The Indian smartphone market has become home to surprisingly low-priced smartphones in recent years. Manufacturers that have effectively been able to bring down their pricing have encroached upon the comfortable sales that the legacy brands would get.
OnePlus can perhaps be called the poster child of this movement, successfully being able to win over customers who were in the market for a flagship phone. No wonder it was able to achieve the top spot in the Indian market in just five years, by being a worthy player in the premium segment.
Quite naturally, its rampant growth caught competitor’s eye, who slowly started inching towards OnePlus, both in terms of the hardware offerings and the pricing. The ASUS ROG Phone 2 (technically, the ‘ASUS ROG Phone II’) was the most recent player to enter the arena by bringing a high-end gaming-centric flagship experience to the same price segment as the OnePlus 7T. On paper, the ROG Phone 2 is the one to bring more brawn to the table, but real-life comparisons revealed a different picture.
A little bit of a history lesson which is going to tie into the final verdict: ASUS’ flagships hadn’t been selling all that well. ROG Phone was the first gaming-centric smartphone from the company. It was a power-packed beast with a big battery and great audio, with several gaming features on top. However, it failed as an overall smartphone owing to a sub-par display, poor photography experience, and a very complicated software skin. The ROG Phone 2 is just the second iteration in the lineage but seems to fix these issues while adding a lot more to the mix while drastically bringing the price down somehow.
Price in India
Let’s form the basis of this entire comparison— the price. The base variants of both these phones are priced at the same Rs 37,999. The OnePlus 7T offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for that price, with the 256GB variant being priced at Rs 39,999.
The base variant of the ROG Phone 2 has the same amount of RAM and storage, while the top variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is priced at a whopping Rs 59,999. It needs to be noted that the base variant comes with an 18W fast charger in the box and no additional gaming peripherals, which constitute a significant part of the ROG experience. More on that later.
Design
Smartphone designs are usually a pretty subjective aspect, but there are certain generally expected elements, especially in this premium segment such as a choice of materials, ergonomics, weight distribution, and even the overall size. Interestingly, both these devices follow polar opposite ideologies for their designs, reminding us about how they are targeted to very different sets of users.
The OnePlus 7T continues the company’s design philosophy by opting for a premium frosted glass finish on the back that is slightly curved and feels just right in hand. It retains the width of the 7 but ships with an even taller display, adding to the big screen experience. It’s a pretty minimal design, with the back devoid of any interruptions and all the cameras now residing in a circular housing. OnePlus says that it adds symmetry, but I wouldn’t entirely agree with that as the cameras are still in a straight line. It’s more likely to have the 7T stand out from its siblings, to give the consumers that exclusive feeling. Regardless, it’s one of the cleanest designs on any smartphone around.
The ASUS ROG Phone 2, on the other hand, has an entirely different outlook for smartphone design; one that will definitely grab a few eyes when pulled out in public. While the back is still covered by Gorilla Glass 6, it is reminiscent of a motherboard circuitry with contrasting lines that run along the edges. There’s an unmissable perforated copper accent towards the right which is a vent for air circulation. If that wasn’t enough to make the ROG Phone stand out, there’s the iconic ROG “mask” logo in the center that also lights up!
The front is not chic or dainty either, with a big display, flanked by a thick chin and forehead which house big speaker grills. The ROG Phone 2 has a second USB Type-C port on the left side which is used to connect accessories while gaming in landscape orientation, and a headphone jack as well.
However, all these extra ports and vents render the ASUS ROG Phone 2 non-water-resistant as even a small drop of water can make its way to the phone’s internals. The OnePlus 7T, on the other hand, is IP67-equivalent water-resistant and can survive splashes and dips with ease.
For this round, my pick would be the OnePlus 7T. I really like the flashy design of the ROG Phone 2, which would often be a conversation starter and is sure to make you feel unique, but the lack of water-resistance is not something I can risk, considering the weather in cities like Mumbai. Moreover, the weight of 240g is definitely noticeable and will tire your wrists during extended use, and feel out of place in your pocket, almost uncomfortably.
It’s pretty much like the running gaming laptop jokes, about how you shouldn’t carry one to a meeting or college. It’s refreshing to look at, but might not be suited for all environments, so consider your use scenario.
Display
Smartphone displays have come a long way in the last half-decade. AMOLED panels are not exclusive to high-end flagships now. However, all displays are not made equally, and the flagships do bring a lot more to the table with their displays. Both of our contenders are at the forefront of the recent refresh-rate revolution, thankfully not participating in the resolution wars.
