Editor’s Note: Asus India gave IGN India early access to the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate for initial impressions.
Computer hardware maker Asus has announced the latest version of its gaming smartphone lineup, the Asus ROG Phone 7 series, on the global stage. The ROG Phone 7 has two variants: the ROG Phone 7 and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. As the naming would suggest, the ROG Phone 7 series is the sequel to the ROG Phone 6 lineup that launched last year with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
Unlike the ROG Phone 6 series launch, the ROG Phone 7 will make its way to India in line with the global launch. Just days before the launch, we got a chance to use the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate for a limited time. Here are our initial impressions of the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate.
Specifications
Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate Specifications
| Specs | ROG Phone 7 Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.78 inches AMOLED panel (2448×1080 pixels) and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus with HDR10+ certification and 111.23% DCI-P3 color gamut, 165Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate, 23ms touch latency | |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Clocked @ up to 3.2 GHz | |
| GPU | Adreno 740 GPU | |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5X | |
| Design | Storm White color option; Illuminated ROG logo (RGB) back cover; IP54 rating | |
| Storage | 512GB UFS 4.0, No SD card slot | |
| Camera | Rear (50MP Primary camera sensor, 13MP ultra-wide, 5MP macro), Front (32MP sensor). Support for 8K @ 24fps, 4K @ 60fps (120fps in slow mode), 1080p @ 60fps (240fps in slow mode). | |
| OS | Android 13 with 2 OS updates and 4 years of security updates | |
| Battery and Charger | 2× 3,000mAh batteries MMT design, (Total capacity 6 000 mAh). Included 30W Charger adapter supports PD3.0 and QC5.0 protocols (Max charging speed – 65W). | |
| Sensors | Accelerator, E-Compass, Proximity, Ambient light sensor, in-display fingerprint sensor, Gyro, Hall sensor, Ultrasonic sensors for AirTrigger system for grip/press detection; GNSS GPS (L1/L5), GLONASS (L1), Galileo (E1/E5a), BeiDou (B1/B2a), QZSS (L1/L5), NavIC (L5) | |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 Ready, 2×2 MIMO, 3 Antenna Wi-Fi-Direct support UL 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.3, Dual Nano SIM (DSDV LTE+LTE) with Dual SIM dual standby, NFC | |
| Ports | Bottom (Type C connector – USB3.1 gen2/DP 1.4 (4K) / Hyper Charging / QC5.0 (QC4/QC3/PD3.0) and 3.5 mm audio jack – headphone) Left side (Pogo Pin – for AeroActive Cooler 7, Type C connector – USB 2.0 / HyperCharge / QC5.0) |
|
| Dimensions | 173 × 77 × 10.3 mm | |
| Weight | 239 g | |
| Accessories | 30W HyperCharge Power adapter ROG AeroActive Cooler 7 and pouch ROG AeroActive Cooler 7 compatible, AeroCase ROG Phone 7 Ultimate unboxing experience |
|
Design of the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate
Beyond the upgraded internals, the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate features a slightly tweaked design on the back when compared to the ROG Phone 6 Pro. While the camera sensor area is identical on the 6 Pro and 7 Ultimate, the overall design aesthetic is much cleaner on the latest iteration. In addition, Asus has added a heat-fin flap on the 7 Ultimate that will help the AeroActive Cooler to better remove the heat from the smartphone. The best part about this heat-fin flap is that it stays closed by default. It only activates to open when the phone is connected to the AeroActive cooler.
Asus revealed that the inspiration for the heat-fin flap was drawn from traditional server hardware. The AeroActive Cooler draws in air and redirects it towards the copper heat fins to cool them down. Users can also open the heat-fin flap to clean the fins and remove accumulated dust. Other design elements like the front-facing dual speakers, charging port on the right side of the smartphone, and AirTriggers on the left side remain identical to the ROG Phone 6.
Price and availability
Asus India has announced that the ROG Phone 7 and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate will be available for Rs. 74,999 and Rs. 99,999, respectively, with one RAM and storage combination offered for each device. Revisiting the specifications table, the ROG Phone 7 will feature 12GB LPDDR5X RAM with 256GB UFS 4.0 internal storage. Ultimate will come with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage. Both variants will not support expandable storage through a microSD card slot.
Regarding availability, Asus outlined that the ROG Phone 7 series will make its way to India in May 2023. However, the exact launch date is still not out. However, the company did confirm that both devices will be available on Vijay Sales Stores and the official Asus ROG online store.
Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate first impressions
During my limited time using the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, I noticed that the Taiwanese technology giant has made some noticeable improvements in the segments of design and audio. The device does come with the latest SoC from Qualcomm, but my hands-on time wasn’t enough to evaluate the gaming performance and efficiency of the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate.
Like any Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered smartphone, I am certain the 7 Ultimate will perform admirably. However, we need more time to properly evaluate additional gaming-specific software features, hardware improvements and external accessories like the ROG AeroActive Cooler 7. We will be testing out the phone thoroughly in the coming weeks and will share our final verdict in a comprehensive review.
