The ASUS ROG Phone II Review: Mobile Gaming First, Phone Second
by Dr. Ian Cutress on September 30, 2019 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Asus
- Qualcomm
- Smartphones
- ROG
- RGB
- Snapdragon 855 Plus
- ROG Phone II
Conclusions
In the past, we’ve had two very distinct markets at play: handheld consoles with a dedicated ecosystem for gaming, and smartphones for making calls and doing everything online. Trying to bridge the gap between these two markets typically involves starting with one specific device and working towards the middle: the ASUS ROG Phone II starts with the concept of a phone and works towards a dedicated gaming console.
Is this direction the correct way to go? Handheld consoles work great because the hardware is cheap, the gaming titles are dedicated and optimized, and communities build around them. Smartphones work great because of the wealth of apps built for them integrate a lot of device features and enable both a strong workflow and social media integration. Smartphones don’t work great because the game model is substantially different, and handheld consoles don’t do workflow because the app ecosystem isn’t geared that way. It’s a catch-22 either way.
What ASUS wants to do with the ROG Phone II is build one of the best gaming experiences on Android. If we leave handheld consoles to the side for the moment, and imagine what we want out of smartphone gaming on Android, and the ASUS hits a lot of boxes: a high performance SoC with an tuned OS and high performance mode, strong front facing speakers, a high resolution high refresh-rate display, a long life battery, and accessories to help enable a better user experience. Ultimately, ASUS pitches the ROG Phone II as a gaming platform first, that just happens to take phone calls.
But the crux of it all, for me, is that it all comes down to whether gaming on Android is even a thing worth considering. If that is a thing, then ASUS has produced a great solution for it.
Let me put this into two boxes:
At $899, ASUS has created an impressive flagship smartphone that has a long list of bonus features. Dual front facing speakers, 120 Hz display, 6000 mAh battery, high performance, Wi-Gig, the list goes on: all a user has to put up with is a slightly heavier-than-normal device, that just happens to be a phone as well.
At $899, ASUS has created an expensive handheld console. There’s nothing this device can run that a standard flagship smartphone can’t, and at the end of the day our traditional view of a gaming console revolves around unique experiences. What gaming ASUS does enable is some of the best on the Android market, but it’s expensive when compared to something like the Switch.
Would I recommend the ROG Phone II? It’s a lot of hardware as a smartphone. But even though gaming is the focus of the device, I don’t know anyone who buys a smartphone specifically with gaming in mind. For that, handheld consoles do the job.
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plewis00 - Monday, September 30, 2019 - link
I don’t know what games you play but the ones I do can’t cope with multiple connections - if they detect a network or IP change they usually treat that as a disconnection. So you’d need the game companies to get onboard too. I suspect the IP change thing is to do with your session being intercepted and that’s why it disconnects you.brucethemoose - Monday, September 30, 2019 - link
Asus could theoretically host a VPN (or contract someone else) to keep your visible IP the same across all connections.That would also be MUCH less work than mucking around with Android's network handoff code.
Lochtror - Tuesday, October 1, 2019 - link
good idea, i think just any vpn usage would have this effect, so i will try that. but still needs some setting or software on the phone that switches the connection faster than what i experienced so far.Lochtror - Tuesday, October 1, 2019 - link
interesting. thanks. its mushroom wars 2 and hearthstone for me. hearthstone is forgiving regarding connection issues. can even reconnect for a while. turn based game.mw2, real time, more disconnects.
Wardrive86 - Monday, September 30, 2019 - link
I buy a smartphone with gaming specifically in mind. There now you know one person who does that 😏AdhesiveTeflon - Monday, September 30, 2019 - link
I don't get it, is somebody planning to load up battlefield V on this thing and play it?PeachNCream - Tuesday, October 1, 2019 - link
I think we're heading in that direction and these early entries into adding external case plastics and lighting that might appeal to the target audience are indications that some PC manufacturers are seeing the need to enter the phone reseller and/or production market in order to establish corporate identities ahead of other potential competitors. When it comes to playing games, the end objective is amusement and as we move forward, the underlying device that provides said amusement is certainly subject to change. Look at how we have transitioned with other elements of entertainment and information consumption for examples. Families used to gather around a single, large radio console to listen to evening programming together. They eventually shifted to doing the same thing with television consoles. Television became more commonplace and more personal so more of them started popping up in individualized spaces as cost of ownership declined so they ended up in bedrooms in addition to centralized areas. Computers went the same way, from single PC per household to personalized devices and now that same data processing is moving from larger to smaller, even more portable systems via phones that will naturally supply a certain amount of entertainment value via video games. It's just the way of things that change is constantly afoot.johansyren - Tuesday, November 10, 2020 - link
I've been using this phone for a week now and as a daily driver, it is great. In terms of photography, it is not that great but when using it with GCAM, it improves your shots. It is a gaming phone so the camera is good overall. As for the games, almost all games can run on ultra high settings and still run in a smooth manner. Don't worry about the temps going high 'cause if you bought the strix edition one, it comes with aero cooler v2 and aero case. I found a good article about this phone https://casinovalley.ca/best-picks/best-gambling-p...Tams80 - Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - link
Not Battlefield V or it's like, but numerous people have made careers out of mobile gaming (and not just game developers).Lord of the Bored - Monday, September 30, 2019 - link
"Game Genie"How nostalgic.