Asus recently unveiled its second gaming smartphone in a market where mobile gaming is just beginning to take off. The ROG Phone 2 arrives in a highly competitive market, going up against the likes of the Nubia Red Magic 3, Vivo iQOO, and Xiaomi Black Shark 2.
Asus has already revealed the price of the ROG Phone 2, and it was all we needed to determine if the ROG Phone 2 could be rivalled by the Black Shark 2, iQOO or Red Magic 3.
| Model | ROG Phone 2 | Black Shark 2 | Vivo iQOO | Red Magic 3 |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 855+ | Snapdragon 855 | Snapdragon 855 | Snapdragon 855 |
| Display | 6.59-inch FHD+ AMOLED | 6.39-inchFHD+ AMOLED | 6.41-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED | 6.65-inch FHD+ AMOLED |
| Refresh Rate | 120Hz | 60Hz | 60Hz | 90Hz |
| RAM | 8GB/12GB | 6GB/8GB/12GB | 6GB/8GB/12GB | 6GB/8GB/12GB |
| Storage | 128GB/512GB | 128GB/256GB | 128GB/256GB | 64GB/128GB/256GB |
| Storage Type | UFS 3.0 | UFS 2.1 | UFS 2.1 | UFS 2.1 |
| Rear Camera | 48 MP, f/1.8 + 13 MP, f/2.4 (Ultrawide) | 48 MP, f/1.8 +12 MP, f/2.2 (Telephoto) | 12 MP, f/1.8 +13 MP, f/2.4 (Ultrawide) +2 MP, f/2.4 (Depth) | 48 MP, f/1.7 |
| Front Camera | 24MP, f/2.2 | 20 MP, f/2.0 | 12 MP, f/2.0 | 16 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | 6000 mAh | 4000 mAh | 4000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Charging | 30W (Quick Charge 4.0) | 27W Fast Charging | 44W &22.5W on 6/128 GB version | 18W (Quick Charge 4.0) |
| OS | Android 9.0 Pie | Android 9.0 Pie | Android 9.0 Pie | Android 9.0 Pie |
| Starting Price in China | CNY 3,499 (Roughly Rs 35,000) | CNY 3,200 (Roughly Rs 32,000) | CNY 3,298 (Roughly Rs 33,000) | CNY 3,199 (Roughly Rs 32,000) |
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset coupled with the 8GB of RAM (On the base variant) and UFS 3.0 storage make the ROG Phone 2 the clear winner in performance. We’re looking at performance gains up to 20-percent more than the other three devices. And, while all three phones get improved cooling, the ROG Phone 2 also receives an external cooler that can be attached to the phone to ensure zero throttling.
Display
While the Nubia Red Magic 3 does offer a 90Hz refresh rate, it still falls short of the ROG Phone 2’s 120Hz refresh rate. Asus’ latest gaming handset has set a new standard in smartphone display technology with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time as well as spot-on colour accuracy.
Battery
When it comes to battery, “bigger is always better”. And, the Asus ROG Phone 2 has the biggest battery of the lot. At 6,000 mAh, Asus’ second gaming smartphone will give you more battery life than any of the other smartphones on this list.
Software
All four phones operate on Android 9 Pie out of the box; each has its own custom gaming-centric skin. But the ROG Phone 2 also offer a stock Android experience out of the box, allowing you to switch between the over-the-top ROG UI and stock Android.
Camera
Although camera isn’t something you need to be looking out for in a gaming smartphone, we thought it’d be worth a mention. The ROG Phone 2 gets the same camera setup as the Asus 6z, and the 6z camera is quite a strong contender for best under Rs 40K smartphone camera. Gaming handsets usually don’t offer good camera performance, but the ROG Phone 2 gets the job done better than most. Our take on camera is purely based on specs and capabilities, and not real-world results.
Price
The Asus ROG Phone 2 may be the most expensive of the lot, but it emerges as the clear winner in every category. What you are getting for that price is the world’s most powerful smartphone, the world's first 120Hz AMOLED panel, a massive battery, excellent software, and a more-than-decent camera, which in our book spells superb “value for money”.
If the competition seems a little rigged in Asus’ favour, just look to the spec sheet of all four devices and the ROG Phone 2’s dominant pattern will be revealed. However, both Xiaomi and Nubia are already plotting to even the odds by confirming handsets with the Snapdragon 855+.
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