ASUS ROG Telephone 5s is a monster of a gaming telephone.

Hey ho, GM received the possibility for one more ROG telephone evaluate, beforehand the ROG Telephone 2. This time, the ROG Telephone 5s, generously offered by ASUS Malaysia. Sure, these phrases at first are the compressed impression of ROG Telephone 5s. The gaming telephone scene is kind of outlined now, with gadgets that includes flagship specs with gamer-centric options.

Unboxing

Within the field, you get the telephone unit, a braided and high-quality USB-C to C cable, a 65W charger and trendy Aerocase. Additionally some notable extras like ROG sim ejection instrument, ROG stickers and spare rubber port covers. The field has some AR-enabled graphics which can be scannable with the digicam throughout first-time setup with shifting comedian of a cyberpunk samurai. Don’t fear, you may take pleasure in it once more later utilizing the pre-installed Armory Crate app.

Specs and Construct High quality

Full specs could be obtained from ASUS web site right here.

• Show: 6.78″ 20.4:9 (2448p x 1080p) 144 Hz / 1 ms Samsung E4 AMOLED. Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, Delta-E < 1 10-bit HDR10+
• Chipset: Snapdragon 888+ 5G @2.99GHz / Adreno 660 GPU
• RAM: 8GB to 16GB (18GB for Professional) LPDDR5
• Storage: 128GB to 256GB (512GB for Professional) UFS 3.1 non-expandable storage
• Battery: 6000mAh Li-Po / 65W HyperCharge / QuickCharge 5.0 / USB PD
• Connectivity: Twin Nano Sim with twin 5G standby / 1x USB Kind-C 2.0 + 1x USB Kind-C 3.1 / WiFi: 802.11 ax / Bluetooth 5.2 / NFC
• Digicam: 64MP Sony IMX686 Sensor + 13MP Ultrawide + 24MP entrance + 5MP macro
• Audio: Twin front-facing 7-magnet audio system + Cirrus Logic amp / 4 microphones with noise cancellation / 3.5mm headphone out with ESS DAC / AudioWizard with Dirac Audio tuning
• Misc: Underneath-display fingerprint reader / ultrasonic sensors for Air Triggers and Grip Press / accent connector

The ROG Telephone 5s screams high quality the second you maintain it. Glass back and front with aluminium body simply exudes premium aura and rightly justify the flagship worth. In comparison with earlier ROG Telephone, the 5s is extra smoothed out, much less gamery, much less garish however with touches of aptitude that also says “hey, gaming telephone amirite?”

That is additionally an enormous boi telephone. Measuring at 172.8 mm x 77.3 mm x 9.9 mm and weighing in at 238 grams, it feels substantial to carry and pocket. Getting aftermarket case will certainly bump the scale even additional and except you bought deeper pocket or a bag/purse, be able to have drawback sitting comfortably with out taking it out of pocket.

The ROG Telephone 5s sports activities a wonderful E4 AMOLED panel made by Samsung. Decision of FHD+ 2448×1080 is dense for display screen 6.78 inch and with 10-bit HDR10+, contents like motion pictures and video games simply pop with vivid colours.

Not solely color-accurate, easy high-refresh panel too. Refresh price is selectable from 60, 120 and 144Hz or simply put it on Auto and let the telephone resolve. One possibility missing is a 90Hz setting. Why 60Hz to 120Hz leap is unknown to me, perhaps ASUS can deal with this in future replace, hmm?

Entrance glass is made with Gorilla Glass Victus which is claimed to be extra shatter resistant than earlier technology, and Gorilla Glass 3 on the again. Gracing the rear glass is an ROG emblem manufactured from RGB LED that may be personalized to gentle up on totally different situations like calls and X Mode. Seeing the again emblem lit up is certainly neat-o. As all the time, glass can and can ultimately break or scratch. Spend money on display screen protector and a case for that matter, and fear much less of drop mishaps.

Shipped with Android 11, you’ve 2 sorts of skins to select from. ROG-themed skins with customized icons and reactive wallpapers, and near-stock ZenUI pores and skin. Some bloatware pre-installed however simply uninstalled, very a lot appreciated.

