As the smartphone market sees flagships like Samsung’s $1,500 offering, featuring a titanium frame and Gorilla Glass Armor, ASUS’ ROG Phone 8 Pro enters the ring with a similar price tag. Durability tests are crucial for these high-end devices, and the ROG Phone 8 Pro recently underwent a series of these in a newly released video.
The device was subjected to a scratch test, which revealed that its display, like many others on the market, scratches at a level 6 on the Mohs hardness scale, with deeper grooves appearing at level 7. Despite this, there were noteworthy features admired on the ROG Phone 8 Pro, such as the AniMe Matrix display now incorporated onto its rear panel.
However, excitement quickly turned to concern when a bend test resulted in a crack in the phone’s rear panel, leading to an immediate teardown in the video. The teardown revealed intricate details of the phone’s construction, including the use of GameCool 8 technology and extensive application of boron nitride thermal paste on components such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and the UFS 4.0 storage. The device also comes bundled with ASUS’ AeroActive cooler.
Storage and memory are no issue for the ROG Phone 8 Pro, which boasts up to 24GB of RAM and 1TB of internal storage. However, the minimal advancements in durability might affect consumer confidence and its overall sales, as well as cast doubt on the potential success of its speculated non-gaming counterpart, the Zenfone 11 Ultra.
The ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro still awaits its debut on major retail platforms such as Amazon, while competitors like the Galaxy S24 Ultra are already available for purchase. The latter recently narrowly lost to the iPhone 15 Pro Max in a drop-test video. For those invested in smartphone durability and performance, the high-stakes competition in the flagship arena continues to be a point of interest and scrutiny.
