ASUS ROG Phone 2 vs OnePlus 7T : In-depth Comparison

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.

Given that they are available at similar prices, we decided to compare their specs. In order to let you understand which one fits your needs the most.

OnePlus 7T vs Asus ROG Phone II

Design

If you prefer a traditional phone and you want the most elegant and futuristic design, OnePlus 7T is undoubtedly your best choice. It comes with very slim bezels around the display, a waterdrop notch, and an astonishing glass back available in gradient hues. On the other hand, the Asus ROG Phone II has an aggressive gaming-centric design. You will find an RGB light and a design which is all but elegant, but on the other hand. It also very nice features for gamers, such as Air Triggers and the support to external accessories.

Display

Each of these phones carries an astonishing display. OnePlus 7T comes with one of the highest peak brightness (it reaches 1000 nits), as well as the HDR10+ standard making the image quality outstanding. On the other hand, Asus ROG Phone 2 boasts a higher 120 Hz refresh rate and a 240 Hz touch-sensing, so it provides a smoother experience and more reactivity. That is why Asus ROG Phone 2 is better for gamers. Even though it does not have HDR10+ like the OnePlus 7T, it still offers a great color reproduction thanks to higher DCI-P3 coverage. It even comes with better stereo speakers. The difference is not measurable, but I personally prefer the display and the multimedia experience offered by the Asus ROG Phone 2.

Camera

While according to our opinion Asus ROG Phone 2 wins the display and hardware comparisons. It is not able to compete with the OnePlus 7T if we talk about the camera department. OnePlus 7T is definitely superior with its OIS-enabled 48 MP main sensor, a 12 MP telephoto sensor and an ultrawide 16 MP lens. The ROG Phone 2 has just two cameras on the rear side with no lossless zoom and no OIS, so it is pretty disappointing if you consider that we are talking about a flagship phone. OnePlus 7T even comes with a brighter focal aperture for the main sensor, so it can capture more light for better shots in low light conditions.

Specs & Software

OnePlus 7T and Asus ROG Phone 2 are equipped with the same top-tier chipset: the Snapdragon 855+ by Qualcomm boasting high graphics performance and the highest clock frequency on a last-generation mobile platform (up to 2.96 GHz). What changes are the memory configurations: while OnePlus 7T offers max 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage, the Asus ROG Phone 2 has up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB of UFS 3.0 internal storage. Obviously, you will have to spend more to get a higher-end memory configuration. Asus ROG Phone 2 also has a better cooling system and it allows switching between a stock Android user interface and a custom UI for gamers.

Battery

The camera is OnePlus 7T’s strong point, but Asus ROG Phone 2 provides a much bigger battery and it is more suitable for advanced users, long gaming sessions and all the other potential users who want to forget the charger at least for one day. With a 6000 mAh battery, the Asus ROG Phone 2 is one of the best flagships in terms of battery life. And it even features a very fast charging technology and reverse charging (you can use it as a power bank).

Price

It is not possible to choose a clear winner of this comparison: it mostly depends on the kind of user you are. If you prefer advanced performance and long battery life, then you should choose the Asus ROG Phone 2. But if you need the best camera and design, OnePlus 7T is better for your needs. I would personally go for the Asus ROG Phone 2 for its long battery life and its amazing memory configurations. At the moment, you can get both the handsets for less than ₹38,000.

OnePlus 7T vs Asus ROG Phone II: PROS and CONS

OnePlus 7T : 

PROS

• Great display
• High performance
• More elegant design
• Better cameras
• More compact

CONS

• Smaller battery

Asus ROG Phone 2 :

PRO

• High performance
• Bigger battery
• Amazing display
• Support for external accessories

CONS

• That design is not for everyone

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