Asus ROG Phone 7 review

Synthetic benchmarks

A ROG Phone wouldn't live up to its Republic Of Gamers pedigree without rocking the latest and greatest chipset around. That has historically been the case and is also true for the ROG Phone 7. Both the vanilla and the Ultimate use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Since Asus' competitors have access to the same exact silicon, the company has to enhance the experience in other supplementary ways. Things like advanced cooling solutions, in-depth performance tuning, and user-accessible profiles and parameters to tweak. The ROG Phone 7 is no exception.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is an excellent 4nm chip made on TSMCs N4 node. Its CPU configuration includes one Kryo Prime, Cortex-X3 core, clocked at up to 3.2GHz, two Kryo Gold Cortex-A715 cores, working at up to 2.8GHz, two Kryo Gold Cortex-A710 cores at up to 2.8GHz and three Krio Silver Cortex-A510 cores, clocked at up to 2.0 GHz. The CPU is paired with an Adreno 740 GPU, which Asus says is overclocked, though it does not share any particulars.

This year Asus also went for the fastest currently-available LPDDR5X RAM, capable of up to 8533 Mbps of operation speeds, which is up to a 33% increase in performance since last gen. For storage, all storage tiers of the ROG Phone 7 and 7 Ultimate get blazing-fast UFS 4.0 storage chips. These have a maximum bandwidth of 4324 Mbps and are twice as fast as the UFS 3.x generation.

For the sake of thoroughness, we will mention that our ROG Phone 7 review unit is the top tier 16GB RAM and 512GB ROM one since that can affect certain benchmark scores.

Another thing worth noting is that Asus has made its X-Mode performance tuning even smarter this generation. The system can now do advanced thread balancing so that things like a game's main thread always take priority and work on the best available core. Asus is also doing bespoke tuning on a per-game basis, with optimizations coming in as updates within Armory Crate. This tuning is reserved for the most popular titles and ensures performance stability while balancing heat and battery life for the best possible experience.

Asus estimates that the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is about 15% better than the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in CPU performance, 20% better in GPU and about 15% more efficient overall.

Another interesting detail worth noting concerns the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile platform. As things currently stand it is a beefed-up version of the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with its prime CPU core clocked higher at 3.36 GHz and its GPU boosted to 719 MHz. We can only presume that this particular chip, as its name suggests, is exclusive to Samsung Galaxy devices, at least for the time being, which is why Asus did not source it for the ROG Phone 7 family. We already saw that the S23 Ultra has a slight advantage over the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate in some tests, and we assume that this will be the same with the regular ROG Phone 7.

Before transitioning into some actual benchmarks, we should clarify that we ran each test in the default Dynamic performance mode and X Mode and X Mode+, which only gets unlocked when the AeroActive Cooler 7 is attached to the phone. We've left all of the other in-depth tuning sliders on default, cooled the phone between runs and had the AeroActive Cooler 7 manually set to max for those tests.

Let's kick things off with some CPU testing and GeekBench. We can see that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy platform is outpacing the vanilla Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 a bit in single-core tests due to its higher prime core clock speed. Not so much with multi-core workloads. The other chip that has a clear lead is Apple's A15 Bionic. The rest of the pack is just Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 devices with very close scores.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  5423
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  5211
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  5191
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  5098
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  5087
• ROG Phone 7
  4935
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  4927
• OnePlus 11
  4899
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  4896
• iQOO 11
  4803
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  4631
• iPhone 14 Plus
  4582
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  4300
• vivo X90 Pro
  4273
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  4265
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  4207
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  3980
• Realme GT3
  3898
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  3839
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  3672
• ROG Phone 6D
  3531
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  3521
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  3433
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  3403
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  3187
• Huawei P50 Pro
  3145
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  2659
• Realme 10 Pro+
  2371

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  1890
• iPhone 14 Plus
  1712
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  1537
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  1490
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  1486
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  1482
• iQOO 11
  1479
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  1475
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  1471
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  1399
• ROG Phone 7
  1397
• vivo X90 Pro
  1387
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  1329
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1324
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  1303
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  1277
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  1276
• Realme GT3
  1271
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  1175
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  1160
• OnePlus 11
  1150
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  1117
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  1110
• Huawei P50 Pro
  1105
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  1056
• ROG Phone 6D
  1015
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  1002
• Realme 10 Pro+
  842

