Asus is also offering a new model of the ROG Phone gamer smartphones in 2024 in addition to a Zenfone series: The ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro are aimed at gamers in terms of performance, sound and software, but the Taiwanese manufacturer is trying again this year to make the series interesting for other users.
The ROG Phone 8 Pro, for example, has a new, more extensive camera, a more discreet appearance and is now protected against water and dust according to IP68. Golem.de’s test shows that the ROG Phone 8 Pro is also a very interesting smartphone for non-gamers, especially in the almost identical standard version. However, Asus is likely to have problems due to the price and the competition.
We have the Pro version of the new ROG Phone for testing. Except for the part about the LED display on the back, our test results can be transferred 1:1 to the normal ROG Phone 8, as the two models are otherwise identical apart from the memory size.
Design becomes more subtle
As soon as you unpack the ROG Phone 8 Pro, you notice that Asus has moved away from the typical gaming look with the design, as already indicated in previous years. Our test model is matt black and has a shiny, black horizontal stripe on the back – that’s about it for gaming elements. The smartphone is of high quality and we like the more inconspicuous look.
The display of the ROG Phone 8 Pro is 6.78 inches and uses an OLED panel with a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels. Asus does not provide a higher resolution, which is okay given the good sharpness. Most competitors in this price segment rely on higher-resolution displays. The maximum frame rate is a fast 165 Hz, the continuously controlled range is between 1 and 120 Hz (LTPO).
We really like the quality of the display: the viewing angle stability is excellent, the colors are strong and not exaggerated. The screen is easy to read even in bright conditions and responds well to our input using a touch sampling rate of high 720 Hz. Overall, we really like the display of the ROG Phone 8 Pro. A well-functioning fingerprint sensor is installed in the lower area.
Inside the ROG Phone 8 Pro is Qualcomm’s new SoC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, currently the most powerful chipset in the Android sector. As expected, the smartphone delivers very good benchmark results in high-performance mode (X-Mode): In the Geekbench 6 single-core test, the ROG Phone 8 Pro achieved 2,338 points, which is 400 points more than its predecessor achieved. In the multi-core test, the new model achieved 7,413 points. For comparison: The iPhone 15 Pro achieves almost the same score with 7,455.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 delivers high performance
It’s hardly surprising that the ROG Phone 8 Pro doesn’t show any performance problems, even when playing more complex games like Genshin Impact with the highest graphics settings. In X mode, the smartphone runs at full speed, which is noticeable through an increased temperature on the back. However, we don’t find them unpleasant. Asus’ passive cooling solution with a layer of boron nitride and a copper element seems to be paying off.