Asus announces ROG Phone 3 with 16GB of RAM, 144Hz display refresh rate and more

Asus has finally unveiled the ROG Phone 3, a handset that the company says is its most powerful smartphone ever.

Asus’ latest gaming handset sports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865+ processor with 5G functionality. It’s worth noting the ROG Phone 3 is the first device officially announced with this Qualcomm chipset.

The ROG Phone 3 also sports a GameCool 3 cooling system that looks pretty stylish and helps ensure gaming remains smooth and consistent. Further, there’s a new AeroActive Cooler 3 clip-on external fan designed to help with playing video games as well.

The flagship device sports a 6.59-inch AMOLED display with a 144Hz/1ms refresh rate, and a 270Hz touch sampling rate that decreases touch latency to 25 milliseconds, allowing for near-instant touch response. The screen also supports HDR10+ high-dynamic-range.

Other specs include a 6,000mAh battery, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.

There’s also an AirTrigger 3 system that features motion and programmable ultrasonic touch sensors, as well as X Mode performance optimization.

Furthermore, the handset supports TUV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker Reduced certifications to minimize eye strain while gaming.

Other notable specs include a side-mounted USB-C port like the ROG Phone 2’s, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Similar to its predecessors, the ROG Phone 3 works with accessories like the Twinview Dock 3, which provides a secondary 144Hz screen, and a Mobile Desktop Dock that allows games to connect a keyboard and mouse for desktop-like gaming.

Asus says that the ROG Phone 3 is partnering with Google’s Stadia cloud-based game streaming platform and Unity Technologies to make an integrated gaming ecosystem.

The ROG Phone 3 will is releasing in September 2020 in North America. Specific Canadian pricing and availability still hasn’t been revealed,  but in Europe the 16GB /512GB variant costs 1099€ ($1,708.88 CAD).