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Asus Launches ROG Phone 5s Series

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Republic of Gamers (ROG), a premium sub-brand of Asus, has announced the launch of its ROG 5s series in India. The company has introduced ROG Phone 5s and 5s Pro as the latest upgrade to its ROG Phone series.

The ROG Phone 5s series is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform, featuring advanced 5G capabilities and premium Snapdragon Elite Gaming features. The processing power is complemented by up to 18 GB of fast LPDDR5 RAM. The optimised and upgraded GameCool 5 cooling system with AeroActive Cooler 5 (fan accessory bundled with ROG Phone 5s Pro only and optional for ROG Phone 5s), and the performance manager in Armory Crate ensures maximum performance is available for any gaming scenario.

Commenting at the launch, Dinesh Sharma, Business Head, Commercial PC and Smartphone, System Business Group, ASUS in India said, “We are constantly innovating and aiming to provide only the best and premium features in our Ultimate Weapons for Smartphone Gaming i.e. ROG Phone, to our ROG community. We are thrilled to launch two new additions to the ROG family – ROG Phone 5s and ROG Phone 5 Pro to upgrade the cutting-edge capabilities we offer for the mobile gaming ecosystem.”

The 144 Hz / 1 ms AMOLED display used in the ROG Phone 5s series now boasts an upgraded 360 Hz native touch-sampling rate and upgraded ultra-low 24ms touch latency for a super-smooth, seamless, and ultrafast gaming experience. Additionally, the ROG Phone 5s Pro features a colour version of the innovative ROG Vision rear matrix display, which shows customisable animations in response to a variety of system events. The AirTrigger 5 control system now supports the two rear capacitive touch sensors on ROG Phone 5s Pro, giving mobile gamers more control capabilities in their games. The ultrasonic shoulder side sensors on both models also support dual gestures, such as tap-and-slide or tap-and-swipe, for total control.

With the clock speed now up to a blistering 3 GHz, the CPU performance is designed to deliver matchless mobile processing power. ROG Phone 5s Pro also feature up to 18 GB of fast LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of fastest UFS3.1 storage to dramatically increase the overall gaming performance. The upgraded GameCool 5 cooling system in the ROG Phone 5s series has an optimum thermal structure featuring a centred CPU with the battery split into two parts, one located on each side of the CPU. The re-shaped 3D vapour chamber and extensive graphite sheets also help to spread the heat evenly across the device to reduce heat build-up in the middle.

Now boasting an uprated 360 Hz native touch-sampling rate and uprated ultra-low 24ms touch latency, the 144 Hz / 1 ms Samsung E4 AMOLED display delivers a super-smooth gaming experience, with an ultra-low touch latency. Tuned in collaboration with leading visual-processing company Pixelworks, the supreme visuals are enhanced even further with world-beating colour accuracy, always-on HDR technology to improve non-HDR visuals, and a screen that’s protected by the toughest ever Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

The ROG Phone 5s Pro additionally features a colour version of ROG Vision, the unique rear display that highlights the ROG creative spirit. ROG Vision can display a variety of cool animations that show you whether ROG Phone 5s Pro is charging, if there’s an incoming call, whether X Mode is enabled and more. Gamers can even create custom animations to make their phone even more personal.

The GameFX audio system on ROG Phone 5s series features symmetrical 7-magnet dual speakers for truly balanced stereo sound effects and a 3.5 mm headphone jack in conjunction with a Hi-Fi grade ESS DAC. Both have been optimised via a collaboration with audio specialist Dirac, giving the ROG Phone 5s series truly impressive audio quality and a wider soundscape. In addition to the premium sounds, GameFX also delivers crystal-clear in-game sound effects and powerful aural soundscapes.

The ROG phone 5s series features multiple antennas to ensure you are always connected to the internet with maximum speed and fidelity no matter how you hold the device to game, vertically or horizontally. To also ensure you’re connected to the fastest mode of internet, the ROG Phone 5s series features the amazing HyperFusion. HyperFusion allows the ROG Phone 5s to automatically choose the fastest internet connection and for apps that allow multiple connections, Hyperfusion can also connect to both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz Wi-Fi channels at the same time, or it can combine both the Mobile data and Wi-Fi together increasing your internet connectivity speed.

