We love Asus ROG gaming phones, which, aside from being great performers when it comes to gaming, are just great phones in general. They've got a cool cyberpunk aesthetic and often provide pretty good value for money, too.

The ROG Phone 6 - available in ROG Phone 6 and ROG Phone 6 Pro guises - have been announced, we we're running down all the specs and details for this new device.

Release date and price

  • ROG Phone 6 Pro: £1099
  • ROG Phone 6: £999 (16GB)
  • ROG Phone 6: £899 (12GB)

The ROG Phone 6 was announced on 5 July 2022. 

There will be a range of different versions - as well as a full line-up of accessories - with the phones again being available as either the regular version (with different RAM and storage options) or as the Pro version. The ROG Phone 6 starts at £899. The ROG Phone 6 Pro starts at £1099. 

We will update with international pricing when we have it.

Asus ROG Phone 6: Everything we know so far photo 10
Asus

Design and build

  • 172.83 x 77.25 x 10.39mm, 228g
  • IPX4 protection
  • Rear display

The design of the ROG Phone models continues that cool gamer aesthetic we've seen on previous models in this family. The size is pretty much unchanged from previous versions of this phone too. Again, it will be available in black or white colours and sporting a range of graphics on the rear of the phone. 

The big change for the ROG Phone 6 is the introduction of IPX4 protection, so there's no some degree of waterproofing.

As we saw with the ROG Phone 5, there's also a difference in the displays on the rear of the phone. The ROG Phone 6 gets a Dot Display which can show graphics, while the Pro gets the ROG Vision display which is a lot more customisable. 

All phones offer a 3.5mm headphone socket, along with stereo speakers, while there are also dual USB-C ports to provide more charging options. There's also a full range of accessories for this phone, from the case in the box to the AeroActive Cooler 6 and Kunai 3 Gamepad. The Cooler is designed to support those gaming sessions longer than 1 hour.

There are Air Triggers and a full range of customisable motion and gesture controls for the ROG Phone 6, so you can setup your phone to play whatever game you want, however you want.

Asus ROG Phone 6: Everything we know so far photo 9
Asus

Hardware Specs

  • Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 12-18GB RAM
  • 6,000mAh, 65W Charging

The ROG Phone 6 makes the move to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Asus has decided to skip Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and go for the updated hardware, so this is quite a jump over the ROG Phone 5S. The RAM is again aligned to the model you choose with the ROG Phone 6 offering 12 or 16GB options, while the 6 Pro has 18GB RAM. There are also various storage options, but no support for microSD. 

The SoC sits in the centre of this phone, so the battery is split into two cells, for a total of 6000mAh. That's a massive battery, but it's designed to support long gaming sessions. It charges at up to 67W, with a charger in the box. There are two USB-C ports to support this, so you can charge via the side port, which makes it much easier to hold the phone when playing a game. 

You can also opt not to charge the battery and just plug the phone in to power the hardware. 

Much of the design is built around heat control and there's a new cooling system on this phone with a larger graphite plate and vapour chamber, which will help keep the phone cool - with the AeroActive Cooler 6 for those longer sessions. The Cooler also has additional controls on it and can be powered either by the phone or from an external charger.

Cameras

  • 50MP main, 13MP ultrawide, 5MP macro, 12MP selfie

There's a triple camera system on the rear of the ROG Phone 6, with the big news being the move to the Sony IMX766 for the main camera - which is a 50-megapixel sensor. That's a larger sensor than the previous generation of ROG Phone devices, so it should boost the performance. 

It's supported by an ultrawide and macro camera, while the front camera moves to 12-megapixels for all those selfies. 

Asus ROG Phone 6: Everything we know so far photo 7
Asus

Software

  • Android 12
  • 2 years of updates

The ROG Phone 6 launches on Android 12, but the bad news is that you'll only get two OS updates - so it will end with Android 14. 

There are also only 2 years of security updates, which is well behind the rest of the industry. Asus obviously thinks you'll be replacing this phone within 2 years for a new version.

There's also a range of software to support gaming functions - Armoury Crate - and this is amongst the most comprehensive and accomplished gaming software you'll find on a phone - so it really can optimise the experience and make sure you're getting the most out of your phone.

All the leaks and rumours so far?

Here's a timeline of everything that's happened in the runup to the launch of the Asus ROG Phone 6.

28 June 2022: New Asus ROG Phone 6 pictures reveal design and accessories

More images, posted by 91Mobiles, reveal more design details along with accessories.

24 June 2022: Images of Asus ROG Phone 6 posted on TENAA show camera in full

A TENAA listing gives us a full shot of the rear of the device, exposing the camera module design and, unexpectedly, showing a rear display.

23 June 2022: Asus ROG Phone 6 to feature 65W charging

A listing on China's 3C certification site revealed that the ROG Phone 6 will be capable of 65W fast charging.

20 May 2022: Asus ROG Phone 6 prototype reveals performance info and design updates

Android Central and Dave2D posted about their hands-on experiences with a prototype device running a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor.