Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – It’s Great, But Why. Asus rog phone 6d
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – It’s Great, But Why?
It’s back and with a brand new chip, introducing the Asus ROG Phone 6D. Can the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 provide something different to the table? Let’s find out.
RM3,499 (ROG Phone 6D) RM4,999 (ROG Phone 6D Ultimate)
Solid performance All-day battery life with satisfying charging speed (65W) The best looking ROG Phone thus far with good build quality AirTriggers are great to have, support has improved Large, excellent AMOLED display with fast response and 165Hz refresh rate Loud stereo speaker setup with good audio quality and a hint of bass Good size for one-handed use Wide angle and telephoto camera produce nice results Attractive price point
The Asus ROG Phone 6D is an excellent choice not just for gaming but also for everyday use. We’re already past the point of gaming phones severely lacking in the camera department and this has become a viable all-rounded with great performance to boot.
Unboxing the Asus ROG Phone 6D
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Box
Inside the box, you can find the following items:
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Box content
- USB-C to USB-C cable
- 65W charger
- ROG Armor case
- SIM ejector tool
- ROG phone user guide
- A matte plastic card
- The ROG Phone 6D smartphone
Specifications
| CPU | MediaTek Dimensity 9000 1 x 3.35GHz Cortex-X2. 3 x 3.20GHz Cortex-A710 and 4 x 1.80GHz Cortex-A510 4nm |
| GPU | Mali-G710 MC10 |
| Memory | 12GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 256GB UFS3.1 |
| Display | 6.78” 20.4:9 2448×1080 (395ppi) 165 Hz 1ms AMOLED HDR10 certified 720 Hz touch sampling rate, 23 ms touch latency Brightness: 5 nits to 800nits @ APL100 HBM or 1200nits @ APL1 111.23% DCI-P3, sRGB : 150.89%, Delta E average 1Contrast ratio: 1,000,000:1 Front 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass Victus SGS Eye Care 6.5% SGS Seamless Pro (120 Hz) AS coating for reducing friction when hand sweating |
| Camera | 50MP f/1.9 wide angle Sony IMX766 main sensor, PDAF 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide 5MP macro camera |
| Selfie camera | 12MP Sony IMX663 sensor |
| Connectivity | IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax(6E) 2×2 MIMO 3 Antenna Wi-Fi-Direct support UL 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.2 Bluetooth Profile: HFP A2DP AVRCP HID PAN OPP Additional Bluetooth audio codec: LDAC aptX aptX HD aptX Adaptive AAC |
| Battery | 6000mAh Dual 3,000mAh batteries MMT design 65W (21V 3A) PD3.0 / QC5.0 / Direct Charge adapter |
| Dimensions | 173 x 77 x 10.4 mm |
| Weight | 239g |
| Colour | Space Gray |
| Ingress Protection | IPX4 |
Performance
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Antutu v9
Kicking off the benchmark suite with Antutu v9, the ROG Phone 6D has a stellar start as it easily achieved the top spot here. This means that the Dimensity 9000 is packing quite a lot of firepower, CPU-wise at least, so not using a Snapdragon chip doesn’t mean you get weak performance.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Geekbench 5
A similar pattern can be seen in Geekbench 5, though it does perform significantly better in X-Mode. Highly likely, it doesn’t need to run in high power most of the time to be more battery-efficient, but it can really go the mile if you ever need the performance. The only devices that beat it are the iPhones, which shouldn’t be a surprise.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited
Moving on to 3DMark, we decided to only FOCUS on Wild Life as most flagship and gaming devices nowadays are too strong for the other tests. It performs reasonably well in Wild Life Unlimited, with a stability rating of 81.6% and 99.6% for standard and X-Mode respectively. This means that generally, you can expect consistent performance over a long use period.
