Asus ROG 5 Ultimate - (Latest review)

 Asus ROG 5 Ultimate. The latest review by Techno BT.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is a better gaming phone than its predecessors, as well as the competing devices I’ve tried so far from Xiaomi’s Black Shark. For one, it’s the most powerful option out there with the Snapdragon 888 processor and its 18GB of RAM. Every device in the lineup starts with 512GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage, so it flies with opening apps, switching between them, and for other tasks that access storage. Its 6.78-inch FHD+ (2448 x 1080) OLED screen is one of the best I’ve ever used, even if it’s far too large to be my ideal size. Asus kept the 144Hz refresh rate (which automatically adjusts per app for efficiency by default) from the ROG Phone 3, but its touch latency is down to 24 milliseconds here with a 300Hz touch sampling rate, meaning it checks 300 times per second to see where you’ve touched it. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a 240Hz sampling rate, for context. The new RedMagic 6 that’s expected to be far more affordable than the base ROG Phone 5 configuration uses similar display tech, but with a faster 165Hz refresh rate and a faster 500Hz touch sampling rate.

The specs and display used in each ROG Phone 5 make playing games look sharp and run smoothly, and some other features elevate the experience further, whether you’re gaming or watching movies. I particularly love the dual front-facing speakers. They offer the best stereo separation I’ve heard from a phone — to the point where, in most situations, I’m just as pleased to listen to audio aloud at home as I am through headphones. Speaking of, this year’s device sees the return of a 3.5mm audio jack that was missing from the 2020 ROG Phone 3. Asus brought it back with a vengeance, too, equipped with an ESS ES9280AC Pro quad DAC for hi-res audio.

Asus has spent the year refining its Armoury Crate game launcher-meets-dedicated console UI. Its looks haven’t changed dramatically since the Asus ROG Phone II, but in case you’re hearing about this for the first time, it’s filled with so many useful features for gamers. It lets you make a “scenario profile’’ for each game, where you can tweak settings to get more out of each game and, in turn, squeeze more performance from the ROG Phone 5. A profile consists of things like what refresh rate you want the screen to run at, and how much you want to amp up the power of the processor, graphics chip, and RAM. It even lets you turn off network switching, as well as background data and app syncing on a per-game basis. If you’re familiar with gaming on PC, the closest parallel is Nvidia’s GeForce Experience.

A big part of this software — and one of the more compelling features of the phone itself — is configuring AirTriggers. These ultrasonic sensors embedded within the phone can be mapped to emulate buttons so you don’t need to use the touch screen as often. All of the ROG Phone 5 models have sensors along the right edge, so they feel like triggers when you’re holding them in landscape mode. The Ultimate and Pro models add two additional touch sensors near where my ring fingers rest on the phone.