Here’s your first glimpse of the upcoming Asus ROG Phone 5 gaming smartphone

Asus is gearing up to launch a new gaming-centric smartphone in the ROG Phone series – tentatively called the ROG Phone 5. While rumors have predicted a Q1 2021 launch and it also appeared in some alleged hands-on media, we might now have our first real look at the device. Ahead of its official debut, the ROG Phone 5 has received the mandatory TENAA certification in China. And to our delight, the regulatory body’s database has listed some images of the Asus offering.

A dot matrix display on the rear panel that can be customized

The core design language remains unchanged, but what really caught our attention was the ROG logo at the back. And it doesn’t look painted or glass-etched, but it appears to be backlit via small LEDs beneath a layer of glass. The implementation looks similar to what we saw on Asus’ ROG Lightning Armor Case for the ROG Phone 3, and the AnimeMatrix panel on the ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop. And if that’s the case, the lighting pattern on the ROG Phone 5’s rear panel will likely be customizable. 

The design of the camera island at the back hasn’t changed much on the ROG Phone 5 compared to its predecessor. There are two front-firing stereo speakers, while the selfie camera is situated alongside the top right corner. A minor design change is that the SIM tray has a red accent that stands out from the rest of the frame. The ROG Phone 5 also rocks a prominent Tencent branding at back, which suggests that the device shown in the picture might be a custom Tencent version that will likely remain exclusive to the Chinese market. 

Asus ROG Phone 5 will reportedly pack a 6,000mAh battery and Snapdragon 888 SoC

The TENAA listing of ROG Phone 5 also mentions a 6.78-inch display (likely a high refresh rate panel) and a huge 5,960mAh battery that will most likely be marketed as a 6,000mAh unit as per a previous leak. Plus, the device is also tipped to support 60W or 65W fast charging. Asus is expected to retain the capacitive shoulder buttons on its upcoming gaming-centric phone, which is also expected to come equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and plenty of RAM ticking alongside. 

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