Almost every smartphone these days can play games, especially the expensive high-end ones, but there are a few that definitely take the cake. They’re labeled gaming phones not just because of some special feature, such as a tiny fan spinning inside, but also because of the gamer aesthetics that they embrace. For years now, the ASUS ROG Phone has held the crown of having the most gamer-friendly design, but it seems that it’s finally willing to let that title go next year. Based on its own teasers, the next Republic of Gamers smartphone might be embracing a more mainstream design in exchange for what might finally be more capable cameras as well.

Designer: ASUS (via GSMarena)

ASUS ROG Phone 7

To be fair, there is no guidebook on how to apply a gamer aesthetic to products, but you can bet it will have plenty of RGB lighting and lines going in multiple directions that suggest the presence of machine panels. Indeed, the previous ROG Phones have employed those design elements, sometimes even going as far as using small LED screens for more dynamic accents. Of course, none of these are essential to the actual gaming experience, but they do add a nice touch that marks the product as something truly designed with gamers in mind.

ASUS ROG Phone 6

ASUS ROG Phone 6

ASUS ROG Phone 6

Given its history, it’s a bit surprising that the ASUS ROG Phone 8 might do away with those design elements almost entirely. Although nothing’s set in stone yet, the brand’s official teaser suggests that it might be adopting a more minimalist and subdued design, one that eschews the lines and RGB colors. What we see instead is a clean dual-tone composition that, given the gray colors, looks more industrial than futuristic. There could still be some lighting underneath the ROG logo, but could very well be the only place it shows up.

Perhaps more curious is the camera bump design, a thick pentagon laid on top of a square. For generations, the ROG Phones have carried mediocre cameras, so a switch to a triple camera system could be big news for fans of the brand. It’s not a clear win yet, of course, but it’s commendable that ASUS is willing to shake things up to improve its performance.

To its credit, the ROG Phones have slowly been moving towards more conventional and less spectacular designs, but the ROG Phone 8 could have the most drastic changes if the teasers are to be taken at face value. On the one hand, it does help make the ROG Phones more acceptable in “regular” scenarios and won’t stand out as much. On the other hand, if you want a more conventional-looking smartphone that can handle mobile games, there are already plenty of those in the market, making the ROG Phone 8 redundant.

ASUS ROG Phone 7

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Gaming smartphones are a bit of an oddity in the mobile market. While all high-end phones are technically capable of running mobile games, these devices pull out all the stops to squeeze out everything they can from the hardware. Most of them also carry designs that are a bit over the top in order to appeal to gamers’ aesthetics and their love for glowing RGB lights. That, however, might have just been the youthful phase of this niche market. After six yearly iterations, it seems that ASUS’ Republic of Gamers brand, or ROG, has started to dial down its designs, pushing forward a ROG Phone 7 Series that hides over-the-top features behind a more moderate appearance.

Designer: ASUS

The ASUS ROG Phone 7 definitely has all the makings of a top-of-the-line gaming phone, starting with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, a large 6.78-inch FHD+ screen, and an extra generous 6,000mAh battery. Like other ROG phones before it, it has gaming-specific features as well, such as touch-sensitive AirTriggers on the phone’s frame as well as a second charging port so that you can keep the phone plugged in comfortably while gaming.

All that power will naturally generate a lot of heat, and this is one area that gaming phones tend to go to extremes to address. In the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate’s case, the extra cooling help comes from the new AeroActive Cooler 7 that latches onto the back of the phone. This accessory introduces a thermoelectric Peltier system to really drag down the temperatures when necessary. This external fan works in tandem with the ROG Phone 7’s AeroActive Portal, which is basically a set of air inlets that direct the cooler’s air onto the phone’s vapor chamber.

Amusingly, that same AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory also brings a feature that’s unheard of on smartphones. The attachment houses a five-magnet super-linear subwoofer that complements the phone’s built-in stereo speakers, though that requires the cooler to be attached. Whether that makes a significant difference, especially when playing out in the open, remains to be heard.

Unlike its predecessors, the design of the ROG Phone 7, both the regular and the Ultimate models, are more low-key. The Ultimate still has that strip of LCD that lets you display symbols and icons as you wish, but the distinct lines that divide the back into separate areas are now gone. The non-Ultimate models have a distinct dual-tone color scheme, with the upper half of the phone using a translucent material. Compared to previous ROG Phones, this year’s generation looks a bit more minimalist, perhaps suggesting that the gaming smartphone market is finally coming of age.

The post ASUS ROG Phone 7 carries a simpler design that belies its power first appeared on Yanko Design.