Asus ROG Phone 6D Ultimate review

Asus is on a mission in 2022. Just weeks after the company announced its flagship ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro, two new high-end handsets were revealed. 

The ROG Phone 6D and 6D Ultimate aren’t being pitched as direct successors – just alternatives. That’s because they both use MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000+ chipset, rather than the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 found on the 6 and 6 Pro. 

How much of a difference does that actually make? And do the cooling upgrades on the 6D Ultimate justify the extra cost? I spent a few weeks with the most expensive gaming phone you can buy to find out. 

Design and build

• Attractive, premium build
• Secondary display and cooling portal
• Big and bulky

From a quick glance at the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate, you could be forgiven for thinking that Asus has re-released the 6 Pro. While the dark grey finish (your only colour option) is more muted, the two phones look almost identical.  

I say almost, because there’s one key design difference on the 6D Ultimate. Instead of the small RGB ‘Dare to Play’ logo, you get what Asus is calling the ‘AeroActive Portal’. That’s a fancy name for what is essentially a small flap which can open while gaming to improve heat dissipation. 

It won’t work unless you have the AeroActive Cooler 6 connected. Despite it being compatible with all ROG Phone 6 handsets, it’s only included in the box with the 6D Ultimate. A small piece of plastic on a glass-backed phone isn’t the prettiest look, but its inclusion here is certainly justified. 

On the opposite side, you’ll still find the secondary ‘ROG Vision’ display, but its usefulness remains limited. It can be used to display the likes of battery percentage, incoming calls and connection status, but it still can’t show notifications. 

Given it’s facing away from you while gaming, its primary purpose seems to be looking cool to other people. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not a reason to buy this phone over the regular ROG Phone 6D or 6. 

The rest of the design is unchanged, meaning you still get an imposing triple rear camera module at the top. There is a slight camera bump, something which could surely have been avoided considering the phone’s thickness – 10.4mm. However, it doesn’t get in the way while gaming, and still doesn’t wobble when used face up on a table. 

Despite having a glass back, the 6D Ultimate does a good job of resisting fingerprints. It’s highly reflective and shimmers in the light, but there are no noticeable smudge marks. 

Flipping the phone over reveals the same 6.78in OLED display that you’ll find on all the other ROG Phone 6 handsets. In a world where notches and cut-outs are the norm, it’s refreshing to see Asus stick with slim bezels. This gives the phone an attractive symmetry, and I’m certainly not complaining about an 82.2% screen-to-body ratio. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Asus has put the space to good use, with a selfie camera which can also be used for face unlock. It’s not as secure as something like Apple’s Face ID, so I’d recommend the under-display fingerprint scanner instead. This is easy to set up and reliable, but also much faster than most sensors of this kind. 

The sides of the phone are also unchanged, but there’s a lot more going on compared to regular phones. On the right (or top, when used in landscape mode), you’ll find shoulder triggers either side of the volume and power controls. This is the perfect position for use while gaming. 

On the other side, you’ll find one of the key design features of ROG Phones in general – a second USB-C port. This lets you comfortably charge your phone while gaming, and it’s a game changer compared to awkwardly using the one at the bottom. 

Asus has also retained the 3.5mm headphone jack, meaning you can easily connect wired headphones if you’d rather not rely on Bluetooth or the built-in speakers. Given how important audio is for gaming, it’s great to have all three options. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

See also  Lumie Task review

However, the 6D Ultimate takes things to another level when it comes to weight. At 247g, it’s heavier than the other ROG Phone 6 handsets and one of the heaviest phones you can buy.  

That’s before you factor in the AeroActive Cooler 6, which adds another 117g. It’s not a dealbreaker, but something to be aware of if you’re considering this phone. 

Display and audio

• Same 6.78in, OLED display
• Adaptive 165Hz refresh rate and 720Hz touch sampling
• Great speakers

While the display on the 6D Ultimate is identical to the other three ROG Phone 6 phones, it certainly wasn’t in need of an upgrade. 

The 6.78in, 2448×1080 OLED screen is a joy to behold, delivering the rich, vibrant viewing experience that mobile gamers crave. Some people might’ve been hoping for a 1440p resolution, but I have no complaints about the level of detail on offer. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Of course, the key feature that sets it apart from most other phones is that high refresh rate. At 165Hz, it can only be matched by the other ROG Phone 6 handsets and recent Red Magic phones. This delivers a stunning smoothness and fluidity to the user experience, although you may not notice a difference compared to 144Hz or even 120Hz. 

With that in mind, I’d recommend sticking with ‘Auto’ mode most of the time. This allows the 6D Ultimate to dynamically switch between 165Hz, 144Hz, 120Hz, 90Hz and 60Hz depending on what you’re doing, helping to prolong battery life.  

It works in tandem with the 720Hz touch sampling rate, meaning the display can register touch input up to 720 times every second. That makes the 6D Ultimate extremely responsive, even if some of Android 12’s slow animations don’t always show it. 

