A host of smartphone vendors have attempted to gain dominance in the somewhat gaming smartphone category in recent years .It’s only a select few though that have managed to have become household names like the the ROG Phone series.

This time around, they’ve skipped a number and gone into their fourth generation ROG gaming phone. Meet the ROG 5 Phone.

It sounds complicated on paper but Republic of Gamers has skipped the number 4 in their naming style as the number itself has somewhat negative connotations in Asian cultures. So yes, the ROG Phone 5 is technically the 4th generation successor to last year’s ROG Phone 3.

The phone also – surprise – retains a 3.5mm audio jack which works with a series of DIRAC-tuned audio profiles for optimum audio performance for gaming and music. 

Fortunately, the ROG Phone 5 is coming to Malaysia in the near future. Here’s what it has under the hood.

 

ROG Phone 5 Specifications

At launch, ASUS Republic of Gamers announced that there will be 3 sub variants for the new ROG Phone 5 – the titular ROG Phone 5, the ROG Phone 5 Pro and the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. 

What they all have in common is the same 6.78-inch 144Hz AMOLED 2,449 x 1080 pixel display that is also HDR10+ certified and has 111.23% of DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. The display itself is also sheathed in the latest Gorilla Glass Victus to protect against nicks and scratches.

Several refinements under the hood include enhanced cooling with a series of graphite sheets and a redesigned interior that ensures sustained high performance in the ROG Phone 5.

Also common to all phones is that they all run the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G processor, have the same rear triple camera array (64MP using a Sony IMX686 sensor + 13MP wide angle camera + 5MP macro) and same 24MP front camera. Connectivity is similar as well with WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 with support for Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codec as well as a beefy stereo speaker system with Dirac HD Sound.

Where the variants differ is in terms of how much RAM and storage they get which differs by region. We’ll get into what specific storage variants that Malaysia will get shortly. 

In general, the basic ROG Phone 5 will have up to 256GB UFS 3.1 storage and up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM. The ROG Phone 5 Pro will have up to 512GB UFS 3.1 storage and to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM while the top of the line ROG Phone 5 Ultimate will have up to 18GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB UFS 3.1 storage. 

In terms of colours, you only get Storm White and Phantom Black with the ROG Phone 5 coming in both colours, the ROG Phone 5 Pro only in Phantom Black and the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate in Storm White.

Keeping it powered is a massive 6,000mAh battery with a 65W HyperCharge adapter with the unusual design that splits the battery into two separate cells. It’s also able to charge up to 50% in 15 minutes and has not one but two USB-C ports with a side and bottom mounted port for charging and gaming in landscape or portrait mode.

ROG Phone 5 Prices in Malaysia

In Malaysia, ASUS will sell the ROG Phone 5 in four possible configurations with a host of optional accessories to go with them. 

Starting on the ground floor is the basic ROG Phone 5 with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage for RM2,999. You also have a slightly more deluxe ROG Phone 5 with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage for RM3,799. One thing to note is that they don’t bundled the Aero Active cooler accessory with the ROG Phone 5.

The goldilocks phone, the ROG Phone 5 Pro will cost RM4,499 and have 16GB RAM and 512GB storage and a free Aeroactive Cooler.

If you have fairly deep pockets, you can go all the way up to the top of the line ROG Phone 5 Ultimate with a whopping 18GB RAM and 512GB storage that bundles in a free Aeroactive cooler along with the ROG Ultimate Fan Gift Box for RM4,999.

The gift box itself contains a ton of tasty merch including a cap, badges and more which makes it a delight for collectors.

On its own, the Aeroactive Cooler retails for RM149 and is immediately available now in Malaysia while other goodies, including the new ROG headphones like the ROG Strix GO Core (RM319), ROG Cetra (RM499) and ROG Cetra II Core (RM199) will be released in the coming months.

For more details, you can check out the official ASUS ROG links for the ROG Phone5 and its accessories https://rog.asus.com/my/phones/rog-phone-5-model/ 

ROG Phone 5 Preorders in Malaysia

Preorders for the ROG Phone 5 start from 11th to 25th March and preorders will get a free ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad thrown in worth RM499. To preorder, check out the link below:

ROG Phone 5 Preorder: https://rog.asus.com/event/my/ROG-Phone-5-Pre-Order/

Users are also able to preorder the ROG Phone 5 from the ASUS Mobile official store on Shopee mall from 19th March 12AM onwards till 2nd April. You can check out the official link at: https://shopee.com.my/product/24805280/7881059539/

 

Product	Price in Malaysia	Availability	Colours / Free gifts
ROG Phone 5 8GB RAM / 128GB Storage	RM2,999	April 2021	Phantom Black & Storm White / No AeroActive cooler in box
ROG Phone 5 16GB RAM / 256GB Storage	RM3,799	April 2021	Phantom Black & Storm White / No AeroActive cooler in box
ROG Phone 5 Pro 16GB RAM / 512GB Storage	RM4,499	May 2021	Phantom Black / Included: AeroActive cooler
ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 18GB RAM / 512GB Storage	RM4,999	May 2021	Storm White / Included: AeroActive cooler ROG Ultimate Fan Gift box
AeroActive Cooler 5	RM149	April 2021
LIGHTING ARMOR CASE (ROG5)	RM199	May 2021
ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad (with ROG5 bumper)	RM499	April 2021
ROG KUNAI 3 BUMPER	RM69	April 2021
ROG 1.8M USB-C TO C CABLE	RM59	May 2021
Rog STRIX GO core	RM319	Now available	Purchase with purchase at RM249
ROG Cetra II	RM499	My 2021
ROG Cetra II core	RM199	May 2021