The last page of our Asus ROG Phone 8/8 Pro review starts with “The ROG Phone is not a cheap device”. And we’re not the only ones who feel this way, in fact, that was the general sentiment in last week’s poll.
Our review ends on a positive note and we find that Asus has succeeded in its quest to make the ROG Phone 8 models more attractive to mainstream consumers. Many still see it as a gaming phone and are not interested in it, but perhaps they will reconsider.
For others, a hotly debated topic in the comments was the switch to a punch hole camera. The last ROG Phone had a selfie camera embedded in the top bezel – but it made the bezel thicker.
The ROG Phone 8 has slimmed down the top bezel at the expense of a smaller notch in the screen and a downgrade of speakers (no more room for front-firing speakers).
The Asus phone lineup is in a strange state. The Zenfone line is supposed to be a mainstream offering, but the past few generations have focused on smaller flagships. Now the gaming-oriented ROG line is trying to break into the mainstream, this time as a (much) bigger phone.
While it remains to be seen whether this change in strategy will pay off for Asus, we can now say that the price cut will do wonders for the ROG Phone 8’s popularity.
