Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional Evaluation: A Gaming Smartphone That Remembers It is a Telephone Leave a comment

There’s one thing completely different in regards to the Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional. The Asus ROG gaming cellphone line all the time surprises me with its distinctive model historically interesting to avid gamers. But, this yr’s ROG Telephone 8 collection shocks me by how mainstream it seems. Gone are the spaceship-like white hues of the ROG Telephone 6 and ROG Telephone 7 and in comes a restrained matte black look — an understated look for a mature gaming cellphone. 

Whereas standing tall with its 6.78-inch show, gone is the higher bezel that hid the final ROG Telephone 7’s front-facing digicam — in any other case final seen in 2019 on telephones just like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Google Pixel 4. The ROG Telephone 8 Professional has a punch-hole front-facing digicam simply as we see on most Android telephones. The complete-color secondary show on the again of the cellphone says goodbye in favor of a nonetheless eye-grabbing mini-LED show, which is much more arresting on the Professional mannequin. 

What outcomes is one thing that appears harking back to the black model of the Nothing Telephone 2 with the gaming chops of prior ROG telephones in addition to the specs and $1,200 (£1,100) beginning value that we anticipate from this yr’s Android flagships. My specific evaluate unit is the kitted out $1,500 model of the ROG Telephone 8 Professional, with a ludicrously excessive 24GB of reminiscence and 1TB of storage. That maxed-out configuration permits me to simply multitask, which via my testing included alternating between Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Lifeless Cells and texting whereas ready perpetually to queue into GeForce Now’s free tier for cloud gaming.

The ROG Telephone 8 Professional’s look may not stand out as a lot in a lineup of different premium Android telephones, however as soon as I really used it, I may rapidly inform it is nonetheless a gaming cellphone. In contrast to mainstream telephones on this value vary, the Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional features a headphone jack. It additionally continues to supply two USB-C ports, one on the underside and one other on the left aspect, for 2 completely different attachments or to cost your gadget simpler whereas holding it horizontally. This was significantly good to have when plugging in my Xbox controller whereas charging. 

That aspect USB-C port additionally connects the AeroActive Cooler X fan accent, which now not opens a door into the cellphone to sit back the cellphone’s inside elements. As an alternative, the ROG Telephone 8 Professional has a sealed exterior to attain IP68 certification to maintain out water and dirt, and the Cooler simply chills the surface of the cellphone. Clipping the accent to the cellphone does nonetheless really feel like attaching a spider to assist hold it cool. You probably have the $1,200 mannequin, that accent prices $100, and it is included with the $1,500 mannequin.

The Telephone 8 Professional does a pleasant job capturing photographs and movies, with processing that is assisted by synthetic intelligence powered by its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. It is early days for flagship telephones outfitted with the brand new AI-focused chip, and I discover the opposite ways in which the Telephone 8 Professional takes benefit of AI to be extra refined. They embody having the ability to carry out contextual searches on the gadget, AI noise canceling on calls and textual content recognition within video games. 

The AI options are good and definitely useful, however nowhere close to the extent of picture manipulation that we’re seeing on Google’s Pixel 8. Whereas Asus seemingly plans to maintain the Telephone 8 Professional gaming centered over AI-focused, we nonetheless need to understand that in 2024 it is extremely seemingly that different firms’ flagships are going to have AI entrance and middle. It is attainable that the ROG’s AI options will really feel extra like a light-weight contact by comparability.

However even with extra refined AI ambitions, the Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional at its beginning spec of 512GB of house and 16GB of reminiscence continues to be a beast. You get the most recent chip, tons of house, a number of reminiscence, and it is the one high-end cellphone on the market that provides you as many ports as a MacBook Air.

Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional design, software program, gameplay

Whereas at first the Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional seems like every other giant black cellphone, the corporate consists of quite a lot of fashionable thrives together with a brand new animated mini-LED display on its again. Asus prints its Republic of Players brand, its “Dare to Win” mantra and an “Est. 2006” message prefer it’s a pair of Levi’s denims. A reasonably large digicam hump homes a trio of cameras.

However the star of the cellphone is its animating AniMe imaginative and prescient mini-LED show on the again. Whereas I am unhappy to see the total colour secondary show retire, the brand new show consists of loads of particulars that I might like to see on extra telephones. For example, by default the display rotates between displaying the time, your battery degree and the ROG brand. The mini-LED display can show a digicam icon if you find yourself taking a photograph, a music visualizer when listening to music or customized animations which you could arrange in settings. It jogs my memory of the LEDs on the again of the Nothing Telephone 2, besides this small display permits for textual content and numbers which might be simpler to delineate than Nothing’s summary mild patterns. This display may also be turned off if you don’t need all this blinking.