This is likely due to the improved GameCool 6 thermal system, featuring Boron Nitride thermal compound, larger vapor chamber and graphite sheets for better heat dissipation. I genuinely believe you don’t need the AeroActive Cooler 6 to keep it running cool for most mobile games out there. Compared to the ROG Phone 6 Pro, the 6D loses out here likely due to the Pro having a stronger GPU, but the difference won’t amount to much when you’re actually gaming.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – PCMark Work 3.0
Lastly on PCMark’s Work 3.0, the ROG Phone 6D already had good numbers in standard mode, but it nearly crushes the entire competition in X-Mode. The only thing that managed to beat it is the ROG Phone 6 Pro in X-Mode with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. If this isn’t clear enough for you, then let me spell it out; the Dimensity 9000 chip is a great chip as far as general performance is concerned, and is more than enough for everyday use.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Battery endurance test
For the battery life, we couldn’t include the ROG Phone 6 Pro here as I realized that it had adaptive brightness enabled during the PCMark Work 3.0 endurance test, which explains the unnaturally high numbers. Regardless, the ROG Phone 6D still managed to give out impressive numbers, and you’re better off using the Auto refresh rate instead of intentionally using the lowest one to save battery. You can easily expect all-day battery life unless you’re doing a mobile gaming marathon.
It’s great that Asus decided to include a 65W charger in the box, as I believe it’s more than adequate for most users. Some devices aren’t including chargers and while other competitors are including chargers as high as 120W, that is more of a luxury at this point. I can say that for sure as I get good charging speed out of this, and here are the results:
Camera
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Camera modules
Gaming phones aren’t usually great in taking photos but just like its Snapdragon counterpart as well as its predecessor, that isn’t the case with the ROG Phone 6D. It’s worth noting that despite having 50MP, it saves the images in 12.5MP pictures as it’s using a Quad-Bayer sensor, but there is a mode that allows you to capture 50MP photos.
Generally, pictures come out relatively pleasing with good contrast and more natural colours as opposed to being oversaturated or bland. There is some heavy sharpening, especially with smaller details, but no artifacts here. There is no telephoto camera but it can capture decent 2x digitally zoomed shots.
The telephoto camera is comparable but certain things may look a bit odd depending on what you capture, likely due to the chip’s ISP. The macro camera isn’t particularly bad but the lack of autofocus is a bit of a shame since the fixed FOCUS is a bit too far to take decent macro shots. The front camera is pretty decent, and it easily differentiates the subject from the background for bokeh shots, but pictures can come out a bit grainy and the skin softening effect can be rather extreme at times.
The Good
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Rear
The Asus ROG Phone 6D was a bit of an oddity for me when you consider the other variants that exist. After laying my eyes on it, this is arguably the best looking one with its Space Gray colour scheme. Phantom Black looks too bland and Storm White is too flashy, so this hits the perfect spot. However, looks are subjective so it might not necessarily be your cup of tea.
Just like the other variants, the use of AirTriggers is great as you have more options in how you would to interact with mobile games. Sure, not every game will support its use and at times, the results can be weird but more and more games have added support for it so it shouldn’t be a problem. Personally for me, I would prefer physical buttons but I’d rather have this than to have none at all.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Display
Unsurprisingly, the display on the ROG Phone 6D is one of the best around. It has a whopping 6.78-inch AMOLED display with Full HD resolution, 165Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate, and peaks out as 1,200 nits brightness. In simpler terms, you get a large display that is smoother than most other devices in the market, has fast response, and is capable of producing vibrant colours. Together with its excellent stereo speakers that produces loud, clear audio with a hint of bass, this is a multimedia beast that is great for games and videos.
In terms of size, I personally feel that this hits a nice spot as it’s big but it’s longer than it is wide, making it easy to use it with one hand. This length also makes it more comfortable to hold and control as the AirTriggers are more spaced out and you get to see more with your fingers not blocking the screen as much compared to shorter, wider displays.
Lastly, I personally believe the ROG Phone 6D hits a good price point as it retails for RM3,499. and I already some online stores selling it for RM100 cheaper. You get a good, flagship-level smartphone with great performance and good cameras, ideal for a daily driver. The only issue you’d face would be picking between this or the Snapdragon version, and the choice is yours to make as you can’t go wrong with either.
