In conjunction with our upcoming 67th Merdeka celebration, Asus Malaysia is running a deal for its latest gaming smartphone, the ROG Phone 8. Not only is it discounted by RM400 – lowering the starting price to RM3,599 – an ROG Slash crossbody bag worth RM409 is also bundled with the phone during the promotion period (26 August – 16 September).

Unfortunately, only the standard ROG Phone 8 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage is discounted for the promo; it receives a RM400 markdown, slashing the RM3,999 retail price to RM3,599. Those who purchase the gaming phone from today until 16 September, as mentioned, can claim a RM409 ROG Slash bag for free as well by submitting their details through this Google form.

Design wise, the ROG Phone 8 phones look more like a smartphone than a dedicated gaming device now, which is great in our opinion. The standard model has a two-tone finish on the back with an RGB logo, while the Pro version has a more understated, “stealthy” all-black finish with an LED dot-matrix display instead.

Beyond the different design and memory configuration, all devices in the ROG Phone 8 series have similar hardware. The gaming phones feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a 6.78-inch 2400 x 1080 AMOLED display with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate – though the panel itself is capable of 165Hz – a 32MP selfie camera, an IP68 rating, and a 5,500mAh battery.

Curiously, unlike the global market, the camera system of the ROG Phone 8 and ROG Phone 8 Pro is different for Malaysia. Globally, both phones feature a triple camera array made up of a 50MP primary sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide shooter, and a 32MP telephoto lens. But for our market, the ROG Phone 8 swaps out the telephoto camera for a 5MP macro shooter instead.

More details on the ROG Phone 8 Merdeka deal can be found on Asus Malaysia’s official website. To recap, the gaming phone is discounted to RM3,599 until 16 September, and a RM409 ROG Slash crossbody bag is also bundled with the device during the promotion period.