ROG Phone 5s vs Edge 30 Pro: is a gamer phone worth more than a regular top of the line? | Comparative

The ROG Phone 5s seeks to attract the consumer by being a gamer smartphone with a more affordable cost in the domestic market. On the other hand, Edge 30 Pro comes to show that a common top of the line can be a more interesting option for players.

In this duel between ASUS and Motorola devices, which one is the most interesting within the gaming proposal? TechSmart shows you the answer in this Comparison.

• Design
• Multimedia and resources
• Performance
• Battery
• Camera
• Price
• Conclusion

ROG Phone 5s

We started by design with two completely different devices. The ROG 5s stands out for its appeal to the gamer audience, whether in the RGB LEDs on the back, or in the presence of ultrasonic triggers near the edge on the right side. The Edge, on the other hand, seeks to follow some of the brand’s standards, such as its oval camera block and the centralized logo on the rear.

The 30 Pro still has the most compact and lightweight design of the duo. But its body has a plastic construction, while the ROG Phone comes with a more premium metal body. Anyway, their back is made of glass, with Gorilla Glass protection against scratches.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro

They were missing a certification that gave resistance against dust and liquids. In security, the ASUS cell phone contains a biometric reader under the screen, against a sensor integrated into the volume button on Motorola’s. At the front, only the Edge preferred to use a hole-shaped notch. Taiwanese prefer to keep traditional borders, to make the appearance symmetrical when playing.

The duo dispenses any slot for storage expansion. ROG even has an additional faster USB-C port, which also supports DisplayPort 1.4 for video transfer. At the very least, you’ll find sixth-generation Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC on both.

For ASUS’s most complete proposal, it opens the scoring.

Screen

The ROG has an AMOLED screen versus the Edge’s OLED. Both are capable of reproducing over a billion colors. In addition, they offer Full HD+ resolution, a high level of brightness and a wide viewing angle.

Despite the 5s having a slightly larger display, it’s the 30 Pro that provides the superior front-end use, thanks to the smaller bezels. But the Taiwanese responds with the Gorilla Glass Victus for extra protection, more advanced than the third generation present in the rival.

In the part that interests the players, the two have a refresh rate of 144 Hz, for the maximum possible fluidity in the games. But the ASUS model is still distinguished by the touch sensor that responds to 300 Hz, for a much lower latency.

Thus, the ROG 5s takes one more point.

Sound

As we are dealing with two flagships, the cell phones here provide a stereo audio system, consisting of two speakers. The difference is that the ROG’s sound outputs are front, without one at the bottom like the Edge, which improves the immersive experience.

Both achieve good sound power and a great balance between bass, mids and highs. But the larger speakers present in the gamer model help to provide greater quality.

Apart from the presence of the 10-band equalizer and the special P2 connector with a dedicated amplifier on the 5s. Meanwhile, the 30 Pro doesn’t come with the standard input, but sends a headphone jack in the box with a USB-C plug.

ASUS takes the point again for greater quality and immersion.

System

While the ROG 5s was available with Android 11 out of the box, the 30 Pro is already out of the box with Android 12 native. As these manufacturers usually deliver two software updates, the Motorola model should have greater longevity.

In mobile network, 5G is guaranteed to enable fast mobile internet speed. Furthermore, the high refresh rates also help to make navigation and animations smoother in these interfaces.

Both have interesting features, but very different. ROG stands out for its interface customizations, even with the ability to configure triggers and use Game Genie to make the system ready for games. Edge already brings the famous gestures to turn on the flashlight and open the camera, in addition to Ready For to transform the smartphone into a portable PC.

With premium features on either side, longevity weighs heavily here and gives Motorola the point.

ASUS used the Snapdragon 888 Plus platform in its gamer phone, against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 inserted by Motorola. Despite being only a generation away, the Edge’s chip proved to be much faster in our speed tests. It completed the process in just 45 seconds, less than half the ROG’s total time.

