ASUS ROG Phone 5 vs ROG Phone 3: What’s Different

ASUS decided to unveil its latest gaming phone earlier than expected with the ROG Phone 5. As a successor to last year’s ROG Phone 3, ASUS made several upgrades to the ROG Phone 5 while maintaining the design language of its predecessor to accommodate some of the accessories that are available for the previous-gen iteration. In our ROG Phone 3 VS ROG Phone 5 comparo, we check out the changes ASUS has made between its 2020 and 2021 flagships. What exactly are the differences here?

ASUS ROG Phone 5 Specs:

Snapdragon 888 processor
8GB/12GB/16GB LPDDR5 RAM
128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 144hz refresh rate, 1ms response rate, 300hz touch sampling rate, 10-bit color
64-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera, 13-megapixel f/2.4 ultra-wide-angle camera
24-megapixel selfie camera
3G, 4G, 5G
WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2, in-display fingerprint scanner
GameCool 5 Cooling System, AirTrigger 5, Stereo speakers, ESS DAC
6000mAh 2-cell battery
65w fast charging
Android 11

ASUS ROG Phone 3 Specs:

Snapdragon 865+ processor
8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
6.56-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 120hz refresh rate, 1ms response rate, 240hz touch sampling rate, 10-bit color
64-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera, 13-megapixel f/2.4 ultra-wide-angle camera
24-megapixel selfie camera
3G, 4G, 5G
WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, in-display fingerprint scanner
GameCool 3 Cooling System, AirTrigger 3, Stereo speakers, ESS DAC
6000mAh 1-cell battery
30w fast charging
Android 11

Design

While both ROG Phones look similar at the front, the ROG Phone 5 is slightly bigger partly because of its display. Ports are also the same where you get two USB-C ports (one each in vertical and horizontal orientation), though the ROG Phone 5 brings back the 3.5mm jack–with the ROG Phone 3, you only get a headphone jack when you attach the AeroActive cooler.

Going to the back, the key difference between the two is the addition of a matrix display on the ROG Phone 5. The higher-end ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate, on the other hand, get an actual LCD display–RGB on the Pro model, monochrome on the Ultimate model–on the back for further personalization.

Aside from the LCD display, both Pro and Ultimate models of the ROG Phone 5 get an additional set of triggers for an extra edge in your gameplay.

Display

Aside from a bump in display size, with the ROG Phone 5 getting a bigger 6.78-inch AMOLED panel, the newer ROG Phone gets a faster 144hz refresh rate and a more sensitive 300hz touch response rate.

Just like its predecessor, the ROG Phone 5’s display comes with a 1ms response time, along with support for HDR10.

Internals

The most obvious difference in the internals is that the ROG Phone 5 gets a Snapdragon 888 processor, which is manufactured with a more efficient 5nm process, along with a more powerful Cortex-X1 prime core that runs at 3.1Ghz.

Aside from the processor, the ROG Phone 5 can be configured with a ridiculous 18GB LPDDR5 RAM for the Ultimate model. Both phones can have up to 512GB of internal storage, and we find it strange that ASUS no longer offers a 1TB storage variant like with the ROG Phone 2.

Battery

While both ROG Phones do come with a 6000mAh battery, the ROG Phone 5 shifts to a dual-cell design, where the CPU is located in between the two 3000mAh batteries for better heat dissipation. The 2-cell design gives the ROG Phone 5 support for faster 65w wired charging speeds using one USB-C cable.

ROG Phone 3 VS ROG Phone 5 Final Take

Aside from having a more powerful set of internals, ASUS also gave its new ROG Phone a faster display and a 2-cell battery design to improve thermals and to accommodate a faster wired charging solution.

Despite looking nearly similar, ASUS took design cues from the Zephyrus G14 by adding a matrix display on the base model and an additional LCD display for the Pro and Ultimate models. We’re also delighted to see that the ROG Phone 5 brings back the headphone jack to the phone itself, letting you enjoy its stellar audio quality using wired cans.

As for pricing, the ROG Phone 5 starts at Euro 799 (~Php 46.2k) for the 8GB/128GB model while the 12GB/256GB and 16GB/256GB variants will go for Euro 899(~Php 52k) and Euro 999(~Php 57.8k) respectively. The ROG Phone 5 Pro (16GB/512GB) gets a Euro 1,1999(~Php 69.3k) price tag, while the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate (18GB/512GB) gets a Euro 1,299(~Php 75.1k) price.

While that sounds like a jump compared to the ROG Phone 3–which is priced at Php 39,999 for the 8GB/128GB Stix variant and Php 54,995 for the 16GB/512GB Classic edition–do note that the Asian pricing of the ROG Phone 5 will be lower than European prices.