As always, ASUS' branded "ROG phones" focus first and foremost on performance. The ROG Phone 7 and its "ultimate" variant tested here are no exception. As such, the phone integrates Qualcomm's latest high-end mobile chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which promises an 8% increase in CPU performance and a 1% increase in GPU performance compared to last year's Snapdragon 15 Gen 20.
To get the "substantial marrow" of the new SoC, ASUS has further optimized its internal cooling system, as well as its software interface. This is enough to keep the ROG Phone 7 cool and maintain a high level of performance, even during long gaming sessions.
To be able to play for long periods of time, ASUS also relies on a dual battery system of 3000 mAh (yes, 6000 mAh in total) to be able to charge the phone quickly while limiting the temperature rise as much as possible, with an AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 165 Hz.
The ROG Phone 7 has the same design as its predecessor except for a few details. The face is a large smartphone with a 6.78-inch amoled screen with a relatively thick black bezel for high-end smartphones. It weighs in at 239 grams, which means you probably won't forget it in your pocket. The Asus smartphone is used with two hands most of the time.
There's a USB-C port on the bottom edge of the Asus to charge the phone, and a second port on the edge to connect the flagship accessory we'll cover below. There's also a 3.5mm mini-jack connector for connecting headphones or earphones. On the white version of the phone, the door that holds the nano-SIM card is blue. Please note that the phone's memory cannot be expanded using a microSD card.
The least that can be said is that the ROG Phone 7 has the same instantly recognizable single design as the previous ROG Phone 6D. Its camera block with angular corners and a small customizable screen that only exists on the "Ultimate" version won't go unnoticed. The display, called "ROG Vision," can be configured to turn on for different events, such as game launch, incoming calls or just to show the battery percentage when the phone is charging. All in all, you can choose from more than 60 animations.
Ultrasonic buttons "air triggers" are still in the game. They are located on the frame of the phone and can be configured to open certain applications by holding the device in your hand for short or long periods of time.
The most attentive may have noticed this small "hatch" located on the power button. This is the "AeroActive Portal", which is unique to the "Ultimate" version of the ASUS ROG Phone 7. The door opens to give the "AeroActive Cooler 7" cooler (see below) more direct access to the cooler of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip.
The goal here is to dissipate as much heat as possible while keeping the SoC at the lowest possible temperature so it can run at maximum capacity. The accessory also incorporates 4 control triggers as well as a USB-C connector and a 3.5 mm mini-jack. The heatsink is included in the "Ultimate" version of the ROG Phone 7, but it will be sold separately if you choose the Classic version.
Screen
A high quality screen is essential to provide the best multimedia experience. OLED technology displays deep blacks and infinite contrast. It has a resolution of 1080 x 2448 pixels and a 6.78-inch screen with a comfortable resolution of 395 pixels per inch.
True to its philosophy, the ROG Phone 7, like its predecessor, offers a display with an impressive 165Hz refresh rate that allows smooth viewing without compromise. By default, the screen's colorimetric ratio is quite good, with a Delta E of 4.55. By selecting the "Standard" display mode in the screen settings, you can go down to 2.21 for a more natural color display.
The measured average brightness is 973 cd/m2, higher than the ROG Phone 6D and one of its direct competitors, the Nubia Redmagic 8 Pro. It doesn't reach the brightness levels of the Galaxy S23 Ultra or iPhone 14 Pro Max, but it's still good enough to play in most lighting conditions.
In comparison, our brightness meter measured 122 brightness units placing the ROG Phone 7 at the top of the phone screen that reflects the most light. If you plan to play in direct sunlight, be careful - this is not necessarily recommended.
Performance
When it comes to smartphones dedicated to gamers, we'll move on to something (very) serious: performance. As you can see from the various AnTuTu benchmarks below, the ROG Phone 7 dominates over the heads of its competitors. Even the Redmagic 8 Pro, which is still one of the most powerful Android smartphones available, doubles up in theoretical tests. The same was observed on Geekbench 5, where only the iPhone 14 Pro showed better scores, but only in the "single-core" test.
In terms of graphics, the ROG Phone 7 is neck-and-neck with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, both on GFXBench and 3DMark. On the other hand, ASUS' smartphone is different in terms of stability. In fact, its cooling system allows it to keep a cool head and maintain an optimal performance level of 97.1% when under great stress. Only the Redmagic 8 Pro does a little better, scoring 99.6%.
We obviously put the ROG Phone 7 through our usual Genshin Impact test. We didn't go there dead handed by placing the max graphics level and 60 fps. The game may indicate that the chosen performance level is "too high", but it runs like clockwork. Graphics are superb and smoothness is exemplary at all stages of the game. The heating levels remain perfectly controlled.
For better cooling, you can plug in AeroActive Cooler 7, which will save you some FPS. in our opinion, reserved for those who race at competitive levels.
Autonomy and charging speed
With its 6000 mAh battery, the ASUS ROG Phone 7 is ahead of most high-end smartphones. This was verified in our autonomy test, where the Taiwanese phone was just minutes away from one of the greatest champions in the field, the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Interestingly, the Snapdragon 1 Gen 6 has improved energy efficiency compared to the Gen 2 with the same capacity battery for the ROG Phone 8. Qualcomm's new SoC saves the ROG Phone 7 nearly five hours of video streaming as well as versatile battery life. Way ahead of the curve, the Nubia Redmagic 8 Pro is now untouchable in terms of autonomy.
With its 65W charging block (included in the box), the ROG Phone 7 recovered 20% of its battery life in 50 minutes and was fully charged in 49 minutes, six minutes longer than the ROG Phone 5. This is still very good considering the capacity of its battery.
So, the ROG gaming phone is still relatively good for gaming purposes, but so far I haven't seen any of my buddies around using this series of phones.
