Asus ROG Phone 3: Release date, specs and price

Mobile gaming has long since stopped being the domain of the enthusiast - the new reality is that millions of people around the world game on their phones every day, with some titles like Call of Duty: Mobile offering experiences that genuinely rival console play.

That means that phones specifically designed with gaming in mind are growing in popularity, and Asus has been on the scene longer than most in this area. Its ROG Phone and ROG Phone 2 have offered serious gaming specs and superb displays, all aimed at making sure your mobile sessions are unparalleled. 

Now it's the turn of the ROG Phone 3. We've gathered all the details about the third-gen gaming phone right here, so that you can get a proper sense of what to expect. 

Release date and price

• 22 July launch event
• September release expected
• No pricing announced yet

Asus has officially confirmed that the ROG Phone 3 will be launching on 22 July, although there's currently no word on when the phone will be available to actually buy. The launch event will take place at 16:00 BST, 17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT.

On the price front, the previous phone's RRP was £829/$899 and key to these phones is staying competitive against competitors like the Black Shark 3 or Red Magic 3. 

Design

• 171 x 78 x 9.85mm; 240g
• Similar design to ROG Phone II

Asus has been unashamed so far with the ROG Phone and ROG Phone 2 in leaning into a very specific design aesthetic - it's obvious from a glance that these are gaming phones, with the light-up logo on the rear and sharp angles and vents on the phone's back to help cool it during use.

It looks like Asus will stick with this sort of design for the ROG Phone 3, and thanks to high qualty leaks, we've now got images of the phone - and it doesn't look too different. There's still the angular cuts around the camera and the logo on the rear of the phone - although it looks a little more subtle than the previous edition.

There's also a gloss to the rear suggesting it might be glass. On the front there's still a forehead and chin and we actually like this - it means it's easier to grip when gaming without the risk of false touches. There's still a lot of weight to this phone, but we suspect most of that comes from the battery.

Display

• 6.59in AMOLED, 2340 x 1080 pixels
• 144Hz

The ROG Phone 2 was one of the first phones to offer a 120Hz display, a trend that emerged across 2020. It's now looks like the phone is going to be moving to 144Hz, which is common in gaming circles. Exactly how widely supported this refresh rate will be and whether there's any dscernable difference to 120Hz remains to be (literally) seen - we suspect this is more a move to appeal to the gaming community. 

The phone is said to have a 6.59-inch AMOLED display, but stick to a 1080p display. 

Hardware specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus confirmed
• 6000mAh battery rumoured
• 8/12/16GB RAM
• Google Stadia pre-installed with free 3 months

Having named the ROG Phone 3 as using the Snapdragon 865 chipset, benchmarks started to appear with the ROG Phone 3 packing in a little higher clock speed. It's since been confirmed by Qualcomm and Asus that the ROG Phone 3 will use the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus, which gets a 10 per cent boost over the 865 hardware released at the beginning of 2020. 

"ASUS is excited to once again offer users the best possible mobile gaming experience with the next generation ROG Phone 3, which will be powered by the new Snapdragon 865 Plus Mobile Platform," said Bryan Chang, general manager of smartphone business unit, Asus in a Qualcomm statement.

"Full specifications for the ROG Phone 3 will be announced in the coming weeks, but the addition of the Snapdragon 865 Plus ensures that the overall performance will take yet another leap forward."

The TENAA listing says that there will be 8/12/16GB versions of this phone and that storage will come in at 128/256/512GB, so there's no shortage there.

A Taiwanese certification leak also suggests a massive 6,000mAh battery capacity - putting it even higher than the originally expected 5,800mAh cell. We're also expecting 30W charging, with a side-mounted USB-C so you can charge and play at the same time.

A Google Stadia team-up was announced back in February, which will see Google's streaming platform pre-installed on the ROG Phone 3. In fact, the phone will apparently come with three free months of the service bundled in for people to use. 

Cameras

• 64MP main camera, 13MP secondary camera

We've left the camera to last mainly because it's a simple fact that it's not the main focus of a phone like the ROG Phone 3. Nonetheless, though, there is some room for improvement over the ROG Phone 2 here. 

The main camera is confirmed by TENAA to be a 64-megapixel sensor. It's also listed that there's 13-megapixel camera, which we suspect will be an ultra-wide angle. There's a third camera on the rear but we don't know what that camera will be for. There's a front camera too, but current no word on what it offers.

Asus ROG Phone 3 rumours: What's happened so far?

Here are all the rumours surrounding the Asus ROG Phone 3 so far.

17 July 2020: Asus ROG Phone 3 excites in high-quality image leak

Images clearly showing the ROG Phone 3 leak, giving us a good look at the forthcoming phone.

13 July 2020: 6000mAh battery suggested

As the ROG Phone 3 passes through Taiwanese certification it's revealed a 6,000mAh battery could be on board. That's a lot of capacity!

8 July 2020: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus announced and confirmed for ROG Phone 3

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 865 Plus, along with confirmation that it's going to be powering the new ROG Phone 3.

2 July 2020: Asus ROG Phone 3 launch date official

Asus has confirmed that the ROG Phone 3 will be revealed on 22 July.

30 June 2020: Launch event on 22 July suggested

A date of 22 July has been suggested, but we're yet to see official confirmation of this.

26 June 2020: ROG Phone 3 spotting on Bluetooth SIG

Certification is a clear sign that the phone is close to launch and it has now been listed by the Bluetooth SIG.

19 June 2020: Hands-on video shows up

As we've already seen, there's a subtle design change, but a leaked hands-on video shows a much better impression of the phone than the standard images in TENAA do. 

16 June 2020: ROG Phone passes through TENAA and Antutu

More details have been confirmed about the forthcoming ROG Phone 3 thanks to TENNA certification and an Antutu score.

4 June 2020: Unknown Asus phone passes through Geekbench with 12GB RAM

A mystery phone has passed through Geekbench with 12GB of RAM, leading to the suggestion that this could be another version of the ROG Phone 3.

21 May 2020: Asus ROG Phone 3 gets benchmarked and certified

The unreleased ROG Phone 3 has popped up a couple more times, getting certification at the Wi-Fi Alliance, as well as appearing in Geekbench.

14 May 2020: Asus hints at June or July launch for ROG Phone 3

Asus revealed that the ROG Phone 3 would was launching in late Q2 or early Q3 when talking about its Q1 results.

8 March 2020: ROG Phone 3 set for Q3 2020 launch

Reports from China indicate that the ROG Phone 3 will be released in Q3 of 2020, with that apparently representing a slight delay due to the COVID-19 epidemic. 

19 February 2020: ROG Phone 3 will come with Google Stadia

Asus has announced a major partnership with Google to promote its Google Stadia games streaming platform, and has confirmed that next-generation ROG Phones that it launches will come with the service pre-installed, along with three free months of play for customers.

25 February 2020: Qualcomm confirms Snapdragon 865 for the ROG Phone 3

Qualcomm published a list of the phones that it's supplying the Snapdragon 865 chipset for, including the Asus ROG Phone 3, despite the phone not having been announced by Asus yet. 

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