The best Asus phones – check out our top 10 list
And while on the gaming subject, Asus has already launched its next ROG model – the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, and of course, it’s found its place on our list (yes, on top – you’ve guessed right).In a smartphone world where Apple and Samsung are calling the shots, it’s really refreshing to see what an underdog (of sorts) can do. Here’s our list of the best Asus phones you can get in 2023!
Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate
the best gaming phone out there
If you want the best of the best, you should aim for the “Ultimate” variant of the ROG series. And here it is, the latest iteration of the ROG Phone Ultimate – the lucky 7. This phone won’t stutter or lag even during the most intensive tasks, we’re not talking only about gaming, but everything that requires raw power. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset inside is the fastest Qualcomm has to offer, and thanks to the improved cooling, the performance is stellar.
The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate comes with a bunch of other cool features, such as capacitive buttons for gaming, a great AMOLED display with super-fast 165Hz refresh rate, one of the best speakers on a phone ever, and a unique style. Granted, this phone might not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially when it comes to the way it looks, but it can be an amazing sleeper phone to impress your Galaxy and iPhone friends with.
Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
The new kid on the block
The new and fresh Asus ROG 6 series lineup is here and it’s better than ever! The ROG Phone 6 Pro comes with better everything, so to say. Its display now goes up to 165Hz refresh rates, it has the latest and greatest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, there’s a new vibro motor, and the stereo sound is out of this world.
We can argue that there’s little competition when it comes to mobile gaming and the Asus ROG phones and that’s true. But there’s still inner competition between the models. The 6 Pro also features revamped internals to battle any heat issues, and the connector for all the gaming accessories is a Type-C.
Speaking of accessories, there are plenty (of course, sold separately) but if you want the best gaming phone on the market, this title currently belongs to the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
The ultimate gaming phone
Mục Lục
The Good
The Bad
How can we not put a phone with “Ultimate” in its name on our list?! Yeah, it’s a niche device but it’s bloody awesome. As my colleagues wrote “this is definitely not the phone for most people” but the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate can be the best Asus phone for a small bunch of enthusiasts. And sometimes this is enough. Back to this monster of a phone.
The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has it all – a super-fast 144Hz 6.78-inch AMOLED display made by Samsung (1,200 nits peak brightness, HDR10+, 150.89% sRGB color gamut coverage), 18GB of RAM (an obvious overkill but why not?!), 512GB of storage, a hefty 6,000mAh battery, the latest Snapdragon 888 silicon, stereo speakers, air trigger buttons, 65W charging, a separate display on the back, the list goes on and on.
There are only two main drawbacks to this phone. The first is the price – there’s no way around it – you’ll need to cough up north of $1,500 to own this beauty. Which, to be absolutely fair, in a world where your normal Galaxy Ultra or Sony Xperia pushes $1,300, is not THAT expensive. The second one is crucial – you just can’t get this phone. It’s a limited edition and in fact so limited that you’ll have to resort to shady Chinese sites to even get close to the possibility of owning one (if you’re lucky). But it exists and it’s the pinnacle of smartphone tech, at least in 2021.
There are only two main drawbacks to this phone. The first is the price – there’s no way around it – you’ll need to cough up north of $1,500 to own this beauty. Which, to be absolutely fair, in a world where your normal Galaxy Ultra or Sony Xperia pushes $1,300, is not THAT expensive. The second one is crucial – you just can’t get this phone. It’s a limited edition and in fact so limited that you’ll have to resort to shady Chinese sites to even get close to the possibility of owning one (if you’re lucky). But it exists and it’s the pinnacle of smartphone tech, at least in 2021.
Read More:
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate review
Asus ZenFone 9
Hail the new compact king
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With the ZenFone 8, Asus made a sharp U-turn in design and overall philosophy, going down the compact route. Now, the ZenFone 9 took this idea and perfected it in every possible way. The phone is a tad more compact (only 4% but still…), it features the best Qualcomm processor at the moment, and the battery life is just astounding for such a small device.
Everything you loved about the ZenFone 8 is present here as well – all the audio Dirac magic with some additional algorithm enhancements (the phone sounds really good, and there’s a 3.5mm jack too), the display is a 120Hz marvel, calibrated to perfection, RAM and storage are aplenty.
The sensor of the main camera has been upgraded and the whole thing sports a sophisticated gimbal system that can make you the next Kubrick (If only it was that easy). The ZenFone 9 is a really good deal (there’s a case and a charger in the retail box) at $699. Currently, it’s the best compact Android flagship phone on the market.
The sensor of the main camera has been upgraded and the whole thing sports a sophisticated gimbal system that can make you the next Kubrick (If only it was that easy). The ZenFone 9 is a really good deal (there’s a case and a charger in the retail box) at $699. Currently, it’s the best compact Android flagship phone on the market.
Read More:
Asus ZenFone 9 review
Asus ZenFone 8 Flip
The flip camera idea, refined
The Good
The Bad
The never-ending quest for maximum screen-to-body ratio spawned some very interesting design solutions in the past few years. Asus came up with its own idea in the ZenFone 6 and perfected it in the next two generations – the flip camera. It’s a unique take that comes with some drawbacks but it gets the job done and looks really cool.
The ZenFone 8 Flip took up where the 7 Pro left off – adding small refinements to the flip mechanism. For those of you, who don’t know what I’m talking about – there’s no selfie camera in the ZenFone 8 Flip. The whole main camera module flips up instead, so you can snap your persona with three different high-quality lenses. Neat!
