Design and accessory compatibility
It's hard to mistake a ROG Phone. And this is still true for the ROG Phone 6. Though with that said, five iterations in, its styling is very different from the original ROG Phone. Asus has clearly been working towards less bold and eccentric looks overall. Gradually toning down the "gamer" aesthetic, if you will, on most of its ROG Products, including phones.
This is not a new trend either. We consider both the ROG Phone 3 and the ROG Phone 5 already stealthy enough to confidently take into a boardroom. Asus has arguably continued to tone down the look further still. The bold lines and geometric shapes are still there, and so are all logos and gaming slogans, but the overall look is arguably more simplified this year.
Last year, Asus had a whole synergetic design thing going with its Zephyrus laptop line centered around dot matrix patterns, which is now almost absent on the ROG Phone 6 Pro and just hinted at on the vanilla and its light-up Speaking of back designs, this is a good place to properly look at all of the "visual extras" and distinguish between the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro.
The unit we have for review is a Pro model in white. It is the one pictured in all of our product photos.The "DARE TO PLAY" RGB logo with a black background is present on both the vanilla and the Pro.
It lights up in a full RGB spectrum and supports a number of effects. It can also be made to react to certain conditions like launching a game, charging or even double as a notification LED.Speaking of notifications, there is still an RGB Notification LED on the front side of the ROG Phone 6, above the display, as well. It is great to see that Asus doesn't think one is a substitute for the other.
Plus, this is such a rare feature that it is practically extinct.Besides the small RGB "DARE TO PLAY" logo, the regular ROG Phone 6 also has a larger ROG RGB logo on its back. It supports a number of lighting effects.The ROG Phone 6 Pro gets the real threat with the ROG Vision display that replaces the RGB ROG logo on the back of the device. It is a full-color display, unlike last year when the Pro got a monochrome version and color was reserved for the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. Like the logo, the display can be used to react to certain events.
Six different scenarios are available, like receiving a call, starting a game or charging.You can use it to display both static images and animations. Those are available via download from Asus repositories, or you can make your own using a built-in editor.
Asus has expanded its previous animation collection and now has over 60 different designs to choose from.If you've been a fan or, better still, owner of ROG Phones for some time now, then you definitely know about the extensive and unrivaled accessory ecosystem Asus used to offer alongside these phones.
The past tense is unfortunately critical here since Asus essentially broke compatibility with its coolest accessories like the TwinView dock or the WiGig adapter with different past iterations of the ROG PhoneThe ROG Phone 6 is very close in size to the ROG Phone 5 and 5s - 173 x 77 x 10.3mm and 239 grams. That means that you can expect some level of cross-compatibility for certain accessories. Though seeing how the list has gotten so short, we might as well talk in specifics.The new AeroActive Cooler 6 is specifically designed for the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro. It also comes with its own bumper case for those phones in the box. On that front, Asus has promised to eventually bring a version of the cooler for, the older ROG Phone 5 and 5s. One that connects over its POGO pins rather than Type-C and is the appropriate shape.
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