the price range of $750. But aside from that, this is a phone that can handle games and workloads alike and would be great for someone looking for a balanced phone which can achieve both.
We hope that you enjoyed our ASUS ROG Phone 5S review. If you did, make sure you check out Comparison: Realme GT 2 Pro vs OnePlus 10 Pro 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S22, or Best smartphones launched in March 2022: Apple, Xiaomi, and more.