The Bad
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Easy to hold with or without case, but it is heavy
While I did mention that I like the size of the ROG Phone 6D, I personally feel that it could be a bit lighter. At 239g, it is a heavy device, and it’s definitely gonna be an issue if you put in your s as your pants might slide down. If you’re the kind of a person who puts their smartphones in a carrying pouch, bag or something similar, then this wouldn’t be a problem for you. I don’t really feel that it’s too heavy to hold as the weight is distributed fairly evenly across a long device, so it’s not tiring to hold for long hours.
Like other ROG Phones, this one lacks wireless charging. For most people who are considering a gaming phone, they would emphasize more on fast charging rather than this but giving people the option would have been nice. The lack of it is certainly not a dealbreaker, but it’s at least worth pointing out.
Another issue I have with the ROG Phone 6D is that it’s not much different from the standard ROG Phone 6. Especially when you consider the same retail price, I don’t see the point of offering both in the same market. It’s understandable if they offer both in different markets / countries as it might be more cost-effective to use one chip in one region over the other but to offer both in the same market is an odd choice.
If I had to pick, I would choose this one as it has better thermal efficiency on its own, but that comes at the cost of a weaker GPU. If you want as high of a performance as possible, going for the standard ROG Phone 6 is fine since the heat issue can be countered with the use of the AeroActive Cooler 6. This is why I say you’ll be fine either way, it’s just a matter of use case.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Review – Side port
One thing worth pointing out is that for water and dust resistance, it only has an IPX4 rating. This means that it wasn’t tested for dust resistance but for water resistance, it is resistant to water splashes in any direction. It would be fine against some rainwater and sweat but ideally, you wouldn’t want it inside a body of water regardless of depth. I personally feel that it could be better since plenty of other devices today have reach IP67 or IP68 but I believe it can’t go any higher for now due to its thermal system.
Lastly, and this isn’t a problem with this device specifically but rather with the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate. At RM4,999, I don’t quite see why you would want to spend that much, an extra RM1,500 to be precise, just to get the AeroActive Cooler 6, AeroActive Portal, and an extra 4GBs of RAM. That money could be better put towards accessories for the standard model, other items, or for a rainy day. 12GB RAM is plenty enough already, 16GB is just overkill.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Verdict
The Asus ROG Phone 6D is an excellent choice not just for gaming but also for everyday use. We’re already past the point of gaming phones severely lacking in the camera department and it has become a viable all-rounded with great performance to boot. Your only dilemma would be choosing between this or the standard ROG Phone 6 but either way, both devices will be more than able to serve you well.
I do believe we have come to the limits, or close to it, for high end smartphones that the benefits of having a stronger chip is minimal for the most part. For next year, the FOCUS should either be on efficiency, having more apps take full advantage of strong hardware, or an evolution to justify pushing the limits of performance even further other than just Genshin Impact. After all, what’s the point of pushing to 240Hz if most apps and games ends up throttling or can only do 60FPS and run at 60Hz at best?
At the end of our Asus ROG Phone 6D review, I award this gaming phone with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.
Big thanks to Asus Malaysia for sending us this gaming phone for the purpose of this review.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate vs ROG 7 Ultimate: Is the new smartphone worth the extra cash? (2023)
With the recent flagship launch, Asus’ ROG 7 Ultimate has taken the smartphone market by storm and people are wondering if they should upgrade or not. Tech enthusiasts are claiming this to be the best gaming phone that you can have right now, but the question rises: Is it a worthy successor, if not a replacement, to its predecessor, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate?
There are many factors to consider for a fair comparison between the two devices. The ROG Phone 6D Ultimate was announced in October last year, and was hugely appreciated by the gaming community for the innovation it carried.
