Taiwanese electronics giant ASUS has confirmed that it will unveil the latest generation of its gaming smartphone lineup, ASUS ROG Phone 8 and ROG Phone 8 Pro, at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 8.
However, renders and full specifications of one of the most highly anticipated smartphones of 2024 were leaked in a report by WindowsReport, giving us the best look at the devices.
Here is what we know about the ASUS ROG Phone 8 and ROG Phone 8 Pro.
ASUS ROG Phone 8 Series Design
The leaked renders show a significant shift from the hardcore and over-the-top ‘Republic of Gamers’ design language we have grown accustomed to. According to the report, ASUS decided to tone down the design of the ROG Phone 8 as part of an effort to appeal to a wider audience.
With the ROG Phone 8 series, ASUS has taken a slightly different approach, design-wise, that will see the front now featuring a punch-hole display with a center-mounted selfie camera. Meanwhile, the phone’s rear end features the ROG logo that lights up in RGB colors along with gaming mottos.
The updated design gets rid of the rear display, which was a staple of last year’s ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. Additionally, the phone’s sides are now mostly flat with slightly chamfered edges that can be compared to the titanium-bodied iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max design.
While the ROG Phone 8 is rumored to have a matt finish on the back, the higher-end Pro variant is expected to get a more premium-feeling glossy rear design. The Pro weighs in at 225 grams.
ASUS ROG Phone 8 Series Specifications
The report states that the ROG Phone 8 series will have a 6.7-inch AMOLED FHD+ display with an impressive 165Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits.
Both phones will be powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which has produced some good benchmarking scores. The ROG Phone series 8 will have Octa-core CPUs of up to 3.3GHz and Qualcomm Adreno 750 GPUs.
The devices are also getting a significant memory upgrade, with the ROG Phone 8 rumored to be equipped with 12GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 Storage as standard, while the ROG Phone 8 Pro can be optioned with either a 16GB or 24GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB or up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.
When it comes to connectivity, the ROG Phone 8 series supports WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC.
Both ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro will pack a 5,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging. This is lower than the 6,000mAh battery that came in the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate.
The phones will also have an in-display fingerprint reader, a 3.5mm headphone jack for increased audio quality while gaming, a 5-magnet speaker setup, and an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
The ROG Phone 8 series will run on Android 14, overlaid with the ROG UI.
ASUS ROG Phone 8 Series Camera
The ROG Phone 8 Pro is rumored to get a 32-megapixel front camera and a rear camera system consisting of Sony’s IMX890 50MP main sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide, and a 32MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.
ASUS has decided to do away with the 5MP macro sensor from the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, replacing it with the telephoto lens for the 8 Pro.
The design of the camera module is also different from last year’s model. While the ROG Phone 7 series had a horizontal camera setup, the Series 8 will have a setup somewhat similar to the iPhone.
However, the report did not cover the camera specifications of the ROG Phone 8.
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Additional Features
Despite ASUS appearing to satisfy casual smartphone users with the new design, the phones still prioritize the gaming community. The company is rumored to release a set of gaming-focused accessories with the ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro, such as the AeroActive Cooler X and the DEVILCASE Guardian case with a removable backplate.
The ASUS ROG Phone 8 and 8 Pro will be launched globally on January 8, with the release in China scheduled for January 16, 2024.
Here is a spec sheet for the upcoming flagship gaming smartphones from ASUS, alongside specifications of the current generation ROG Phone 7 Ultimate for comparison.
| ROG Phone 8 | ROG Phone 8 Pro | ROG Phone 7 Ultimate | |
| Color | Rebel Grey | Rebel Grey | Storm White |
| Size and Weight | N/A | 163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm, 225g | 173 x 77 x 10.3mm,246g |
| OS | Android 14 with ROG UI | Android 14 with ROG UI | Android 13 with ROG UI |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, SM8650, Octa-core CPUs up to 3.3GHz, Qualcomm Adreno 750 GPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, SM8650, Octa-core CPUs up to 3.3GHz, Qualcomm Adreno 750 GPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm Adreno 740 GPU |
| RAM | LPDDR5X 12GB | LPDDR5X 16GB / 24GB | LPDDR5X 16GB |
| Storage | UFS 4.0 256GB | UFS 4.0 512GB / 1TB | UFS 4.0 512GB |
| Display | 6.78” FHD+ AMOLED, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | 6.78” FHD+ AMOLED, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, HDR10, LTPO 1-120Hz refresh rate up to 165Hz | 6.78” AMOLED |
| Cameras | N/A | Sony IMX890 50MP main sensor, 13MP ultrawide, 3x optical zoom lens, and 32MP front camera | Sony IMX766 50MP main sensor, 13MP ultrawide, and 5MP macro lens |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC | WiFi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC | WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC |
| Battery | 5,500 mAh Quick Charge 5.0 and PD charging | 5,500 mAh Quick Charge 5.0 and PD charging | 6,000 mAh Quick Charge 5.0 and PD charging |
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