AnTuTu and its broad scope of tests, including GPU runs and memory speed tests, is definitely very favorable towards the ROG Phone 7. We can see that Asus optimization work shine through and the benefits of using the fastest possible LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  1333597
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  1330311
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  1288866
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  1281666
• iQOO 11
  1281665
• ROG Phone 7
  1279196
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  1273764
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  1241531
• vivo X90 Pro
  1228735
• OnePlus 11
  1140661
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  1104042
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  1103188
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  1081805
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  1074722
• Realme GT3
  1074427
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1039412
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  1012896
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  979921
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  955884
• ROG Phone 6D
  948594
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  844901
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  838832
• iPhone 14 Plus
  797976
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  796369
• Huawei P50 Pro
  786215
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  762090
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  735588
• Realme 10 Pro+
  522376

Moving on to GFXBench and some graphical tests, we find the ROG Phone 7 on top of the food chain. Asus claims that it has done some tweaking to the Adreno 740 GPU, and the results clearly back that up.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  86
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  84
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  84
• ROG Phone 7
  81
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  75
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  68
• vivo X90 Pro
  65
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  65
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  62
• ROG Phone 6D
  61
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  61
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  58
• iQOO 11
  54
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  54
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  52
• Realme GT3
  51
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  49
• OnePlus 11
  49
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  43
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  40
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  39
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  38
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  35
• Huawei P50 Pro
  27
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  26
• Realme 10 Pro+
  16

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  62
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  62
• iQOO 11
  62
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  61
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  61
• OnePlus 11
  61
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  60
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  59
• vivo X90 Pro
  55
• ROG Phone 7
  52
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  46
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  46
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  46
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  45
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  45
• Realme GT3
  44
• ROG Phone 6D
  43
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  43
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  40
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  37
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  29
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  28
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  28
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  26
• Huawei P50 Pro
  22
• Realme 10 Pro+
  11

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  98
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  86
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  86
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  79
• ROG Phone 7
  74
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  69
• vivo X90 Pro
  68
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  66
• ROG Phone 6D
  64
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  64
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  62
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  60
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  56
• iQOO 11
  55
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  55
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  54
• OnePlus 11
  53
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  52
• Realme GT3
  52
• iPhone 14 Plus
  51
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  42
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  42
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  39
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  36
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  31
• Huawei P50 Pro
  26
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  25
• Realme 10 Pro+
  15

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  69
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  69
• iQOO 11
  69
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  69
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  68
• OnePlus 11
  68
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  68
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  67
• ROG Phone 7
  55
• vivo X90 Pro
  54
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  52
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  51
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  51
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  50
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  48
• Realme GT3
  48
• ROG Phone 6D
  46
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  44
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  43
• iPhone 14 Plus
  40
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  38
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  31
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  31
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  30
• Huawei P50 Pro
  30
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  26
• Realme 10 Pro+
  10

The ROG Phone 7 is powerful enough to smash through the three-digit mark in OpenGL ES 3.1 Car scene on-screen tests, which is quite an accomplishment. The off-screen results are still more impressive, thanks to the lower 1920 x 1080 resolution this test is being done at.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  112
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  108
• ROG Phone 7
  107
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  107
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  97
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  90
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  79
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  79
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  76
• vivo X90 Pro
  74
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  74
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  73
• ROG Phone 6D
  71
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  68
• iQOO 11
  67
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  67
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  64
• iPhone 14 Plus
  60
• Realme GT3
  59
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  59
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  58
• OnePlus 11
  57
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  54
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  44
• Huawei P50 Pro
  44
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  34
• Realme 10 Pro+
  21

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  129
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  128
• iQOO 11
  128
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  127
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  127
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  127
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  126
• OnePlus 11
  126
• ROG Phone 7
  125
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  118
• vivo X90 Pro
  105
• Realme GT3
  104
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  104
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  103
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  102
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  102
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  101
• iPhone 14 Plus
  99
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  94
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  93
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  90
• ROG Phone 6D
  84
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  79
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  71
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  70
• Huawei P50 Pro
  64
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  63
• Realme 10 Pro+
  27

As we move lower down in intensity on the list of benchmarks, we can finally see the ROG Phone 7 hit its refresh rate cap of 165Hz in the Manhattan OpenGL ES 3.0 on-screen test. That is not easy to pull off, even with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. Asus is clearly squeezing out every last bit of performance available.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  164
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  163
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  163
• ROG Phone 7
  157
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  140
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  126
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  123
• ROG Phone 6D
  122
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  121
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  120
• vivo X90 Pro
  118
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  113
• iQOO 11
  112
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  112
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  103
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  103
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  102
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  97
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  91
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  72
• Huawei P50 Pro
  72
• OnePlus 11
  60
• Realme GT3
  60
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  60
• iPhone 14 Plus
  60
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  57
• Realme 10 Pro+
  38

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  223
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  222
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  222
• iQOO 11
  222
• OnePlus 11
  220
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  220
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  219
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  212
• vivo X90 Pro
  200
• ROG Phone 7
  194
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  192
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  183
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  182
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  180
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  178
• Realme GT3
  177
• iPhone 14 Plus
  176
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  172
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  162
• ROG Phone 6D
  152
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  134
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  126
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  121
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  120
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  120
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  108
• Huawei P50 Pro
  99
• Realme 10 Pro+
  45

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  166
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  166
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  166
• ROG Phone 7
  165
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  161
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  149
• ROG Phone 6D
  131
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  130
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  130
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  128
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  121
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  121
• iQOO 11
  120
• vivo X90 Pro
  120
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  120
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  120
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  119
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  118
• Huawei P50 Pro
  108
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  103
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  100
• OnePlus 11
  60
• Realme GT3
  60
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  60
• iPhone 14 Plus
  60
• Realme 10 Pro+
  56

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  329
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  328
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  328
• OnePlus 11
  327
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  326
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  322
• iQOO 11
  321
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  311
• vivo X90 Pro
  287
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  268
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  268
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  264
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  263
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  262
• ROG Phone 7
  261
• Realme GT3
  257
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  244
• Oppo Find X5 Pro
  244
• iPhone 14 Plus
  234
• ROG Phone 6D
  210
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  204
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  186
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  178
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  170
• ROG Phone 5s Pro (X Mode + FAN)
  166
• Huawei P50 Pro
  149
• ROG Phone 5s Pro
  144
• Realme 10 Pro+
  68

Finally, we have 3DMark. Again, we can see the small advantage of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile platform, but other than that, the ROG Phone 7 is again leading the pack with top-notch graphical performance.

3DMark Wild Life Extreme (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  3790
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode)
  3776
• ROG Phone 7 (X Mode+)
  3770
• ROG Phone 7
  3745
• vivo X90 Pro
  3698
• Motorola Edge 40 Pro
  3660
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
  3643
• OnePlus 11
  3594
• iQOO 11
  3514
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
  3341
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  2939
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  2818
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  2815
• Realme GT3
  2792
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  2753
• ROG Phone 6D (X Mode+)
  2622
• ROG Phone 6 Pro
  2611
• ROG Phone 6D
  2555
• iPhone 14 Plus
  2480
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  1835
• Realme 10 Pro+
  622

Thermal-throttling behavior

A good gaming phone isn't just expected to score high in benchmarks and their inherently short burst loads. It has to sustain its performance well over time. The best thing we can do to test that behavior is extended "torture" burnout tests on the CPU and GPU. Naturally, we couldn't skip doing that for the ROG Phone 7 in all three of its performance profiles.

Let's start with the basic Dynamic mode (X Mode off). The most important thing to note here is not the fact that the ROG Phone 7 loses a big chunk of its performance, nor exactly how much said performance is. The really crucial bit is seeing how gradually and well-controlled the phone drops its performance over time as it soaks up heat. There are no sudden and jarring drops in the graphs which might have resulted in stutters while gaming. This is the kind of behavior we like to see.

Thermal-throttling in Dynamic mode

The drop-down in performance by the end of the test is definitely not insignificant. But even in this cut-down state, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has plenty of power to throw around and can easily handle even heavy gaming loads.

You are meant to game in X Mode, which Asus makes clear as day by even automatically enabling X Mode once you start practically any game and even most benchmarks. In this mode, performance loss over time is much less. You do pay a price for this sustained performance with a very toasty phone surface. One that is basically unpleasant to touch after about 20 minutes of sustained load. Particularly the middle metal frame. But that's the price that needs to be paid for passively keeping the internals as cool as possible.

Thermal-throttling in X Mode

Last but definitely not least, we have the massive "party trick" on the ROG Phone 7 in the form of the optional AeroActive Cooler 7. Like its predecessor, this year's model takes cooling to a new level with an active peltier cooling element. The difference is immediately noticeable, particularly on the surface of the phone.

We ran this final throttling test with the AeroActive Cooler 7 set to the maximum "Frozen" setting, which blasts the peltier and the fan as hard as possible and even requires external power.

Thermal-throttling in X Mode+ with AeroActive cooler set to Frozen

The minimal performance loss in this configuration, even after an hour of torture testing, is impressive, to say the least. Plus, the ROG Phone 7 remains perfectly comfortable to hold for the entire test duration.

This comes to suggest that you kind of need to purchase the optional AeroActive Cooler 7 to really make the most out of your shiny new ROG Phone 7.

