Verdict
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is a beast of a gaming phone , with rapid functioning , booming speakers and cut - edge features . But while this is an splendid phone in its own right wing , I ’m not convinced there ’s enough of an upgrade to justify the extra cost compared to the standard Asus ROG Phone 7 .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Asus is hoping to position the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate as the verybest play phoneon the market , take the fastest potential chip as well as a great deal of features to satiate even the most obsessive of gamers .
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate tell apart itself from the standard ROG Phone 7 with a notification screen panel on the rearward and enhanced cooling courtesy of the AeroActive Portal – those redundant features will cost you an extra £ 200 ( $ TBA ) compare to the vanilla variation , taking the price up to £ 1199.99 .
Otherwise , the specs and characteristic are the same ( even theSnapdragon 8 Gen 2chip ) so you ’ll have to make up one’s mind whether those extra features absolve the inflated cost . I ’ve spent a duad of workweek with the Asus ROG Phone Ultimate 7 , so here are my thinking .
Design and Screen
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is a mammoth phone , with Asus prefer for a Brobdingnagian 6.78 - in AMOLED screen to maximise your play experience . And despite theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultrahaving a marginally larger screen , the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is still observably taller due to the bezel at both the top and bottom – Asus does n’t require a punch - hole camera getting in the way of your games .
As someone with small hired man , I did sometimes struggle to type messages one - handed , but it was still easy enough to slide into a pocket despite being one of the chunkier phones ( 1.4 millimetre ) I ’ve used in late year .
I regain the phone ’s appearance to be a greater business organisation , with the sci - fi aesthetical and emblazoned logos that foreground the phone ’s play inheritance making it a trivial embarrassing to apply in public . You only get the option of the Storm White coloured rear with the Ultimate , which is a pity since the stock ROG Phone 7 is also available in Phantom Black , which I think looks nicer and less impose .
The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate even has a cover panel on the rear call the ROG Vision , which can be configured to show a miscellany of animations once trip . There ’s the nonremittal ROG logo when you wake up your phone , a charge status , incoming call alert and a notification bar , among others .
I ’m personally not too catch by this feature film , especially since the always - on display provides the same utilitarian information trace a pat . It ’s a shame you ca n’t customise the dialog box with your own text or pixel art , like you’re able to with theROG Zephyrus G14laptop , as that would make the upgrade more alluring .
The Ultimate has another exclusive feature in the form of the AeroActive Portal , which is a panel of the back that automatically opens to improve airflow whenever it observe gamy internal temperature . It ’s a nice bring feature , especially when I witness how hot the headphone becomes during strain testing , with Asus claiming it to boost caloric efficiency by 20 % . But is it enough to justify the upgrade to the Ultimate edition of this phone ? Probably not .
Asus has made other advance to the cooling too , with a new rapid - cycle vapour sleeping room . When playing an time of day ’s Charles Frederick Worth of Call of Duty Mobile , I never found the headphone to become concerningly spicy , but it still feels like a frivolous feature when phones such as theSamsung Galaxy S23are equal to of interchangeable gaming public presentation .
My pet feature on the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is the addition of the AirTrigger haptic controls . These allow you to map in - secret plan inputs to the phone ’s virtual triggers , replicating the spirit of using a traditional gamepad . In Call of Duty Mobile I configured the correct trigger to shoot , and leave to crouch , and it improved the biotechnology to such an extent that I felt like I had an unjust reward .
The vibrations of the haptic feedback are pleasingly strong , and it never feel odd to be coerce down on self-coloured alloy rather than a mechanical trigger . Do n’t get me wrong , I still choose make physical triggers from the likes of theRazer Kishimobile controller , but Asus still offers a superb alternative to those who do n’t fancy lugging around extra add-on . The AirTriggers debuted on theAsus ROG Phone 5 , so are scarcely raw for the 7 Series . But they remain a ripe incentive to buy a ROG Phone over any non - gaming telephone set .
You ’ll find twoUSB - Cports on this phone – one in the conventical bottom position , and another on the right - handwriting side . There are a bit of reasons for this : firstly , it allows you to institutionalize your phone while keep in a horizontal position for gaming , and second it ensures you could plug in outside accessory ( such as the AeroActive Cooler ) without preventing you from burden the phone at the same time .
The AMOLED sieve is bright , punchy and bright . Asus claim a peak brightness of 1500 nit , which I found to help assure the showing is seeable even with bright sun . The phone also purportedly covers 150.89 % of the sRGB gamut , ensuring accurate colours for games and videos . I was impressed with the screenland ’s performance , proving highly competent at presenting the brilliant flash of a grenade as well as the detailed design of my in - game rifle .
