Asus’ new ROG Phone 3 is a 5G gaming phone launching in the US

Asus’ latest gaming phone, the ROG Phone 3, is now available in the US. The ROG Phone 3 has some of the highest specs out there for a smartphone along with a bunch of features and accessories meant to enhance the mobile gaming experience.

The device is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset, a 6.59-inch OLED HDR screen with a refresh rate of 144Hz, 512GB of UFS 3.1 ROM storage, and support for 5G. It has the same 6,000mAh battery as last year’s model.

The ROG Phone 3 comes in two configurations: one priced at $1,000 that comes with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and another priced at $1,100 with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. 16GB of RAM is still a rare spec for phones, but it is available in a higher configuration of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. The ROG Phone 3’s predecessor debuted at a starting price of $900.

To make this a better gaming experience than its predecessors, Asus says it has adjusted the phone’s ultrasonic buttons, called AirTriggers. Asus’ AirTrigger system places motion sensors on the edge of the phone to mimic shoulder buttons typically found on game controllers, as shown in the diagram below. The new AirTriggers also add the option to map an in-game command, such as reloading your weapon, when you shake the phone.

Image: Asus

Asus is launching a handful of gaming accessories for the ROG Phone 3, too, including a $150 gamepad and a TwinView Dock that adds another display while gaming on the phone. There’s also a clip-on fan accessory, the AeroActive Cooler 3, that provides more airflow to the hotter parts of the phone, specifically in the area by the CPU and chipset.

Both configurations of the Asus ROG Phone 3 are available now on Asus’ website.

Asus ROG Phone 3

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Asus’ new 5G phone configured with 512GB of storage and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM.