Asus announced that its new smartphone designed for gamers will go on sale in the US in Q4. The Republic of Gamers (ROG) phone will go on pre-order on 18 October during a launch event at the Microsoft Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Microsoft and Amazon will offer pre-sales, at a starting price of USD 899. The full range of accessories for the phone will also be available starting in Q4.
The ROG phone is powered by what Asus says is world's fastest speed-binned processor, the 2.96GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, with gaming-optimized Adreno 630 GPU and a choice of 128GB or 512GB storage. The phone features the GameCool vapor-chamber cooling system, with detachable AeroActive Cooler for an extra cooling boost, in order to sustain blur-free high frame rates in the heat of gaming. The Amoled display promises a 90Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, plus support for HDR.
The phone comes with side-mounted ports so can it can be easily docked and connected to a bigger monitor or TV. A range of docking stations will be available, including a TwinView dock with separate screen, a WiGig dock using 60 GHz 802.11ad and the Asus Professional dock with gigabit Ethernet and USB ports. Adding the Gamevice Controller, users can turn the phone into a full gaming console. On its own, the ROG phone also has two programmable ultrasonic AirTriggers and advanced force-feedback haptics for better control during gaming.