AeroActive Cooler 7

Asus' signature active cooling fan accessory for the ROG phone line has already undergone so many design iterations that it probably deserves an article of its own. Last year's AeroActive Cooler 6 saw what was arguably the biggest and most radical change to date with the introduction of an active peltier cooling element inside the gadget. Well, that's been carried forward to the AeroActive Cooler 7, along with most of the other elements of the cooler.

This year, however, the new addition to the mix is a rather beefy 5-magnet, 13*38mm subwoofer nestled inside the AeroActive Cooler 7. Added to the two front-firing speakers, it makes for an impressive 2.1 audio system. It also definitely contributes towards the overall beefy nature of the cooler.

Left: AeroActive Cooler 7 • Right: AeroActive Cooler 6

The design is quite similar to last year's and is still very aggressive and "gamery" with bold, strong lines and geometric shapes. Unlike last year's model, the AeroActive Cooler 7 does not rely solely on a USB Type-C port. It still has one that plugs into the phone and passes through all of its features transparently (charging, HDMI out, etc.), but now there are also two POGO pins that connect to the phone. Perhaps those are solely to handle the subwoofer. We can't say for sure.

Unlike last year's model, this year, the AeroActive Cooler 7 has a 3.5mm audio jack, which is great to see.

Attachment of the AeroActive Cooler 7 is achieved via a spring-loaded latch mechanism that now has a button to release and a ratchet mechanism to close back up. The fit is very snug, and putting the cooler on and taking it off is very easy.

New this year is a secondary air duct built into the top latch of the AeroActive Cooler 7. That way air can be directed to blow on the surface of the display, not just the back of the phone. Asus claims that this can reduce display surface temperature by up to 8 degrees while simultaneously lowering the backside surface temperature by a whopping 25 degrees.

In case you were wondering what happens to the power button once the AeroActive Cooler 7 goes on, Asus thought of that and have added a piece of flexible rubber to "extend" the button outward, making it still usable. A bumper case for the phone comes with the AeroActive Cooler 7 in the same box and is naturally compatible with it.

Continuing with other functional bits on the device, it has four physical, programmable AirTrigger buttons, just like the AeroActive Cooler 6. These feel great and are actually omnidirectional, which is great in practice. It means you can essentially press them in any spot you want and in any "direction," so to speak.

The AeroActive Cooler 7 has its own RGB lighting, which illuminates and shines through the middle transparent plastic bit. Once the accessory is on, this lighting will use the System lighting settings you already have dialed in for the RGB lights on the back of the phone.

By the way, while this transparent plastic bit looks great while illuminated, we really don't like the plastic itself. It scratches really easily and just looks ugly once that inevitably happens. But that's nitpicking.

The last functional bit is an extendable kickstand. This time, it comes up from the bottom of the AeroActive Cooler and generally does a great job supporting the phone. Its angle is not adjustable or anything fancy like that. You just get one setting.

On to functionality, then. The basic principle of operation for the AeroActive Cooler 7 is easy to understand - the cooler sits on the back of the phone, covering its "hot spot" in the middle, where the centrally-mounted PCB resides. There is a thermally conductive pad on the outside part, a copper plate, some radiators, and a fan inside. Technically, the design is not meant to pull heat away from the back of the phone but rather actively cool it.

The "special sauce", just like last year, is the peltier element, sometimes called a TEC. It is a thermoelectric piece that takes a current and then uses that to make one of its sides cold and the other hot. So what is actually happening is that the AeroActive Cooler 7 is actively cooling down the back of the phone while the radiator and fan are actively cooling off and pulling heat off of the TEC's hot side.

AeroActive Cooler 7 settings

The AeroActive Cooler 7 actually has its own settings menu within Armoury Crate, which, among other things, lets the user choose between four modes of operation. Smart is a sort of auto that monitors thermals and decides how much to power the fan and the peltier. Cool mode just uses the fan to dissipate heat without turning on the peltier. Frosty and Frozen modes have both the fan and the peltier working. The first one has the peltier working with a lower current. Basically, as much as the phone can provide via its Side port. The AeroActive Cooler 7 needs external power hooked up in its top Frozen mode.

Finally, on the subject of noise, the AeroActive Cooler 7 is not particularly quiet. It is very much audible at any setting and can get particularly distracting in Frozen mode. Despite its big size, its fan is still relatively small, and there is simply no way around generating at least some noise. At least it can easily be drowned out by the excellent front-facing speakers and subwoofer combo. Still, don't expect anything akin to a stealthy and quiet gaming experience with the AeroActive Cooler 7 attached.