Asus has also included a mass switcher , standby button and earpiece jack . There ’s also support for Bluetooth 5.3 andWi - Fi 7to secure cutting - border connectivity . The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate has anIP54rating , which means it can handle the odd splash of pee , but it is n’t waterproofed , so annul dunking it in the pool .
Asus has stuck with a 2448 x 1080 resolution , reluctant to jump up to QHD+ like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra . That may be a shame for those who want the most detailed possible film , but I think it ’s a smart move to ensure you ’re getting the best barrage lifespan potential . You also get a 165Hz refresh charge per unit , allow you to make the most of the new 120Hz mode on Call of Duty Mobile – although there ’s still not enough wandering games that support the high refresh rate for my liking .
The high-pitched 720Hz touch - sampling rate ensures touchscreen prods and swipe will be registered at lightning fastness , which is highly of import for roving game that rely on quick response .
The front - firing matching Speaker are one of the most impressive aspect of this phone , offer 50 % more bulk than its predecessor . I was really impressed by the weighty sound and clayey bass , portray the thundering racket of gunfire expertly well .
Audio from myGoogle Pixel 6sounds flat in comparison , and can vocalise a lilliputian screechy with music playback . I ’d mirthfully apply the ROG Phone 7 as an alternative to a speaker at home , with enough volume to fill a elbow room and high enough audio character that I ’m not itching to punch in my headphone . The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate has the best speakers I ’ve heard from any smartphone yet .
Camera
With gambling phone manufacturers so keen to maximise execution and add in gobs of features , there call for to be at least one area where they ’ll cut corners – that ’s unremarkably the camera , and the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate does not buck this trend .
Asus has implemented the extra same trio of cameras on the rear as the precedingAsus ROG Phone 6 ProandAsus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate . This includes a 50MP principal sensor , 13MP ultra across-the-board and 5MP Macro . That does n’t intend the snapping timber will be the exact same though , as the new Snapdragon cow dung help to improve image processing .
The 50MP main detector ca n’t vie with most phones at a similar price ( particularly the Galaxy S23 Ultra with its 200MP sensor ) but it ’s still reasonably competent at standard snaps . It can capture bold and bright colours as shown with the graffiti below , which looks pleasing to the eye .
The camera pop to ferment when you make use of the other two sensors . The 13MP extremist wide camera allow you to becharm a wider parcel of the scene , but at a not bad toll to the item .
If you check out the comparability images below , you ’ll detect that a passel of point has been lost by switch to the radical wide lense . For instance , the brickwork becomes blurrier and the aerials on the roof take care far more indistinct , fading into the setting .
I also was n’t too impressed with the 2x zoom feature when comparing it to my Google Pixel 6 , which is a substantially bum sound . The blue sky seem mute with the ROG Phone , while you’re able to also see a red ink of item in the likes of the scarlet brick bulwark and the clouds . It ’s still a reasonable word picture , but you may get better quality with a cheaper phone .
There ’s no surprise that the 5MP macro camera break down to impress too . This close - up shot of a flower does n’t pack quite enough detail to vie with other flagship phones that cost over £ 1000/$1000 . And once again , colours appear quiet and leaden .
I ’m proud of with the photos taken with the 32MP selfie television camera . Skin timber count lifelike , while imagery front precipitous , both for the subject and background .
The photographic camera is undeniably the decrepit point for the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate – as it is with most gaming earphone – miss the versatility of flagship phones such as theiPhone 14 Pro Maxand Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra . But it ’s still capable of full looking snaps , just as long as you stick to the basics .
Performance
The Asus ROG Phone 7 is powered by one of the most powerful chips currently usable for an Android French telephone : the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 . This is an octa - core central processing unit with frequency speeding peaking at 3.2GHz . The Samsung Galaxy S23 phone are the only Androids that can gas better performance , powered by an overclocked version of the same chip .
Thanks to this overclocked crisp , the Galaxy S23 is capable to match the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate in our graphic benchmarks , suggesting it ’s equally just as good when it follow to gambling performance , despite Asus fitting in an elaborate cooling system .
That said , the cool arrangement does start the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate to keep that mellow performance over long stretches of time . In the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test , the Ultimate saw results fluctuate between 3650 and 3729 . The Galaxy S23 managed to see an even higher peak grudge of 3771 , but also dropped down as low as 2297 , indicating its caloric performance is n’t quite as good as the latest ROG Phone .
