Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus has launched its flagship gaming smartphone in the market, the Asus ROG Phone 5. Where the starting price of the phone has been set at Rs 49,999, the top variant (Ultimate Edition) has been priced at Rs 79,999.
The ROG Phone 5 comes with some of the top-of-the-line specifications like a Snapdragon 888 processor and an enhanced audio system that makes gaming on this smartphone a sheer delight. However, the last iteration of the gaming phone, the ROG Phone 3 itself packs some promising hardware at a relatively lesser price tag. Not to mention comes with some cool attachments also.
So if a gaming phone is on the top of your priority list which one should be an ideal fit for you, the new ROG 5 or last year’s ROG Phone 3 with the cool accessories? Let’s take a look.
Design and display
Though a lot of the design elements of the two gaming phones are similar, the ROG Phone 5 now comes with a dot-matrix LED light at the back that’s different from the previous phone. Also, you get better overall protection with the Asus ROG Phone 5 as now it comes with a better version of Gorilla Glass called Victus.
Both devices weigh almost 240 grams which means that you won’t feel the difference when you hold the two in the hands.
Asus ROG Phone 5, the new entrant in the premium smartphone market features a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate and up to 300Hz touch sampling rate. Other features include triple rear camera, secondary display, air trigger buttons, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, up to 18GB RAM and a 6,000mAh battery with 65W fast charging support.
The air triggers have been continued on the new ROG Phone 5 which come with 18 different touchpoints to make the gaming experience more immersive. The Ultimate Edition of the phone also comes with touch-sensitive triggers at the back of the phone that also support sliding gestures.
Where the ROG Phone 5 sports a slightly bigger 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, the ROG Phone 3 comes with a 6.59-inch display that also supports HDR10+. Both displays offer 144Hz refresh rate support, however, the ROG Phone 5 is much brighter compared to its previous iteration with a peak 1,200 nits brightness.
Not a lot to separate the two in this department but overall the ROG Phone 5 is a better proposition.
Performance and hardware
The ROG Phone 5 comes loaded with the latest hardware that’s available in the market today. Powering the smartphone is a 5-nanometer Snapdragon 888 processor with support for 8GB to 18GB of RAM. For graphics, you get an Adreno 660 GPU. You get Android 11 support for the ROG Phone 5 beneath ROG own user interface.
Many might say that the 18GB RAM is a bit of an overkill but the come has added the extra RAM saying it wants to make the device “futureproof”.
In comparison, the ROG Phone 3 runs on a 7-nanometer Snapdragon 865+ processor with up to 16GB of RAM. You get up to 512GB of in-built storage with both the phone without the option to expand.
Both the devices offer dedicated gaming modes and an advanced cooling system but considering that the ROG 5 is the latest generation hardware we’d put our money on the ROG Phone 5. That said, the ROG phone packs enough hardware to meet all your gaming needs of today without any lags and that’s because there aren’t any heavy-duty games in the market.
The big game-changer is the audio as the new ROG Phone 5 comes with a pair of front-facing speakers and a 3.5mm output with a proper audiophile DAC. Apart from the addition of Hi-Res audio, the output is louder this time and something that gamers would enjoy.
Accessories
Asus hasn’t come out all guns blazing in the accessories department on the ROG Phone 5. The Taiwanese company has only introduced the new cooling fan with added triggers and besides that, it also offers support for some of the older accessories like the Asus Gamepad Controller.
However, the Asus ROG Phone 3 offers support for a lot more number of accessories and that’s where it trumps the ROG Phone 5.
The ROG Phone 3 offers support for the following gaming accessories:
– AeroActive Cooler
– TwinView Dock 3
– Cetra Wired Headset
– Asus ADSU001 Professional Dock (for multiple connectivities)
– ROG Mobile Dock Gaming Accessory Kit
– Asus Kunai Gamepad
When asked, Asus confirmed that the ROG 5 only offers backward compatibility for select older accessories and this works against the newer generation gaming phone.
Camera and battery
Both smartphones come with the same triple-camera system at the back with a 64-megapixel primary sensor, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 5-megapixel macro lens. On the front, you get a 24-megapixel snapper with wide mode.
I understand that if one were to buy this phone it would be for its gaming prowess and not for its optics. But having a good camera on a phone is always an added advantage. So, if you end up buying either of these two phones, you will still have a decent camera experience.
Asus ROG Phone 3
Both gaming phones come with a 6,000mAh battery, however, the ROG Phone 5 now houses a dual 3,000mAh battery pack with support for 65W fast charge. This not only helps with better battery management but the company has also added a new heat dissipating system to counter battery heating problems.
Which one should you buy?
I don’t think this is a tough call. Where the ROG Phone 5 packs all the latest hardware inside with a more than impressive design, the Asus ROG Phone 3 is still running on last year’s hardware but can’t be counted out. What works against the ROG Phone 3 is its price tag, which is Rs 46,999 for the 8GB version. This could be a dealbreaker for many as the new ROG Phone 5 is just Rs 3,000 more costly for the same storage and RAM configuration.
Yes, you get more accessories with the ROG Phone 3 but that’s just about it. You can either wait for a price drop for the ROG Phone 3 or buy it only if you want the extra gaming accessories.
