Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro hands-on review

Introduction and specs

The end of 2021 is drawing near and by tradition, manufacturers release updated versions of their flagship devices with the latest available Qualcomm top-tier chipset, which happens to be the Snapdragon 888+ this time around. This is actually the first time Asus refreshing its ROG Phone lineup and the ROG Phone 5s Pro (announced today) has just arrived for review.

However, as we mentioned, the ROG Phone 5s Pro is merely a refresh of the original 5 Pro released earlier this year and as such, it swaps the Snapdragon 888 for the plus variant and adds two more gigabytes to the memory configuration going up to 18GB now. There's also a small upgrade in the display department and it should feel even more responsive with an industry-leading 360Hz touch sampling rate.

Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 172.8x77.3x9.9mm, 238g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 3), aluminum frame; Pressure sensitive zones (Gaming triggers), Touch sensor; ROG Vision monochrome PMOLED display (on the back).
• Display: 6.78" AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, 360Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1200 nits (peak), 1080x2448px resolution, 20.4:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888+ 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1x2.99 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Adreno 660.
• Memory: 512GB 18GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 11, ROG UI.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.73", 0.8µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.4, 11mm, 125˚; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.0.
• Front camera: 24 MP, f/2.5, 27mm (wide), 0.9µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 720p@480fps; gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 6000mAh; Fast charging 65W, 70% in 30 min, 100% in 52 min (advertised), Reverse charging 10W, Power Delivery 3.0, Quick Charge 5.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; 3.5mm jack.

Compared to the new ROG Phone 5s, the 5s Pro has a couple of key differences. The vanilla 5s comes in several storage variants but it doesn't go all the way to 512GB. There's no touch sensor on the back, it skips the secondary display and you can find it only in the so-called Storm White color.

Even though the upgrade isn't big, the ROG Phone 5s and 5s Pro remain competitive with some standout features such as the 144Hz display, precise software tuning of the powerful hardware, handy air triggers, huge 6,000 mAh battery supporting 65W fast charging and one of the best audios we've heard on a phone.

Unboxing the Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro

The device came in a generous and cool-looking box containing not just the charger and cable but also a protective case and the ROG Phone's latest cooling fan - the Aeroactive Cooler 5.

Asus also sent us the Lighting Armor Case that came out with the ROG Phone 5. Some of the older accessories such as the Kunai Gamepad II, ROG Clip, Professional Dock and Kunai 3 Gamepad are compatible with the new phone. Although, the Gamepad II gets only partial support. You can refer to our original ROG Phone 5 review.