Gaming

ASUS ROG Phone 5 Series now official

Yes. Series. There’s more than one.

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ROG Phone 5

ASUS ROG just keeps upping the ante on their gaming smartphone. On its fourth iteration, the ROG Phone 5 (yes, it’s the fourth on the series despite the name), is as powerful as ever and now there’s three of them: ROG Phone 5, ROG Phone 5 Pro, and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. 

The upgrades mostly come in all the places that matter, but there’s also a new feature that takes inspiration from one of their gaming laptops. 😉

Still a specs beast

Let’s start with the things that all three members of the ROG Phone 5 series have in common — they’re all spec monsters. Here’s a quick and easy look at the kind of power and performance they’re packing:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G processor

Snapdragon Elite Gaming allows for  ultra-smooth play at the highest possible HDR quality levels, with desktop-level capabilities. It also debuts Qualcomm Game Quick Touch that gives up to a 20 percent increase in touch responsiveness and lower latency.

There’s also a 35 percent increase in GPU performance and 25 percent in CPU performance. These are numbers based on ASUS ROG’s tests.

Upgraded GameCool 5 cooling system 

GameCool 5 now has an optimum thermal structure featuring a centered CPU with the battery split into two parts, one located on each side of the CPU. This ensures the heat generated by the CPU is transferred to all the edges and corners of the chassis simultaneously for higher thermal efficiency.

The reshaped 3D vapor chamber and extensive graphite sheets also help to spread the heat evenly across the device to reduce heat build-up in the middle.

The completely revamped AeroActive Cooler 5 now intakes and expels more air directly onto the center of the phone — right where the CPU is –to drop CPU temperature. A little bummer though, as this will no longer come as a default accessory unlike in past models.

Armoury Crate new performance manager 

The X Mode now has multiple system profiles to cater to a variety of settings and performance tuning tools. This lets users put to all of the phone’s RAM to good use. Speaking of RAM, the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate is seriously packing with its 18GB LPDDR5 RAM. Intense.

A performance display

The series has a 6.78” Samsung AMOLED display. For the refresh rate, it’s a whopping 144Hz and has a touch sampling rate of 300Hz. That’s super smooth and ultra-low touch latency.

The screen is also made with the toughest Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. It also has an always-on HDR tech that improves non-HDR visuals.

Battery king

The ROG Phone has always been a long-lasting device. That remains true with the ROG Phone 5. It has a 6,000mAh battery but now, ROG also made a few tweaks so it saves energy when it needs to.

These come in the form of software optimizations that limit the power consumption of inactive apps. ASUS says this gives up to 67 percent of power savings. There’s also charging improvements like a charging upper limit, steady charging, enhanced scheduled charging.

Speaking charging, there’s a bundled 65W HyperCharge adapter. They didn’t provide an estimate on how fast it goes from zero to 100 but 65W should be pretty fast even for a 6,000mAh battery.

ROG Phone 5

New to ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate — ROG Vision

Do you remember the AniMe Matrix on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14? The ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate have something like that. It’s called the ROG Vision.

It functions similarly in that it gives another layer of personalization through an extra display at the back of the phone but this one isn’t built with mini-LED lights.

The ROG Phone 5 Pro features a color ROG Vision display, while the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has a monochrome version.

Even more gaming centric features

ROG put extra care in making sure the ROG Phone 5 gives more control to the user. The AirTrigger 5 now gives the player four distinct ways to interact with the phone. Put the AeroActive Cooler 5 on and you get two extra physical buttons for a close-to-console gaming experience.

It also supports 10 different motion controls. ASUS cites a racing game as a scenario. Gamers can swivel the phone to steer or pull it towards them to brake. It might take a while to get used to but these seem like thoughtful additions.

Pro and Ultimate 

Naturally the Pro and Ultimate versions have more to offer. Both versions of the ROG Phone 5 have hidden rear touch sensors which provide L2/R2-like functions similar to most game controllers.

GameFX audio

Rounding up the gaming experience is the audio. The ROG Phone 5 series now incorporates symmetrical seven-magnet dual speakers for truly balanced stereo sound effects. There’s also a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a hi-fi-grade ESS DAC for lossless audio processing.

The AudioWizard audio-tuning app has also been completely revamped to optimize sound for different audio styles, including Game, Cinema, and Music settings.

Themes and customization 

Like previous ROG Phones, you get the option to have the gamer-centric UI or the more toned down material design look. ASUS also partnered with some of the most popular game titles for different theme packs to give you more ways to spruce up the ROG Phone 5’s looks.

ROG Phone 5

Colors, Configurations, and Pricing

ROG Phone 5

  • Phantom Black and Storm White
  • Up to 16GB RAM/ 256GB ROM
  • Starts at EUR 799
  • March 2021

ROG Phone 5 Pro

  • Phantom Black
  • Up to 16GB RAM/ 512GB ROM
  • Starts at EUR 1199
  • April 2021

ROG Phone 5 Ultimate

  • Storm White
  • Up to 18GB RAM/ 512GB ROM
  • Starts at EUR 1299
  • May 2021

Gaming

Zenless Zone Zero Version 2.7 available on March 24

Featuring Hollow Champions tournament, new Agents

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Version 2.7 of Zenless Zone Zero will become available on March 24 across platforms. Called “Champions Never Fall to the Past”, the update features the Hollow Champion competition and new agents.