The spec sheet may make you think that these displays are going to look very similar, except for the higher 120Hz refresh rate on the ROG Phone 2. But there are some more game-changing differences that 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 big 6.59-inch with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 (19.5:9 aspect ratio) with HDR10 capabilities.
Similarly, the OnePlus 7T boasts of a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The resolution is set at 2400 x 1080, resulting in a 20:9 aspect ratio. The display supports HDR10+.
When I held the OnePlus 7T for the first time, I was immediately impressed by the panel’s shape. An extra tall 20:9 display makes handling very convenient as the width doesn’t increase by much, but the added height continues to give you big viewing experience. Add the fact that the bezels on three sides are pretty slim, and the notch is one of the smallest on any phone, just make the experience that much more immersive.
I genuinely feel that taller aspect ratios are the way to go for Android smartphones. One, it just improves the viewing experience by giving you more vertical real estate while scrolling or reading, and a bigger field-of-view while gaming. Secondly, the display inherently becomes less wide, helping in one-handed operations, especially with all the navigation buttons and gestures making use of the bottom edge only.
The ROG Phone is already pretty tall and owing to its aspect ratio; it’s extremely wide and unwieldy as well. But the overall bigger display footprint does add to the gaming experience too, giving you ample space for viewing without the fingers obstructing the display.
High refresh-rate AMOLED displays are complicated to craft and were one of the main reasons for the slow adoption of this tech. The OnePlus 7 Pro was the first device actually to nail colour accuracy while crossing the 60Hz threshold. Unfortunately, the ASUS ROG Phone falls short in this regard, with a display that has a perceivable green tint and inaccurate contrast levels. It’s not very extreme and can be lived with. But when the phones are held side-by-side, the difference becomes evident. Ignore this bit if color accuracy is not a priority.
Fun fact: The OnePlus 7T has a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, which is higher than even 7 Pro. The ROG Phone 2 is no slouch either, but for the sake of this comparison, the 7T gets visibly brighter.
One of the most common questions I received was how noticeable the difference between 90Hz and 120Hz is? For starters, both are visibly smoother than regular 60Hz, and even an untrained eye should be able to spot this. Isolated testing results were inconclusive but using them alongside each other did highlight the ROG Phone’s pedigree in this field. Lesser motion blur was perceived, and content was legible even while scrolling vigorously.
I reckon this smoother feeling also has a correlation with the ASUS ROG Phone 2’s massively higher-touch sampling rate, coming in at 240Hz. It is basically how many times the touchscreen is tracking any input, making it all a lot more responsive. This feeling might be further augmented by the longer animation duration on the OnePlus 7T.
For me, the max brightness, more accurate and vivid color output, and the taller aspect ratio are more valuable than a marginally faster refresh rate. But it’s still commendable how ASUS was the first one to bring such a high-end display to the market.
There’s also not a lot of content to make use of panels with a refresh rate of over 60Hz, and most games aren’t coded to cross 60fps anyway. But the differences are existent throughout the UI; be it scrolling through the home screens, reading, social media, etc. Can’t wait for the time when more games will support this.
Audio output
Both phones scored well on the display front, but immersion is also a function of sound. Stereo speakers are finally getting more common, and make an appearance on both of these phones, albeit in very different ways.
The primary speaker on the OnePlus 7T is downward facing, with the earpiece acting as the secondary speaker. Since both of them are on the opposite ends of the device, it technically provides a stereo experience, but only one of them will throw the sound towards you.
With Dolby Atmos onboard, it provides a rich and full sound with above-average loudness. The positioning of both the speakers also ensures that at least one grill will remain uncovered, irrespective of its orientation.
The ROG Phone 2 blows the 7T out of water thought, with dual, front-firing stereo speakers with dedicated amplifiers. With support for DTS :X Ultra, the audio output is probably the best we’ve seen on any smartphone. It was punchy, bright, directional and filling, and didn’t fall apart at higher volumes either.
There’s also an outdoor mode which further increases the volume levels at the expense of sound quality. It matches some small dedicated Bluetooth speakers in terms of volume levels. There’s also a headphone jack which is capable of Hi-Res audio output and is located in an ideal position for gaming, in the bottom-left corner.
