ASUS ROG Phone 6 features a ‘wireless’ thermoelectric cooler attachment

After the ROG Phone 5s and 5s, ASUS decided to skip Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in favor of the more efficient 8+ Gen 1, which brings us to the new ROG Phone 6 series today, almost a year after the 5s. In a nutshell, this beast gaming phone has a completely faster 165Hz 6.78-inch display, 720Hz touch sampling rate, up to 18GB RAM, up to 512GB storage, larger 6,000mAh battery, extended internal cooling system and IPX4 splash resistance. It is related to. In addition to its handy ultrasonic triggers and Dirac-proven sound performance. The most notable change, however, lies in the revamped clip-on heatsink, which now integrates a thermoelectric chip and does not yet require external power.

This new AeroActive Cooler 6 is noticeably bulkier than its predecessor, in part due to its larger, more ergonomic physical buttons, and now only has four instead of two. It also has a larger support leg that protrudes from the bottom (although not necessary) and a spring-loaded clamp at the top to secure (and activate) the cooler. The new Peltier cooling chip inside – placed just above the phone’s processor when mounted – is sandwiched between the fan and a large piece of copper plate, and there’s also a humidity sensor nearby to help prevent condensation.

In the console of the updated Armory Crate app, you can switch between four cooling modes: “Smart” is basically automatic, “Great” is fan only, “Frosty” is fan plus Peltier chip, and “Frozen” maxes out Peltier chip, but this is only available when there is external power plugged into the heatsink. ASUS claims that in “Frozen” mode, the AeroActive Cooler 6 can lower the ROG Phone 6’s surface temperature by an astonishing 25 degrees Celsius. Cool air blowing from both sides is a nice bonus for players (like me) with sweaty palms.

The company also gave some figures from more realistic scenarios. After a notoriously resource-intensive 60-minute session Effect of the Wide (At 60Hz), “Frosty” mode lowered the phone’s surface temperature from 44.8 degrees Celsius to 37.2 degrees Celsius, and “Frozen” mode brought it down another degree. In the same test environment, the ROG Phone 6 was able to maintain an average frame rate of 59.7 fps while staying cool at 37.2 degrees Celsius in “Frosty” mode, whereas the iPhone 13 Pro Max apparently hit a lower, but higher 46.3, 56.8 fps. . degrees Celsius and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is claimed to be able to manage only 47.3 fps while reaching 47.9 degrees Celsius. This shows how important cooling is to maintain a stable frame rate over an extended period of time.

Unfortunately, the AeroActive Cooler 6 – along with its own protective case – is an optional accessory for the ROG Phone 6 series, so you’ll likely have to pay extra for this useful piece of kit. But there’s some good news for existing fans: ASUS plans to release a variant of this plug-in for the ROG Phone 5 and 5s as well, and will use the old pogo pins instead of the USB-C side port. The release date will be announced later.

There are two variants of the ROG Phone 6 series: regular ROG Phone 6 and high-end ROG Phone 6 Pro, the main difference being that it has a small “ROG Vision” PMOLED display on the back to show customizable animation graphics. , as opposed to just having an RGB-illuminated ROG logo. Internally, the Pro packs up to 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM instead of just 16GB. The trade-in on the Pro – if you want to call it that – only comes in “Storm White”, while the regular model offers a “Phantom Black” version. Other than the different camera module placement, “ROG Vision” positioning, and printed graphics, the two ROG Phone 6 variants bear a strong resemblance to their predecessors, to the point that they can share the same glass screen protector and ROG Clip controller.

The modular Kunai 3 Gamepad – now available in both white and black – has once again extended its lifespan through a bumper designed for the ROG Phone 6. You will only need to buy the new bumper to attach these Joy-Con-like sticks. Or you can place them in the same old gamepad holder and use the entire assembly wirelessly via Bluetooth.

ROG Phone 6 features an advanced (seemingly) main camera with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 sensor, along with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 5-megapixel macro camera. On the other side is a 12-megapixel selfie camera with Sony IMX663 sensor, as seen on the compact Zenfone 8. [email protected] by default to get the best of both worlds.

On the software side, ROG Phone 6 runs Android 12 with ROG UI (you can switch to the less flashy Zen UI), ASUS is promising at least two major OS updates and at least two years of security updates. Besides the usual Armory Crate app, which is basically for accessing your game library, there’s the console, the rear “ROG Vision” display (only 6 Pro of course), AirTriggers, and more to customize your system lighting. While in a game, you can toggle the redesigned “Game Genie” dashboard by swiping either of the top two corners of the screen in any orientation. Here, you can quickly change the screen frame rate, keymapping, screen recording, performance modes, do not disturb, crosshair and more.

The new AirTriggers 6 now lets you map up to 14 specific touch points, and with those two ultrasonic buttons, you get a total of nine input methods, including the new “press and lift” – basically swapping a series of actions for pressing down. trigger it, and then alternate between another set of actions while removing it from the trigger. However, casual players like me will probably use the classic tap (to fire) and perhaps swipe (to reload). If needed, you can also map gesture gestures to touchpoints in Armory Crate.

The ROG Phone 6 series includes a protective case and a 65W USB-PD charger (it takes just 42 minutes to fully charge). As for availability, ASUS shared that the ROG Phone 6 series will start at just €999 (around $1,000) for 12GB RAM + 256GB storage configuration in Europe, while the ROG Phone 6 Pro will only have one version in Europe: €1,299. (about $1,300) for 18GB of RAM with 512GB of storage. Prices and models will obviously differ in different countries, so stay tuned for more updates.