All sorts of companies have dipped their toes into the gaming smartphone ring — remember the Razer Phone 2? — but Asus has long dominated the field. The ROG Phone series is entering its sixth generation, and by all accounts, it's set to reclaim its throne as the best gaming phone money can buy.

Today, the ROG Phone 7 and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate are up for preorder in select markets, although those in the US will have to wait. Still, there's good reason to be excited about these phones, whether you're a gamer on the go or just an Android power user. This is everything we know about the Asus ROG Phone 7 series.

Asus ROG Phone 7: Design and display

Last year, Asus reused the same core design of the ROG Phone 5 for its successor. It seems the company is sticking to an "if it ain't broke" mentality, because this trend continues with the ROG Phone 7 series. The device — which, we should mention, is available in both plain and Ultimate variants — looks nearly identical out of the box, no matter which model you pick. For better or worse, the gamer aesthetic is still here, down to the RGB lighting and, at least on the Ultimate, the mini display on the phone's back.

That's not the display that'll catch most people's attention, though. On the front of both phones is a 6.78" FHD+ 165Hz AMOLED display that AP's Matt Sholtz called "the star of the show" in his review of the Ultimate. It's a bright, vivid, and blazing fast panel that is as impressive as it is big, and it even includes 720Hz touch sampling to ensure as little latency as possible when gaming. Don't let the resolution fool you — this is a fantastic screen for everything from movies to web browsing to, yes, gaming.

Once you're done staring at the screen, you'll notice Asus hasn't just kept the design the same — it's also reused the same I/O, and that's a good thing. In addition to a headphone jack — to the celebration of wired headphone users everywhere — the ROG Phone 7 series includes two USB-C ports, one along the left side, and one on the bottom. As usual, that bottom one is once again off-center, so keep in mind some accessories, including non-Asus gaming controllers, may not work well with this phone. Thankfully, you might not need a controller, as the ROG Phone 7 supports capacitive shoulder buttons.

Asus ROG Phone 7: Specs and cameras

One glimpse at the specs sheet at the top of this page should have you convinced: this is one mighty phone. Asus has packed the ROG Phone 7 to the gills with the latest in mobile processing power, and it all starts with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powering it. Qualcomm's latest chipset left us impressed on other recent smartphones, and it's a great choice here to deliver a good mix of performance and battery life.

The rest of the specs sheet reads like a wish list for any Android fanatic. The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate includes 512GB of storage combined with 16GB of RAM; a massive 6,000mAh battery split over two cells; 65W fast-charging with an adapter included in the box. Really, the only major complaints here come down to waterproofing. While IP54 dust and water resistance is passible, it's not quite as durable as the IP67 rating most modern flagships receive these days.

But what about the camera? Photography has never been the ROG Phone series' strong suit — these devices are optimized for gaming first and foremost, after all — but it sounds like Asus has taken some steps in the right direction this year. While the ROG Phone 7's output will never match up with the likes of Google or Samsung's latest offerings, the company did include a larger macro lens and, more importantly, a massive 32MP selfie cam, up from just 12MP last year.

More importantly, our reviewer found the phone's output year-over-year saw a noticeable bump in improvement, as did the included camera software used to capture photos and videos. The 50MP main sensor and 13MP ultra-wide — both unchanged from last year — are unlikely to be total game-changers, and if mobile photography is your passion, you're still better off elsewhere. But it sounds like camera quality is no longer a sacrifice gamers must make to have a top-tier competitive experience on the move.

Asus ROG Phone 7: Software

As you'd expect — or, you know, at least hope for — the Asus ROG Phone 7 ships with Android 13. Once again, the company offers a choice of skins, letting users decide just how gamer-fied they want their UI to look. If you want something close to stock Android, it's available for you during setup. Asus also promises two major OS upgrades alongside four years of security patches. That's... not great, at least by modern standards, especially when you consider the price. But considering how slim the changes in Android 13 were — and how slim the changes in Android 14 are shaping up to be — it's the four years that really count here, not the OS upgrades.

Asus includes some custom software with this phone as well, most notable of which is Armoury Crate. Taking the name from its gaming PC suite, Armoury Crate is designed to give you a full gaming launcher, alongside tools like a built-in screen recorder and various performance modes. It's also how you tweak the back display on the Ultimate model, making it essential for most users.

Asus ROG Phone 7: Release date and price

Preorders opened for the ROG Phone 7 and 7 Ultimate in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and throughout Europe on April 13th, 2023, but anyone salivating over these phones in the US will have to wait. Like last year's ROG Phone 6 series, these devices won't launch stateside until sometime in Q2. That leaves us with just the EU pricing to go by, as USD pricing will likely arrive alongside a definitive release date for North America.

The base model ROG Phone 7 costs €999, while the Ultimate model runs shoppers a cool €1,399. Those are some pretty extreme prices, especially for the Ultimate edition. For comparison, though, the 256GB Galaxy S23 Ultra is currently sold in Spain and France for €1,409 and €1,419, respectively. That could make the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate a little more appealing to shoppers — after all, you'll be hard-pressed to find a headphone jack on other flagships these days.

Game on

While it's frustrating to have to wait for such a powerful flagship smartphone, the ROG Phone 7 series is shaping up to be an exciting — if iterative — refresh on some of our favorite gaming phones from the last few years. With any luck, these devices won't take too long to hit US shores; after all, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra and OnePlus 11 on store shelves right now, there's some serious competition in the race for best Android smartphone.