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ASUS has now confirmed the official ROG Phone 8 release date via its ROG social channels. There’s still no confirmation on what the phone will cost, when it will be purchasable, or what regions it will be available in at launch. But it’s now clear the official launch is close because ASUS is beginning to ramp up the hype train for its next gaming smartphone. ASUS is not alone in this, as many other brands tend to tease devices leading up to an announcement.
So far the company has confirmed the ROG Phone 8’s existence but it hasn’t officially announced or revealed the phone. But it has recently teased on its ROG Global account on X that mobile gamers will be able to see the phone in all its glory in early January. ASUS is also beginning to tease some of the phone’s specifications. And the most recent tease is one change that users of past devices will certainly appreciate. An IP68 rating. Over on the official ROG Weibo account, ASUS confirms the ROG Phone 8 will have an IP68 rating.
This will be a first for the ROG Phone series and ensures the phone will be water and dust-resistant at a standard that is common with most flagships these days.
The ASUS ROG Phone 8 has a release date of January 8
There are a few interesting things about the release date worth mentioning. Firstly, ASUS appears to be releasing new ROG Phones earlier and earlier. With past iterations, the phone would launch in late Summer. Then last year ASUS had the ROG Phone 7 series out by late April. This year it seems to be aiming for mid-to-late January following the January 8 announcement.
The other interesting detail is the date itself. It’s probably no confidence that the “8th” is the date ASUS will announce the ROG Phone 8. The company is clearly playing off the numerical value here. ASUS is also teasing an edgeless frame for the phone this time around. Opting for a punch hole style front-facing camera instead of placing one within the bezels.
As Wccftech points out this has a drawback. The ROG Phone 8 will not have dual front-facing stereo speakers. It will still provide stereo audio but the bottom front-facing speaker will now be on the bottom of the device where the charging port is.
While not confirmed by ASUS most other specs and features have leaked
Much is already known about what the ROG Phone 8 will look like and what sorts of specs it will have. Thanks to recent leaks that appear to bare all. Some of the biggest changes are a more subtle design that takes away many of the flashy gamer-centric stylings. Such as the back ROG Vision display that had become a part of the phone with the ROG Phone 5 series. It’s also going to have a flat display and one model will reportedly come with up to 24GB of RAM.
The leak also shows off the new AeroActive Cooler which appears to be slightly more compact than past versions.