The phone delivers on many different levels – the notchless 6.67-inch HDR 10+ display is pretty good and even though it can only go up to 90Hz, you won’t feel like you’re missing something. You get the same top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888 chipset coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128/256GB of storage with the surprising addition of a microSD card slot.
The camera module features the same main and ultra-wide snappers we saw in the ZenFone 8 but adds a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. There’s a big 5,000mAh battery on board but there’s no sign of wireless charging or 3.5mm audio jack (pretty strange at this size). Nevertheless, if you want the flip experience, the Asus ZenFone 8 Flip is your best bet.
The camera module features the same main and ultra-wide snappers we saw in the ZenFone 8 but adds a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. There’s a big 5,000mAh battery on board but there’s no sign of wireless charging or 3.5mm audio jack (pretty strange at this size). Nevertheless, if you want the flip experience, the Asus ZenFone 8 Flip is your best bet.
Read More:
Asus ZenFone 8 Flip review
Asus ROG Phone 5
Gaming goodness that you can actually buy
The Good
The Bad
The “vanilla” Asus ROG Phone 5, as we like to call these core versions, is still a perfect gaming phone. In fact, the lack of “Ultimate” doesn’t diminish it in the slightest. The main differences are the amount of RAM (18GB is just insane) and the fancy display on the back. If you don’t care about those things, you’ll be perfectly fine with the Asus ROG Phone 5.
You get the same gorgeous 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2448×1080. Its refresh rate can go up to 144 Hz, the air triggers are present too, and the magnificent stereo speakers are still here – seriously, the sound of this thing is out of this world. It’s for all practical purposes the best gaming phone out there, leaving the elusive Ultimate edition to the hard core (and we really mean hard core) gamers and tech fans.
What the Asus ROG Phone 5 has that the Ultimate lacks is availability. You can actually buy this phone right now, and also for midrange money (it’s $660 at Newegg). It’s not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but the package you’re getting is worth every penny. Is it the best Asus phone out there? Maybe, maybe not.
What the Asus ROG Phone 5 has that the Ultimate lacks is availability. You can actually buy this phone right now, and also for midrange money (it’s $660 at Newegg). It’s not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but the package you’re getting is worth every penny. Is it the best Asus phone out there? Maybe, maybe not.
Read More:
Asus ROG Phone 5 review
Asus ROG Phone 5s
Refresh, upgrade, overclock
Asus officially retired the ROG Phone 5 series and you can’t get one directly now. The good news is that the company has refreshed its portfolio and introduced the Asus ROG Phone 5s. This new model is actually the reason for the vanilla ROG Phone 5 phaseout and the differences between the two aren’t that big.
The ROG Phone 5s comes equipped with the Snapdragon 888+ chipset – an overclocked version of the 888 found in the ROG Phone 5. The touch sampling rate of the display has alco been bumped up from 300Hz to 360Hz, which should please the fans of fast paces, fast-click games.
The phone can be ordered in three different memory configurations – 16/512GB, 12/512GB, and 18/512GB, and costs €1000, €1100, and €1300 respectively. The 18GB version matches the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, so on paper the ROG Phone 5s is the best Asus phone available. For now.
Asus ZenFone 7 Pro
A solid edge-to-edge flagship
The Good
The Bad
The Asus ZenFone 7 Pro is an evolution of the flip camera idea Asus first dared to explore in the ZenFone 6. Everything is much better in the 7 Pro, though, and all first-gen hiccups have been addressed. What’s the Asus ZenFone 7 Pro then? And why bother when you got the ZenFone 8 Flip out there? Well, the 7 Pro is just as good as the Flip and costs less money.
If you want a more budget-friendly version of the flip camera phone, this is the device for you. You can get it for under $700, and it’s almost identical to the ZenFone 8 Flip, barring the chipset. Yeah, the ZenFone 7 Pro comes equipped with the previous generation Snapdragon silicon – the 865+ but it’s no slouch! The performance is there, and so is the triple camera system with the same configuration as the system in the Flip.
The other big difference is the side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which may put some people off but it’s actually much quicker and more accurate than the in-display version in the Flip. At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with either of these models, if you’re into the flip idea, that is. Oh, and by the way, the ZenFone 7 Pro looks amazing in Pastel White!
Read More:
Asus ZenFone 7 Pro review
Asus ZenFone 7
Best for tight budget
View full specs
If you want to save some extra money and still get a flagship device, the regular Asus ZenFone 7 is a great choice. Let’s compare it to the Pro model real quick. With the ZenFone 7 you get the Snapdragon 865 as opposed to the 865+ found inside the Pro. The RAM is 6GB instead of 8GB and the base storage is 128GB. Not that bad, right?
The rotating camera system is practically the same, the battery has the same 5,000mAh capacity, and supports 30W fast charging speeds. The display is also identical to the one used in the Pro version, which is a great thing. The 6.7-inch AMOLED with a 90Hz refresh rate is just gorgeous to look upon. Especially with no notches and cutouts.
The ZenFone 7 can be found at around $600, a decent price in a time when flagship phones push $1,100-1,300.
Conclusion
So there you have it! We believe that any of this phones can be worthy of your attention and hard-earned money. Asus may not be as popular as Samsung or Apple in the smartphone space but this doesn’t mean that the company can’t make phones. Quite on the contrary – just take a look at a ROG Phone of any generation. And you don’t need to be an avid gamer to enjoy such device – a good phone is a good phone, period.
Of course, this best Asus phones list is a work-in-progress, and with the pace of today’s tech, it’ll always be. So stay tuned for more Asus devices and more gaming RGB madness in the coming weeks.
