Asus’ latest ROG gaming phones are faster, cooler, and louder

The ROG Phone 7 and Phone 7 Ultimate are the latest devices in Asus’ line of gaming-focused smartphones. They’re available to preorder in Europe and Taiwan starting today and will ship later this month. In Europe, the Phone 7 starts at €999 (£999.99), while the Phone 7 Ultimate starts at €1,399 (£1,199.99). 

Given their gaming focus, both devices are, of course, equipped with Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. But there’s also an “upgraded GameCool 7 thermal system” that’s designed to extract as much performance as possible out of this processor by keeping it cool under load. Asus claims the phones’ vapor chamber cooling system dissipates heat up to 168 percent more efficiently than last year’s ROG Phone 6.

If you’re after yet more cooling, the Ultimate version of the phone comes with an active cooling fan accessory, the AeroActive Cooler 7. When it’s attached, a small air inlet (the AeroActive Portal) in the handset opens and allows cool air to pass directly over the vapor chamber’s cooling fins. Asus says this allows for up to an extra 20 percent of thermal efficiency. The Portal previously appeared on last year’s ROG Phone 6D Ultimate and doesn’t appear to have stopped the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate from getting an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance.

The AeroActive Cooler 7 also features a built-in subwoofer that Asus claims delivers 77 percent more bass volume. That’s in addition to the phone’s dual front-firing speakers that apparently have 50 percent more “effective volume” than last year’s phone. Finally, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack if you’d rather skip the built-in speakers entirely.

As well as improving cooling and sound, the AeroActive Cooler 7 also includes four physical buttons for a more traditional controller experience, a kickstand, RGB lighting (obviously), and an additional USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Underneath all these gaming features, the ROG Phone 7 and 7 Ultimate are pretty typical smartphones. Both phones have 6.78-inch OLED displays with a peak brightness of 1,500 nits and a refresh rate of 165Hz. They’re powered by 6,000mAh batteries that can be fast-charged at up to 65W, and they have a trio of rear cameras, including a 50-megapixel main, 13-megapixel ultrawide, and 5-megapixel macro. The Ultimate model also comes with a customizable display on its rear, as we’ve seen with previous ROG phones like the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate.

Both the ROG Phone 7 and Phone 7 Ultimate are expected to launch in the US at a later date, but there’s no official word yet on pricing or availability.