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  Asus ROG Phone 7

  Top pick

  Asus ROG Phone 7 is the top gaming handset for 2023, delivering market-leading performance, excellent gaming software and reliable, all-day speed and battery life. 

  See at Amazon

• 

  ASUS ROG Phone 6 Pro

  Still a great device

  The ROG Phone 6 Pro is a beast of a phone, packed with features designed to appeal specifically to gamers, but delivering a great experience overall.

  See at Amazon $1448.99 at NewEgg

Asus ROG Phone has been seen by many as the gaming phone to buy since the niche corner of the smartphone market evolved a few years back. For 2023 the company has launched the ROG Phone 7 which comes in two flavours: regular and 'Ultimate' editons. There's not a lot of difference between them, but there have been some tweaks and upgrades over its predecessor: the ROG Phone 6 Pro.

If you're wondering whether you should upgrade from the last model to the new version, or just curious to see what exactly has changed, we have you covered here in this comparison. In this guide, we'll compare the specs and features of the 2022 and 2023 ROG Phones.

Specs and price

There's not a huge difference in pricing - at least not when looking at the original launch prices. ROG Phone 7 will ship for £999 in the UK for the 16GB/512GB configuration. It's slightly different in Europe where there's a 12GB/256GB model for €999 and a 16GB/512GB model for €1199. The Ultimate edition we've been testing costs £1199 in the UK and €1399 in Europe.

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  Asus ROG Phone 7

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 - 4nm - 3.2GHz

  Display

  6.78-inch AMOLED, 1080 x 2448, 165Hz, 1000 nits typical, 1500 nits peak

  RAM

  16GB LPDDR5X

  Storage

  512GB UFS 4.0

  Battery

  6000mAh - Dual 3000mAh design

  IP Rating

  IP54 rating - IPX4 rated when aeroactive portal open

  See at Amazon

• 

  ASUS ROG Phone 6 Pro

  $1099 $1299 Save $200

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 - 4nm - 3.19GHz

  Display

  6.78-inch AMOLED, 1080 x 2448, 165Hz, 800 nits typical, 1200 nits peak

  RAM

  18GB LPDDR5

  Storage

  512GB UFS 3.1

  Battery

  6000mAh - Dual 3000mAh design

  IP Rating

  IPX4

  $1099 at Amazon $1099 at Asus

Design

Not a huge amount has changed on the design front between the ROG Phone 6 series and the ROG Phone 7 models, apart from some changes to the patterns and finish on the rear, there's not a lot to tell them apart. They're both big, hefty phones with thick top and bottom bezels that hide the powerful stereo front-firing speakers.

Both series are exactly the same size and weight, and both feature the same build materials: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on the front, aluminium frame and glass back. They're splash resistant to the same IPX4 levels too.

Where the ROG Phone 7 differentiates itself is in the Ultimate edition which - like the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate - features an AeroActive Portal. This is a small door on the side of the phone that opens up to allow the AeroActive Cooler fan/accessory to pump cold air directly into the phone's internals.

Just like the ROG Phone 6 series the RGB/rear lighting system differs depending on which model you go for. With the ROG Phone 6, the regular model featured a glowing RGB light effect where the Pro and Ultimate models had a simple AMOLED display that showed animated graphics. For the 7 series there's a similar difference between the ROG Phone 7 (regular) and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. The latter features the mini display.

Display, sound and software

It's in the display and media capabilities that you start to see improvements made to the ROG Phone 7. The display might be the same resolution and size, but it's brighter. Typical brightness has been increased from 800 nits to 1000 nits, with the higher peak brightness for the brightest spots in HDR content reaching 1500 nits versus 1200 nits in the previous model.

It does feature similar refresh rates to its predecessor though with up to 165Hz available and the ability to switch automatically between a few preset refresh rate modes. Neither phone can drop all the way down to 1Hz, or below 60Hz in fact.

Asus improved the sound quality too, improving on the already excellent stereo speakers built into the front of the phone. The dual drivers have been increased in size, slightly, and been given more space for the audio and bass to breathe to improve the overall balance of frequencies and create a fuller sound. Added to the mini subwoofer built into the AeroActive Cooler 7 (included if you get the Ultimate version), it gives you big, bassy sound with plenty of feeling.

As for software, the two phones are very similar in that they have Asus' gaming-centric software built on top of Android. The ROG Phone 6 family launched with Android 12, and the ROG Phone 7 is launching with Android 13.

With Asus only promising two major software updates, the ROG Phone 6 is only guaranteed to get this year's Android 14 refresh. ROG Phone 7 should get both Android 14 and next year's Android 15. Both phones will get four years of security patches.

Performance and battery life

For gamers, it's performance that matters most, and this has been upgraded across the board on the ROG Phone 7. As well as switching out the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Asus has equipped it with faster, more efficient RAM and storage. Specifically, that's LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. The former delivers something like a 20-30 per cent increase over its predecessor where read/write speeds on the storage are about twice as fast than the ROG Phone 6.

Internally, Asus has also improved and enlarged the cooling system that helps ensure the phone won't overheat and can keep going at peak performance for long periods of time without stuttering. The graphite covering the motherboard are larger, the vapour chamber has been redesigned to increase flow rates and the thermal paste is more efficient. With that, plus the ability of the Ultimate model to open a portal and let cool air right into the phone, the phone can handle long, intense gaming sessions without getting warm.

Both phones feature the same battery design, with the 6000mAh capacity split between two 3000mAh cells that sit on either side of the Snapdragon chipset. Both phones charge quickly with the included 65W charger and are compatible with both the latest Power Delivery and Quick Charge standards.

Cameras

Like the design, very little has changed on the camera front. In fact, both feature the same primary and ultrawide cameras. You get a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main sensor on both and a 13-megapixel ultrawide. Both phones also have a macro lens, although the resolution has been bumped up to 8-megapixels from 5-megapixels.

ROG Phone 7 vs ROG Phone 6 Pro: Which should you buy?

There are a couple of reasons we think it makes more sense to go for the newer ROG Phone 7 over the ROG Phone 6 Pro. The biggest reasons are around performance and thermals. The addition of the cooling portal and more efficient, faster internals mean it'll keep going at top speeds for longer. With that, plus the longer software support, it'll be a phone that'll go further. The enhancements made to the display and speaker system help elevate the experience somewhat too.

The older model is still a great phone and might make sense for you if your budget won't quite stretch to the price of the newer ROG Phone 7. Neither phone is cheap, but with the ROG Phone 6 Pro being older now, you should be able to find it discounted.