The entrance 6.78-inch show has an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor that may unlock the cellphone. By default the display runs at an adaptive refresh price between 1 and 120Hz, however you may have the display run at 165Hz always. The display has a 720Hz contact sampling price — the identical as final yr’s Telephone 7 — for responsiveness. 

Each options helped after I performed Lifeless Cells, for the reason that recreation helps a better refresh price and battling via dungeons was simpler with that responsiveness price. The Telephone 8 Professional additionally consists of its AirTriggers sensors, which I can program like shoulder buttons when holding the cellphone horizontally. My choice continues to be to hook the cellphone up with a recreation controller when time and house enable, however for subway commuting the responsiveness for the touchscreen has been enough for the fast-paced recreation.

Like different gaming telephones, the Telephone 8 Professional will get heat when taking part in video games on the increased graphics and body charges that the cellphone is able to. Whereas Asus says that the cellphone now makes use of conductive cooling to attract warmth to the again of the cellphone, I did discover that it makes the again of the cellphone noticeably scorching to the touch. A case ought to assist alleviate that, as ought to the aforementioned AeroActive X cooler attachment. 

Utilizing 3DMark’s 20-minute stress check when paired up with the fan attachment working at its highest cooling setting, the cellphone’s dashboard reported a temperature beginning at 35 levels Celsius (95 levels Fahrenheit) and ending at 44 levels Celsius (111 levels Fahrenheit). By comparability after I ran the check with out the attachment, the cellphone began at 33 levels Celsius (91 levels Fahrenheit) and ended at a noticeably hotter 53 levels Celsius (127 levels Fahrenheit). It is value noting that 3DMark’s check is especially demanding for any cellphone however may very well be a comparability for a gamer that is significantly adept at pushing the boundaries.

Asus carried over different gaming-focused options from prior years, together with a Background mode that may hold an app energetic even for those who flip off the display, an in-game dashboard to rapidly entry settings, the power to customise settings for specific video games and the brand new AI-grabber to scan textual content inside a recreation. Asus means that the function may very well be helpful for rapidly copying and pasting phrases within a recreation after which looking the net for associated guides.

One other of the Telephone 8 Professional’s AI options is its noise cancellation function for voice and video calls, which works throughout any service that makes these. This consists of companies like WhatsApp and inside recreation chat companies like Discord.

Whereas these gaming modes are the principle draw for the ROG Telephone 8 Professional, the brand new redesign comes with quite a lot of perks towards how the cellphone seems and feels. It is noticeably lighter than final yr’s cellphone, coming in at 225g versus the Telephone 7 Final’s 246g. And by eliminating the highest bezel of the cellphone, the Telephone 8 Professional’s now 163.8mm (6.4-inches) tall, shorter than the Telephone 7 Final’s 173mm (6.7-inches). Whereas Asus was in a position to hold the show measurement between the 2 telephones the identical, it is value noting that the front-facing digicam now occupies a punch-hole house throughout the show very like different Android telephones, which could not be nice for avid gamers that want an uninterrupted view throughout their complete display. 

Gaming cellphone rival RedMagic as an illustration makes use of an under-display front-facing digicam to offer that unobstructed view, however photographs taken by under-display cameras aren’t but on the identical high quality as these capturing from a gap minimize out of the show. To accommodate this, Asus gives an choice to both let video games fill the total display or shrink the show space barely with a view to keep away from the cutout from interfering. Most video games are unlikely to be affected by the lack of house, however the possibility is there within the occasion that it’d.

The ROG Telephone 8 Professional has a 5,500mAh battery, which is smaller however nonetheless sizable in contrast with the ROG Telephone 7’s 6,000mAh battery. Whereas I discovered the ROG Telephone 7’s 6,000mAh to simply get me via two days of use, I discovered a extra combined end result with the ROG Telephone 8 Professional. 

On days with heavy use, corresponding to one the place I ran GeForce Now within the background for a number of hours whereas I did different duties and performed video games saved domestically, I drew the total battery down to twenty% by the tip of the day. With much less intensive use, which nonetheless included an hour of gameplay and miscellaneous duties like calls, texting and music, I used to be in a position to stretch the battery to final via two days of use on a single cost. Whereas your mileage will range based on how energy hungry your utilization is, Asus does ship the cellphone with a 65-watt wired charger and this yr’s cellphone consists of 15-watt wi-fi charging. In my 30-minute wired charging check, I used to be in a position to get the battery from 0% to 69% whereas the 30-minute wi-fi charging check took it from 1% to 26%.