This article will consider technical specifications like display, performance, and camera to see whether spending extra cash on the new Asus premium smartphone is worth it or not.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate vs ROG 7 Ultimate
Here is a detailed comparison between the two “ultimate” gaming devices from the Taiwanese tech giant:
The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate showcases the creative spirit of ROG.Dare to show your true style with ROG
Overall specifications
| Device | Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate | Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 9000, Mali G710 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Octa-core, Adreno 740 |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5X | 16GB LPDDR5X |
| Display | 6.78-inch AMOLED, 165Hz refresh rate | 6.78-inch Samsung AMOLED, 165Hz refresh rate |
| Main Cameras | 50 MP f/1.9, Wide Angle, Primary Camera, 13 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera, 5MP Macro | 50 MP f/1.9, Wide Angle, Primary Camera, 13 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera, 5 MP Macro |
| Optical Zoom | NA | NA |
| Video Recording | Up to 8K 24 FPS | Up to 8K 24 FPS |
| Storage | 512GB UFS 3.1 | 512GB UFS 4.0 |
| Battery | 6000mAh, 65W fast charging | 6000mAh, Quick Charge 5.0 |
| Charging Speed | 65W in the box | 65W in the box |
| Accessories in the box | Type C to Type C cable, SIM ejector, 65W Power Adapter, Aero case | Type C to Type C cable, SIM ejector, 65W Power Adapter, Aero case |
| Price | Starts at 1170 | Expected 1350 |
Looking at the overall features of both the phones, we can see a trend develop. Most features are similar and slightly upgraded, but the deal-breaker included in the ROG 7 Ultimate is its processor. The latest and fastest Android chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is embedded inside the 7 series and it makes all the difference.
The price point of the ROG 7 Ultimate is expected to be around 1300 and the 6D Ultimate is selling from 1170. Is the processor as well as other features worth the extra money?
Performance
The ROG 7 Ultimate wins hands down in this department. It is equipped with the most powerful processor available for Android right now and can handle long, heavy gaming sessions smoothly. Most flagships that are coming out are using this chip and for good reason. It is powerful yet battery efficient and provides good GPU performance, making it an attractive choice for gaming devices.
On the other hand, the ROG 6D Ultimate is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor, the best from MediaTek. This device can still be called a gaming beast as it can run any game you throw at it, but it slacks in terms of benchmark scores from the Qualcomm SD 8 Gen 2.
Display
There is no competition if you are thinking about whose display is better. Both are the same in terms of viewability, pixel density, and resolution. The signature look on the front AMOLED panels of these devices is an undisturbed screen, scrapped off of the camera notch. No, the front camera is still there, just hidden somewhere inside the narrow bezels for a seamless gaming experience.
Both devices have a screen refresh rate of 165Hz, which matters when it comes to pulling out the highest refresh rates possible when gaming. It makes these devices a wonderful choice if you enjoy games with good graphics and visuals like Honkai Star Rail or Genshin Impact.
Camera
Are you looking for a camera phone and confused between the ROG 7 Ultimate and the ROG 6D Ultimate? Well, you shouldn’t be, because these are not photography-oriented devices. Yes, they can take good-quality photos thanks to the SonyIMX766 primary sensors. The shots are above average in natural lighting conditions and take good dynamic range shots, but they are not the best.
Cameras are not the ultimate selling point for these devices and the majority of the user experience and power is diverted to provide the best gaming experience.
Battery
You cannot complain about the battery on these smartphones. They come with dual channel 6000mAh batteries that can be charged at a speed of 65W. The ROG 7 Ultimate also supports QuickCharge 5.0 giving it an upper hand over its predecessor.
These phones support two Type-C charging ports and AeroCool technology. As such, these are excellent choices for streaming games across platforms. You can enjoy long sessions of gaming without worrying about heating or running out of battery, making them the best gaming phones out there.
Verdict
Now, the best part is, which device should you go for or is the ROG 7 Ultimate worth upgrading to? If you already own a ROG 6D Ultimate, then it is best to wait for the next generation of phones. The ROG 7 Ultimate, yes, is the best device for gaming right now. However, at the rates at which processor manufacturers are putting out their products, we can expect to see the ROG Phone 8 series in a year or two.