The ROG Phone 5s series comes with a 64MP Flagship Sony IMX686 sensor main camera, offering you up to 8K Pro video recording, Pro mode for Photos and videos, and Superb Night mode performance. It also has a secondary 13MP camera to capture ultra-wide angles and offers a HyperSteady video-recording feature. And lastly, there’s the 5MP Macro camera for when you want incredibly close-up detail. For superior selfies, the front camera is a 24MP camera that can shoot 4K as well.

ASUS ROG Phone 5s and 5s Pro will be available from 18th February 2022 in India on Flipkart. The ROG Phone 5s 8GB / 128GB will be available at ₹49,999, ROG Phone 5s 12GB/256 GB will retail at ₹57,999 and the ROG Phone 5s Pro 18GB / 512GB will carry a price tag of ₹79,999.

Asus Launches ROG Fusion II Series Gaming Headsets

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Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) has announced the Fusion II 500 and Fusion II 300, a pair of fully loaded gaming headsets that feature advanced virtual 7.1 surround sound, high-resolution ESS 9280 Quad DAC technology and ASUS AI Beamforming Microphones with AI Noise Cancelation.

ROG Fusion II 500

The ROG Fusion II series headsets use 50 mm Asus Essence drivers and are one of the few gaming headsets in the market to feature the ESS 9280 Quad DAC to provide gamers with lossless audio processing. Each DAC allocates its processing power to a subset of the audible frequency range — from lows, mids, highs and ultra-highs — resulting in crisp, clear sound for true-to-life audio.

ROG Fusion II 300

The Asus AI Beamforming Microphones with AI Noise Cancelation ensure a clear and natural representation of human voices with minimal distortion. The microphones create a 40° acoustic zone in front of the gamer’s mouth and filter out distracting background noise from other directions for clear voice pick-up. In addition, AI Noise Cancelation identifies and reduces over 500 million types of background noise such as chatter, keyboard clatter and mouse clicks by up to 95 per cent. The Game Chat volume control on the ROG Fusion II 500 allows gamers to adjust the volume of in-game audio and voice chat via the slider on the earcups to suit their preferences.

Both headsets include customisable Aura RGB lighting to provide gamers with over 16.8 million colour combinations and six preset lighting effects via Armoury Crate. This software provides gamers with extensive controls and an intuitive interface to adjust audio profiles and lighting.

The ROG Fusion II 500 features a 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-C and USB Type-A connectivity, making it compatible with a myriad of devices including laptops, PCs, mobile devices and gaming consoles. The Fusion II 300 is similar to the higher-end Fusion II 500, but does not support 3.5 mm audio connection. The ASUS ROG Fusion II series gaming headsets will be available in India from March. Prices are yet to be announced.

Asus ROG 4K 120Hz Gaming Monitor is HDMI 2.1-certified

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Asus’ Republic of Gamers (ROG) has pioneered several state-of-the-art gaming monitors, some of them offering a wide-variety of advanced refresh rates like 144Hz, 240Hz and even 360Hz. Now, ROG has announced the launch of world’s first HDMI 2.1-certified gaming monitor.

The new ROG monitor, being HDMI 2.1 certified, support 4K UHD (3840×2160) and offers refresh rates of up to 120Hz. It gives a full bandwidth to support 48 Gbps, and it is equipped with ‘Auto Low Latency’ which enables the game console to control the processing mode of the display, which, according to the content displayed, further prioritises low latency or processing quality.

ROG has also stated that, “Allion Labs subjected the monitor to stringent Fixed Rate Link (FRL) tests, including FRL Electrical, FRL Pixel Decoding and FRL Protocol tests, to ensure full compatibility with upcoming HDMI 2.1 devices”. The ROG 4K 120Hz monitor is made keeping in mind the next-gen gaming consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X, etc.) which are going to release towards the end of 2020.

The ROG 4K 120Hz monitor will be available in 27”, 32” and 43” variants.

First impressions of the new ASUS ROG laptops (GX531, GX701, SCAR II, HERO II)

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Yesterday Asus launched their new lineup of ROG laptops and we got the chance to have a hands on experience with them. The range includes ROG Zephyrus S GX531, ROG Zephyrus S GX701, ROG Strix SCAR II and ROG Strix HERO II. The main highlight is that all come powered with Nvidia’s Geforce GTX 20XX series GPU capable of Ray-Tracing and DLSS that has previously not been available to consumers. Here is what we thought of the ROG lineup in the brief time spent with them.

