Asus ROG Phone 2 First Impressions: Is This The Best Android Phone of 2019?

Let’s put it out there. As of September 2019, we think that the Asus ROG Phone 2 is the best overall Android phone of 2019 so far. That’s a big statement to make, but it’s just that great a phone.

We’ve had this phone for just about a week, so it’s more of a first impressions than a full review, but we’re already thoroughly impressed by what we’ve seen so far. Let’s get down to it.

The phone has a a 6.59″ FHD+ display making it larger then others out there, and it looks more gamer-esque than other phones on the market. There are prism-like lines on the back with a copper vent that definitely catches the eye, and the angular design really is quite sleek. Thankfully, the design is a bit more subtle than the first ROG phone, which makes it more palatable for consumers who don’t want a phone that screams out “I’m a gamer!”.

The display has a 120Hz refresh rate which is great for games, and it is super smooth even just scrolling up and down on the phone. The touch sampling rate is at 240Hz and the touch latency is 49ms which is insane for a phone. Colour accuracy is great and the display is vibrant and beautiful; it’s probably one of the best displays we’ve tried on a smartphone to date.

There are two front-facing speakers with DTS:X sound, and they can get really loud. It’s the best sounding phone we’ve ever used, and watching content on this phone is an absolute joy.

The phone’s running on a Snapdragon 855+ processor, Adreno 640 GPU with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. That’s all great, but the big thing about this phone is the 6000mAh battery. Asus has clearly taken the consumers’ opinions into consideration and given us what we all desire- the capability for the phone to go 1.5 or even 2 days without a charge.

If you cameras on a gamer phone cameras won’t be that great, you will be surprised. There’s a 48mp camera on the rear, along with a 13mp ultra-wide. There’s also a 24mp front facing camera which is surprisingly good.

The image quality out of these cameras are definitely above average as well, though not to the point where people will be bowled over by it. There’s also AI built-in, but you’ll get to choose whether you want to use the filters that the AI picks for your photos.

And of course, gaming is where this phone shines. It’s an immersive experience; the sound and visuals really are amazing. And then there’s X-Mode which basically overclocks the phone’s processor for even better performance. It’s not limited to only gaming however, you can use it for other applications which might require more juice like Lightroom Mobile or such.

Build quality feels fantastic and the frame is made of a metal material, which feels comfortable in the hand. There are also trigger buttons on the side, which Asus is calling the AirTriggers, which serve two purposes. First, for use in games, and the second when the user squeezes the sides of the phone to trigger X-Mode.

There’s a 30w charger in the box that gets the phone from 0 to 100% in slightly over an hour, and works well. There’s no wireless charging but we think that’s acceptable since there’s a whole bunch of stuff at the back for cooling and such.

This has been one of our best experiences on an Android phone because it is that powerful, and everything is just so cohesive. The Asus ROG Phone 2 is a powerhouse, and it’s not just for gamers. Anybody who wants a powerful phone with great battery life should seriously consider this phone.

The Asus ROG Phone 2 (S$1,598) is now available on the Asus website.