The ROG 7 Ultimate has a top-notch display, amazing battery life, and somewhat above-average cameras. And if you are searching for a device to buy for gaming and streaming, you should definitely go for the ROG 7 Ultimate, for the ultimate gaming experience.
ROG Phone 6D Ultimate: A Mediatek Beast!
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Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate review: Take your game to another Dimension
Asus’ latest top-level flagship gamer phone has a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor, and is phenomenally powerful. But should you buy it?
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For years, the top-tier Android phones have had one thing in common: Snapdragon processors. It’s almost a given at this point that, if you’re buying a flagship smartphone that isn’t Apple’s, you’ll have a Snapdragon 8-series chipset inside. Whether that be the 8/8 Plus Gen 1 in 2022, the Snapdragon 888 in 2021, or any other Snapdragon version with an 8 at the beginning.
So when Asus announced a new top-level Android gaming phone that doesn’t feature Qualcomm’s platform inside, our interest was piqued. The latest ROG Phone 6D Ultimate is seeking to offer even better performance than the ROG Phone 6 Pro, but doing it with MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 9000 chipset instead.
The ‘D’ in 6D, then, stands for Dimensity. But could it also spell Disappointing, Dynamic, or Daring? Let’s find out.
Our quick take
What makes the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate special, is pretty much the same as what has made any other ROG Phone special: the multimedia experience. It’s big and bold, but with its large, excellent display combined with the best stereo speakers we’ve ever heard on a phone, it’s fantastic for gaming and consuming media on.
There is, perhaps, one stumbling block for the 6D Ultimate, and that’s price. Where the regular 6D has a fairly standard sub-£800 price point in the UK, the Ultimate edition pushes north of a grand. And that’s not all that accessible for a lot of buyers.
The argument here, of course, is that the extra money does get you more storage, and an additional cooling fan, plus the AeroActive Portal that blows the cold air inside the device, which is quite neat. But otherwise, the core experience is going to be largely the same on the cheaper model.
Our big takeaway from this experience is what it says about MediaTek. Having one of its Dimensity processors powering a phone seen as ‘THE’ gaming phone, a device that represents the pinnacle of phone performance, should do wonderful things for the brand’s ever evolving image. Having benchmark scores higher than the dominant smartphone platform provider won’t hurt either.
Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate. 4.5 / 5
sonos sub
Design
On the whole, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate bears something of a resemblance to previous ROG Phones. It’s a big, bulky device that measures comfortably taller and thicker than even the iPhone 14 Pro Max. It’s not one for easy one-handed use then, and takes up considerable space in a
Asus tries to alleviate that heft somewhat with curves in the glass on the rear panel, so that it feels at least slightly comfortable. But it’s clear from a number of factors that it’s primarily designed to be used with two hands in landscape.
The fact that there’s a bit more bezel on the top and bottom of the display, giving you space for your thumbs are an indicator. but also the layout of the internals, where Asus has placed the chipset/motherboard right in the centre of the phone. That means you’re unlikely to be touching the hottest part of the phone when it warms up from gaming or consuming media.
There are a couple of design elements that differentiate the 6D Ultimate from the regular ROG Phone 6 and the standard 6D (which is otherwise identically specced). One of those is the small, secondary colour display on the back, which displays animations, graphics and icons for various purposes. It’s something we saw in previous ‘Pro’ models of the phone too.
You can customise what it does in different scenarios using the Armoury Crate app. It can animate when you get notifications, while you’re playing games, charging the phone or if the screen is just on. And each of those scenarios has different options to choose from. It’s a pretty cool. albeit obviously not essential. feature.
The other element is one that’s easy to completely miss. something Asus calls the AeroActive Portal. This is a small mechanised channel on the back of the phone that opens up automatically when you attach the AeroActive cooling fan, which ships with the Ultimate version only. With this channel open, the fan can blow cold air right into the body of the phone, while also dissipating heat from the rear glass as normal, keeping the device at tip-top performance for long periods.
