Asus ROG Phone II design story: here are the many prototypes that guided the design

22 July 2019
Asus tried out different screen sizes, battery capacities and materials as well as optimized various components to arrive at the final design.

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Baykko, 27 Jul 2019I was mainly speaking about the size, you are speaking abou... moreWell, my preferences may be personal... but that doesn't mean that I am wrong.
In fact, I can be objectively right and have a preference, they aren't mutually exclusive.

Now the size of the phone, it's really just dictated by the Aspect Ratio, Bezel Size, and Battery. We know, that as the 2D-Size of a phone gets larger, the thickness becomes more of an issue. Which is why most people wouldn't have an issue with an iPhone SE and say 13mm's, but a Samsung S10+ with the same 13mm thickness will become troublesome.

So the aim of the game is: Make the phone as large as possible, while it is as small as possible. Sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't. You want the big-screen experience but you want to be able to hold it comfortably, but most important, it should slip in and out of a Standard Jean Pocket.

What ASUS said is correct, the pockets can accomodate below 80mm, but you need some wiggle-room to be able to slip it in and out with ease. And 78mm would be ideal. But at that width you need something thin, 9mm's would be preferable. However, if its smaller that is acceptable. Overall, the issues I have with the current RoG 2 design is: weight, length, thickness. If they dialled things down to say a 6.5inch display, only 200 grams, 170mm's length, and 8.9mm's thickness... I wouldn't have much issues with its ergonomics. But if we're going to affect the design, why not do it properly?

What we really have is an issue with is the Aspect Ratio.
Objectively speaking, the best aspect ratio is the International Standard's Association, of Root2, or roughly 1:1.414, aka IMAX Ratio. However, the industry doesn't support it, so we would have empty spaces (waste). So the best standard to adopt instead would be 16:9. The ASUS RoG Phone 2 would have a bigger screen AND smaller body if they went with this aspect ratio. However, since they insist on using (ultra)Widescreen display, the logical option is the 21:9 standard. You can find this standard which supports some TV Series, many AAA-Games, and most Movies. It's even supported on YouTube and Cameras. Do you know what isn't supported on TV Series, Games, Movies, YouTube, and Cameras (at least not most of them)? The weird aspect ratios, they aren't. So this is 18:9 to 20:9 that we've seen on phones from 2017-2019, but hopefully things will change for 2020 phones.

Okay, now that we've established the Aspect Ratio of 21:9, it's possible to figure which dimensions works. Remember we want the largest screen possible, but we have size restrictions. And with this aspect ratio, the length can increase very quickly, and we still need to be able to put the phone into our pockets. A good limit can be 170mm's length, which is shy of the RoG 2's length. So at this length, we can go with a 6.8inch screen, which has the dimensions of: 159mm × 68mm. It takes about 2mm - 4mm's per side of bezel, which increases the 68mm's into about 74mm's (being conservative). Whereas the top/bottom bezels would be made symmetrical and needs a minimum of 5mm's. So when engineered correctly, this would be 170mm's length. And now, cutting the battery capacity down from 6,000mAh to 5,000mAh would allow us to shave off the thickness down to 8.9mm and weight to only 180g. Here's how they stack up:

ASUS RoG Phone II: 240g, 171 x 78 x 9.5 mm, screen 6.6in-20:9, 6,000mAh
Kangal RoG Phone II: 180g, 170 x 74 x 8.9mm, screen 6.8in-21:9, 5,000mAh
Prime ROG Phone II: 180g, 166 x 77 x 8.9mm, screen 5.8in-16:9, 5,000mAh

...think about it. Which dimension/ergonomics would you prefer from the three choices?

    Kangal, 27 Jul 2019Why? Because Apple said the same thing when they removed th... moreI was mainly speaking about the size, you are speaking about personal preferences as if they were true to everyone. The other aspects would have made the phone better, but you are asking too much, they would also make the phone at break the $1.000 mark easily.

      Baykko, 26 Jul 2019Why should we listen to you when the article clearly stated... moreWhy? Because Apple said the same thing when they removed the Headphone Jack on the iPhone 7. Just because a company says it, doesn't mean it is accurate. You have to be more skeptical, and use some critical thinking with some market analysis. Those are the reasons why you should listen to me.

