Asus is one of the first companies to release a smartphone designed specifically for gaming. The ROG Phone has grown throughout the year, becoming better in every way, and the latest generation is now available: the ROG Phone 5s. It's a mid-year upgrade with a new CPU and a somewhat better display.
PROS
- High-contrast, color-accurate 144Hz OLED display Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+
- All-day battery life
CONS
- Cameras of average quality
- There is no wireless charging or IP rating.
- The Android 11 operating system is included.
Asus ROG Phone 5s Design: A Practical Yet Distinctive Smartphone
The Asus ROG Phone 5s appears to be identical to the ROG Phone 5, which is not a bad thing in my opinion. The smartphone's rear panel includes a lot of details that you won't find on other smartphones, indicating that this is a gaming smartphone. The ROG Phone 5s has two USB Type-C ports, one on the bottom and one on the side, in typical ROG Phone fashion. While you may charge the phone using any of the ports, the firm urges you to utilise the connection on the bottom. The phone sports two capacitive shoulder buttons, which will enhance the gaming experience.
It takes some getting used to the capacitive shoulder buttons rather than the on-screen controls. Once you've mastered the shoulder buttons, it only adds to the gaming experience, especially on titles like COD: Mobile, which need panning, aiming, and firing.
The side charging connection is intended to attach accessories and is particularly beneficial for playing horizontal games such as COD: Mobile, Asphalt 9, or even the Genshin Impact. The side ports are protected by a rubber seal, which is often lost; hence, Asus includes a replacement in the retail packaging.
Although the ROG Phone 5s has a 6.78-inch display, it seems significantly larger than other current smartphones with comparable-sized displays. This is owing to the phone's thick, equally sized bezels on the top and bottom halves, which contain a dual speaker arrangement; more on that later in the review. Overall, the Asus ROG Phone 5s is a large smartphone that provides a superior gaming experience. If you have tiny hands, you may want to reconsider because this is a big phone, and it is also rather hefty, weighing 238 grammes.
As previously stated, the Asus ROG Phone 5s sports a large 6.78-inch OLED display with a native resolution of 2448 x 1080p, a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, a reaction time of 1ms, and is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The display has a delta value smaller than one, indicating that it is a color-accurate screen. The touch sampling rate is the only variation between the ROG Phone 5s and the ROG Phone 5. The ROG Phone 5s has a touch sampling rate of 360Hz with a touch latency of 24ms, whereas the ROG Phone 5 has a touch sampling rate of 300Hz with a touch latency of 24.6ms.
With DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 111 percent and HDR10+ support. There is no Dolby Vision compatibility, which is unfortunate because most OTT services now accept Dolby Vision HDR standards rather than ordinary HDR10+. However, HDR content may still be seen on services such as YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.
The smartphone also includes an optical in-display fingerprint sensor. When compared to other top mid-range smartphones like the Realme X7 Max 5G, the sensor felt a little slow throughout my testing. While it has an accuracy of 80%, it should have been a little faster and more precise, especially given the smartphone's price. The ROG Phone 5s is a gaming phone, and the 6.78-inch display makes it seem like a full gaming smartphone in terms of colour accuracy, touch sensitivity, and even brightness, making the content look vibrant and vivid. The same is true for content consumption, especially with the built-in speakers.