The ROG Telephone 8 Professional runs Android 14, and Asus plans to offer two years of main software program updates and 4 years of safety updates. Whereas this is similar timeline as final yr, Google’s Pixel 8 collection is now together with seven years of software program and safety replace assist, making the Telephone 8 Professional’s timeline fairly brief for the value vary. Whereas the gaming cellphone viewers would possibly nonetheless improve their telephones extra usually to have the newest chips, that is nonetheless a really costly gadget that some clients might wish to use for so long as attainable. 

Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional cameras

I will be direct: The Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional takes good photographs for a gaming cellphone. It has a 50-megapixel principal digicam, a 13-megapixel ultrawide and 32-megapixel telephoto. In my testing, the cameras have been in a position to choose up quite a lot of colour and element — and I wager the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is doing quite a lot of the heavy lifting.

My meals photographs of a shrimp and avocado salad captured the glisten of the French dressing sprinkled on prime, and my workplace check photographs of a grass wall replicated lots of the shades of inexperienced on show. The cellphone’s 32-megapixel front-facing digicam does a good job of differentiating between my black face masks and cardigan and held up for my video calls.

I took comparability pictures with the RedMagic 9 Professional, which additionally runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and packs a 50-megapixel principal digicam. In contrast with photographs taken by its Asus counterpart, the RedMagic 9 Professional’s photographs have extra colour and element.

This included photographs taken of the Arcade1Up cupboards within the workplace utilizing each the default zoom and 3x zoom.

Each telephones did a great job brightening up CNET’s TV lab, which is a lowlight space when all of our blackout curtains are arrange. Each telephones have been in a position to discern our sofa and the ground.

When turning the cameras towards a pitch black space — which is especially demanding — the Asus was in a position to soften out the picture noise and discern no less than just a few particulars. However the RedMagic was drowned out by picture noise. We have not but reviewed the RedMagic 9 Professional, nevertheless it’s vital to notice that its beginning value is a a lot decrease $649 than the ROG Telephone 8 Professional’s $1,200 pricetag.

The Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional may file video at 8K and 24 frames per second, in addition to at 4K and 60fps. When testing that 8K setting, I did discover the cellphone chug a bit of bit, however the video high quality nonetheless got here out first rate for a gaming cellphone. Asus features a stabilizer in its digicam that the corporate says is used for each images and for movies.

It is nice to see that the Telephone 8 Professional can flip in some good photographs, and that can make the cellphone considerably extra helpful as a communication gadget in addition to a gaming machine. However Asus additionally has a first-mover benefit proper now, and we’re more likely to quickly see telephones that embody the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that give the digicam much more emphasis.

Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional backside line

The Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional is an costly cellphone at $1,200 with solely the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely and iPhone 15 Professional Max coming near that value, however in case you are on the lookout for a high-spec gaming monster that also appears like a smooth cellphone, it’s comparably priced towards what we might anticipate from different high-end telephones with 512GB of storage. Doubly so in case you are on the lookout for a media-focused powerhouse, because of its excessive refresh show, connectivity choices, quick charging and headphone jack.

Nonetheless most individuals who aren’t on the lookout for a gaming-focused cellphone ought to wait and see what Samsung is planning to disclose with its rumored Galaxy S24 line and OnePlus with the OnePlus 12. Although neither firm particularly focuses on gaming, each make telephones that readily play most cell video games, present broader images assist and longer software program replace timelines.

That stated, present ROG followers and others who’re drawn towards gaming telephones will discover quite a lot of methods to customise how they play video games with the Telephone 8 Professional. And its lighter redesign that helps it act extra like a typical cellphone will make it all of the extra usable.

How we check telephones

Each cellphone examined by CNET’s critiques crew was really utilized in the actual world. We check a cellphone’s options, play video games and take photographs. We look at the show to see if it is brilliant, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP-rating for water-resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes, utilizing standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark in addition to our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and taking part in graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.

All of the cameras are examined in quite a lot of situations, from brilliant daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like night time mode and portrait mode and examine our findings towards equally priced competing telephones. We additionally try the battery life through the use of the cellphone day by day in addition to working a collection of battery drain checks.

We take note of extra options, like assist for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus assist, quick charging speeds, and foldable shows, amongst others that may be helpful. And we steadiness all this towards the value to provide the verdict on whether or not that cellphone, no matter value it’s, really represents good worth. Although these checks might not all the time be mirrored in CNET’s preliminary evaluate, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.