Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate review: Ridiculously powerful

Our Verdict

While information technology offers some upgrades over the base model, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate still has the same shortcomings with camera functioning. But it'due south the almost powerful gaming phone we've tested yet.

For

• Superb performance
• Cute AMOLED brandish with 144Hz refresh rate
• Excellent battery life
• Powerful front-facing speakers

Against

• Disappointing night way
• Bulky and heavy
• No wireless charging

Tom's Guide Verdict

While information technology offers some upgrades over the base model, the ROG Telephone 5 Ultimate still has the same shortcomings with camera performance. But it's the well-nigh powerful gaming phone we've tested yet.

Pros

• +

  Superb performance

• +

  Beautiful AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate

• +

  First-class battery life

• +

  Powerful front end-facing speakers

Cons

• -

  Disappointing nighttime manner

• -

  Bulky and heavy

• -

  No wireless charging

Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate specs

Os: Android xi / ZenUI

Screen size: 6.78-inch AMOLED (2448 x 1080); lx - 144Hz

Processor: Snapdragon 888

RAM: 18GB

Storage: 512GB

Rear cameras: 64MP ultrawide (f/1.8), 13MP ultrawide (f/ii.4), 5MP macro (f/2.0)

Front end photographic camera: 24MP (f/2.45)

Video: Up to 8K at xxx fps

Battery: 6,000 mAh

Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 13:13 (60Hz) / 11:17 (120Hz) / x:21 (144Hz)

Charging: 65W

Colors: White

Size: half dozen.1 x 2.7 10 0.four inches

Weight: 8.4 ounces

In add-on to the ROG Phone v and ROG Telephone 5 Pro, Asus appear a limited edition ROG Phone five Ultimate. This particular model is seen as the cream of the crop, the rex of the pack, loaded with 512GB of fast UFS 3.i storage and a whopping 18GB of RAM. Asus wants it to exist the ultimate gaming smartphone and truth be told, it delivers on many fronts.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate too shares the same weaknesses as its brethren, notably poor photographic camera performance, merely it levels upwards the rest of the experience in marginal ways. In our Asus ROG Phone five Ultimate review, we'll go over what's different well-nigh this model versus the ROG Phone 5 and what the two Asus phones take in common. If you want the total lowdown on how the newest generation of ROG Phone performs, and then be sure to check out the Asus ROG Telephone 5 review.

Asus ROG Telephone 5 Ultimate review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

As one of the best gaming phones available, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate commands a cost to lucifer that lofty position. It's available for €1299. As far equally we know, it won't be officially coming to the US, though Asus could modify its mind downward the route.

Finding the telephone may be a challenge. Asus says that the ROG Telephone 5 Ultimate is meant to celebrate the ROG brand and the gamers that accept built information technology upward over the years. But dissimilar the standard ROG Phone 5 which will be widely available, the Ultimate edition has limited stock.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate lacks mmWave 5G, instead only opting for sub-6Ghz 5G. This omission is likely because mmWave is really just a major thing with Verizon in the US, simply if this phone e'er makes it to the US, you'll be limited to sub-6. This is fine, because all the ROG Phone 5 models are GSM-only, and so they won't work on Verizon's network anyway.

Asus ROG Phone five Ultimate review: What'southward different from the ROG Phone 5

(Paradigm credit: Tom'due south Guide)

All that RAM: The extra storage on the ROG Phone five Ultimate  is definitely a bonus, but the 18GB of RAM feels like overkill. Not one time in my time with the phone did the OS come close to using that much retentivity.

Asus claims that the ridiculous amount of RAM will allow you to go along more than games in memory, meaning lower loading times. While technically accurate, I don't see the use case here. In what circumstance am I going to be playing a game and then think, "Permit'southward jump to another game, but curse the universe if I have to wait a few extra seconds for it to load!" Not to mention that ZenUI, Asus' custom Android peel, likes to impale groundwork apps that hang out in RAM too long.

Honestly, the 18GB of RAM within the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is a bragging right passed off equally something beneficial to the user. Information technology doesn't hinder the experience in the slightest, simply it doesn't really add that much in real globe apply, either.

