Pre-orders for Asus $899 gaming-oriented 'ROG Phone' open up on October 18

[Polycount]

In brief: Although you probably know them for their gaming peripherals, Asus wants to expand their brand to an entirely different type of tech product - smartphones. The company unveiled its gaming-oriented ROG Phone earlier this year, and it was pretty impressive, with a 90Hz screen, and some beefy hardware. Starting on October 18, you'll be able to pre-order the device for $899, though no release date has been announced.

Asus may be best known for its gaming-oriented PC hardware and peripherals, but the company -- much like Razer -- announced its decision to branch out into the realm of smartphones at Computex 2018.

Details about the phone haven't been scarce - Asus has told us about the device's hardware specifications and a few of its unique software features already. We know the device, dubbed the "ROG Phone," will house a 90Hz, 6-inch AMOLED display with HDR support, a Snapdragon 845 mobile processor clocked at 2.96GHz, up to 512GB of storage, and an Adreno 630 GPU.

All of these specs, in addition to the ROG Phone's massive 4,000 mAh battery, could serve to make the device one of the best gaming-oriented phones out there; at least, if you believe Asus' claims. However, despite the buzz the ROG Phone has created in the hardcore tech community, Asus has been particularly tight-lipped about the device's pricing and release information.

Fortunately, that's changed today, sort of. Pre-orders for the ROG Phone open up on October 18 (next Thursday), and the device will start at $899. Though that price tag is certainly going to scare off the average consumer, it's quite a bit cheaper than some of Apple and Samsung's newest devices - despite the ROG Phone's high-end hardware and seemingly-high-quality construction. Asus has not announced a release date for their flagship smartphone just yet.

According to The Verge, Asus is also launching several accessories designed for use with the ROG Phone. Though this list isn't exhaustive, some of these accessories include the attachable "Gamevice Controller" for $89.99, a custom ROG case for $59.99, and an "Asus Professional Dock" for $119.99. These accessories are reportedly set to arrive later this year.

Image courtesy IDG.tv, Areamobile

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https://www.techspot.com/news/76846-pre-orders-asus-899-gaming-oriented-rog-phone.html

 

[TomSEA]

On paper, seems like an impressive device. What I'd like to know is how fast this will burn through a battery. I'm guessing pretty darn quick....

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

On paper, seems like an impressive device. What I'd like to know is how fast this will burn through a battery. I'm guessing pretty darn quick....

Probably not... many mobile games are lightweight on the processing so they don't burn through the battery on your average speed iphone from 2 years ago. A super fast chip doesn't have to work as hard and will have more battery life.
Also, this thing will have a 6000mh battery... my Pixel 2 lasts about all day on it's 2600mh. People have always been saying battery life is important, this thing would last 2 days if you don't play games on it. And for $899, it's about the same price as your flagship Galaxy or iPhone.

Does this run Android? If so I could see people buying it just for the battery. the only trade off would be it must be bigger and heavier.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

"...announced its decision to branch out into the realm of smartphones at Computex 2018."

Asus has been making phone for years now. Techspot has even have reported on many of them. I run a ZenFone V myself, so it's quite a mystery how Asus just now "accounced its decision to branch out" into a realm they already do just fine in. For $200 (Verizon) I doubt one could find a much better phone than this old guy I'm using, even now.