Asus Malaysia just revealed the local pricing of its latest gaming smartphones, the Asus ROG Phone 5s and ROG Phone 5s Pro. Surprisingly enough, even though these two phones are packed with the newer Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ chipset, they are still priced at the same exact price point as their predecessors.
The most affordable of the lot is the ROG Phone 5s with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM for only RM2,999. If you want twice the amount of storage and RAM at 256GB and 16GB respectively, that will set you back RM3,799. As for the range-topping ROG Phone 5s Pro, it’s priced at RM4,999 with 512GB of storage and a whopping 18GB of RAM.
The Snapdragon 888+ chipset under the hood of the ROG Phone 5s series really is the biggest upgrade here. Compared to the Snapdragon 888 SoC that powered the previous models, the Snapdragon 888+ brings faster CPU and AI Engine performances, though there’s no GPU upgrade.
Aside from that, while the new ROG Phone 5s devices feature the same 6.78-inch 1080p AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate as their predecessors, the touch response rate has been increased to 360Hz from 300Hz. Basically, this will minimise input lag even further, something mobile gamers will definitely appreciate.
Beyond these changes, other specifications of the ROG Phone 5s series are mostly the same, right down to the design. Both phones still have a triple camera system (64MP primary + 13MP ultra-wide angle + 5MP macro), a 24MP selfie camera, ultrasonic shoulder buttons on the right side, as well as a generous 6,000mAh battery.
It’s also worth noting that the ROG Phone 5s Pro, just like its direct predecessor, features an “ROG Vision” back panel, which is basically a small PMOLED screen that shows charging information or an incoming call. It also has two extra capacitive buttons on the rear panel, which work in tandem with the ultrasonic shoulder buttons.
The Asus ROG Phone 5s and ROG Phone 5s Pro will be available for pre-order in Malaysia until 24 October. Those who place their order in this period will also get an ROG Strix Go 2.4 wireless headset worth RM749 for free.