Performance and Gaming
Powered by the latest Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, both these phones are at the pinnacle of smartphone processing from the Android camp. The 855 Plus is a minor upgrade to the Snapdragon 855 which is supposed to improve the performance by about 15% with the max frequency of 2.96GHz.
OnePlus has tried to stabilize the performance by heavily optimizing it, while ASUS has added a cooling mechanism which includes an actual cooling fan inside to sustain peak performance. Unsurprisingly, both of them performed very well during the heaviest of tasks, including gaming.
Every game would run smoothly at the max settings at max framerate. There aren’t any games out there which can take full advantage of this beefy hardware package. Most games are locked to 60fps (including PUBG Mobile) which is just plain sad.
We did prolonged gaming on both phones, and the only differences we were able to notice were the fact that the ROG Phone gets a little warmer to the touch, while sustaining the peak performance for longer. Whereas, you might get an occasional frame drop on the 7T. Both of these are barely noticeable unless observed side-by-side.
Some games open faster on the OnePlus 7T, presumably due to the inclusion of UFS 3.0 storage, but doesn’t affect the gaming later on.
Performance is just one aspect of the gaming experience, with even the haptics, sound output, and peripherals playing a considerable role. The ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a pair of “Air Triggers” on the right side, which are two touch-sensitive areas which can be used as shoulder buttons during gaming. It is a huge tactical advantage when you can use four fingers instead of just the two thumbs, and will legitimately help your skills.
Overall, the performance can be said to be a tie, but the entire gaming experience crown goes to the ROG Phone 2 for better stereo audio, Air Triggers and loads of features built into the Armoury Crate suite, which let you tweak and monitor each aspect of the phone and the game.
Software and features
Software skins are an underrated constituent to a phone’s user experience as it affects almost every interaction. Some prefer it minimal; others like it feature-packed. It also varies according to your history with phones, if you have a soft spot for a certain kind of operating system or not.
OxygenOS is generally regarded as one of the best Android skins out there, which emphasizes on performance and speed. It’s also the one that comes with the least amount of bloatware apps. There’s a lot of customization potential too. For anyone moving to OnePlus from any other smartphone skin, OxygenOS is probably the easiest to get accustomed to. Extra points for running Android 10 out-of-the-box.
ASUS has a very different offering this time, with the ROG Phone 2 running two operating systems. There’s the gaming-centric ROG UI with lots of additional features and toggles that let you monitor and control how the phone performs, and there’s the ZenUI which is almost stock Android. The former is not a light skin but could interest those who like to toggle and control the minutiae.
For me, the simplicity and speed of OxygenOS are more valuable than being able to monitor and control vanity metrics. I prefer my smartphone to take care of that without me needing to intervene.
Batter and charging
With all that performance and speed, you’d want your phone to last for a while. Battery life on smartphones these days is generally good, and there’s always fast charging to make up for when the battery life isn’t.
Once again, we see them opt for very different routes with battery sizes and refueling. The OnePlus 7T ships with a 3,800 mAh battery, which is suitable for a day of mixed usage involving an hour or so gaming, social media, push notifications and calls with wifi or data on throughout. Nothing exceptional, and unlikely to last you to the second day.
ASUS went with a bigger battery at the expense of slimness, managing to fit in a 6,000 mAh battery which is the biggest on any mainstream device currently, and the battery life is just bonkers. It’s almost guaranteed to last you two days on a single charge with moderate usage. If you want to push the gaming bit to its limit, the ROG Phone 2 will still not give up. In our testing, we were able to touch 7 hours of continuous PUBG Mobile at the max framerate of 60fps. For context, that’s how much screen-on-time a regular phone would give in a day of light to moderate use.
Expectedly, the tip of the table in favor of OnePlus when it comes to charging. The new Warp Charge 30T can charge to phone from 0 to full in less than an hour, with a 30 minute top up refilling about 60% of the battery. It doesn’t slow down all that much during gaming.
This base variant of the ASUS ROG Phone 2 ships with an 18W fast charger in the box, which takes about 2 hours to charge the phone from empty. Not bad, considering that the battery is so big, but pales in comparison with Warp Charge.
The clear winner over here is the ROG Phone 2, with its two-day battery life. If the charging speeds worry you, the faster 30W “Hypercharger” can be yours for just Rs 1,999.
Camera
Smartphone photography is essential, and with the onslaught of multiple lenses at varying focal lengths, it’s only got closer to replacing point-and-shoot cameras. Heading into this round, we knew we had to have our expectations in control as gaming phones have historically not been great at photography.