Asus says the 6D Ultimate can hit an incredible maximum brightness of 1,200 nits, but I didn’t get anywhere near that in testing. Still, 553 nits means it’s still fine to use in most outdoor environments. 

Audio is more important on gaming phones than regular handsets, and Asus has clearly prioritised it here. Like other ROG Phone 6 devices, those bezels mean there’s room for dual front-facing stereo speakers on the 6D Ultimate.  

Designed in collaboration with audio company Dirac, the sound they produce is excellent. With detailed music playback and punchy sound effects, they help take gaming without headphones to the next level. There’s also more bass than you’d expect from a smartphone, and it avoids distortion at high volumes.  

Specs and performance

• MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ and 16GB RAM
• Comparable performance to Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
• AeroActive Portal looks impressive, but no noticeable benefit

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip is one of the key strengths of the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro, but Asus has decided to switch things up with its new phones. Both the 6D and 6D Ultimate are powered by the Dimensity 9000+, MediaTek’s flagship smartphone silicon. 

It’s the first time we’ve seen Asus move away from Qualcomm on its gaming phones, with the company indicating it’s about offering gamers more choice. This means there’s also new graphics, with a Mali-G710 GPU rather than the Adreno 730. 

So, how much of a difference does it make to performance on the 6D Ultimate? In short, very little. There’s no noticeable drop-off or boost in performance. It was already superb on the 6 Pro, and that remains the case here. 

Interestingly, there’s only 16GB of RAM here, compared to 18GB on the 6 Pro. But there’s a simple explanation for this: the 6D Ultimate uses the faster DDR5X standard, which doesn’t currently go higher than 16GB. 

I tested the same range of games as the 6 Pro and couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Demanding games such as Asphalt 9, Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile all run without any stuttering or hesitation, making them a joy to play. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

On those FPS titles, the shoulder triggers are an effective alternative to tapping on the screen. But for the full experience, you’ll want to connect the dedicated Kunai 3 Gamepad that’s sold separately. 

None of the games mentioned above can output at 165Hz, but Asus highlights a small selection within its ‘Armoury Crate’ launcher. Real Racing 3 is the big name here, and there’s a noticeable improvement in fluidity and responsiveness compared to other titles, especially when combined with the 720Hz touch sampling. 

But after only a few minutes of gaming, I noticed the back of the phone getting quite warm. With no built-in fan, you’ll need to connect the AeroActive Cooler 6 that’s included in the box for longer sessions. This is highly effective at cooling the device without sacrificing performance, and it adds four customisable buttons that can used while playing. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

See also  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

As mentioned above, this is supplemented by the ‘AeroActive Portal’, a small flap which opens when the cooler is connected to improve airflow and, as a result, heat dissipation.

The company says it improves thermal efficiency by up to 20%, but this is impossible to verify. I certainly didn’t notice any build-up of heat while the portal was open, but the same could be said for just the cooler with the 6 Pro. 

But it’s worth reiterating that performance is among the absolute best you’ll find on any smartphone. The move to MediaTek hasn’t changed that, although there is some slight variation in the benchmarks.

There’s just one configuration of the 6D Ultimate, and it offers 512GB of internal storage. That’ll be plenty for most people, but it’d still be nice to see the option for microSD expansion. 

Camera and video

• Impressive 50Mp main lens
• Underwhelming ultrawide and macro sensors
• Decent 12Mp selfie camera

The ROG Phones aren’t known for their camera prowess, which explains why the sensors haven’t been upgraded on the ‘Ultimate’ branded phone. It means you’ll get the same triple rear module, with a 50Mp main lens joined by 13Mp ultrawide and 5Mp macro.

There have been a few software updates since the 6 Pro launched, but none have had a noticeable effect on image quality. That’s not a bad thing in well-lit environments, where the 6D Ultimate produces vivid shots that are full of detail. It tends to over-saturate, but that means most people won’t have to edit their photos later. 

I particularly enjoyed the way the main sensor handled landscapes, avoiding the common tendency to overexpose the sky. But it’s a good option for street photography and buildings, too, with strong dynamic range standing out. In short, this is a much better lens than you’d expect on a gaming phone. 

Sadly, things aren’t quite as impressive when it comes to the other two sensors. It’s great to have the option of an ultra-wide camera, but there’s a noticeable drop-off in quality and exposure does become an issue here. Elsewhere, low-quality macro lens takes decent close-up shots but adds little to the camera experience.  

I’d have preferred a telephoto camera, which would’ve helped reduce the rapid decline in image quality when you zoom beyond 2x. 

There’s also no depth sensor, but you still get a software-based portrait mode. Being able to adjust the level of background blur before and after the shot is taken is a great feature, but it struggles a lot with edge detection. 

Using software for the night mode is much more impressive. It does a good job of brightening low-light images without losing the key details. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Asus had plenty of space on the front of the phone to include a good selfie camera, and the company has delivered just that. The 12Mp sensor delivers clear and crisp selfies, even in some challenging lighting conditions. However, you’ll want to turn the beauty mode off for the best experience. 