      Are you seriously trying to tell me, the ASUS RoG Phone 2, is perfect and has no flaws?

      Are you trying to say, it would not have been a better phone, with the changes I proposed?
      (IP68, Better ergonomics, Better durability, addition of microSD, FM Radio, IrDa)

      Or even the consideration for a better Console experience?
      (Portability improvements, extended life through Removable Batteries)

        Kangal, 22 Jul 2019I can see their train of thought, but some of their decisio... moreWhy should we listen to you when the article clearly stated that Asus carried a market research in order to define the characteristics this phone should have?

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          • Adul Al Salami Kebab
          • nrX
          • 23 Jul 2019

          None that was over 9000mAh? D:

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • g3t
            • 23 Jul 2019

            Dude Gsmarena just did an article a few days back on how the cooling inside gaming phones give them an edge over competition like the mainstream flasghips

              Lane, 22 Jul 2019Ip rating?? There isn't one. Don't be ridiculous. It has a vent for cooling. Your not going to go dipping with a gaming phone. Just get the S10 for that. It can also play games and it has a better camera. Be realistic.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • t@g
                • 23 Jul 2019

                Kangal, 22 Jul 2019I can see their train of thought, but some of their decisio... moreKeep dreaming

                  Lane, 22 Jul 2019Ip rating?? IP65, basically it can resist rain or water splashes from certain angles. It cannot survive a drop in a puddle, drop in a toilet, or a big spill of beverage whilst on a table. You can scratch this to basically saying it does NOT have any waterproofing. It is identical to the ASUS RoG Phone 1, and the Nubia RedMagic 3 in this regard.

                  The reason behind this is because of the AirVents or Active Fans. However, if you look at the heat-management of the Razer Phone 2 and the OnePlus 7, which offer sealed in VapourChambers, they're just as effective at maintaining performance and heat.

                  So you realise that the IP68 waterproofing was sacrificed for no reason at all.

                    • L
                    • Lane
                    • 0fv
                    • 22 Jul 2019

                    Ip rating??

                      Looks very similar to the ROG phone 1.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • IsY
                        • 22 Jul 2019

                        Nice designs tbf.

                          • .
                          • .alpha
                          • ytx
                          • 22 Jul 2019

                          6.75", 6500 mAh, matte with no logo nor RGB, IP68 = what this phone should have been

                            I can see their train of thought, but some of their decisions clearly were not the best.

                            Here's how I would've diverged:
                            - Weird 6.6inch 20:9 aspect ratio is pointless, I would've bumped it to 6.8inch 21:9 display.
                            - This would change the dimensions to a more mobile and ergonomic 170 x 74 x 8.9mm size.
                            - To achieve this thinness, the battery would have to be cut down to 5,000mAh.
                            - This has the benefit of improving the weight down to 180 grams.
                            - I would've opted to include microSD Slot, IrDa Blaster, FM Radio functionalities.
                            - Achieved by moving the Headphone Jack/USB-C.
                            - Removal of Airvents and the secondary USB-C will also help.
                            - I would finally make small adjustments to make this IP68 waterproof
                            - and look into making the phone drop-proof, or durable for stresses of the everyday.

                            (If given more freedom, I would've considered Removable Battery, great for longevity like the Samsung Note 4-Exynos and LG V20 owners out there!)

                            Things the prototype engineer cannot control:
                            - Low-stock/availability issues
                            - Late release date
                            - High Price
                            - Bundled Accessories
                            - Software support (Frequent Updates, Unlocked Bootloader, Root, Custom Roms, etc etc)
                            .....and unfortunately these look like some issues that will plague the ASUS RoG II.

                              6.7" 6000mah 253.88g is ideal for me

                                • N
                                • NIck
                                • YTF
                                • 22 Jul 2019

                                All this just to play some useless games that work on literally any decent android device.

                                  • J
                                  • Jatin
                                  • Dkk
                                  • 22 Jul 2019

                                  Just... Awesome..


                                  Beast

                                    • M
                                    • Martin
                                    • 3Dd
                                    • 22 Jul 2019

                                    Hmm 7000mAh good, but 6000mAh is good too.

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