The OnePlus 7T has triple-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 48MP f/1.6 primary camera with OIS, a 16MP ultra-wide shooter with an f/2.2 aperture and a third 12MP telephoto lens with a 2x optical zoom.
The ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a dual-camera setup with the same 48MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture along with a 13MP ultrawide shooter at f/2.4.
As expected, the OnePlus 7T captures better-looking shots in most of the images, thanks to the superior hardware combined with image processing. In most cases, the ROG Phone 2 gave a slightly cooler image, but even the saturation and contrast were a little lacking.
Verdict
You might have noticed by now how different these two phones are, with similarities ending at the spec sheet. As we mentioned earlier, these phones aren’t meant for the same type of consumer, and both address vastly different preferences.
The OnePlus 7T is the right phone for those who want a phone that works well needs minimum tweaking and performs admirably in all departments. The display and the camera are significant strengths, along with one of the most refined software experiences.
The ASUS ROG Phone 2 is the best a gamer can get, with a big display, an astounding pair of speakers and battery life to keep you going. The ROG UI offers a lot of customization and monitoring while gaming but can feel a little overwhelming to some.
OnePlus has always been one of the first ones to bring the latest software version updates to the market, and the 7T is the first phone to run Android 10 out-of-the-box. Not just that, regular updates are also guaranteed to arrive in a timely fashion, increasing the overall UX of the phone with time.
It is ASUS’ only second attempt with a gaming flagship, with the first one being forgotten quickly. Software updates have also not been as timely or frequent, not just in comparison to OnePlus, but also according to industry standards.
The OnePlus 7T is bound to outsell the ROG Phone 2 manifold, which also means you will get better third-party support for repairs, services, and accessories. ASUS’ service network isn’t nearly as robust as OnePlus’, which is a factor to consider when you are about to drop 40K on the phone.
In simpler words, the 7T is better positioned to stay relevant for a more extended period and might improve over time too. ASUS’ effort with the ROG Phone 2 is commendable. It’s not often we see surprise devices get launched and steal the thunder from the latest OnePlus flagships. If they can continue this trajectory and prove that they are here for the long term, the next ROG Phone will get a much more confident recommendation.
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OnePlus can perhaps be called the poster child of this movement, successfully being able to win over customers who were in the market for a flagship phone. No wonder it was able to achieve the top spot in the Indian market in just five years, by being a worthy player in the premium segment.
Quite naturally, its rampant growth caught competitor’s eye, who slowly started inching towards OnePlus, both in terms of the hardware offerings and the pricing. The ASUS ROG Phone 2 (technically, the ‘ASUS ROG Phone II’) was the most recent player to enter the arena by bringing a high-end gaming-centric flagship experience to the same price segment as the OnePlus 7T. On paper, the ROG Phone 2 is the one to bring more brawn to the table, but real-life comparisons revealed a different picture.
A little bit of a history lesson which is going to tie into the final verdict: ASUS’ flagships hadn’t been selling all that well. ROG Phone was the first gaming-centric smartphone from the company. It was a power-packed beast with a big battery and great audio, with several gaming features on top. However, it failed as an overall smartphone owing to a sub-par display, poor photography experience, and a very complicated software skin. The ROG Phone 2 is just the second iteration in the lineage but seems to fix these issues while adding a lot more to the mix while drastically bringing the price down somehow.
Price in India
Let’s form the basis of this entire comparison— the price. The base variants of both these phones are priced at the same Rs 37,999. The OnePlus 7T offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for that price, with the 256GB variant being priced at Rs 39,999.
The base variant of the ROG Phone 2 has the same amount of RAM and storage, while the top variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is priced at a whopping Rs 59,999. It needs to be noted that the base variant comes with an 18W fast charger in the box and no additional gaming peripherals, which constitute a significant part of the ROG experience. More on that later.
Design
Smartphone designs are usually a pretty subjective aspect, but there are certain generally expected elements, especially in this premium segment such as a choice of materials, ergonomics, weight distribution, and even the overall size. Interestingly, both these devices follow polar opposite ideologies for their designs, reminding us about how they are targeted to very different sets of users.