Without testing it regularly for two years or so, there’s no way to know how durable this mechanism is. However, it has been built with a failsafe, meaning it will automatically shut if the accelerometers detect the phone falling. It’s similar to how manufacturers used to implement their pop-up cameras before they adopted the hole-punch selfie camera. There’s also a manual toggle within the Armoury Crate app that allows you to open it up to clean.
As big phones go it’s an attractive device which. while definitely featuring those gamer-style design elements. doesn’t go over the top. The grey back is only broken by subtle, clean black and blue accents and lines. Matching blue accents are found around the power/sleep key and the SIM tray. It’s cool, but subtle enough so it doesn’t feel too much.
Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate vs ROG Phone 6D Ultimate: What’s the difference?
There are more options than ever for people who want to take mobile gaming to the next level. Asus just launched two new gaming handsets, the ROG Phone 7 and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, which are available for pre-order starting today in the UK.
With so many gaming phones on offer from Asus, we wanted to take a closer look at how the flagship Phone 7 Ultimate stacks up against one of the other prolific gaming phones, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate. Keep reading to find out all of the key differences between these devices so you can decide which handset you want to game on.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs MediaTek Dimensity 9000
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate comes kitted out with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the latest processor from Qualcomm. This chip allows for the inclusion of hardware-accelerated ray tracing, meaning that supported games will be presented with Hyper-realistic reflections in water and on metal surfaces.
Asus claims that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is 15% faster and 15% more power efficient than the previous generation, which should provide more than enough vigour when it comes to intensive games.
Due to its earlier release date, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor. We found that this chip provided a high level of performance, with little to no stuttering during gameplay. While our benchmark results show this to be a powerful chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor leapfrogged it on our tests, in terms of both CPU and GPU speeds.
Our results conclude that the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is a more powerful phone, to such an extent that you can notice a difference in gaming performance.
ROG Phone 6D Ultimate has more colour options
The Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate currently can be found in two colourways, Matte White and Metallic Grey. While this list is not the most expansive in terms of handset colours, it does match up with Asus’ usual colour palette and lends itself to its own gaming aesthetic.
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, meanwhile, launched with just one colour option: Storm White. This makes it the less alluring option when it comes to customisation, but there is always a possibility that the company will release more colourways over the phone’s lifetime.
IP54 vs IPX4
Both of these handsets offer some form of protection against water and dust. The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate boasts an IP54 rating, meaning that it won’t be affected by limited amounts of dust and other particles as well as water sprays from all directions. This means that you won’t be able to take this handset into the pool, but it should fare fine in the rain.
The Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate opted for an IPX4 rating. This protects it from light water splashes and most dust particles, although it is not completely dust resistant.
ROG Phone 7 Ultimate comes with AeroActive 7 cooler
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate comes bundled with a new AeroActive 7 cooler. This cooler attaches to the phone via the USB-C port, and helps to cool down the phone during intense workloads such as gaming.
Asus claims this improved cooler add-on features an improved fan with more blades. The Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate comes with the last-generation AeroActive Cooler 6 accessory too, which also endeavours to cool down your device during gaming, albeit not as effectively.
The AeroActive 7 cooler accessory also packs a subwoofer, improving bass volume by 77% for room-filling audio. The cooler is by no means a mandatory add-on for the phone, but it’s still a nice extra to have if you want to maximise performance and give the bass a boost.
ROG Phone 6D Ultimate : Broke The Damn Ceiling
Just when you thought the ROG Phone 6 would close the year as a premium gaming phone, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate steps in and climbs the impossible ceiling just a little higher.
Key Specs
| CPU | MediaTek Dimensity 9000 (4 nm) |
| Memory | 512GB 16GB RAM |
| Display | 6.78″ AMOLED, 165Hz2″ OLED display (back panel) |
| Camera | 50 MP, f/1.9, (wide), (Sony IMX 766)13 MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide)5 MP, (macro) |
Same Design Language, With A Screen and AeroActive Portal
Obviously being in the same series, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate would follow closely (if not exactly) to the Phone 6’s core design, which is to be a thick and tall slab of a smartphone packed to the brim with top-shelf specs.