The Hollow Champion competition sweeps across New Eridu — hosted by TOPS — spreading excitement as far as beyond the city center.

Competitors can take home high-stakes rewards, including the rare Porcelloy W-Engine. The tournament’s scale draws not only familiar allies, but even several unexpected participants.

There’s the Public Security’s Metropolitan Order Division, aside from the Cunning Hares and Sons of Calydon. It is said that the Calydon’s Sweepers will also step into the competition.

New Agents emerge

Furthermore, among the figures emerging from the shadows is the infamous Black Wolf Romeul. In battle, Romeul can activate a Corruptive Barrier for increased CRIT Damage Resistance and Interruption Resistance. This also causes opponents to continuously lose HP.

To break through this barrier, teams must be capable of delivering sustained Anomaly damage. This adds a new tactical layer for those wanting to challenge him.

Moreover, Cissia of the Metropolitan Order Division will also enter the race. As an S-Rank Electric Attack agent, Cissia gains three stacks of Venom upon entering battle.

Each stack deals Electric damage, while temporarily increasing her own CRIT Rate. The Venom gradually dissipates over time, but Cissia can also generate additional stacks through her EX Special Attack. As the stacks accumulate, she may expend them with her Basic Attack, Serpent’s Kiss.

Joining Cissia is the Angels of Delusion lineup, captained by their dancer, Nangong Yu. The S-Rank Ether Stun Agent enhances her team’s Anomaly Buildup Rate against Stunned enemies.

During combat, she automatically regenerates Downbeat over time. Additional Downbeat is also restored whenever a squad member inflicts Anomaly on enemies.

Once the Downbeat is sufficient, she can unleash powerful charged attacks to extend the enemy’s Stun duration. This is while her own Stun and Anomaly buildup accelerates. Meanwhile, her Ultimate can activate Ether Veil: Delusion Reprise to boost the squad’s entire Attack.

Proxies can unlock an exclusive faction wallpaper after collecting all members of Angels of Delusion. In addition, S-Rank Ice Rupture Agent Yidhari and Electric Attack Agent Seed will also return to Zenless Zone Zero Version 2.7.

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Gaming

Infinix expands SEA footprint with more official MLBB tourney partnerships

Infinix becomes MPL Indonesia, MSL Thailand official partner

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Infinix has announced a landmark expansion of its partnership with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Esports.

As part of the strategic move, Infinix is now the official partner of various MLBB tournaments across Southeast Asia.

The smartphone brand is now the Presenting Partner of the MLBB Professional League (MPL) Indonesia, as well as the Titling Partner of the MLBB Development League (MDL) Indonesia.

Infinix also strengthens its regional footprint further as the Official Sponsor of the MLBB Super League (MSL) Thailand.

These partnerships build on successful collaborations with the Philippines and Malaysia, deepening Infinix’s commitment to the region’s most competitive markets.

Next-level fan, community engagement

As an official partner, Infinix will deliver comprehensive end-to-end support for the tournaments. This includes supplying tournament-grade hardware and executing localized fan engagement initiatives.

Infinix’s AIoT devices are also going to be on display at the tournaments. Moreover, their flagship regional esports IP, the Infinix Campus Cup, will bring the competition to campuses with offline matches played on Infinix gaming phones.

Uniting Southeast Asian markets

The 2026 MLBB Tournament Series officially kicks off on March 20, with the brand powering the opening matches of MPL Philippines and MSL Myanmar as their Official Gaming Phone.

On March 27, Infinix will debut its presence at MPL Indonesia Season 17, followed by the opening of MDL Indonesia three days after.

As a presenting partner, Infinix will also crown the MPL Indonesia season champions with the “KINGFINIX” title.

The regional expansion continues on April 3 with the start of MPL Malaysia and MPL Cambodia. Infinix’s strong presence across the region then culminates with MSL Thailand on April 18.

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Gaming

Valve is embroiled in a lawsuit with New York over loot boxes

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Valve has been embroiled in an odd war as of late. A few weeks ago, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the gaming company for allegedly encouraging children to gamble through loot boxes primarily found in Counter-Strike 2. Today, Valve is fighting back by declaring how little its loot boxes have to do with gambling.

For years, governments have had a problem with loot boxes. To them, the mechanic makes it too easy for gamers to fall into a gambling addiction. In essence, loot boxes are earnable packs that contain a single or a number of random items that the player can use for their game. Most of the time, these items are purely cosmetic and don’t give a gameplay advantage.

Like Blizzard before it, Valve is also defending its loot boxes as non-essential to how players engage with their games. “There is no disadvantage to a player not spending money,” their statement reads.

Additionally, Valve says that their loot boxes are no different from Pokémon cards and Labubu blind boxes. As such, the company is also defending their users’ right to transfer obtained items to other users, as with two players trading cards or Pop Mart figurines.

Now, these items have monetary value in the market. In the same way, a rare Counter-Strike 2 skin can fetch thousands of dollars. However, Valve says that they are already proactive in shutting down accounts made only to gamble and avoiding pro-gambling businesses.

Valve is capping off its statement by saying that the NYAG is forcing the company to collect more information from its users, especially those using VPNs to prevent being located in New York. The company says that it will continue to protect user data, despite the demand.

SEE ALSO: Valve is delaying the launch of the Steam Machine

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