Asus ROG Phone 5

The Asus ROG 5 is the best gaming smartphone you can buy with design features and software perks that augment the playing experience. Incremental improvements on its predecessor make it a superior choice that make the phone appealing to non-gamers as well, from its good screen to great speakers to unseen internal refinements that let its 65W fast charging juice the phone from zero to almost full in under an hour. It’s still a pricey handset with notable camera shortcomings compared to rival flagships, but the ROG 5 is a recommendable alternative to top Android phones if you don’t mind its few flaws.

The ROG Phone 5 is an excellent smartphone, combining a premium screen, killer specs, a decent camera, long-lasting battery life and fantastic stereo speakers. Its styling won’t be for everyone – and it’s very similar to the ROG Phone 3, which enjoyed a more limited release – but if you can hack its size and styling, and want a fantastic portable media player and gaming device, you’ll be hard-pushed to find more for less.

The ROG Phone 5 is a powerful device and an excellent gaming machine, but abysmal camera performance holds it back from being a good all-around phone.

The Asus ROG Phone 5 is undoubtedly one of the most powerful smartphones available right now with a plethora of gaming-dedicated features that some will really enjoy, but with a large display and a weighty body, the heft and difficulty with one-handed use may put some off.

The ROG Phone 5 is easily the best gaming phone I’ve used to date, but this comes at a cost, and I'm not just talking about the high price. The Asus ROG brand caters almost exclusively to gamers, which is why the cameras aren't a focus and why we'll probably never see wireless charging or waterproofing. So whether or not you're willing to live with these compromises is a case-by-case kind of thing.

The ROG Phone 5 takes the already great formula established by its predecessor and modernizes it for 2021. It has a fast and fluid screen, a surprisingly great main camera, brilliant performance, best-in-class audio, and a flexible software experience. For those reasons, the ROG Phone 5 is the best gaming smartphone you can buy right now.

It is arguably the coolest phone to get if you wish to stand out from a crowd of Samsung and Apple users, or you simply enjoy having full control over every aspect of your device – from screen refresh rate and audio tuning to GPU and CPU clock speeds.

The ROG Phone 5 has a stunning 144Hz AMOLED panel paired to the latest internal hardware you'll find today, a gigantic 6000mAh battery with 65W charging, a decent 64MP lens at the back, and clean software. Bring it all together, and you get the best mobile gaming experience in 2021.