Connectivity and Battery

Connectivity isn’t any slouch both, because the ROG Telephone 5s is dual-standby 5G and WiFi 6E succesful, with Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC finishing the wi-fi array. Charging and knowledge switch are facilitated by USB-C ports, sure, 2 of them actually. One USB 2.0 velocity on the backside and one other USB-C on the left facet. There’s additionally a 5-pin accent connector for a separate AeroActive cooling module, not supplied with this unit sadly.

Large 6000mAh battery powers the ROG Telephone 5s by heavy use complete day like a champ. You’ll be able to simply get 2+ day battery with gentle to medium utilization. Charging the monstrous 6000 mAh battery is finished with a 65W HyperCharge energy brick that may qualify as a correct brick, able to juicing up the telephone to full inside an hour.

Involved about charging temperature and longevity? Fear much less as a result of the battery is a dual-module design and cost in parallel 32W every as a substitute of complete 65W shoved by a single battery. For a extra granular battery care choices, Regular Charging right down to 18W plus Cost Restrict possibility right down to 80% most is out there for higher battery well being.

Digicam

The digicam system of ROG Telephone 5s is first rate. Triple-cam array of 64MP foremost, 13MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro plus a 24 MP selfie shooter, carry out their job adequately. I took some pattern photos at night time time with regular mode (left) and night time mode (proper), and the picture processing for night time mode does make picture pop with extra depth and distinction. Splotches of dust and moss on the partitions are extra seen, with sharper wanting edges and the lights not overexposed.

The addition of gyro-EIS for video mode makes fast work of getting easy footage. Nevertheless, from my stint with the cameras, high picture high quality just isn’t a brilliant high-priority right here. For my goal, the digicam system is nice however for these in search of high-quality AI computational images a’la Pixel and iPhones might need to search Pixel and iPhones as a substitute.

Efficiency

ROG Telephone 5s is powered by previous-gen top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888+ SoC from Qualcomm. That’s the solely improve the ROG Telephone 5s lineup has in comparison with the 5, and thus minor efficiency bump. Wholesome mixtures of 8GB to 16GB of RAM plus 128 GB as much as 256 GB of ROM ensures a less-than-worrying efficiency and storage. The storage nonetheless can’t be expanded so that you’re caught with no matter SKU you purchase.

I’ll be trustworthy right here, speaking efficiency of a gaming telephone is boring. Everybody know Snapdragon 888+ is a succesful SoC, simply throw something and it’ll run like butter. Sure, that is final gen and barely inferior towards the present flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 nevertheless it nonetheless holds the fort.

I examined high-spec video games like Genshin Impression, Apex Legends Cellular, Name of Responsibility Cellular and many others and I can confidently throw mid to excessive settings and get respectable framerates. In fact, these AAA high quality video games nonetheless tax the SoC at max settings and requires just a few settings turned right down to get 30-60 fps however not loads of compromise wanted. Additionally, being a top-spec SoC means ROG Telephone 5s is able to high-spec gaming for extra years down the road

Briefly, the ROG Telephone 5s is a flagship in gaming functionality. So do any telephones with an 888+ chip. What makes the ROG Telephone 5s a “gaming telephone” are the particular sauces ASUS baked in for nice gaming expertise.

~The Particular Sauce~

Audio

The function that takes the cake for me is the GameFX audio system. The stereo entrance audio system are, how do I say this, PERFECT. Sure, good. In all probability one THE finest audio system on a telephone, I daresay even higher than most laptop computer audio system bar the Apple Macbooks. I don’t know the way the engineers did it however boy these tiny telephone audio system can sing. Stable bass, good mids and highs, and nice soundstage, positioning and layering.

Blasting music from ROG Telephone 5s is a deal with, I hardly ever used my IEMs and headphones with this as a result of the audio system are THAT good. Jazz beats from my favourite band EGO WRAPPIN’, 80s metropolis pops with some slew of Japanese pop and hiphop are a pleasure to take heed to. Films are additionally fairly immersive with these glorious audio system. Kudos throughout for these superb audio system.