The OnePlus 7T continues the company’s design philosophy by opting for a premium frosted glass finish on the back that is slightly curved and feels just right in hand. It retains the width of the 7 but ships with an even taller display, adding to the big screen experience. It’s a pretty minimal design, with the back devoid of any interruptions and all the cameras now residing in a circular housing. OnePlus says that it adds symmetry, but I wouldn’t entirely agree with that as the cameras are still in a straight line. It’s more likely to have the 7T stand out from its siblings, to give the consumers that exclusive feeling. Regardless, it’s one of the cleanest designs on any smartphone around.
The ASUS ROG Phone 2, on the other hand, has an entirely different outlook for smartphone design; one that will definitely grab a few eyes when pulled out in public. While the back is still covered by Gorilla Glass 6, it is reminiscent of a motherboard circuitry with contrasting lines that run along the edges. There’s an unmissable perforated copper accent towards the right which is a vent for air circulation. If that wasn’t enough to make the ROG Phone stand out, there’s the iconic ROG “mask” logo in the center that also lights up!
The front is not chic or dainty either, with a big display, flanked by a thick chin and forehead which house big speaker grills. The ROG Phone 2 has a second USB Type-C port on the left side which is used to connect accessories while gaming in landscape orientation, and a headphone jack as well.
However, all these extra ports and vents render the ASUS ROG Phone 2 non-water-resistant as even a small drop of water can make its way to the phone’s internals. The OnePlus 7T, on the other hand, is IP67-equivalent water-resistant and can survive splashes and dips with ease.
For this round, my pick would be the OnePlus 7T. I really like the flashy design of the ROG Phone 2, which would often be a conversation starter and is sure to make you feel unique, but the lack of water-resistance is not something I can risk, considering the weather in cities like Mumbai. Moreover, the weight of 240g is definitely noticeable and will tire your wrists during extended use, and feel out of place in your pocket, almost uncomfortably.
It’s pretty much like the running gaming laptop jokes, about how you shouldn’t carry one to a meeting or college. It’s refreshing to look at, but might not be suited for all environments, so consider your use scenario.
Display
Smartphone displays have come a long way in the last half-decade. AMOLED panels are not exclusive to high-end flagships now. However, all displays are not made equally, and the flagships do bring a lot more to the table with their displays. Both of our contenders are at the forefront of the recent refresh-rate revolution, thankfully not participating in the resolution wars.
The spec sheet may make you think that these displays are going to look very similar, except for the higher 120Hz refresh rate on the ROG Phone 2. But there are some more game-changing differences that 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 big 6.59-inch with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 (19.5:9 aspect ratio) with HDR10 capabilities.
Similarly, the OnePlus 7T boasts of a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The resolution is set at 2400 x 1080, resulting in a 20:9 aspect ratio. The display supports HDR10+.
When I held the OnePlus 7T for the first time, I was immediately impressed by the panel’s shape. An extra tall 20:9 display makes handling very convenient as the width doesn’t increase by much, but the added height continues to give you big viewing experience. Add the fact that the bezels on three sides are pretty slim, and the notch is one of the smallest on any phone, just make the experience that much more immersive.
I genuinely feel that taller aspect ratios are the way to go for Android smartphones. One, it just improves the viewing experience by giving you more vertical real estate while scrolling or reading, and a bigger field-of-view while gaming. Secondly, the display inherently becomes less wide, helping in one-handed operations, especially with all the navigation buttons and gestures making use of the bottom edge only.
The ROG Phone is already pretty tall and owing to its aspect ratio; it’s extremely wide and unwieldy as well. But the overall bigger display footprint does add to the gaming experience too, giving you ample space for viewing without the fingers obstructing the display.
High refresh-rate AMOLED displays are complicated to craft and were one of the main reasons for the slow adoption of this tech. The OnePlus 7 Pro was the first device actually to nail colour accuracy while crossing the 60Hz threshold. Unfortunately, the ASUS ROG Phone falls short in this regard, with a display that has a perceivable green tint and inaccurate contrast levels. It’s not very extreme and can be lived with. But when the phones are held side-by-side, the difference becomes evident. Ignore this bit if color accuracy is not a priority.
Fun fact: The OnePlus 7T has a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, which is higher than even 7 Pro. The ROG Phone 2 is no slouch either, but for the sake of this comparison, the 7T gets visibly brighter.
One of the most common questions I received was how noticeable the difference between 90Hz and 120Hz is? For starters, both are visibly smoother than regular 60Hz, and even an untrained eye should be able to spot this. Isolated testing results were inconclusive but using them alongside each other did highlight the ROG Phone’s pedigree in this field. Lesser motion blur was perceived, and content was legible even while scrolling vigorously.