It also gave logic in the benchmarks, and the 30 Pro came out on top of all Geekbench and AnTuTu indicators. At the very least, you’ll get the best gaming performance no matter what you choose here. All titles will run at maximum quality, activated extras and maximum fluidity available.

Superior multitasking gives the Edge the point.

The Taiwanese device comes equipped with a 6,000 mAh battery. A capacity far superior to the 4,800 mAh present in the competitor. And how do they behave in practice? The ROG 5s reached almost 27 hours of autonomy in the standardized tests we did, with more than four hours of advantage over the 30 Pro.

Edge makes up for it in charging, as its 68W adapter can complete its charge in less than an hour, something that ASUS’s gamer phone and its 65W accessory can’t do.

ROG scores for the longest runtime; and the Edge scores for the fastest reload.

On both sides we find a triple set of rear cameras. ROG’s 64 MP main sensor even takes good pictures for a gamer phone, but it lags behind the records made by the Edge’s 50 MP, especially at night and with portrait mode, thanks to the dedicated lens for this that Motorola uses.

The ultrawide of the Taiwanese suffers even more in dark places and with loss of detail, something that the 30 Pro does not sin, since its wider camera has the same resolution as the main one. Not to mention its autofocus, which allows you to capture macros with higher quality than the dedicated sensor with only a fixed focus of the rival.

With that, we have another point for Motorola.

Photos taken with the ROG Phone 5s

Their camcorder is capable of recording up to 8K at 30 fps. Both have decent quality, snappy focus, and fairly satisfying stereo sound capture. The difference between them lies in the possibility that the ROG 5s can record in 4K at 60 fps, while the rival is limited to 30 fps, in the presence of a more efficient stabilization system on the Edge.

Greater fluidity against less shaking. We have a tie here.

Photos taken with the Motorola Edge 30 Pro

The front camera of the two does well in selfies during the day, but suffers from noise at night. Portrait mode makes a good cut, but the burst background on the ROG compromises the captures. Not to mention that the Edge is the only one of the duo to shoot head-on in 4K at 30 fps, against a limitation only up to Full HD from the competitor.

In other words, Motorola makes another point.

These devices officially arrived on the national market. The ROG Phone 5s was available from BRL 6,800, more expensive than the BRL 6,500 suggested price of the Edge 30 Pro. In today’s retail, the scenario has changed. The ASUS model is already found for less than R$ 3,000, below the R$ 4,000 charged by Motorola.

Therefore, the gamer cell phone closes the duel with the last point.

In this battle between a gamer cell phone and a traditional top of the line, we had a great balance of what each one delivers. The ROG Phone 5s has a more complete design, a screen with lower latency, and a higher quality sound, in addition to the battery that yields more, despite taking longer in the socket.

On the other hand, the Edge 30 Pro comes with superior system longevity, the fastest performance and the highest quality camera suite, especially in rear and front shots.

Motorola’s problem is that it is facing an ASUS device available for a longer time on the market, which makes the cost-effectiveness of the Taiwanese more interesting at the moment for those who play.

RESULT

ROG Phone 5s: 6 POINTS

• more complete design
• Bigger screen and lower latency
• higher quality sound
• Battery with greater autonomy
• Smoother videos in 4K
• Lowest price in the current Europeian market

Motorola Edge 30 Pro: 6 POINTS

• most up-to-date system
• Faster multitasking performance
• Battery with less recharge time
• Rear cameras with higher quality photos
• Videos with better stabilization system
• Front camera with better selfies and 4K footage

Do you prefer a gamer smartphone, or does a regular top suit you well? Between the 5s and the 30 Pro, which one would you choose, if you had to cast a casting vote? Comment with us!

• The Motorola Edge 30 Pro is available at Casas Bahia for BRL 3,599 and at Extra by BRL 4,490. The cost-benefit is average and this is the best model in this price range.
• The Asus ROG Phone 5s is available from Magazine Luiza for BRL 2,969. The cost-benefit is average and this is the best model in this price range.