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The Asus ROG Phone 3 looks slick like a Lamborghini

The newest gaming phone from Asus looks sleek, even a bit understated.

Patrick Holland
As Managing Editor, I lead CNET's mobile team, covering news and reviews on smartphones, wireless carriers, AI, wearables and more. I oversee the team's product testing and translate our findings into accessible recommendations. With nearly a decade of experience at CNET, I've covered Apple and the iPhone, Google and the Pixel, Samsung and the Galaxy, Motorola and the Razr, iOS vs. Android and much more. I'm passionate about storytelling (hey, former theater director and playwright here).
Patrick Holland
Asus ROG phone 3
1 of 13Patrick Holland/CNET

The new Asus ROG Phone 3 takes gaming hardware and cranks it up to the next level, with the aim of having the best performance of any Android phone. According to our testing it's the best performing Android phone this year.

Read our in-depth hands-on look at the Asus ROG Phone 3.

Asus ROG phone 3
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The ROG 3 weighs just over half a pound, which is a chonky boy. That said, that heft felt good during gameplay.

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The 6.59-inch AMOLED has a refresh rate of 144Hz which makes graphics look "alive" and animations buttery smooth.

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The screen has a touch rate of 270Hz as well, which means when your finger taps or swipes on it, the phone registers them as quickly as possible.

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There is no actual headphone jack on the ROG 3's body but the included fan attachment does have one.

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When I put the phone into X mode (aka performance mode), it's not only faster than every Android phone we've tested this year, I can use it for long periods of time for gaming without experiencing any dip in performance.

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Though the phone has the best camera array on any Asus ROG phone to date, the phone's triple rear cameras are ultimately just decent. It's not going to be named the best camera of 2020 or even close.

Asus ROG phone 3
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The copper heat sink sits under a transparent sliver of the Gorilla Glass 3 back, which I thought looked clever. It's kind of like how Lamborghini's uses a glass cover over its engines.

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The ROG 3 runs Android 10 with Asus ZenUI. You have the choice to keep the look clean or go full-on gamer with the a gamer-inspired dark mode.

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The 6,000-mAh battery should have no problem making it through a few hours of intense gaming.

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When you're in a game, you can slide open the Game Genie which gives you quick access a variety of settings and tools.

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The logo on the ROG 3 can be customized to a variety of colors.

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