The 6D Ultimate can technically record video up to 8K at 24fps, but 1080p at 30fps is enabled by default. EIS (electronic image stabilization) on the main lens keeps footage steady most of the time, but it’s probably only suitable for casual use. 

Battery life and charging

• 6000mAh battery in total
• Excellent battery life
• Decent charging, but still not wireless

Asus hasn’t changed the size of the batteries in its ROG Phones for a few years now, meaning you still get dual 3000mAh cells which combine for a total capacity of 6000mAh. 

However, from using the phone it’s easy to see why it hasn’t been upgraded. Battery life is a key strength of the 6D Ultimate, with the phone comfortably lasting a full day of moderate usage. You can stretch this to two days if you drop the refresh rate to 60Hz, but you miss out on a key feature. 

I mainly used the phone in ‘Auto’, which automatically adjusts at various intervals between 60Hz and 165Hz depending on what you’re doing. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

That’s also the mode I used for PC Mark’s battery benchmark, which aims to simulate real-world usage at 200 nits of brightness. The 12 hours and 31 minutes I recorded is even better than the 6 Pro (11hr 51 mins), and one of the best scores we’ve recorded.  

However, charging via USB-C was slightly slower. Using the 65W adapter included in the box, I reached 34% in 15 minutes from off, then 71% by the half-hour mark. It took around one hour for a full charge.  

This is perfectly respectable, but it’d be nice to see Asus embrace even faster charging on future models. It’s disappointing that the phone still doesn’t support wireless charging, with the company claiming the space required is being prioritised for other things. 

Software and updates

• Asus skin over Android 12
• Gamer-specific software tweaks easy to ignore
• Only two years of updates

The 6D Ultimate received several software updates during my testing time, but the phone still runs Android 12. Specifically, it’s a combination of Asus’s Zen UI and ROG UI skins over Google’s OS, but the core experience remains relatively similar to what you’ll find on Pixel phones.

But just like previous ROG Phones, the gaming software experience really begins once you launch X Mode. In this mode, the phone is optimised to deliver the best possible gaming experience. It also gives the home screen and app icons a gamer aesthetic. As a result, turning this off makes the 6D Ultimate very easy to use as a regular smartphone. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

You can launch games from anywhere, but Asus would prefer you to use the Armoury Crate companion app. Here, you can fine-tune performance, customise features and accessories and connect with other players. If you’re an avid gamer, there’s a lot of functionality here.  

Once you’re in the game, quick settings can be accessed via the Game Genie toolbar. A wide range of options are available, including those which specifically target the CPU and GPU. 

Asus says the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate and all its other handsets will get at least two major versions of Android. That means Android 13 and 14, then only security updates until 2024. 

Google now recommends this as the minimum, but Asus could be more generous with a phone that’s so expensive. Many gamers will choose to upgrade their phones after two years, but they shouldn’t be forced to. 

Price and availability

There’s only one configuration of the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate available, and it doesn’t come cheap. In fact, at £1,199/€1,399, it’ll be the most expensive gaming phone ever when it goes on sale in late October in the UK and Europe. However, it’s not clear when the phone will go on sale elsewhere, including the US.

As a result, only the most dedicated gamers will even be considering this phone. Some of those will have already committed to the slightly cheaper 6 Pro, where you only lose out on the cooling portal. 

The more affordable regular 6 and 6D are also worth considering before you even get to other gaming phones. Despite being just over half the price, the Red Magic 7S Pro offers everything most gamers are looking for. 

When you put it that way, the 6D Ultimate becomes very hard to justify. 

Verdict

The ROG Phone 6D Ultimate justifies its name with an array of top specs and features. 

The Dimensity 9000+ is every bit as good as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 that powers the 6 Pro. That applies to both performance and power efficiency, with battery life another real highlight. 

When combined with the large, 165Hz display, the gaming experience is among the best you’ll find on any mobile device – provided you’re happy with Android apps. When the phone inevitably starts getting warm, you can connect the included fan and make use of the 6D Ultimate’s new cooling portal.  

However, the latter will only be beneficial for long gaming sessions. It’s also a big, bulky phone, and that only gets worse when you connect the cooler. 

But despite the high price tag, it may still tempt avid mobile gamers looking for the absolute best experience. 

Specs

• Android 12 with ROG UI & Zen UI 
• 6.78in FHD+ (1448×1080) AMOLED display, 165Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling 
• MediaTek Dimensity 9000+
• 16GB DDR5X RAM 
• 512GB internal storage (non-expandable) 
• 50Mp main lens with EIS 
• 13Mp ultrawide lens
• 5Mp macro lens 
• 12Mp selfie lens 
• Fingerprint scanner (in-screen) 
• Bluetooth 5.3
• GPS 
• NFC 
• 5G 
• Dual-SIM 
• IPX4 rating
• Dual 3000mAh non-removable batteries (6000mAh total capacity) 
• 65W wired charging
• AeroActive Portal
• 173 x 77 x 10.4 mm
• 247g