I love watching unboxing videos on YouTube, most especially this time of ongoing global health pandemic as we all stayed at home. There’s something about unboxing, the anticipation of knowing what’s inside the box, even though, obviously, it’s all sort of things. When I was asked by ASUS Philippines to do one for their ROG Phone 3 units, I didn’t hesitate and told them I am willing to do that. But I didn’t expect that the experience made me think I needed a key to completely open it.
ASUS ROG Phone 3: The Most Amazing Unboxing Experience I Have Ever Had From A Gaming Smartphone
The ASUS ROG Phone 3 was officially announced during its digital launch in the Philippine last August 15, 2020. The ROG Phone 3 is considered the most powerful ROG Phone by far with its latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus 5G Mobile Platform chipset.
It is indeed built for a gamer by looking at the box alone but a non-gamer like me would also appreciate it because as a smartphone user, I am also into the aesthetics of the packaging as well as the smartphone itself. Knowing early what’s on the specs sheet made me more excited to get a hold of the actual unit. The unboxing, however, heightened my excitement even more. Here’s what happened.
The ROG Phone 3 Unboxing Experience
The ROG Phone 3 comes in a trapezoidal-shaped box that looks like a futuristic Egyptian pyramid invaded by aliens. When I initially looked at the box, I thought I need something to open it, a key perhaps, because at first, I was having a hard time opening it. I almost gave up (or shall I say, I did) and ended up reading the instruction manual sent to me by ASUS via email while watching an unboxing video from Unbox Therapy.
When I have successfully separated the upper and the lower partition of the packaging and was able to reveal its partial opening, it was a relief that I didn’t tear the edges because of a slight sign of frustration. A lesson learned: when you were asked to do an unboxing, don’t forget to read the instruction guide. But the inside gave me quite a shock… because there are more partitions. What you see when you open it was the ROG Phone with the iconic ROG logo facing up, and the ROG Aeroactive Cooler 3.
I was able to reveal everything spending some time where to tap and squeeze some parts here and there. There was an Aero case, some documents like the user guide and the warranty card, a 30W USB power adapter, USB-C to USB-C cable, USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter, some cool stickers, and an intricate-looking SIM card tray ejector pin that by the looks of it, it can kill.
The Gaming Smartphone Experience
A quick trip to the Google Play Store lets me install mobile games that I usually play on my other smartphone devices: Mobile Legends, Legend Of Ace, and a car-racing game that was recommended to me to try. When I start playing games using ROG Phone 3, I have noticed a multitude of notches higher in terms of performance and experience.
- The 6.59-inch AMOLED display provided me color accuracy and vivid imagery. It is also very sensitive to the touch with the 144Hz refresh rate, and the haptic feedback that gives you a responsive gaming experience when you press on virtual buttons on the screen and gives you a feeling that you are pressing something physical.
- A monster 6,000mAh battery can suffice multiple rounds of gameplay as it lasted the whole day for me trying every game possible using the ROG Phone 3. Even though I haven’t experienced heating at the back panel, I am sure the Aeroactive Cooler contributed a lot without any inconvenience on the grip since it can accommodate ports for charging and for the earphones.
- The dual front-facing speakers are to die for. Both the top and bottom speakers gave out realistic stereo-quality sound effects during gameplay it’s like you’re playing mobile games on IMAX. It was such a great experience.
- I was amazed by the presence of the AirTrigger controls along the edges of the smartphone. You can activate and set up those touch buttons for added controls like the buttons you use in the controllers of a Playstation console.
- The ROG Phone 3 ergonomics are just perfect for me. Since I have ginormous hands, holding it on landscape orientation was never a problem. Plus, the ports were strategically placed where they won’t bother your hands while you’re playing and charging the smartphone at the same time.
Other Republic Of Gamers Experiences
The back panel of the ROG Phone 3 houses the ROG logo that changes colors. It will surely catch other people’s attention while you’re using it playing mobile games. The design is eye-catching as well with the Glare Black color surrounded with metallic-like accent lines in red, and blueish-silver, it is definitely a gamer’s dream smartphone.
The triple camera system also got very decent specifications: a Sony flagship IMX686 64 MP image sensor with 1/1.73” large sensor size, and 0.8 µm pixel size, a 13 MP, 125° ultrawide-angle camera, and a 5 MP macro lens. The 24 MP front-facing camera can give you amazing selfies.
Unfortunately, due to the strict community quarantine and lockdown in our area where I live, I was not able to take sample photos with natural light but would love to do so when I get hold of my own ROG Phone 3 in the future.
Conclusion
I was able to test the ROG Phone 3 with its highest variant: the ROG Phone 3 Classic Edition with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus Mobile Platform chipset, 16GB RAM, and 512 GB internal storage. This variant has a suggested retail price of ₱54,995. The other ROG Phone 3 Classic Edition with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus Mobile Platform chipset, 12GB RAM, and 512GB internal storage is priced at ₱49,995; while the ROG Phone 3 Strix Edition with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform chipset (non-plus variant), 8GB RAM, and 256GB internal storage is at ₱39,995.
The ASUS ROG Phone 3 is a high-end gaming smartphone with top-tier technical specifications hence the price. It quite heavy in the pocket and might be way beyond the budget, but if you are into gaming this smartphone is for you. But if you’re someone who is after quality build and trusted brand, like me, I would love to get my own ROG Phone 3 if I have the budget.
Considering that I am also into mobile gaming, and I am into smartphone photography, ROG Phone 3 offers the extra power and portability of a gaming smartphone, a daily driver for social media use with its 144Hz refresh rate and 5G-compatibility and multiple WiFi antennas, not to forget its 6,000mAh battery and 30W charging capability. We can also take note of its flagship-level camera system for smartphone photography, I would consider this device a good investment for what I do.
What I think is missing for this smartphone device is an external memory card slot. Even though you can get a hefty 256GB of internal storage for the lowest variant, I would personally want to have external storage to separate my gaming apps from my photos. The 256GB, however, is already enough for everything I need. It is just my personal preference of getting another storage to separate things on my mobile device.
ALSO READ: ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2: First Impressions On Mobile Photography
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ROG Phone 3 Classic Edition 16GB + 512GB
₱54,995.00
Pros
- 6.59-inch AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate
- 6,000mAh battery with 30W Charge
- Smartphone aesthetics and ergonomics are amazing
- Dual front-facing speakers are to die for
- Good investment for gamers
Cons
- No external storage slot available
- Very limited stocks
- Quite expensive for non-gamers
- Accessories are bought separately (in the box are only Aeroactive Cooler and Aerocase)
- Available in one color variant