The ROG (Republic of Gamers) phones from Asus are some of the best ways to enjoy mobile gaming, while also having a premium smartphone at your disposal.
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We take a look ahead to what you can expect when the range gets its next update with the arrival of the Asus ROG Phone 6.
When will the Asus ROG Phone 6 be released?
Release dates for the ROG phones are very much dependent on where you live. For example, the ROG Phone 5S and 5S Pro models made their debuts on 24 August 2021, but only in Taiwan.
The previous Asus ROG Phone 5 and 5 Pro were released in March 2021 in parts of Asia but came to wider markets in May. While the UK saw various configurations of the 5, it didn’t get the 5 Pro. European customers got both, while those in the US had a solitary version of the ROG Phone 5.
So far, rumours seem to be suggesting that the ROG Phone 6 will arrive in May 2022 in India and possibly the UK. Though the truth is we just don’t know yet.
As a rough guide, here are when the ROG phones made their debuts, but again the different territories mean that there’s no definite date you can pin your hat on at the moment. One thing to note was that due to the number being deemed unlucky in China, there was no ROG Phone 4.
ROG Phone 1: October 2018
ROG Phone 2: September 2019
ROG Phone 3: August 2020
ROG Phone 5: May 2021
ROG Phone 5S: August 2021
If you can’t wait until next year, take a look at our best gaming phones chart to see what other options are worth your consideration.
How much will the Asus ROG 6 models cost?
As the model has yet to be confirmed by Asus, there’s no firm pricing available. We can take a look at how the previous models lined-up though to give us an indication of what you might need to pay when the ROG Phone 6 does finally arrive.
Using the Taiwanese prices as our guide, we see that the last two generations (5 and 5S) had roughly the same price tags. For the standard 5 & 5S model it was 29,990 TWD while the 5S Pro version cost 37,990 TWD. There wasn’t a 5 Pro, instead Asus opted for a 5 Ultimate, which cost 36,990 TWD.
With the ROG Phone 5 usually found priced at £799/$999 in the UK and US respectively (there’s no official release of the 5S in those territories at the time of writing), it seems likely that the 6 may follow suit. As always, you’ll need to pay more for the Pro/Ultimate versions if they are available in your part of the world.
We’ve seen a few sites in India, such as GadgetsNow, reporting that the prices will be 59,999 Rs for the ROG Phone 6 and 79,948 Rs for the Ultimate version, so that is something to bear in mind if you live there.
What about the ROG Phone 6 specs and design?
We have one potential look at the design of the next ROG Phone, and it comes from an unusual source: one of Asus’s other phones.
The Zenfone 8 Android 12 update includes a hidden sketch of what certainly appears to be the ROG Phone 6 – either included by accident or as a purposeful Easter egg for devoted fans.
This isn’t a radically altered design, but does feature a larger camera module, with the flash found next to the three lenses, and a bigger rear display running down the middle of the phone.
This could just be a concept sketch, rather than the actual design that Asus is going ahead with, but at least it gives us a look at the designs the company is considering.
As for the internals, since the ROG Phones are aimed primarily at gamers you can be sure that it will be packing some serious hardware.
The current ROG Phone 5S and 5S Pro come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Plus processors, which are the fastest ones available on the platform. This has been superseded by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which should bring improved performance to what is already a very fast piece of silicon.
The ROG Phone 5S lineup featured touch sampling rates of 360Hz, which left it trailing one of its biggest rivals (the Red Magic 6) which boasts 400Hz. We can’t see Asus letting this continue, so hopefully the new model will match or surpass that figure when it arrives.
YouTube channel Tech 11 put together an excellent concept video of the ROG Phone 6, which does seem more like a fantasy shopping list of features but looks beautiful.
It seems unlikely that the 6.78in display that was standard on the 5S models will get any bigger for the ROG Phone 6. This isn’t due to hardware limitations, more the fact that you still need to be able to put in your pocket at some point.
Expect the same luscious FHD+ AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, accompanied by the whopping great 6,000mAh battery that will let you enjoy extended gaming sessions.
As with the 5S, rumours suggest that the top spec will offer 18GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, with various other configurations on offer starting from 8GB/128GB. There should also be 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2 on hand to cover all your connectivity needs.
Cameras on the 5S were comprised of a 64Mp Sony IMX686 sensor, 13Mp 125-degree ultra-wide, and 5Mp Macro. It’s true that some of these could be bumped up to match the larger sensors offered by other phones, but with the focus more on gaming performance than optics, we think this could remain the configuration on the Rog Phone 6 as well.
Obviously, there are still a lot of features and specifications to confirm, so we’ll be updating this article regularly, as new information comes to light. In the meantime, take a look at our guide to the best smartphones to see what the Asus ROG Phone 6 will have to beat.
