The ASUS ROG Phone 7 Gaming Phone Has A Wild Accessory

Taiwanese smartphone major ASUS — which has regularly updated its gaming-focused smartphones every year since 2018 — is back with the 2023 edition of the ROG Phone lineup. On April 13, 2023, the company announced the sixth generation of the ROG Phone series. These smartphones bear the ROG Phone 7 moniker and feature several upgrades over their predecessors from 2022. Following the same trend as last year, consumers have two variants of the ROG Phone 7 to choose from; the standard ROG Phone 7, and a pricier, more feature-loaded variant called the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate.

Both phones are loaded with cutting-edge hardware, use Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips, and feature an eye-catching two-tone design. Like its predecessors, the ROG Phone 7 Series also supports a wide variety of gaming-centric accessories that elevate the overall gaming experience on the device. For 2023, the ROG Phone 7 claims to have further enhanced its cooling system — now known as GameCool 7. This cooling system combines a Boron Nitride layer and dual Graphite sheets to increase thermal efficiency. ASUS also claims that the ROG Phone 7 has increased its heat dissipation capability by a staggering 168% compared to the outgoing models.

The most interesting addition this year is the addition of a linear subwoofer to the AeroActive cooler accessory. This accessory enhances the lower frequencies while listening to content from the phone's built-in speakers.

While both ROG Phone 7 series variants use the same chipset, ASUS has equipped the Ultimate variant with a few extra features to justify its higher price tag. To begin with, the phone comes with 16 GB of RAM (as opposed to 12 GB on the standard variant) and 512 GB of onboard storage (compared to 256 GB on the vanilla variant). The rear panel of the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate also houses the ROG Vision Display, which gives the Ultimate variant a distinctive look.

To justify the higher price tag of the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, ASUS has also included the aforementioned AeroActive 7 accessory as part of the device's retail package. For people buying the vanilla ROG Phone 7, the AeroActive cooler will be available as a purchasable accessory. Besides these changes, the Ultimate variant also boasts a better, more efficient cooling mechanism called the Aeroactobe portal. This feature is enabled when the AeroActive cooler is attached to the phone's back.

Both the phones retain classic ROG Phone features, including AirTrigger, DualAction, and Gyroscope Aiming. The device also uses a linear vibration motor that enables realistic haptic feedback while gaming. On supported games, the phones also support Ray Tracing, thereby ensuring better reflections.

The ROG Phone series has been traditionally known for its excellent display quality, and that seems to be the case this time around as well. The ROG Phone 7 lineup features a large 6.78-inch AMOLED panel. This new display is brighter than its predecessor and now boasts a peak brightness of 1500 nits. The panel is also HDR10+ certified and supports a 165 Hz refresh rate and a touch sampling rate of 300 Hz. With a Delta E average of less than 1%, this is among the most color-accurate displays currently available for any smartphone.

ASUS hasn't made major changes to the ROG Phone 7's camera setup, which is near-identical to the one used by its predecessor. The phone features a triple camera array at the rear consisting of a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 5-megapixel macro shooter. For selfies and video calls, the ROG Phone 7 gets a 32-megapixel sensor from Omnivision, which outputs a pixel-binned 8-megapixel image. The ASUS ROG Phone 7 gets a 6000 mAh battery split into twin 3000 mAh modules to improve cooling and overall charging efficiency. ASUS ships the device with a 66W charger in select countries.

The ROG Phone 7 lineup is currently available for preorder in select European and Asian markets. ASUS hasn't officially communicated the availability details for the U.S.  In Europe, ASUS will charge consumers €999 ($1,100) for the ROG Phone 7, while the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, with all the bells and whistles, will set users back €1,399 ($1,547).