(Prototype credit: Tom'south Guide)

More controls: Beyond the extra RAM, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate features two extra touch sensor zones on the dorsum of the phone. These controls join the ultrasonic AirTriggers on the frame of the device. You tin map actions to the sensor zones in much the same style. They human action like paddles while you play, only like the AirTriggers themselves, I found them only slightly useful for bodily gameplay, depending on the game.

ROG Vision: The base model ROG Phone 5 features an RGB dot matrix display on the back of the phone that you can customize. Still, on the ROG Phone 5 Pro, you get a color PMOLED display. You can customize what it displays, including some pretty crawly images.

The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate uses a PMOLED brandish, too, but information technology's monochrome instead of color. Asus went with this to continue the blueprint language consistent with the rest of the Ultimate'southward aesthetic. You lot still get to customize what the little display shows, adding an middle-catching fleck of flair to the back of the phone.

(Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

An extra accessory: The ROG Phone five Ultimate comes with the carve up AeroActive libation included, though it's not white, unfortunately. The accessory works but the aforementioned equally it does should you buy it separately for the base of operations model ROG Phone 5, and it does make a marked difference in surface temps on the phone. The AeroActive also features extra paddles if you lot want them.

ROG Phone v Ultimate review: What's the same from the ROG Phone 5

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Other than what'due south listed above, the specs and features on the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate are the same as what y'all'd become with the £799/€799 ROG Telephone 5. The ROG Phone v Ultimate as well features all the same software goodness as the base of operations model. That ways all the charging options, over-the-acme Game Genie for game optimizations, and other tweaks available in the ZenUI settings like gestures and theme packs are on this telephone.

Battery test results vary slightly, simply they are still within the same ballpark. That's not a surprise, as the same mammoth 6,000 mAh battery, separate into 2 iii,000 mAh packs, that powers the ROG Phone 5 also is found in the Ultimate edition. In the battery-efficient 60Hz way, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate lasted for a whopping thirteen hours and 13 minutes. In 120Hz way, it ran for eleven hours and 17 minutes. And at 144Hz, it managed x hours and 21 minutes.

Unfortunately, the ROG Phone five Ultimate retains the and then-then camera operation of the base model. The triple photographic camera setup looks expert on newspaper — a 64MP main camera is joined past a 13MP ultrawide angle lens and a defended 5MP macro shooter. Merely the photos that the ROG Phone puts out are just disappointing. Fifty-fifty under optimal lighting weather, the images await flat, bland, and devoid of life. And and so at that place'southward the night fashion, which isn't up to par with other similarly-priced phones.

I took out the Ultimate aslope the Galaxy S21 Plus and the divergence was staggering. Compare the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate to the iPhone 12 Pro or Pixel 5, and the deviation is fifty-fifty more noticeable. The ROG Phone v tin't hold a candle to the best camera phones in terms of output, and it would struggle against more middling contest.

ROG Phone 5 Ultimate review: Verdict

(Prototype credit: Tom'due south Guide)

You don't purchase a phone like the Asus ROG Phone 5 considering you're interested in mobile photography, fifty-fifty because its lofty price. The games are the affair, and the Ultimate, like the main ROG Phone 5, delivers on that front. These new phones from Asus tiptop every other Android device, though they struggle to match the iPhone 12 series' ability. Apple'southward A14 Bionic is silicon magic and the Snapdragon 888 is just shy of equaling it.

The ROG Telephone 5 is the most powerful Android device we've tested yet, but information technology's telling that the iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max are not only amend phones all around, but they're as well gaming devices of a similar quotient. They may lack the huge battery, AirTriggers, touch sensors, and AeroActive libation, but they also piece of work on all carriers and support both mmWave and sub-6 5G. The ROG Telephone 5 is limited to GSM carriers and sub-6GHz 5G.

If you only intendance almost a premium mobile gaming feel, then the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is for you. It has insane ability, ridiculously long battery life, and all the features and gimmicks you could want. Only information technology's not as good as the best phones, cheers to those subpar cameras, which limits the ROG Phone'south appeal exterior of gaming circles.

Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things telephone-related. He's written virtually phones for over five years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves zip more than than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Jordan tends to lurk on social media, but you can best reach him on Twitter.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/asus-rog-phone-5-ultimate-review

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