I reckon this smoother feeling also has a correlation with the ASUS ROG Phone 2’s massively higher-touch sampling rate, coming in at 240Hz. It is basically how many times the touchscreen is tracking any input, making it all a lot more responsive. This feeling might be further augmented by the longer animation duration on the OnePlus 7T.
For me, the max brightness, more accurate and vivid color output, and the taller aspect ratio are more valuable than a marginally faster refresh rate. But it’s still commendable how ASUS was the first one to bring such a high-end display to the market.
There’s also not a lot of content to make use of panels with a refresh rate of over 60Hz, and most games aren’t coded to cross 60fps anyway. But the differences are existent throughout the UI; be it scrolling through the home screens, reading, social media, etc. Can’t wait for the time when more games will support this.
Audio output
Both phones scored well on the display front, but immersion is also a function of sound. Stereo speakers are finally getting more common, and make an appearance on both of these phones, albeit in very different ways.
The primary speaker on the OnePlus 7T is downward facing, with the earpiece acting as the secondary speaker. Since both of them are on the opposite ends of the device, it technically provides a stereo experience, but only one of them will throw the sound towards you.
With Dolby Atmos onboard, it provides a rich and full sound with above-average loudness. The positioning of both the speakers also ensures that at least one grill will remain uncovered, irrespective of its orientation.
The ROG Phone 2 blows the 7T out of water thought, with dual, front-firing stereo speakers with dedicated amplifiers. With support for DTS :X Ultra, the audio output is probably the best we’ve seen on any smartphone. It was punchy, bright, directional and filling, and didn’t fall apart at higher volumes either.
There’s also an outdoor mode which further increases the volume levels at the expense of sound quality. It matches some small dedicated Bluetooth speakers in terms of volume levels. There’s also a headphone jack which is capable of Hi-Res audio output and is located in an ideal position for gaming, in the bottom-left corner.
Performance and Gaming
Powered by the latest Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, both these phones are at the pinnacle of smartphone processing from the Android camp. The 855 Plus is a minor upgrade to the Snapdragon 855 which is supposed to improve the performance by about 15% with the max frequency of 2.96GHz.
OnePlus has tried to stabilize the performance by heavily optimizing it, while ASUS has added a cooling mechanism which includes an actual cooling fan inside to sustain peak performance. Unsurprisingly, both of them performed very well during the heaviest of tasks, including gaming.
Every game would run smoothly at the max settings at max framerate. There aren’t any games out there which can take full advantage of this beefy hardware package. Most games are locked to 60fps (including PUBG Mobile) which is just plain sad.
We did prolonged gaming on both phones, and the only differences we were able to notice were the fact that the ROG Phone gets a little warmer to the touch, while sustaining the peak performance for longer. Whereas, you might get an occasional frame drop on the 7T. Both of these are barely noticeable unless observed side-by-side.
Some games open faster on the OnePlus 7T, presumably due to the inclusion of UFS 3.0 storage, but doesn’t affect the gaming later on.
Performance is just one aspect of the gaming experience, with even the haptics, sound output, and peripherals playing a considerable role. The ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a pair of “Air Triggers” on the right side, which are two touch-sensitive areas which can be used as shoulder buttons during gaming. It is a huge tactical advantage when you can use four fingers instead of just the two thumbs, and will legitimately help your skills.
Overall, the performance can be said to be a tie, but the entire gaming experience crown goes to the ROG Phone 2 for better stereo audio, Air Triggers and loads of features built into the Armoury Crate suite, which let you tweak and monitor each aspect of the phone and the game.
Software and features
Software skins are an underrated constituent to a phone’s user experience as it affects almost every interaction. Some prefer it minimal; others like it feature-packed. It also varies according to your history with phones, if you have a soft spot for a certain kind of operating system or not.
OxygenOS is generally regarded as one of the best Android skins out there, which emphasizes on performance and speed. It’s also the one that comes with the least amount of bloatware apps. There’s a lot of customization potential too. For anyone moving to OnePlus from any other smartphone skin, OxygenOS is probably the easiest to get accustomed to. Extra points for running Android 10 out-of-the-box.
