ASUS’ high-end gaming phone is coming to the west
And it even got a spec upgrade.
ASUS' ROG Phone II has been available in Asia for some time, but it's taken a while for it to make it over this way. Thankfully, to make up for the wait, westerners will be able to buy not one, but two versions of the device, with even more ridiculous specs than the original.
For the unfamiliar, the ROG Phone II was the first smartphone to ship with the Snapdragon 855 Plus and Adreno 640 graphics. It packs 12GB RAM, a 6.59-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display and a 6,000mAh battery, plus a hefty gaming dock with a secondary screen for Switch-esque gaming.
Would-be purchasers in Europe will get the pick of two handsets: the Elite, priced at €899, and the Ultimate, for €1,199. An ASUS spokesperson told us that the device will be headed to the US, but no pricing or dates were revealed at our briefing or the company's IFA press event. The cheaper model has 512GB storage and a Cat 18 LTE modem with download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps. The extra cash for the Ultimate goes toward buying 1TB storage and a Cat 20 LTE modem with download speeds of up to 2 Gbps. It's worth noting that this isn't a 5G handset, at least not yet, although we know that Tencent and ASUS are working on a variant with the faster standard for China.
ASUS says that the Elite model will be available September 20th with pre-orders starting today, while the Ultimate will drop at some point in Q4. It's not clear where you'll be able to pick up the Elite, but ASUS confirms that it'll sell you the pricier model through its own store. Once we get some confirmation on US pricing, we'll let you know.
