Asus continues to be one of the only major company to make a gaming smartphone that is available globally. A new leak suggests that the upcoming ROG Phone 5 will opt for an even crazier design.
The Asus ROG Phone 3 launched in India in July of 2020, in a time when most other companies toned down their offerings in the gaming smartphone space. With the Snapdragon 888 platform now available it looks like Asus might be getting ready for an early launch of its successor, with the teasers already live in China. As with many other products, it looks like the number 4 will be skipped as it is considered an ill omen in its home country.
More live shots of the ROG Phone 5 leaked on Weibo.#asus #rogphone5 pic.twitter.com/ppa7yieO1QJanuary 19, 2021
The latest leak comes courtesy of Mukul Sharma (originally from Weibo), which shows the Asus ROG Phone 5’s front and back in flesh. While the overall design language doesn’t really change, there is one significant addition — the RGB logo on the back looks to be on its way out, in favour of an LED display strip. The appended image has arrows on the display, but we expect it to customizable in some capacity.
The “05” etching on the back is likely to be an indication of the phone’s name, as 5 doesn’t seem to represent anything else that is meaningful. Strangely, the iconic accented cooling vent is also not seen in the leaked images, which used to be a standard on Asus ROG phones. If that is the case, the ROG Phone 5 might finally be water-resistant to some degree – a feat none of its predecessors could boast of.
The front of the phone doesn’t reveal much except a new page that reads “ROG Vision”. It could a new application or UI element, or just an incorrect translation on an early unit.
Asus ROG Phone 5 launch date is expected to be announced soon as the company has already posted a teased on Weibo. Looking at the number of upcoming phones, it seems that February is going to be a busy month.