There’s additionally a 3.5mm headphone jack! Sure, a flagship 888+ telephone with a 3.5mm port, I’m not joking. To achieve all these audio greatness, ASUS generously outfitted the telephone with Sabre ESS and Cirrus Logic DACs and high quality amps for hi-fi grade audio and likewise partnered with Dirac for AudioWizard audio-tuning. You’ll be able to choose between Music, Recreation or Cinema preset and get totally different sound stage and frequency tuning. There’s additionally an equalizer for extra granular adjustment. As for me, I desire to let inventory settings on my audio.

Briefly, ASUS pulls no punches in relation to audio grunt of the ROG Telephone 5s at which I admire enormously as an audio fanatic. Video games, motion pictures, music, all a deal with by the audio system.

Recreation Genie and Additional Inputs

ASUS preinstalled sport supervisor Recreation Genie is a good companion instrument for gaming expertise. A few of the instruments accessible embrace X-Mode activation, system monitoring, display screen recording shortcut, notification suppress mode and even crosshair overlay.

My favourite function is Bypass Charging. Because the identify describes, it can bypass battery charging and immediately energy the system when activated. The excessive temperature and fixed charge-discharge cycle of plugging in throughout gaming is detrimental to battery well being and this bypass function is the very best treatment I’ve seen. However it’s solely accessible when Recreation Genie is energetic however excellent news is you may add any non-game apps to Recreation Genie and you may take pleasure in this function at any time when the app is launched.

Recreation Genie additionally permits extra enter by the ultrasonic Air Set off and movement controls. These inputs are mappable to any motion accessible on display screen comparable to goal & fireplace in FPSs, and speed up and enhance in arcade racing video games. I attempted all of them and genuinely impressed on the usability and improves my gaming expertise. The Air Triggers are additionally usable outdoors of video games as Grip Press or squeeze gestures for launching digicam and many others, customizable in settings.

GameCool

ASUS redesigned the cooling for ROG Telephone 5 and 5s collection. As a result of dual-battery format, the CPU is positioned heart chassis now beneath vapour chamber heatsink. Making the most of this re-location, paired with the AeroActive Cooler module, helps dissipate CPU warmth higher plus the centered CPU additionally helps in gaming consolation as your fingers will much less more likely to contact the new center floor.

Even with out the AeroActive cooler, the chipset stays cool as could be seen from the sport screenshots. Sub-50 diploma Celcius common simply achievable with the superb vapour chamber cooling. Be aware that as a result of the cooler could be very efficient, the CPU space can get uncomfortably sizzling however that’s the mark of a superb cooling system.

Gripes and Complains

That is in no way an ideal telephone. Loads of annoyances I discovered. No expandable storage so caught with inside or go cloud storage. The rubber flap cowl for facet USB-C and steel contact is flimsy and never connected to the chassis. They do present spares however not precisely supreme resolution that one can simply lose the duvet within the first place.

Optical fingerprint sensor is barely annoying as it’s sluggish and registers round 70% of the time. Additionally the skinny bezels and curved glass edge makes contact interplay wonky at instances as a result of I unknowing was touching the display screen edge too.

VoLTE/VoWiFi is supported however my provider nonetheless hasn’t supported the ROG Telephone 5s, so not this system’s fault, and which will change in close to future. Test along with your provider for VoLTE/VoWiFi help should you require that function.

Private Enjoyment and Verdict

Personally, I had a good time with ROG Telephone 5s. Gaming is a breeze with the Snapdragon 888+ and peak efficiency could be assured for some years. The audio system blew me away with how good it’s, saying that I nearly shed tears just isn’t a hyperbole. In fact the additional pizzaz from Recreation Genie and the auxiliary inputs makes gaming that rather more streamlined.

ASUS nails it once more with their newest formulation worthy of “gaming telephone” moniker. With RRP ranging from RM2999, the mix of flagship specs and the particular sauces for max gaming enjoyment makes ASUS ROG Telephone 5s definitely worth the worth.

ASUS ROG Telephone 5s evaluate unit generously offered by ASUS.

ASUS ROG Telephone 5s

Newest formulation from ASUS ROG worthy of the “gaming telephone” moniker

• {Hardware} 10

• Software program 8.5

• Gaming Efficiency 10

• Worth 8.5