Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The true , dedicated gaming smartphone is dead .
No longer will we see a earphone with the high - resolution screen and fast processor inside where theprimary functionis to play the most hard-core games for as long as possible , at the expense of other , more traditional headphone characteristic . It ’s the arrival of theAsus ROG Phone 8 ProatCES 2024that has cemented the gaming smartphone ’s destiny , and the genre now appears to have been consigned to the story books .
The ROG Phone 8 Pro is for gaming, right?
But wait , the new Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro is a gambling smartphone , is n’t it ? Yes , the ROG Phone 8 Pro is aphone for gamingin that it has the latestQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3processor , AirTrigger buttons on its shoulders , and a side - mounted USB - hundred interface — all of which devouring gamers will appreciate . Asus go hard to get the software package right , too , with its performance - enhance X Mode , new AI tools , and its Armory Crate app to amass and modify games .
But unlike theROG Phone 7 Ultimate , theROG Phone 6D , or any of the previous model , it ’s also a smartphone that ’s ground for unremarkable use . It has wireless charging and an IP68 water and dust resistance military rating , smaller bezels around the blind , a lighter weight unit , and a more sensible shape too . It may have the familiar and very cool RGB LED sieve on the rear dialog box , but it ’s all hidden when it ’s not in use . No one would know it was there .
This is why it ’s a telephone set for playing game and not a gambling smartphone . The madness of previous ROG Phone model has been intone down in favour of utilitarian ( and arguably , essential ) feature we desire on the phone we apply each and every day . Games are still at the top of the leaning of its abilities , but in the same way the camera is at the top of the list of theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’slist . Both are brilliant phones to apply when you ’re not act game or train exposure . Before , the ROG Phone was only vivid when you were play and average at almost all other times . Now , it ’s a much more even split .
Asus isn’t the first, but it’s doing it right
The decision to make the ROG Phone 8 Pro a more normal high - performance phone makes expert business common sense , but we ’re more pleased to see it has n’t give up the writing style entirely , which is what has chance elsewhere . Asus is n’t the only fellowship making play smartphones , with other brand such as Lenovo , Xiaomi , and Nubia dabbling in it , but pursuit from them all seems to have track off .
Xiaomi ’s gaming subdivision is Black Shark , and it has n’t unblock any new phones since theBlack Shark 5series in March 2022 . Since then , the brand has switched to progress to play accouterment and smartwatches . Lenovo hasstopped score the Legion Phone seriesentirely . RedMagic , the play limb of Nubia , make a single gaming smartphone call the RedMagic 9 Pro , but has extended its production portfolio to let in monitors , keyboard , mice , and more . true , the phone is very punt phone silly with its real cool down sports fan , but there is n’t a range of devices this sentence around , as there was with the RedMagic 8 .
Other than these three , Razer is one of the only other major troupe that sample to make a go of gambling smartphones , but it has n’t revisit them since theRazer Phone 2was let go of in 2018 . Poco has long leaned into play to promote its smartphones , but outside of2022 ’s F4 GT , it is more often for marketing purposes than the brand extend headlong into a hard-core machine that competes with the ROG Phone serial .
Is there no demand?
The question of why Asus has dial back the craziness and Black Shark has disappeared into the murky waters is difficult to reply , but logically , it has to do with demand , the cost of evolution , and the prevalence of powerful flagship phones that will fulfil the vast bulk of mobile gamers . But it could also have to do with the sudden influx of hand-held gaming consoles , which ply access to non - mobile games on the move .
TheValve Steam Deckleads the charge , but it has been followed by several similar twist , let in theLenovo Legion Go , theRazer Edge , and theAsus ROG Ally — all very familiar names . Out of the three , only Asus is still actually making a smartphone where gaming is the focussing , but as already stated , it is far close to a normal flagship smartphone than ever before . Demand for fluid gaming devices does n’t seem to have waned , but the requirement and the games the audience want to diddle are order where brands focus their efforts .
This is perhaps the main grounds for the honest gaming smartphone ’s death : More mass are concerned in spending meter playing the same game they revel on their personal computer or console table on the go rather than hard-core wandering game . wandering esports is still very democratic , but this may not have translated over to smartphone purchaser make an effort to prioritize play features when they go to buy a new telephone .
Goodbye, gaming phones
Is the gambling phone really dead ? deplorably , I do conceive the play smartphoneas we knew itis dead . The craziness of the last few year is over , fewer manufacturers are make consecrated model , and the phones that are still here have evolved into something new . It ’s not that we wo n’t see earphone made with the dedicated mobile gamer in judgment , but the days when that was their sole design have ended .
I do n’t see it as a negative thing , as we ’re getting more fun earphone that we can use more often . Regular phones like theNothing Phone 2have put a spin on the optic - enamour winkle lighter associated with pure play telephone . play smartphones are adopting standard features like IP68 while keep on customizable buttons and high - level cooling system , then toning down the design absurdity , meaning more mass will be willing to consider it .
Although the gaming smartphone is bushed , we ’ve now got a range of splendid hand-held gambling consoles , a small selection of everyday phones made for mobile gamers , and some unbelievable mainstream flagship phone that are also brilliant for casual play . To get there , we ’ve had to give motorized cooling vents , mad color dodge , and all kind of other wild play smartphone gimmicks — but I ’d say it ’s a more than acceptable trade - off .
