Asus to launch two more ROG Phone 6 handsets on 19 September

After months of speculation, Asus announced the latest generation of its premium gaming phones in July. The ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro first launched at an event in Taiwan, but it was weeks before you could buy them and the latter still isn’t on sale yet.

Despite this, Asus is ploughing ahead with even more new ROG-branded handsets. But what will the upcoming 6D and 6D Ultimate really bring to the table? With an event scheduled for later this month, here’s everything we know so far.

Asus ROG Phone 6 release date

Asus officially announced the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro at a dedicated event on 5 July. Pre-orders went live in August, although that’s still the case for the 6 Pro. Here are the full details:

As you can see, the phones aren’t available to buy in the US at the moment. The company has confirmed there’ll be a separate ROG Phone 6 launch event there, but it’s not yet clear when that’ll be.

But Asus isn’t done there. A separate event will be taking place on 19 September, where the ROG Phone 6D Series will be announced. Judging by an event page on the ROG website, we’ll be seeing both regular and Ultimate models.

Asus ROG Phone 6 pricing

So far, we only have confirmed pricing for the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro in the UK and Europe:

• ROG Phone 6 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage) – £899/€999 (approx. $1,090)
• ROG Phone 6 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage) – £999/€1,149 (approx. $1,090)
• ROG Phone 6 Pro (18GB RAM, 512GB storage) – £1,099/€1,299 (approx. $1,090)

Direct conversions are highly unlikely in the US, so the converted figures above will vary slightly. For context, the regular ROG Phone 5S cost 999/$1,099 at launch, with the 5S Pro rising to £1,099/$1,299.

The upcoming 6D and 6D Pro are likely to be even more expensive. The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate cost €1,299, but we may see further price rises a year later.

Asus ROG Phone 6 specs and features

ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro

The ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro in the premium price bracket, and they’re the most expensive gaming phones you can buy. Until the ROG Phone 6D Series arrives, the ROG Asus attempts to justify this by equipping both phones with top-of-the-line specs.

For most people, the most exciting upgrade is a move to the brand-new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset on both phones. These are only the second and third phones to use Qualcomm’s new flagship processor, after the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. But the ROG Phone 5 Series used the Snapdragon 888+, so this is two generations newer. It’s available with 12- or 16GB of RAM on the regular ROG Phone 6, but 18GB is your only option on the Pro. The phones support dual SIM but not expandable storage, so you’ll have to be content with 256/512GB on the 6 or 512GB only on the 6 Pro.

Both phones still have a 6.78in, FHD+ (2448×1080) AMOLED display, but the refresh rate is now 165Hz. That’s up from 144Hz on the ROG Phone 5 Series, and joins the Red Magic 7 & 7 Pro as the highest refresh rate phones you can buy. However, it sticks with the same 360Hz touch sampling rate – that’s much lower than you’ll find on Nubia’s phones.

Gaming on such a dynamic display inevitably affects battery life, but Asus has stuck with the same 6,000mAh cell as before. However, the jump from 144Hz to 165Hz is unlikely to affect the excellent battery life we saw in the ROG Phone 5s Pro. You also get a 65W charger included in the box.

The ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro both have identical camera setups. That means a 50Mp main, 13Mp ultrawide and 5Mp macro lens on the back, plus a 12Mp front-facing camera. The latter can be used for face unlock, but you’ll probably rely on the under-display fingerprint sensor instead.

Aside from more RAM, the only other difference on the Pro is the secondary ‘ROG Vision’ display on the back. It can be used to display the likes of battery percentage, incoming calls and info about any accessories you have connected. But unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 3‘s external screen, it can’t show your notifications. On the regular phone, there’s just a logo illuminated with RGB lighting.

The phones ship running Android 12, but Asus has introduced its usual range of gamer-specific software tweaks. It also only commits to two major Android updates, which suggests it’ll get Android 13 and one more.

At 228g, the 6 and 6 Pro are among the heaviest handsets you can buy. This can be increased further by connecting a wide range of accessories, including the Kunai 3 gamepad and AeroActive Cooler 3. However, these are optional extras which need to be purchased separately.

Asus

ROG Phone 6D and 6D Ultimate

The upcoming 6D and 6D Ultimate are expected to have plenty in common with the regular 6 and 6 Pro. So, what will actually be different?

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait until the event itself to find out all the details. On the official page for the 19 September event, two Facebook posts are embedded. They confirm that the 6D Ultimate will shift to the Dimensity 9000+ chipset, as opposed to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

The 9000+ is MediaTek’s most powerful chipset, but it remains to be seen how this will affect both performance and power efficiency, with the latter a particular strength of the 8+ Gen 1. However, it’s not clear whether the regular 6D will use the same processor, shift to something less powerful or even stick with Qualcomm.

Cooling is always a top priority on gaming phones, but Asus says the 6D Ultimate will feature a new cooling system “that allows airflow unlike any ROG Phone before”. With no mention of it, this means the regular 6D is likely to stick with the same cooling system found on the 6 and 6 Pro – although it’s already highly effective.

But, as popular leaker Evan Blass revealed via 91mobiles, the 6D and 6D Ultimate look extremely similar to the existing models. However, that second rear LED logo looks to have been replaced by something else on the Ultimate – perhaps that new cooling system.

Evan Blass / 91mobiles

While we wait for the new phones to be released, take a look at our guide to the best gaming phones to see what they’ll be up against. The 6 Pro currently sits third in that chart.