ASUS ROG Phone 5 series announced in Malaysia priced from RM2999

ASUS has just announced the ROG Phone 5 in Malaysia, with a pretty attractive starting price at that. The Snapdragon 888-toting gaming phone will be priced from just RM2999, which is the exact same starting price of the last-gen ROG Phone 3 series.

ASUS ROG Phone 5 Series – what’s the same

The new ROG Phone 5 series will not have a STRIX Edition, and instead ASUS has decided to release a ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate for mobile gamers who want more than what the ROG Phone 5 can deliver. But first, let’s talk about what’s similar across the range.

For this generation, ASUS has adopted an even larger 6.78″ 144Hz AMOLED display. The touch sampling rate has been bumped up to 300Hz from the ROG Phone 3’s 270Hz, and the peak brightness is also now pegged at 1200 nits, versus the ROG Phone 3’s 1000 nits.

The ROG Phone 5 series’ display also boast of 150% sRGB gamut coverage and color accuracy of Delta E <1. Last but not least, the glass covering the panel is Gorilla Glass Victus for enhanced durability, with an AS coating to improve its smoothness even when swiping with sweaty fingers.

On the rear, the camera setup in the ROG Phone 5 series is pretty much directly carried over from the ROG Phone 3. There’s a 64MP Sony IMX686 mated to a 13MP ultra-wide and a 5MP macro camera. ASUS didn’t upgrade the 24MP selfie camera either, but it is now smaller, allowing for slimmer bezels which in turn let ASUS cram in a larger display without making the device significantly larger.

Speaking of the bezels, ASUS are using stereo 1216 speakers that are powered by Cirrus Logic amps. DxOMark has previously rated it as the best sounding smartphone they have tested, although it did get beaten by Xiaomi’s Mi 10S recently. Keeping everything powered will be dual 3000mAh batteries that now support a whopping 65W charging rate, a huge upgrade over the previous generation’s 30W.

ASUS ROG Phone 5 Series – the differences

Now let’s talk about what’s different between the models. First and foremost, the back of the ROG Phone 5, ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate will each be different. For the ROG Phone 5, you get a standard RGB logo, but now in the beautiful dot-matrix pattern that is reminiscent of the ROG Zephyrus G14. For the ROG Phone 5 Pro, there’s a customizable color PMOLED display, while the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate settles for a monochrome display. Why the Ultimate doesn’t come with a color display beats me.

Another major difference is the color variants. The ROG Phone 5 can be gotten in both Phantom Black and Storm White, while the ROG Phone 5 Pro is only offered in Phantom Black, and the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate will only be available in an exclusive matte Phantom White finish.

The ROG Phone 5 will also be the first ROG Phone to not come with the AeroActive Cooler 5 in the box. This year’s AeroActive cooler sports two buttons flanking the fan, which makes it all the more functional. Previous AeroActive fans are also not compatible with the ROG Phone 5, so if you want the most out of your ROG Phone 5, you will have to shell out extra for the AeroActive Cooler 5 which is priced at RM149, or just get the ROG Phone 5 Pro/Ultimate which do include the cooler in the box.

Speaking of additional buttons, the ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate also tout two capacitive touch-sensitive regions on the back of the device for an even greater advantage over non-gaming phones. The ROG Phone 5 still has the AirTriggers and motion controls that’s carried over from the ROG Phone 3, albeit the AirTrigger 5 system touting 2 extra sensors over the 7 sensors of the ROG Phone 3’s AirTrigger 3 system.

If all the text is too much for you to consume, check out the following specifications table to quickly note the differences between the variants:

ROG Phone 5 Series Specs and Pricing

ASUS Malaysia will also be running a pre-order promotion from 11th March to 25th March, which will let you get the ROG Phone 5 along with a free Kunai 3 GamePad worth RM499.

If you are interested to know what’s in the ROG Ultimate Fan Giftbox, it apparently consists of merch like an ROG cap, a towel and other ROG paraphernalia.

ASUS Malaysia also announced the pricing and availability of the other accessories that work with the ROG Phone 5. Do check out the following list:

ROG Phone 5 Accessories Pricing

The ROG Strix Go Core can be gotten in a PWP bundle with the ROG Phone 5 for just RM249, which makes it a pretty good deal if you are looking for a nice gaming headset.

Here’s our unboxing and first impressions of the ROG Phone 5.

Pokdepinion: On one hand, I appreciate ASUS being able to offer better product segmentation across the ROG Phone 5 lineup, but I don’t really like the fact that the ROG Phone 5 doesn’t even come with the AeroActive cooler, especially considering it is the most useful now in all four generations of the ROG Phone series.