Rog Phone 8 Is a RIP Off, do not buy ! 🗑️

[waxy78611]

If you're wondering whether the speakers are better or even the SAME as previous Rog phones, the answer is no. The speakers on the 8, 1 on front and one on the bottom bezel, different to all other Rog phones. No dedicated amplifiers with the Rog 8, all other Rog phones had dedicated amplifiers. Speakers are a huge downgrade with Rog 8, no more rich or bassy sound. That ended with the Rog 7.

So the question is, how is the ridiculous €1300 or €1600 justified? It's not. You aren't getting any flagship features at all. Still a FHD screen, speakers are massively downgraded, only 2 years worth of software updates, obsolete hardware (we all know what happened to Rog 2 phones suddenly dieing, Rog 3 had the black crush screen issues, Rog 5 had the dead WiFi and hotspot issue which ruined the motherboard , Rog 6 had a front camera hardware fault which caused the Rog 6 to die. Rog 7 has been ruined with software updates. Oh and the previous Rog phones were also ruined with software updates. Cameras are improved but average, nothing flagship about them.  Battery is downgraded to 5500mah (oh yeah, there's a Chinese youtube channel that compared Rog 8 battery life to Rog 7, Rog 7 battery life is significantly better. Rog 8 has worse battery than all previous Rog phones).

Just buy a red magic for half the price Or, go for the Samsung s24 ultra, you'll get a WQHD+ screen, better warranty, more reliable hardware, longer software updates, better resale value, better design, much much better cameras all for a lower price than the ridiculous Rog phone 8. 

There's nothing about the Rog phone 8 that can justify it's price tag. Asus have ruined the Rog series. Ask yourself this, are you getting better features with a s24 ultra, Vivo x100 pro, oppo find x7 ultra, the latest Sony phone or a Rog phone 8? Factor in the price too. 

Last but not least, no more bootloader unlocking supported by ASUS. firmware downgrades not possible too 😅 so if you receive a bad software update (which Asus loves giving, updates that ruin phones) you are stuck on that update. Also, Asus have removed all updates from their website except the latest one (which will ruin your phone). 

The s24 ultra is announced tomorrow so if you're looking for a new phone, go for the s24 ultra. I've listed the reason above as to why you should get the s24 ultra. 

Time to say bye to Asus.

[Oednerich]

Can you elaborate on rog phone 7 software problems? Wondering if I have to watch out for something specific.

I might be a bit late to the party getting my phone for Christmas last year, running on the latest Asus firmware with android 13. I'm using the phone heavily throughout the day for like everything except the camera and haven't noticed anything negative. It's actually quite a big leap over my old OP9 Pro in comparison and I'm very happy with it so far.

I agree with you on the design choices of the rog phone 8 however, I'd rather have big black bezels on my phone display with good speakers (boy the rog phone 7 has so much better sound than the OP9) than a big screen with bad speakers again

[waxy78611]

Of course, there's many threads where there's complaints about software updates decreasing battery life, causing the phone to get hotter than before and the removal of the battery usage graph. With no way to downgrade because Asus have removed all firmware files. I found a way to downgrade on my Rog 7 and it's running just fine.

Also the review of the Rog 8 is out and it confirms that the speakers are a downgrade. 

[Oednerich]

Can't comment on the difference to the launch software, but I still have my battery usage graph in the latest android 13 firmware from Asus. Is it going to be removed with android 14?

I can relate though since oneplus removed a lot of stock android features after moving from android 12 to 13, very frustrating and one of the reasons I moved on to another company

[waxy78611]

Possibly with android 14. I haven't updated and won't be going to, not after seeing the feedback. Oh btw you can buy the Rog 8 from china for £550 😅 half the price of EU and UK. Looks like china already know it's a pile of 🗑️