The ROG Phone 3 lineup has proven itself as a gaming beast, but does its camera capabilities also shine above the rest?

Over the past month, numerous reviews, vlogs, and unboxing about the ROG Phone 3 have been enough to prove to the gaming public that the ROG Phone 3 can really up your gaming experience by a mile, whether you’re a casual gamer who escapes from the reality with a good ol’ Battle Royale and Death Match at PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile for a vent out; or a pro gamer who literally plays for a living (that’s THE dream) and could not afford high pings, lags, oversights, and any other nightmares you would not wish even on your worst enemies during a ranked match.

Gaming phones in the past, while awesome in gaming performance, are often lacking in the camera department, which I guess is understandable since it usually isn’t a priority for gaming phones. But when I took the ROG Phone 3 for a run, I was pleasantly surprised and here the five reasons this spec monster of a phone can be a great companion for visual storytellers out there.

Note: What we tested was the ROG Phone 3 Strix Edition 8G RAM/256G ROM with S865 variant.

ROG Phone 3 Camera Specs

The ROG Phone 3 has three rear cameras:

• A Sony^® flagship IMX686 64 MP image sensor – 1/1.7” large sensor size, 0.8 µm pixel size;
• 13 MP, 125° ultrawide-angle camera; and
• a 5 MP camera for macro shots

It also has a 24 MP front camera for your selfies and Tiktok video shoots.

Now let’s move on to the main reasons why I love the ROG Phone 3 camera.

Longer Field Time

As a content creator, you never know when you would need to take a photo or video. And usually when covering events, shooting timelapse, and chasing sunsets, what you look for in a smartphone is its battery life and storage. The ROG Phone 3 definitely hits those marks with a long-lasting 6000mAh high-capacity battery and 256GB storage for your photos and videos.

I took the ROG phone on a whirl and went to the park for some rigorous street videography and photography to test its features in the real world, and I went home after 8-9 hours of use with storage almost full of memories (pun unintended) and with battery left to spare for a round or two of Deathmatch. It also helps that when it does become low on battery, the ROG Phone supports Quick Charge 4.0 so you can use it again in no time.

Goodbye Gimbal

My shaky hands have always gotten in the way of my storytelling and photo and video capture. More often than most, especially in street photography, I often have to rely on a smartphone gimbal to stabilize my phone, or use a camera that has a built-in stabilization to really get the shots I wanted. But when you’re out in the streets, you never know when something capture-worthy is going to pop out of nowhere and since a mobile phone stabilizer is bulky (Don’t get me wrong, the newer ones have been more compact) and takes a while to set, you might miss the chance to get the perfect shot.

Aside from the fact that the ROG Phone 3 is heavier than the usual smartphone I’m used to taking photos and videos with, weighing 240 g, I actually like its slight heaviness since the added weight gives for a smoother pan and glide resistance for my hands. And get this. GET THIS. The ROG Phone 3 Camera actually has a 3-axis electronic image stabilization for rear cameras which makes a ton of difference when it comes to doing walking tours and street videography.

Crystal Clear Storytelling

The ROG Phone 3’s large 6.59 inches AMOLED 10-bit HDR display with outdoor-readable brightness made my passion as a video content creator who has astigmatism (nearsightedness) easier. Colors between what they the eyes can see and the colors that register in the ROG Phone 3 screen are indistinguishable and accurate, with its Delta E Color Accuracy score less than 1. (The lower the Delta E score, the more precise the color is).

Cinematic AF

Photo and Video Quality

Can I just say how it still amazes me to find an 8k resolution on a gaming phone? While it has the usual camera modes you would find on a phone (photo, portrait, panorama, night, and pro modes), I love that I can just whip the phone out and it can capture the photos and videos as fast as I can see it. It’s something I couldn’t do with the smartphone I’m currently using and it can get quite frustrating to miss those shots especially while one a moving vehicle.

How Slow Can You Go?

For a phone known for its speed, one of the things I love the most about the ROG Phone 3 is its slow-motion video capability. Slow-motion can make your final video either a lot more cinematic or just tacky, especially when the speed ramp and speed adjustment doesn’t make it as cinematic as you want it to be.

With the available 4K shooting at 120 frames per second, I found myself taking a lot of slow-mo videos at the park and on the streets and being in awe just watching the playbacks because of the frame-by-frame smoothness of the output. I also didn’t need to worry if I had to choose between slow motion or the normal mode since the phone also takes a normal video while shooting a slow-mo.

Take Still Photos while Recording

To add to the dilemma of whether I should take a normal video or a slow-mo, I also usually wonder if it’s better to take a still photo. But that dilemma is something I wouldn’t worry about anymore because the ROG Phone 3 allows you to take photos while shooting videos. It’s a small feature to be thankful for, but it’s usually the small features that give content creators like me more types of media to share.

ASMR

If there was one thing I would never get tired of shooting, it was nature. So on the first few days I have been using the ROG Phone 3, I shot videos of sunsets in my city and I was surprised hearing the output. The sounds were superb, what with the Quad microphones located strategically to get accurate sounds, all equipped with the ASUS Noise Reduction Technology. I didn’t need to enhance the audio or add some noise reduction effect on Premiere Pro like I usually would and that helped greatly in posting the videos ASAP. I guess you just have to listen for yourself below:

Shot using the ROG Phone 3 Camera

Playing videos are a bliss, too, because of the gaming phone’s Dual front-facing speakers with Dirac HD Sound and 7-magnet stereo speaker with dual NXP TFA9874 smart amplifier for louder, deeper and less distorted sound effect.

ROG Phone 3 Camera is the Perfect Storytelling Companion

Overall, you can tell that I had a fun time testing the ROG Phone 3 Camera and its different modes and I must say, its compact size packs not only specs that will wow, if it hasn’t already, the gaming industry, it is also a great companion for video content creators who wants the powerful and reliable performance of a smartphone and the ability of a camera to relay what a creator can see- all rolled into the beast of the phone which is the ROG Phone 3. All that’s left to do is to tell your story.

The ROG Phone 3 Strix (8G/256G with S865 variant) is priced at PHP 39,995.00.