ASUS Is Developing A ROG Gaming Phone To Take On Razer Phone And Blackshark

ASUS boss Jerry Shen went on record saying to expect the company to release a gaming smartphone at some point in the future, though as to when exactly it will materialize and what specific features it will have, he did not offer up any further details. That's okay, because just knowing that ASUS is getting into the gaming phone space is interesting, as it underscores a growing segment.

Granted, mobile gaming is not a new thing by any means. However, there have only been a handful of attempts to release smartphones specifically aimed at gamers. More recently, they include the Razer Phone, which marries a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) to a 120Hz display panel, the Xiaomi-backed Blackshark with a faster Snapdragon 845 chip.

Whether there is a big market for these kinds of devices remains to be seen. Nevertheless, ASUS has shown that it is not afraid of chasing trends. For example, take the ZenFone AR. Billed as the world's first phone to support Google's Tango and Daydream VR platforms, the allure of augmented reality experiences on-the-go is the major selling point of the ZenFone AR.

ASUS also has experience building high-end handsets. The ZenFone 5Z released earlier this year sports a 6.2-inch display powered by a Snapdragon 845 SoC and 6GB of RAM. Those specs are certainly capable of holding down the fort in the gaming category, but it's not a gaming phone in the same sense as the Razer Phone or Xiaomi Blackshark.


Shen made his comments during an interview with Astig.ph at the opening of the ASUS Philippines' 100th store. When asked about the possibility of making a gaming phone, he talked about the company's commitment to gaming overall in a variety of categories. You can catch his comments on the topic in the video above, starting at the 17min50sec mark.

What would be interesting is if ASUS released a gaming phone under its Republic of Gamers (ROG) division. That would certainly attract eyeballs from within the gaming community, though it's unclear if aligning ROG with NVIDIA's GeForce Partner Program would extend into the mobile space.

Thumbnail and Top Image Source: YouTube via Astig.ph