ASUS has a very different offering this time, with the ROG Phone 2 running two operating systems. There’s the gaming-centric ROG UI with lots of additional features and toggles that let you monitor and control how the phone performs, and there’s the ZenUI which is almost stock Android. The former is not a light skin but could interest those who like to toggle and control the minutiae.
For me, the simplicity and speed of OxygenOS are more valuable than being able to monitor and control vanity metrics. I prefer my smartphone to take care of that without me needing to intervene.
Batter and charging
With all that performance and speed, you’d want your phone to last for a while. Battery life on smartphones these days is generally good, and there’s always fast charging to make up for when the battery life isn’t.
Once again, we see them opt for very different routes with battery sizes and refueling. The OnePlus 7T ships with a 3,800 mAh battery, which is suitable for a day of mixed usage involving an hour or so gaming, social media, push notifications and calls with wifi or data on throughout. Nothing exceptional, and unlikely to last you to the second day.
ASUS went with a bigger battery at the expense of slimness, managing to fit in a 6,000 mAh battery which is the biggest on any mainstream device currently, and the battery life is just bonkers. It’s almost guaranteed to last you two days on a single charge with moderate usage. If you want to push the gaming bit to its limit, the ROG Phone 2 will still not give up. In our testing, we were able to touch 7 hours of continuous PUBG Mobile at the max framerate of 60fps. For context, that’s how much screen-on-time a regular phone would give in a day of light to moderate use.
Expectedly, the tip of the table in favor of OnePlus when it comes to charging. The new Warp Charge 30T can charge to phone from 0 to full in less than an hour, with a 30 minute top up refilling about 60% of the battery. It doesn’t slow down all that much during gaming.
This base variant of the ASUS ROG Phone 2 ships with an 18W fast charger in the box, which takes about 2 hours to charge the phone from empty. Not bad, considering that the battery is so big, but pales in comparison with Warp Charge.
The clear winner over here is the ROG Phone 2, with its two-day battery life. If the charging speeds worry you, the faster 30W “Hypercharger” can be yours for just Rs 1,999.
Camera
Smartphone photography is essential, and with the onslaught of multiple lenses at varying focal lengths, it’s only got closer to replacing point-and-shoot cameras. Heading into this round, we knew we had to have our expectations in control as gaming phones have historically not been great at photography.
The OnePlus 7T has triple-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 48MP f/1.6 primary camera with OIS, a 16MP ultra-wide shooter with an f/2.2 aperture and a third 12MP telephoto lens with a 2x optical zoom.
The ASUS ROG Phone 2 has a dual-camera setup with the same 48MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture along with a 13MP ultrawide shooter at f/2.4.
As expected, the OnePlus 7T captures better-looking shots in most of the images, thanks to the superior hardware combined with image processing. In most cases, the ROG Phone 2 gave a slightly cooler image, but even the saturation and contrast were a little lacking.
Verdict
You might have noticed by now how different these two phones are, with similarities ending at the spec sheet. As we mentioned earlier, these phones aren’t meant for the same type of consumer, and both address vastly different preferences.
The OnePlus 7T is the right phone for those who want a phone that works well needs minimum tweaking and performs admirably in all departments. The display and the camera are significant strengths, along with one of the most refined software experiences.
The ASUS ROG Phone 2 is the best a gamer can get, with a big display, an astounding pair of speakers and battery life to keep you going. The ROG UI offers a lot of customization and monitoring while gaming but can feel a little overwhelming to some.
OnePlus has always been one of the first ones to bring the latest software version updates to the market, and the 7T is the first phone to run Android 10 out-of-the-box. Not just that, regular updates are also guaranteed to arrive in a timely fashion, increasing the overall UX of the phone with time.
It is ASUS’ only second attempt with a gaming flagship, with the first one being forgotten quickly. Software updates have also not been as timely or frequent, not just in comparison to OnePlus, but also according to industry standards.
The OnePlus 7T is bound to outsell the ROG Phone 2 manifold, which also means you will get better third-party support for repairs, services, and accessories. ASUS’ service network isn’t nearly as robust as OnePlus’, which is a factor to consider when you are about to drop 40K on the phone.
In simpler words, the 7T is better positioned to stay relevant for a more extended period and might improve over time too. ASUS’ effort with the ROG Phone 2 is commendable. It’s not often we see surprise devices get launched and steal the thunder from the latest OnePlus flagships. If they can continue this trajectory and prove that they are here for the long term, the next ROG Phone will get a much more confident recommendation.
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