Asus ROG Phone 5s

“The Asus ROG Phone 5s and the 5s Pro are very good smartphones. However, the improvements compared to the predecessor are only minor, so the question arises whether the upgrade was necessary at all. It is certainly nice to have the latest chip on the specs sheet, but there is no real advantage from the minimal upgrade. There are also no major differences between the ROG Phone 5s and 5s Pro, the most obvious being the different displays on the back and the AeroCooler 5 fan that comes with the Pro model. The few additional cellular bands will be important for very few users.”

“Honestly, we would probably go for the older device, given a direct choice between the vanilla ROG Phone 5 and the new ROG Phone 5s. However, we understand the justification for the switch to the Snapdragon 888+ and all things considered, we believe few could have pulled it off better than Asus.”

“The 'S' version may be marketed as a gaming phone - and it is a wonderful one at that - but it's also just a fantastic all-round device, just like the ROG Phone 5 was before it. That means it's great for consuming media and doing pretty much everything else - it even has one decent camera.”

“Whether you get the ROG Phone 5 or the ROG Phone 5s Pro, you’re getting the best gaming phone ecosystem in the Android camp. Does Asus make the best gaming phone of them all? That’s debatable. Apple’s iPhones get iOS’s gaming catalogue, which is more polished than that of Android, and there are gazillions of iPhone gaming accessories. With Asus making quality gaming accessories for its phone – an excellent controller and a smart fan and kickstand, as well as loading the ROG Phone 5s Pro with nifty touch-sensitive buttons, it’s definitely the one for out and proud gaming nerds. Factor in the levelled-up RGB lighting, a plethora of ports and mighty audio options, and nothing comes close.”