ASUS ROG NUC mini PC offers a small gaming box with a big catch

Handheld gaming PCs might be the buzzword in the industry, but they’re not the only small-form gaming-oriented computers around. In fact, it’s probably thanks to the relative success of the likes of the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion GO, and ASUS ROG Ally that the formula for compact gaming computers has been tested and proven. It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that gaming desktops in mini PC form would be popping up more frequently, like this latest entry from ASUS’ ROG brand that carries in its compact body some pretty big specs, a big legacy, and, unfortunately, an equally big price tag.

Designer: ASUS ROG

Gamers, especially those on the PC side of the fence, might already be familiar with the Republic of Gamers brand, but “NUC” might sound alien to them. The name, which stands for “Next Unit of Computing,” actually came from Intel and was used for the chipmaker’s line of mini PCs. After a decade of existence, Intel decided the product line really bore no fruit, definitely not in terms of profit, and decided to shutter the hardware and license the name to ASUS. Thus, the ASUS ROG NUC is pretty much the merger of two DNAs, one from Intel’s somewhat proof-of-concept mini PCs and the other from ASUS’s gaming house.

Unlike Intel’s NUCs, which were pretty much barebone general-purpose budget computers in a small box, the ROG NUC has the beating heart of a gaming laptop, just crammed in a small box that’s just around two inches thick. That includes an Intel Core Ultra processor, the kind that boasts upgraded AI chops, and an integrated NVIDIA RTX 4060 or 4070, depending on the configuration. There are plenty of ports for connection, as well as options for expanded storage that you can easily access thanks to its tool-less chassis.

While those might sound like juicy features for a gaming mini PC, the starting price of $1,629 makes it look less palatable, or $2,199 for the next step up in specs. For that price, you can already get a respectable gaming laptop with nearly the same or even better specs, and you won’t need to hook it up to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. And unlike a desktop PC, you can’t upgrade anything other than memory and storage, so performance is pretty much a fixed value.

These raise the question of who the ASUS ROG NUC will be for, and the answer is quite a niche market. It will be for PC gamers who don’t exactly need mobility but do have limited desk space for a tower. It might even be for users who already have a more powerful gaming desktop and just need a secondary computer for their office. Either way, these scenarios make that high price tag even less appealing unless ASUS holds a sale immediately after launching the product.

The post ASUS ROG NUC mini PC offers a small gaming box with a big catch first appeared on Yanko Design.

ROG Zephyrus G16 laptop at CES 2024 brings a thin, all-aluminum frame to your game

Gaming laptops are powerful beasts, sometimes almost as powerful as some desktops. Most of them, however, almost feel as heavy and as bulky as those towering computers because of how much technology they pack inside, including the required cooling systems. Thanks to the laws of physics and limitations in manufacturing, it almost seems like having a gaming laptop that’s as slim and sleek as a MacBook is just a pipe dream. Consider those dreams fulfilled, then, with the newest duo in the ASUS ROG Zephyrus line, bringing to the CES 2024 crowd the first glimpse of an all-aluminum CNC machined gaming laptop that maintains a mind-blowing thin and light body despite the power it crams inside.

Designer: ASUS Republic of Gamers

Although the typical laptop might have plenty of metal on the outside, the majority of gaming laptops use plenty of plastic or only plastic for the chassis. It’s more resilient to pressure and is cheaper to manufacture, helping to offset the costs of the expensive hardware. However, it also has poorer heat dissipation, is prone to deform from excessive heat, and makes the laptop feel less premium than its price would suggest. The Republic of Gamers is, fortunately, challenging the status quo with the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G16 and its slightly smaller sibling, the ROG Zephyrus G14, bringing a sleek and elegant look you won’t easily find on most of its kind.

With an all-new, all-aluminum CNC-machined chassis, the ROG Zephyrus G16 and G14 bring a touch of class to your gaming gear. It isn’t all just for show, of course, because the change in materials also improves the structural rigidity of the laptop, reduces its overall weight, and increases the space for components inside. That means more room for more things while still keeping the laptop thin and light. At only 1.49cm thick and 1.85kg light, the Zephyrus 16 is pretty much on par with the gold standard of lightweight pro notebooks, the MacBook Pro. For reference, the Zephyrus G14 stands at 1.59cm thick and 1.5kg heavy only.

Of course, Zephyrus laptops are heavy-duty gaming slash workstations, and ROG hasn’t forgotten the traits that truly mark this mobile PC as such. There’s a brand-new LED lighting array, one that runs diagonally across the lid. Appropriately called Slash Lighting, this lighting accent can display customized patterns and animations that quickly set the laptop apart from other premium-looking notebooks. This 2024 generation also welcomes a new colorway, Platinum White, with a matte finish that cements the Zephyrus G16 and G14 as luxury items for gamers.

