Asus ROG Phone 7: everything you need to know

If you’re a mobile gamer, the Asus ROG Phone 7 is a handset worth waiting for. After all, the Asus ROG Phone 6 and Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate both achieved 4.5 stars in their respective reviews, and the latter is in first place on our best gaming phones guide, for now.

At first blush, the newly-revealed ROG Phone 7 and 7 Ultimate look to be similarly impressive specimens – albeit with some all-important upgrades.

There's no 'Pro' model to speak of this year, Asus felt it best to jump straight to 'Ultimate' for the branding on its latest and greatest gaming behemoth. The nice thing between the ROG Phone 7 and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, is that peak performance and almost all other hardware details remain consistent across both models; so you can bring your A-game regardless of which ROG Phone 7 you eventually swing for.

Now, let's dive into everything these phones bring to the table, including specs, features, accessories, pricing and availability.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Asus' latest line of gaming phones
• When is it out? Pre-orders from April 13
• How much will it cost? £999 / £1,199 for the standard / Ultimate respectively

Asus ROG Phone 7: release date and price

Asus officially announced the ROG Phone 7 series on April 13, with pre-orders kicking off on the same day and running until April 30 (leading us to assume the phone goes on sale on May 1).

The ROG Phone 6 was unveiled in July 2022, while the Asus ROG Phone 5 landed in March of 2021, so the company 7 series looks to be splitting the difference, almost.

UK pricing places the base ROG Phone 7 with 16GB RAM / 512GB of storage at £999, while the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate (which comes with the same amount of memory and storage) costs £1,199.

We're still waiting on US and Australian confirmed release information but direct conversions from the models available in the UK set the ROG Phone 7 at around $1,250 / AU$1,850 and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate at approximately $1,500 / AU$2,230.

In Europe, there's also a 12GB RAM / 256GB version of the ROG Phone 7, priced at €999, while the 16GB RAM / 512GB variant that's also up for grabs in the UK sells for €1,199 and the Ultimate comes priced at €1,399.

Asus ROG Phone 7: design and display

While both models sport a similar appearance to their predecessors, there are some slight differences. You once again get a 6.78-inch 165Hz Full HD+ display (albeit using a Samsung E4 AMOLED panel with a higher 1,500-nit peak brightness, compared to the ROG Phone 6), meaning the ROG Phone 7 series serves up familiar dimensions and even the same weight as previously.

The ROG Phone 7 boasts a two-tone finish in either Phantom Black and Storm White, with a mix of glossy translucent and matte back glass, housing an Aura RGB ROG 'fearless eye' logo, which comes with eight mood lighting presets and support for over 16 million colors.

The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is only available in white and differs from the standard model with the addition of the AeroActive Portal – which we enjoyed on last year's ROG Phone 6D Ultimate and opens to allow directed airflow from compatible AeroActive Cooler accessories, while the 2-inch ROG Vision rear display also features to relay information like charge state and level, notifications, the time and more.

Both variants also pack in programmable ultrasonic shoulder buttons and IPX4 splash resistance.

Asus ROG Phone 7: camera and battery

Expect a similar camera hardware setup to the ROG Phone 6 series, with a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor fronting the triple rear camera setup, supported by a 13MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro sensor.

Improved image quality – especially when zooming – comes from a features like 'RAW super resolution' and 'AI segmentation', while a high-resolution front-facing 32MP sensor means better selfies should be on the cards, compared to the 12MP snapper from previous models.

Battery details look familiar too, with 65W HyperCharge once more, supporting a huge 6,000mAh battery. Asus confirmed to TechRadar that the phone is USB PD 3.0 & PPS compliant, meaning you don't have to rely on proprietary cables to get the fastest speeded when charging the ROG Phone 7.

Asus ROG Phone 7: specs and features

The main upgrade is, obviously, the chipset, which bumps this generation of ROG Phone up from a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 to Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, bolstered by Asus' own X Mode, which can balance performance and power consumption, and even includes tailored optimization for specific games.

The AeroActive Cooler accessory (sold separately with the ROG Phone 7 but included in-box with the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate) also makes for a nice improvement over the AeroActive Cooler 6 that came with the 6D Ultimate.

Like before, it pushes cool air across the body of the ROG Phone to reduce temperature under load, making for longer gaming sessions and greater efficiency.

As well as a revised fan design that allows for more efficient cooling, there's also an additional duct compared to last year's AeroActive Cooler that directs air across the front of the phone at the same time and – in what is perhaps the wildest addition to a gaming accessory – this year's Cooler also boasts a '5-magnet super-linear' subwoofer that promises 77% greater bass performance, while also working in tandem with the phone's improved forward-firing stereo speakers to create a 2.1 channel audio system.

Of course, for those that want a more personal audio experience in order to reap the benefits of some Dirac tuning, the ROG Phone 7 line also sports a 3.5mm headphone jack, accepts audio over USB and includes a number of wireless audio standards over its Bluetooth 5.3 connection, including Qualcomm aptX adaptive and lossless, as well as wireless Hi-Res Audio.