The Indian smartphone market has become home to surprisingly low-priced smartphones in recent years. Manufacturers that have managed to lower their prices have affected the comfortable sales that the older brands would obtain.
Perhaps OnePlus can be called the spokesperson for this movement, capable of successfully winning over customers looking for a flagship phone. It is no wonder that she has managed to reach the top spot in the Indian market in just five years, becoming a leading player in the high-end segment.
Naturally, its rapid growth caught the attention of its competitor, who slowly began to turn to OnePlus, both in terms of equipment and price offerings. ASUS ROG Phone 2 (technically the "ASUS ROG Phone II") was the latest player to enter the market with a premium gaming-based experience in the same price segment as the OnePlus 7T. On paper, the ROG Phone 2 brings the most power to the table, but actual comparisons have revealed a different picture.
A little history lesson that will enter the final verdict: ASUS 'flagship products were not selling very well. ROG Phone was the company's first smartphone-centric game. It was an energetic beast with great drumming and great sound, with various gameplay features and more. However, as a global smartphone, it failed due to a poor screen, poor photography experience, and very complex software. The ROG Phone 2 is only the second iteration of the lineage, but it seems to solve these problems while adding much more to the composition and reducing the price considerably.
Price in India
Let us form the basis of all this comparison: the price. The basic variants of these two phones are priced at the same price of Rs 37.999. The OnePlus 7T offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for this price, the 256GB variant is priced at Rs 39.
The basic variant of the ROG Phone 2 has the same amount of RAM and storage, while the higher variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage carries a charge of Rs 59,999. It should be noted that the basic variant is comes with an 18W fast charger in the box and no additional gaming device, which is an important part of the ROG experience. More on that later.
design
(Image credit: Aakash Jhaveri)
Smartphone design is usually quite a subjective aspect, but a few elements are generally expected, especially in this high-end segment, such as the choice of materials, ergonomics, weight distribution, and even the overall size. Interestingly, these two devices follow opposing ideologies for their designs, reminding us that they target very different user groups.
The OnePlus 7T continues the company's design philosophy with a premium frosted glass finish on the back that is slightly curved and in good health. It retains the width of 7 but comes with an even larger screen, adding to the big screen experience. It's a fairly minimal design, with the bottom free of interruptions and all the cameras housed in a circular box. OnePlus says it adds symmetry, but I don't entirely agree with that because the cameras are always in a straight line. The 7T is more likely to stand out from its siblings, to give consumers that exclusive feel. Regardless, this is one of the cleanest designs on all smartphones.
In contrast, the ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a completely different design than smartphones; one that will definitely turn heads when released in public. While the back is still covered in Gorilla Glass 6, it is reminiscent of the motherboard circuitry with contrasting lines along the edges. There is a perforated copper accent not to be missed on the right, which is a vent for air circulation. If that's not enough to get the ROG phone out, it's the iconic ROG "skin" logo lighting up in the center!
The front is neither fancy nor dainty, with a large screen, flanked by a thick chin, and a front that houses large speaker grills. The ROG Phone 2 has a second USB Type-C port on the left side, which allows you to connect accessories when gaming in landscape mode, as well as a headphone jack.
However, all these extra ports and vents make the ASUS ROG Phone 2 not waterproof as even a small drop of water can get inside the phone. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 7T withstands water up to IP67 and can easily withstand splashes and holes.
For this tour, my pick would be the OnePlus 7T. I really like the striking design of the ROG Phone 2, which would often be a talking point and make you feel unique, but the lack of water resistance doesn't make you feel like you're in it. It is not something you can risk, given the weather in cities like Mumbai. Also, the 240g weight is clearly noticeable and will fatigue your wrists during long-term use, and will make it uncomfortable in your pocket, almost uncomfortable.
It's a bit like jokes about gaming laptops, about how you shouldn't use one to a meeting or college. It's refreshing to see, but it may not be suitable for all environments, so consider your usage scenario.
display
(Image credit: Aakash Jhaveri)
Smartphone screens have come a long way in the last five years. AMOLED panels are not exclusive to high-end flagship products at the moment. However, not all displays are made equal and the flagship products bring much more to the table with their displays. Our two competitors are at the forefront of the recent refresh rate revolution, not happily participating in resolution wars.
The datasheet may make you think that these displays will look a lot alike except for the higher 120Hz refresh rate on the ROG Phone 2. But there are a few other differences that have changed the way I'm doing it. I was able to observe.
For the first time on a smartphone, we have a 120Hz AMOLED panel, on the ROG Phone 2. It is 6.59 inches tall with a 2340 x 1080 resolution (19.5: 9 aspect ratio) with HDR10 capabilities.
Similarly, the OnePlus 7T features a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The resolution is set to 2400 x 1080, which gives a 20: 9 aspect ratio. The screen supports HDR10 +.
When I first ran the OnePlus 7T, I was immediately impressed by the shape of the panel. An extra tall 20/9 screen makes handling very convenient because the width doesn't increase much, but the added height continues to give you a great viewing experience. Add to that the fact that the glasses on three sides are quite thin and that the notch is one of the smaller phones. Make the experience even more immersive.
I really believe that higher format reports are the solution for Android smartphones. First, it simply improves viewing quality by giving you greater vertical visibility when scrolling or gaming, as well as a wider field of view during games. Second, the screen becomes inherently less wide, making one-handed operations easier, especially when all navigation buttons and gestures use only the bottom edge.
The ROG Phone is already big enough and due to its proportions; It is extremely wide and difficult to handle. But the screen's larger overall footprint adds to the gaming experience as well, giving you plenty of room to watch without your fingers interfering with the screen.
AMOLED displays with high refresh rates are difficult to manufacture and have been one of the main reasons for the slow adoption of this technology. The OnePlus 7 Pro was the first device to actually improve color accuracy by exceeding the 60Hz threshold. Unfortunately, the ASUS ROG Phone isn't very efficient in this regard, with a noticeable green hue display and imprecise contrast levels. It is not very extreme and you can live with it. But when the phones are held side by side, the difference becomes obvious. Ignore this bit if color accuracy is not a priority.
Trivia: The OnePlus 7T has a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, higher than the 7 Pro. The ROG Phone 2 is also not left out, but in the interest of this comparison, the 7T becomes visibly brighter.
One of the most common questions I asked was: what is the difference between 90Hz and 120Hz? For starters, both are visibly smoother than the normal 60Hz frequency, and even an inexperienced eye should be able to detect it. Isolated test results are inconclusive, but their parallel use highlights the pedigree of the ROG Phone in this area. Less blurry movement was perceived, and the content was readable even when scrolling vigorously.
I think this smoother feel also correlates to the much higher touch sample rate of the ASUS ROG Phone 2, framing at 240Hz. It's essentially the number of times the touchscreen follows an input, making it much more responsive. . This feeling could be further enhanced by the longer animation duration on the OnePlus 7T.
For me, the maximum brightness, the most accurate and vivid color reproduction, and the higher image size are more valuable than a slightly faster refresh rate. But it is highly recommended that ASUS was the first to market such a high-end screen.
Also, there isn't much content to use with panels with a refresh rate above 60Hz, and most games aren't coded to cross 60 frames per second anyway. But the differences exist throughout the user interface; be it scrolling home screens, reading, social networks, etc. We can't wait for the time when more games will admit it.