ROG Zephyrus S GX531
Asus calls it the world’s slimmest laptop that doesn’t compromise on gaming experience. Credit where it’s due, it is indeed very slim and packs in some impressive hardware to boot that includes an Intel Core i7-8750H processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM, HyperDrive SSD storage and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 GPU with Max-Q technology. For keeping the temperature low so as to not lead to any throttling, the Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) has been implemented. It comprises of 12V anti-dust cooling fans, 5 heat pipes and 4 heat sinks with vents to drive more airflow to cool down the laptop. The 15.6 inch FHD IPS screen is a beauty that has 144Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time and an anti-glare coating that helps a lot when playing in bright environments. The port selection is adequate with HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, Type-A ports and a USB 3.1 Gen1 port. The Zephyrus S GX531 is priced at Rs. 2,39,990.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX
This 17.3 incher aims to be a desktop replacement without the bulk and weight associated with it. The 17.3″ FHD display has the same specs as the one used in the GX531 with added Pantone validated colours with factory calibration and ProArt TruColor technology that will help provide content creators with accurate colours. The build quality is really solid with no creaking or unwanted flexing. The keyboard boasts of customisable per-key RGB backlighting that also extends to the RGB ROG logo above that can be matched with compatible peripherals via Aura Sync. Interestingly, the touchpad doubles as an illuminated numpad as well which is something we saw earlier in the UX series. The volume roller, however, was the standout as it is not something seen often in laptops and had the right amount of resistance and feedback allowing for precise volume adjustment. GX701GX includes the previously mentioned AAS that increases airflow by upto 32% when the lid is open. Add in the anti-dust tunnels and you have a machine that can endure long hours of hardcore gaming sessions. For everyday usage, the GPU switch will help save battery life by turning off the discrete GPU and switching to onboard graphics. The hardware inside is a Core i7-8750H CPU, 24GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port (with DisplayPort video output and power delivery support), USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C port, USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A and Type-C ports. The ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX will set you back by Rs.3,49,990.

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II & HERO II
Both Strix models have undergone aesthetic improvements over their predecessors along with the obvious hardware upgrade. They pack in a 15.6 inch 144Hz anti-glare FHD screen, Intel Core i7-8750H processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU and a dual 256GB PCIe SSD+1TB 5400rpm SSHD with the OS installed on the faster PCIe SSD. Coming to ports, we have USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, Type-A port each, 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort and SD card slot. Both are similarly designed with RGB backlit keyboards having 4 lighting zones along with an RGB LED light bar and lid logo. They are the first to include ROG RangeBoost, a multi-antenna WiFi setup promising 30% more range, higher throughput and lesser connection drops. The 2×2 configuration of the 4 antenna sets will automatically switch to give the best wireless coverage. We weren’t able to test this out but it should be a boon for multiplayer gamers. The key difference between the two: SCAR II is (literally) aimed at FPS players with translucent WASD keycaps while the Hero II is for MOBA players with translucent QWER keycaps. Pricing starts at Rs.1,64,990. The SCAR II with RTX 2070 and 512GB SSD storage costs Rs.2,09,990.

Gone are the days when gaming laptops had power adapters the size and weight of bricks supplying power to them. The power adapter has lost a lot of weight and become much more manageable, similar to the ones seen in regular laptops. It was also good to see easy accessibility to internal hardware when taking off the bottom cover of one of the ROG models. We walked away impressed but wish something can be done about keeping prices similar to what they are in the international market. Strix SCAR II & HERO II are available for purchase immediately but the other models will go on sale from 11 April in India.

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Asus announces Strix Scar II, Hero II laptops

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Dropping with the big chunk of ROG-related announcements are the second-generation Hero and Scar gaming notebooks. The Hero II has been created for MOBA titles whereas the Scar II that will be launched in India will cater to FPS gamers.

Nevertheless, the notebooks come with a trapezoid-cut lid that improves thermal efficiency by up to 27 percent along with a super narrow bezel design. The gaming laptops also come with RGB lighting with Aura Sync support, anti-dust cooling system and upgraded 12V fans with more blades.

As far as the hardware is concerned, the laptops will come with up to 8th-gen Core i7 CPU, up to GTX GeForce 1070 GPUs, up to 512GB NVMe SSD or up to 1TB SSHD and up to 32GB of RAM support.