It follows-up closely with the cyberpunk aesthetic with geometric lines and lots of wordings while a third of that space is occupied by a small, 2-inch display that’s highly customizable but more on that later. For protection, the front is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, while the back is Gorilla Glass 3. Like most devices, the glass sandwiches an aluminum frame.
Like its legacy, it’s not a thin phone, and its thickness serves the function of housing monstrous hardware with enough room to cool things down even without the external cooler. It houses a boron nitride compound sheet that’s nearly inert to electricity and the heat it conducts ON TOP of large graphite sheets, so heat dissipation is serious business here. They serve to cool off the back AND the front.
The standards that ROG sets for their phones are still here, such as an extra side-mounted USB-C port for charging and powering the external cooler, even more responsive air-triggers and a high-res supporting 3.5mm jack. It’s also worth noting that the side mounted port is now a full service port, meaning you can even transfer data or connect to other hardware. Previous generations were not able to do this.
These are the ingredients that ROG had picked throughout its generational existence, and with nothing left out, there are no complaints. Even the phone has an official waterproof rating of IPX4, so a splash or two won’t have any adverse effects on the device.
AMOLED Goodness With A High Refresh Rate
With Samsung still being the hot favorite choice for displays with ROG, the 6.78-inch AMOLED panel outputs a sharp 2448×1080 resolution with a crisp 395 ppi. A high refresh rate of 165Hz takes care of all things gaming and navigation, with plenty of flexibility to adjust in the settings, letting you choose between 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz or you can leave it to the phone and just go Auto Mode. There’s no adaptive refresh like an LTPO, but because it’s a gaming phone, I feel like it’s the right step to let users choose their preferred refresh rate to suit their games and battery situation.
Color-wise, the AMOLED panel covers both DCI-P3 and standard RGB with high marks, covering well over 100% to bring colors to life. You choose between Cinematic and Standard modes, where you can choose for the phone to FOCUS between DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces respectively. There’s also HDR10 certifications as well, so HDR content can be played back with little issue. For Netflixers, there’s Widevine L1 DRM to let you stream at the highest possible resolution, but at this moment I seem to not be able to view Netflix with HDR enabled for some reasons probably related to updates / Netflix whitelisting.
Overclocked To Beat The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 On The ROG Phone 6 Pro
The ROG Phone 6D Ultimate deviates from the brand’s staunch tradition of Snapdragon chipsets, and instead employs MediaTek’s top chip, the Dimensity 9000. This is a first for them, and the most bold step taken too since expectations had been set. It is an Ultimate model after all, can it top the charts?
The short answer is yes, and to seal the deal, the chipset is overclocked on almost all cores : – Primary Cortex-X2 core, 3.35 GHz from 3.2 GHz– 3 Cortex-A710 cores, 3.20 GHz from 2.85 GHz– Remaining 4 small Cortex-A510 cores at default 1.8Ghz
AeroActive Portal
This is a first in the industry and I am glad that it’s ROG doing this. It’s a little mechanized door panel at the back of the 6D Ultimate that simply opens up when you connect your AeroActive Cooler. The portal opens up to allow cool air that the cooler spins up to directly enter the system at a high speed, cooling off the chamber’s cooling fins when you’re playing games.
It also unlocks another level of performance, known as X Mode. which is a no-holds-barred performance mode that you can take advantage off when you’re setting maximum graphic settings and refresh rate.