The Asus ROG Phone 7 posted an elect graphics benchmark score , and the dandy Geekbench 6 score we ’ve seen yet – this phone is seriously quick .
When compared to its predecessor , the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate , there ’s a significant cost increase to functioning , most perceptibly with the game benchmarks – a 26fps increase for GFXBench Aztec Ruins and 30fps jumping for GFXBench Car Chase . In footing of real - meter gaming , I was also able to run Call of Duty Mobile at the max 120fps setting , resulting in a unchanging and smooth execution .
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate did warm up a bit while play Call of Duty Mobile , but not enough to ever become uncomfortable to hold . But when tension test the gaming earpiece via 3DMark , it became singe hot . That present it is possible to overheat this sound if drive far enough . I ’m not convince there are many games that can push the ROG Phone 7 that far , but you do have the option of the AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory if you happen to play particularly take games .
You ’ll get the same glasses whether you prefer for the ROG Phone 7 or ROG Phone 7 Ultimate . Asus has packed both phones with 16 GB read/write memory and 512 GB storage . Call of Duty Mobile is the largest game in terms of file size of it I have instal on the phone , and that only take up 6.27 GB , so I do n’t think many people will be clamouring for a 1 TB acclivity .
Battery life
Asus has slapped a massive 6000mAh battery inside the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate , which is an even bigger capacity than the cell inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra .
I ’m really impressed with this earphone ’s stamina , comfortably outlast the day and not too far off from subdue a irregular . After charging the speech sound overnight and unplugging at 8 am , it only fell down to 54 % when it was prison term to log Z’s at 11 pm . That involve a typical work Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , including an 60 minutes ’s worth of Netflix , a duo of hours of Candy Crush , as well as lots and draw of idle scrolling through social media . It direct until 7 pm the pursue day for the battery to completely drain .
To ruin it down even further , one hour of Netflix took off 7 % of battery living , while playing Candy Crush for 30 second only depleted the cell by 3 % – that latter consequence is the best we ’ve seen in recent month , beating even the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra .
Playing a more demanding game such as Call of Duty Mobile will consume the battery at a ready rate . The battery throw by 13 % within an time of day . Some agile computing suggest you ’ll be able to keep on gaming for seven and a half hour before the phone runs out of juice .
charge is pleasingly rapid too thanks to the bundled 65W HyperCharge adapter . It took just 40 minute for the headphone ’s battery to be fully replenished , with 15 minute of charging prison term seeing the battery recharged by an telling 46 % . That ’s noteworthy consider how big the battery capacity is here .
I ’m a bounteous fan of some of the battery care feature include with this phone too . You ’re capable to activate Steady Charging which slows the pace of charging to prevent you burn up out the battery . And you’re able to even arrange your own scheduled charging time or set a charging point of accumulation . These are all very cagy methods of keeping your assault and battery in good pattern over time .
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Should you buy it?
Ignoring price , this is the absolutebest gaming phoneyou can purchase . operation is first-class and is pickle - packed with useful features .
The only upgrades you get with the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate compared to the more low-priced ROG Phone 7 are an aliveness panel on the back and improved temperature reduction .
Final Thoughts
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is a superb gaming phone . It ’s one of the most powerful Android French telephone you may corrupt , has way - satisfy bassy speakers and a suite of feature of speech to improve portable gaming , including the AirTriggers which is a massive improvement on the touchscreen mastery .
You will need to compromise on the photographic camera quality here though , with the the likes of of theSamsung Galaxy S23 UltraandiPhone 14 Pro Maxoffering a swell good deal more versatility for the steep terms .
The biggest matter here , however , is that the spare features ( namely the life silver screen panel and enhanced cooling ) provided by the Ultimate edition arguably do n’t justify the high-sounding monetary value . With the exact same glasses recover on both of the latest ROG models , I ’d commend sticking with the more low-priced Asus ROG Phone 7 rather if you ’re not fuss about frivolous features .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every mobile earphone we retrospect thoroughly . We employ industry stock tests to compare feature properly and we employ the phone as our master equipment over the reassessment period . We ’ll always enjoin you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a mathematical product .
FAQs
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate reviewed here is the most expensive ROG phone you’re able to grease one’s palms .
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate offers a greater number of features , but the ROG Phone 7 is for the most part the same but usable at a more affordable price .
Test Data
Full Specs