In terms of hardware, the two aren’t lacking in any department either, sporting the latest Intel and AMD processors paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 or 4090 laptop graphics. In fact, these two boast the first ROG laptops to carry an OLED monitor under the ROG Nebula Display branding, offering rich blacks that truly make graphics pop. They both possess the latest cooling solutions, but the ROG Zephyrus G16 additionally carries a custom vapor chamber to make up for the more powerful hardware. These two stylish and powerful laptops are scheduled to land in markets in the first quarter of the year, though exact dates and pricing have yet to be announced.

The post ROG Zephyrus G16 laptop at CES 2024 brings a thin, all-aluminum frame to your game first appeared on Yanko Design.

ROG Phone 8 at CES 2024 arrives with a simpler, more premium design

What is a gaming phone? Since most smartphones can actually handle mobile games, especially the more expensive models, this breed of smartphones differentiates itself from the rest of the crowd with over-the-top performance and, more often than not, over-the-top aesthetics as well. Whether it’s in the form of flashy RGB lighting or an abundance of geometric shapes, the stereotypical gaming phone leaves no room for doubt that these gadgets are miniature versions of gaming desktops and laptops that grab people’s attention one way or another. Great for hardcore gamers who have embraced that aesthetic, not so much for others who want a gaming-worthy phone they can use everywhere as well. That’s the kind of redesign that the new ROG Phone 8 is now carrying, bringing its unparalleled performance for a wider audience to enjoy.

Designer: ASUS Republic of Gamers

There isn’t going to be any debate on the merits of the ROG Phone 8’s gaming prowess. Powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and paired with the fastest memory and storage technologies in the market, it can handle any mobile game currently in existence and then some. The large 6.78-inch AMOLED display promises bright images even under sunlight, and an equally large 5,500mAh battery guarantees hours of enjoyment of games and streaming videos. Those specs are on par with most gaming phones of this caliber, but, for the first time, ROG is adjusting its specs and design to match what not just gamers but also the masses want.

For example, it has a more powerful camera system now, with a 50MP main Sony sensor joined by a surprising 32MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. This is a huge step up from the macro shooter that the brand usually puts on its gaming phones, though the 13MP ultra-wide camera is still minimally decent. ROG has also ensured the durability of the ROG Phone 8 by giving it IP68 dust and water resistance, the first gaming phone to receive this certification. That’s thanks to a cooling system and thermal design that doesn’t require a tiny fan inside, though ASUS ROG will try to convince owners to buy and use the AeroActive Cooler X attachment as well.

The biggest change, however, is also the most obvious. Gone are the sci-fi-like design of the previous ROG phones, replaced by an aesthetic that still looks sleek and stylish but also cleaner. The pentagon-shaped camera island is off to the side, similar to many camera designs these days, and the back sports a dual-tone tone color theme, depending on the colorway. That’s not to say that the ROG Phone 8 completely ditches the hallmarks of gamer aesthetics, as the base model still has a customizable Aura RGB Lighting on the ROG logo. The ROG Phone 8 Pro, on the other hand, gets an “AniMe Vision” Mini LED display composed of 341 lighting elements that can display preset or custom animations.

It remains to be seen whether the ROG Phone 8’s sudden change of direction will help it appeal to more customers beyond the gamer crowd, or if it will actually turn gamers away toward competing brands. Suffice it to say, it’s a bold new design for a gaming phone, one that still packs the power that gamers require, now wrapped in a stylish design that could appeal to everyone as well. The ASUS ROG Phone 8 will be available in Q1 2024 with an SRP of $1,099 for the base model, $1,199 for the ROG Phone 8 Pro, and $1,499.99 for the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition that includes the AeroActive Cooler X in the box.

The post ROG Phone 8 at CES 2024 arrives with a simpler, more premium design first appeared on Yanko Design.

ASUS ROG Phone 8 design takes a very different direction

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

The post ASUS ROG Phone 8 design takes a very different direction first appeared on Yanko Design.

ASUS ROG Phone 7 carries a simpler design that belies its power

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.

Ultra-versatile ROG Destrier Ergo Gaming Chair cocoons mobile gamers in distraction-free ergonomic comfort

Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) had a stellar lineup at the virtual launch event for CES 2023 and a gaming chair for mobile gamers is one accessory everyone wanted to see.

Mobile gaming is on the rise in the last couple of years and is estimated to grow given the focus on developing gaming phones capable of running console-quality AAA titles. The ROG Destrier Ergo Gaming Chair slots in perfectly as mobile gamers tend to keep searching for that ergonomic comfort zone that gives them the tactical edge in competitive or even casual gaming with buddies.

