The ROG Phone 2 could beat the OnePlus 7 Pro in one key area – here’s how
The ROG Phone 2 will have a super-fast 120Hz screen that’s even smoother to use than the OnePlus 7 Pro’s, according to a fresh leak.
The leak stemmed from Chinese social network Weibo, where a user ‘leaked’ to images claiming to be of the ROG Phone 2. The images included a setting screen for the ROG Phone 2’s display showing 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz options.
This indicates it will have a higher refresh rate than other variable refresh rate phones, such as the OnePlus 7 Pro, which has a 90Hz screen.
This is could be a key selling point for the ROG Phone 2. For non-techies, a refresh rate refers to how many images per second a display renders. A higher figure brings with it a variety of benefits, including smoother scrolling and faster response times.
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The faster response times are particularly important for things like gaming, with a higher refresh rate screen reducing the time between you enacting a command and it being rendered on screen. Most phone screens are locked to 60Hz.
The only other phone we’ve seen with a 120Hz refresh rate is the Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2, but these use power hungry LCD panels that eat up the handsets’ battery.
Past rumblings suggest the ROG Phone 2 will solve this issue by using a less demanding AMOLED screen panel. Sadly the images didn’t offer any concrete detail about what type of panel the ROG Phone 2 will use, but hopefully the rumours will ring true.
The leak didn’t offer any other details about the ROG Phone 2 outside of the fact it will run using the same Game Centre Android skin as the original ROG Phone. This could be a marmite factor for some buyers.
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The software brings a few useful features for gamers, like frame rate counters and a command centre to check CPU and GPU performance, but it also radically changes the OS’ UI, and not for the better. Key offenses include adding silly looking shortcuts and redoing the menu screens to look like 80s Sci-Fi fodder.
The ROG Phone 2 is expected to launch in the very near future and is the company’s second generation gaming phone. Asus hasn’t actually revealed any concrete details about the phone, though a press release from Qualcomm earlier this week confirmed it will be the first handset to run the company’s new gaming focused Snapdragon 855 Plus CPU.