In an environment where so many smartphones can feel like they’re practically interchangeable, Asus dropped a bomb at Computex 2018 that shows they can do more than pump out another Zenfone. The company just announced the brand new ROG Phone, an Android smartphone with Asus Republic of Gamers DNA coursing through its silicon veins. And it’s not just about the specs either.

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With the noted exception of quirky beasts of the past like the old Nokia N-Gage, the only real “gaming phone” around right now is the Razer Phone. That was announced late last year, followed by a special gold edition earlier this year. But this thing is a different kind of beast altogether.

It’s like Asus took the aggressive styling of its ROG laptops and slapped it onto this ROG Phone. Actually, that’s exactly what this is, complete with RGB lighting and a clip-on external cooling fan for maximum performance. Or something.

Under the hood is an up-clocked 2.96GHz Snapdragon 845 (it’s supposed to be 2.8GHz) and 8GB of RAM, along with a 6-inch, 2160 x 1080 AMOLED display with HDR and a 90Hz refresh rate. That’s shy of the 120Hz on the Razer Phone, but you get an AMOLED display instead of LCD. Other highlights include dual front-facing speakers, WiGig screen mirroring, 8MP selfie cam, 12MP + 8MP rear cameras, fingerprint reader, and a RGB programmable ROG logo too.

Oh, and it’s got three USB-C ports too. There’s the standard one on the bottom, plus two more on the left. This is so the cable can be out of the way when gaming in landscape, but also so that special accessories can dock into it too. Like this dual screen dock contraption for some Nintendo DS inspired action. They call it the TwinView Dock.

Continuing with the gaming-centric features are three ultrasonic sensors, two of which work as shoulder buttons while landscape gaming. You can also squeeze the phone, similar to the Pixel 2 XL and the HTC U11, to toggle apps. And then there’s a 3D vapor-chamber cooling system with a copper heat radiator and carbon cooling pads, along with a Asus HyperCharge compatible 4,000mAh battery.

No word on price yet, but Asus has indicated that they are targeting a Q3 2018 release window for their ROG Phone.

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