The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate isn’t yet another Android phone staking claim to gaming greatness, just because it is equipped with a premium, flagship-grade Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. This is the cream of the crop of mobile gaming hardware, as most past Republic of Gamers phones have been, and it rightfully tops the list for anyone serious about their gaming credentials. Yet, with the Phone 7 Ultimate priced at INR 99,999, is it worth going all out and paying this much?
Also read: ASUS ROG Phone 5 review: Game on
One look at the Phone 7 Ultimate, and it’s evident that Asus is targeting the ‘pro-gamer-and-proud-of-it’ niche with the sci-fi decals, prominent ROG branding and the clincher – the 2-inch ROG Vision colorful dot-matrix-style panel on the rear that displays animations and effects when you fire up a game, start charging the phone or when you receive a notification. It’s a solidly built phone, with Gorilla Glass 3 on the rear, Victus at the front and IP54 ingress protection. You can feel the 239 g heft each time you pick it up, but the weight has been distributed really well so it isn’t fatiguing during gameplay.
Asus has included air trigger touch sensitive buttons along the edge as an alternative to touchscreen controls, along with a side-mounted USB-port to accommodate the Phone 7’s most unique accessory – the AeroActive Cooler 7 (bundled along with the Ultimate variant, optional add-on for the INR 74,999 standard Phone 7). In its essence, the cooler is a thermoelectric chiller and cooling fan, which draws away heat from the device and blows cool air on the rear chassis and over the screen…while lighting up the rear with colorful LED effects. It also provides a USB port for charging and a 3.5mm port for wired audio, and even has a kickstand for watching videos hands-free.
On the front, Asus has kitted the Phone 7 with a 6.78-inch, full HD+ AMOLED panel with 165Hz refresh rate, and this time around, the screen’s significantly brighter at 1,000/1,500 nits (average/peak) than ROG Phones past. The screen is great for fluid, lag-free gameplay and media consumption, and is ably assisted by a pair of stereo speakers that not only get rather loud, but also have a tiny subwoofer for company (and some delightfully boosted bass) if you connect the AeroActive Cooler 7.
As impressive as the package has been so far, the Phone 7 Ultimate’s true bragging rights are in the performance department. Under the hood, you get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with 16 GB of fast LPDDR5X memory and 512 GB of the latest UFS 4.0 storage, while the standard ROG Phone 7 is equipped with 12 GB/256 GB. The Phone 7 Ultimate is exceptional in daily use, edging ahead of the Samsung S23 Ultra and Xiaomi 13 Pro in both synthetic benchmarks and real-world gaming usage. Demanding games like Genshin Impact and Diablo Immortal ran at ultra-fluid refresh rates at detail levels cranked up to the highest settings, and performance was sustained (with the cooler accessory) even after a multi-hour gaming session.
As with previous ROG Phones, you get extensive tuning options via Asus’ Armoury Crate game launcher and Game Genie apps. Even with all this insane gaming performance, the 6000 mAh battery lasted well past a day of heavy use, and around two days if you’re using this as an everyday phone while going light on gaming. Which you can well do, since it is a phone that gets everyday tasks done just as well. The only caveat is that the 50 MP IMX766 camera and 13 MP wide-angle lens are just about decent in output, and pale when compared to the heavy hitters like the S23 Ultra or the Pixel 7 Pro. Oh, and the phone lacks wireless charging, which is understandable given all the action happening on the rear panel and Asus prioritizing sustained gameplay over all else, but it is a vital missing element at this price point.
Asus is clearly the leader in the gaming phone category, and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate reinforces that, both in terms of hardware and software optimizations, and the design and accessory ecosystem that makes the phone such a joy to game on. Worth the premium? Likely not for everyone, but for those that do, there’s much to like.
Rating: 8/10
Price: INR 99,999