Paired with 512GB of storage and 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, It smashes in gaming and real life benchmarks
Performance Without Cooler
AAA titles like Diablo Immortal, Call Of Duty Mobile take an average of 15GB each, while other titles like Genshin / Honkai Impact is about at least 20GB after all files and updates are downloaded. All mentioned titles above can run between 54-60 FPS, on typically maxed out settings, which is expected since most titles are still not optimized for even 120Hz play yet alone 165Hz which the display supports. There was one exception for now, for CODM. You can run it on 90FPS, if you set the refresh rate to ULTRA, and that only applies for multiplayer. For Battle Royale, you’re still going to be on 60FPS.
A game like this also runs temps to about 38 c max, so that’s not bad. Heavier games like Diablo Immortal and Genshin go higher at about 40-ish c, and there were moment where I had to whip out my AeroActive 6 cooler to start cooling the phone down. In the retail package, the Aeroactive Cooler is included, saving you RM 349 right out the gate.
Performance With Cooler
ROG makes good on their claim here, promising much reduced temperatures to keep gaming stable for prolonged periods. Even the most demanding games mostly stayed in the 35 degree range, and this gives it a lot of headroom. What kind of headroom you ask? the utmost liberty to play any game you want at maximum graphics and framerates, since these usually are the two factors that stresses the CPU and GPU to push harder, resulting in higher heat generation, second only to network as you might be playing an online game altogether. The reduced temperatures keep your battery longevity healthy, and your components constantly cool to perform better.
How Are The AirTriggers?
AirTrigger 6 is an upgraded experience, going ultrasonic and proved to be extremely responsive, especially in shooters for me. Just like every other ROG Phone you’ve had, you just need to set up the AirTrigger controls per game, from either the Armory Crate app or within the game. My setup was easy for CODM, I simply slid the corner on the screen to bring up the ROG gaming menu, and configured my AirTrigger controls from there. My setup consisted of the left trigger aiming down sights, and my right trigger to switch my weapons. This helped me aim down faster and to swap to my alternate weapon faster so that I don’t waste precious seconds reloading and trying to avoid dying.
High Refresh Rate Gaming
If you’re unsure of what games support high refresh rates, you can use the ROG Armory Crate app to find featured games that support high refresh rates, ranging from 90Hz to 165Hz.
Fortunately there were at least 2 titles in there that I play that go up to 165Hz, which are Cookie Run Ovenbreak and Brawl Stars. Both titles proved to be nothing for the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate to handle 165FPS was achieved according to the phone’s built-in info counter.
Long Battery Life, But Beaten By The Phone 6.
Even though the 6D Ultimate was fitted with the same 6,000 mAh battery pack, it seems that it couldn’t beat the ROG Phone 6 Pro by a matter of hours.
The battery tech remains the same, splitting the capacity into 2 3,000 cells that charge from the middle rather than the ends, which results in cooler temps during charging.
This is MMT, better known as Middle Middle Tab. This is Smart, as you essentially split the energy into two directions, from the middle of the battery, rather from the conventional bottom to top. This is a good environment for fast charging, minus the heat build-up and as a gaming focused phone, there’s no better way to do this (for now), and ROG made the right move bringing that forward to their current gen flagship.
ASUS ROG Phone 6D 1 Month Full Review. From A Non Gamer Perspective – Great In Many Ways, But
That being said, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate can typically last nearly 2 days depending on your usage, and we’ve paid special attention to that through different levels of gaming intensity and typical app usage ,
| Heavy Gaming | 6 hours (3 sessions, 2 hours each) | 1 day |
| Medium Gaming | 4 hours (4 sessions, 1 hours each) | 1.5 days |
| Light Gaming | 2 hours ( 4 sessions, 30 minutes each) | 2 days |
With all these battery tech, surely, charging protocols should have some attention as well. Well, it has the same 65W fast charging as the ROG Phone 5s, and goes through the same naming schemes : HyperCharge and Direct Charging.
A full charge takes about 40 minutes, and that’s pretty healthy since we’re dealing with a massive 6,000 mAh capacity. It was actually pretty easy to calculate, 40ish minutes to full, 75% in 30. For more expansive care of your battery health, you can enable charging to stop between 80-90%. just like a laptop. You can find it in the Battery Care section in Armory Crate.