Designer: Asus

In a world filled with dedicated gaming chairs like the Razer Enki. Herman Miller X Logitech G Embody, Secretlab Omega or Cougar Explore S; the ROG’s new mobile gaming chair wants to plug in the gap left by others. One thing is not surprising though; the chair has a dual head, dual lumbar, and padded arm support for long sessions of gaming without making the user feel tired. To ensure you give 100% attention to the in-game action and nothing else, the chair has a detachable acoustic panel to shield gamers from any visual distractions. It also provides active noise reduction by creating an acoustic barrier.

Asus ROG has opted for a cyborg-styled exoskeletal design for that Cyberpunk appeal. The function is also primal here, as the armrest can be raised by up to 14 cm to have maximum flexibility when it comes to positioning the arms optimally for FPS, racing or strategy games. Add to that the ability to rotate the armrest 360 degrees, and you’re set to gain a lasting advantage. Predictably the aluminum frame chair has a versatile seat adjustment option, breathable mesh and premium PU foam for no-frills support and comfort.

ROG Destrier Ergo Gaming Chair weighing 25 kg is capable of cocooning a person weighing up to 150kg in total immersion for uninterrupted gaming frenzy. Whether that amount of mobile gaming is good for you is still a question for another day though. For now, those who like the idea of a dedicated mobile gaming chair already need to keep an eye on this one in the next couple of months. There’s no word on the price or availability as of now but the gaming chair should be up for grabs soon.

The post Ultra-versatile ROG Destrier Ergo Gaming Chair cocoons mobile gamers in distraction-free ergonomic comfort first appeared on Yanko Design.

IKEA + Asus ROG launches gaming–centric furniture + accessories for the exponentially growing gaming industry!

There’s no denying gaming is has evolved from its casual status – it’s a livelihood for some. The number of gamers, currently at around 2.5 billion, keeps increasing every day as more and more people find an escape from the stresses of life and unwind. This gives IKEA 2.5 billion reasons to create a furniture range for gamers to perform at their peak levels – more so for professional gamers deep in the e-sports ecosystem. Since IKEA themselves are amateur in gaming, they have partnered with Asus gaming accessories sub-brand Republic of Gamers (ROG) to design the highest-grade hardware and gear for demanding gamers who settle for nothing but the best.

To get the gaming dream going, IKEA commissioned Sofia Wiktorsson, Product Design Developer at IKEA in Shanghai, and Luis Porém Pires, Range Design Leader in IKEA Workspaces to join a workshop in Shanghai to develop the new range. ROG got their gaming team and co-workers to give Sofia and Luis insight into what the gamers truly wanted for ergonomic comfort and a clutter-free environment to stay focused and increase the in-game performance. To this end, the collaboration and the deep insight into how gamers actually interact with their environment and accessories culminated into a range of products that are economical and a must-have for any gamer to create their desired setup.

In total, there are 30 products in six product families in the IKEA range, right from gaming desks, chairs and drawer units to mouse bungee, neck pillow, and ring light. The new content is spread across six product families – HUVUDSPELARE, UTESPELARE, MATCHSPEL, GRUPPSPEL, UPPSPEL, and LÅNESPELARE. The UTESPELARE and MATCHSPEL make up the gaming chairs with features such as back tilt, pockets for magazines, and adjustable headrest and armrest. The UPPSPEL range is the ROG designed height-adjustable desks with a power mechanism for choosing just the right level. In contrast, HUVUDSPELARE and UPPSPEL are the contemporary desks and the CPU stand. The LÅNESPELARE range makes up the neck pillow, mouse mat, headset stand, multi-functional blanket, and mouse bungee. The most noticeable one of them is the headphone stand that’s shaped like a wooden hand.

Currently, the gaming range is available at IKEA China, with a Japan launch in May 2021. In other parts of the globe, the IKEA range is all set to come in October 2021. According to Sofia, the cushion blanket originates from gamers’ need during cold months where they need to recharge in-between gaming sessions. The same goes for the neck pillow, which fits all IKEA chairs and is portable enough to take with you to anywhere desired.

Designer: IKEA with ASUS ROG

ASUS’ new 32-inch monitor can handle 4K 120Hz games on next-gen consoles

Would you rather use a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X at your desk than in the living room? You won’t have to compromise if you do. ASUS has introduced the ROG Swift PG32UQ, a 32-inch monitor with two HDMI 2.1 ports that can run games from the latest...

ASUS’ 27-inch, 165Hz gaming monitor is $150 cheaper for Black Friday

Now might be a good time to upgrade your gaming PC's display if your current model is feeling old in the tooth. Two of ASUS' gaming monitors are on sale from now until December 30th at 3:05AM Eastern, and both of them pack features you might apprecia...