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Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro: $1,300 Phone Maxes Out Everything but the Camera

This high-priced gaming phone puts power and style at the front, with plenty of ideas I’d love to see in mainstream phones.

The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro is a $1,300 gaming phone behemoth. Released last summer, the phone justifies its high price with more premium specifications that offer more power and style than the average phone. This includes the phone’s 6.78-inch OLED display with a 165Hz refresh rate, a 6,000mAh battery and a colorful second LED display on the back that adds a dynamic look to the rear of the phone.

I’ve been using the Phone 6 Pro for the last few months — testing it both as a gaming device and as an everyday phone. While I largely enjoy using the Phone 6 Pro, some of the choices Asus made for gamers do not necessarily benefit a mainstream phone user. There are some design quirks, and the camera isn’t as impressive as it should be for such an expensive device. It’s also missing wireless charging, which may not be a necessity but is considered common on most phones. 

But if you can cast aside these shortcomings, the Phone 6 Pro has a number of features that could end up on a future iPhone or Galaxy device. Asus also succeeds at catering to those who want to get the most out of their phone as a gaming device. 

Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro with LED display onAsus ROG Phone 6 Pro with LED display on

The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro has a rear LED display that lights up with various animations and notification icons.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

A futuristic design highlighted by a rear LED display

The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro’s design makes a statement. My review unit is a satellite-like white color that’s adorned with blue accents and a black line that diagonally traces around its LED display. 

That rear display reminds me of the notification LED that I used to see on BlackBerry phones, but evolved into something more like the cover screen on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. The display shows icons for notifications, a Game Start animation (for when you start a game of course), a battery indicator and other animations that you customize within the phone’s settings. 

A static LED that outlines the words «Ready to Play» is also on the back of the device to really emphasize that this is a gaming phone. The color of that text can be customized from within the menus.

I would love to see other phones experiment with more artistic colors and designs like Asus. The midrange Nothing Phone 1 is already doing something similar with its Glyph LED design. For now, the closest most mainstream phones get to customization is when you throw on a skin or case.

Yet another design choice to place the phone’s front-facing camera in a bezel above the phone’s display makes sense in order to provide an uninterrupted screen, but that choice is a rather dated idea for a phone this expensive. This makes the phone a little bit taller than the display, which harks back to older designs like 2018’s Samsung Galaxy S9. Gaming phone rival RedMagic now uses an under-display front-facing camera, starting with its 7S Pro, but image quality is still a work in progress on phones giving that a try. 

Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro with Marvel SnapAsus ROG Phone 6 Pro with Marvel Snap

The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro has a 6.78-inch screen, and chooses to put the front-facing camera within a bezel above the display.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro’s screen animates and reacts fast

As one would expect with an expensive phone, the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro’s 6.78-inch OLED looked great no matter what type of content I was viewing. By default, it uses an automatic refresh rate that changes depending on what you’re using. After turning on the setting that keeps it at 165Hz at all times, I was able to enjoy extremely smooth scrolling, gaming animations and reading. While Marvel Snap maxes at 60 frames per second, the card game seemed to animate especially well with all of its graphics settings turned on. The same goes for quickly jumping in and out of Gameloft’s Modern Combat 5 and Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat — the latter of which natively supports the 165Hz refresh rate.

The screen also has a 720Hz touch sampling rate, or how quickly the screen reacts to taps and scrolls for games. In my experience, that’s particularly useful for first-person shooters and fighting games.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a 165Hz refresh rate or a 720Hz touch sampling rate; last year’s $629 RedMagic 7 phone also includes those features. But features like these are starting to make their way into more mainstream devices at lower prices. Motorola’s $500 Edge phone from last summer, for instance, has a display with a 144Hz refresh rate. I’m expecting these higher frame rates to continue reaching mainstream phones and perhaps pushing even higher on gaming phones, a trend that we’re also seeing on some televisions and computer monitors.

The 720Hz rate is still largely found on gaming phones, but the Samsung Galaxy S23 does have a 240Hz touch sampling rate that is more than adequate outside the competitive gaming space.

Two front-facing speakers are located around the display, which is especially useful as it’s less likely that your hands will cover them while playing games. Plus, the phone has a wired headphone jack, making it one of the very few phones to still include the port. Having the option makes a lot of sense, since it allows for hardwiring into the phone for audio while using the USB-C port for charging. A second USB-C port on the phone is also available for accessories.

Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro has one of the biggest batteries I’ve seen

The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro packs one of the largest batteries I’ve seen on a phone, with a 6,000mAh capacity. The closest we’ve otherwise seen in readily available phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra is 5,000mAh. Even when I cranked up the refresh rate to 165Hz and turned on the phone’s always-on display, I made it through an entire day or two with a single charge fairly easily. I did not run all of CNET’s battery benchmarks on the Phone 6 Pro, but between the large capacity and support for 65W fast charging, getting the phone through a day isn’t an issue.

Additional battery life is very likely to make its way into more mainstream phones eventually, but currently faster charging already is available in phones like the OnePlus 11 5G. That phone offers 100W charging in the UK and 80W charging in the US.

Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro’s 18GB of RAM is overkill

The phone also includes 512GB of space alongside a ludicrous 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM. Multitasking is a breeze, as it’s able to handle several apps at the same time without lagging at all if I swapped quickly between them. 

Games themselves load quickly too, thanks in part to the now previous-gen Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor. Hopping into a game, texting, and then launching a website before returning to the game is simple and fast. Whenever I use a gaming phone like the Phone 6 Pro, having this much RAM alongside a fast processor allows me to go into a game’s settings menu and crank up every graphics setting possible, with little worry that it’s going to hurt the performance of the title. 

It’s worth noting that 2023 mainstream phones like the Galaxy S23 and gaming phones like the RedMagic 8 Pro are including the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, both of which arrived after the ROG Phone 6 Pro.

The large amount of RAM is also one of the areas where the phone’s high price is quite obvious. It is common for phones like the iPhone 14 Pro or the Galaxy S23 Plus to include a 512GB storage tier at the $1,300 price range, but incorporating 18GB of RAM is very unusual. By comparison, this is more RAM than most computers at a similar price range include.

That said, the sheer amount of RAM included in the phone does show that while the Phone 6 Pro spares no expense on specs that help it run fast. It instead cuts corners on photography, which runs quite counter to what we typically see on the mainstream side of the phone industry.

Gaming focus comes at the expense of the cameras

When it comes to the phone’s cameras, photos are generally a weak point despite the inclusion of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 5-megapixel macro camera. 

Beef pho noodle bowl photo captured on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.Beef pho noodle bowl photo captured on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.

Beef pho noodle bowl photo captured on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

I took photos in several indoor settings, including during a tour of Samsung’s recently reopened 837 store in New York and during a nighttime ice skating session. 

Ice skating photo taken on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.Ice skating photo taken on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.

Ice skating photo taken on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.

Sean Keane/CNET

The photos are nice, but they aren’t $1,300 phone nice.

I know this is a «gaming phone» and not a «camera phone,» but I still expected more from such a pricey device. Most phones in this price range support more colors and detail, using a combination of a high-quality camera and software to bring out the most of a photo in a variety of situations. Yet the lack of focus in this area is understandable when considering how a rear camera rarely ever becomes a part of most mobile phone games. If camera quality is your concern, consider a Galaxy S23 Ultra, Pixel 7 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Asus customizations don’t overwhelm Android

The Phone 6 Pro, which received the update to Android 13 during my time with it, has the right amount of software customization options. The tweaks made by Asus were noticeable, but didn’t get in my way when using the device.  

The phone defaults to dark mode, which better compliments some of the Asus settings found in the company’s Armoury Crate app. This app lets you make adjustments to the LED display and game performance. 

I appreciate the separation, as sometimes a phone’s settings menu can become overwhelming with options from both Android 13 and the device maker’s specific offerings. I would, however, appreciate some shortcuts from the device settings menu that bring you to the Asus app. There were some occasions when I wasn’t sure how to make certain changes. It wasn’t clear, for instance, how to adjust the rear LED.

As far as actual gaming goes, Asus includes a Game Genie hub that you can access while playing a game by tracing diagonally from the corners of the screen. This brings up a space-themed dashboard with settings for adjusting the device’s refresh rate, allowing or blocking phone calls, screen recording or adjusting the AirTriggers. These are the shoulder button-like sensors on the phone that can be customized for different commands. Gaming mode options like these are great for gaming phones or other high-end phones, but I don’t expect wider adoption: When I reviewed the $228 OnePlus N300, seeing a similar gaming mode on that cheaper phone seemed to give away that it didn’t have as much power to run games at higher graphics settings.

Asphalt Xtreme on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.Asphalt Xtreme on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.

Asphalt Xtreme on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

Asus offers a lot, but for a specific gamer audience 

The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro brings a lot of personality to an otherwise niche and expensive device. I appreciate its flourishes — especially the rear LED — and how the phone prioritizes gaming and media consumption over all else. Features like the high-quality display, the rear LED, fast charging, the front-facing speakers and a headphone jack would likely be appreciated by a lot of regular phone users, too.  

But Asus makes compromises in other areas, particularly when it comes to the cameras and the lack of wireless charging. While the high touch sampling rate is useful for gamers, it’s not significant enough to make me want it in a standard, non-gaming phone. This is ultimately still a very expensive phone — even for a niche audience. It’s also worth remembering that many of the specs can be found in cheaper options like the RedMagic, even if it’s at the expense of the user experience. But if you really want to have 18GB of RAM and a fancy second screen in your smartphone, be prepared to pay the $1,300.

Technologies

Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay

Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.

After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. 

The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.

If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:

  • ET: 4 a.m.
  • CT: 3 a.m.
  • MT: 2 a.m.
  • PT: 1 a.m.

The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.

What to expect from the funeral 

The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).

His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.

The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.

Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?

Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral. 

US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.

Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.

Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope

After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.

There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.

Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope

Look for the white smoke

The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.

If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.

In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685

Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Connections puzzle features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rainbow.

Green group hint: San Fernando ____.

Blue group hint: Think Robert.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tint.

Green group: Valley.

Blue group: Bobs.

Purple group: Color anagrams.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.


Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Try to achieve.

Green group hint: Move through it.

Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.

Purple group hint: Like a carton.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: What one strives for.

Green group: Room to run.

Blue group: College football coaches.

Purple group: Box ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is what one strives for. The four answers are aim, goal, objective and target.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is room to run. The four answers are gap, hole, opening and space.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college football coaches. The four answers are Day, Lanning, Smart and Stoops.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is box ____. The four answers are lacrosse, office, score and seat.

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