The Asus ROG Phone 5 is starting to see images leak, first of the phone's front, and now of its heavily redesigned back.
We know this thanks to a tweet from Mukul Sharma (stufflistings on Twitter). The images he claims came from Chinese social network Weibo, which is where the last ROG Phone leak also came from.
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From these images, we can see that there's been a notable change to the logo and RGB lighting on the phone. Rather than the ROG symbol being lit up, now it's a dot-matrix display.
We only see an arrow graphic in this image, but the second screenshot also included in the tweet seems to show several customization options for the RGB lighting in a "ROG Vision" menu.
Meanwhile, the ROG logo has been relocated to the corner, giving the phone more subtlety when compared to past models. Although it's nothing like the clean lines you'd see on normal Android phones.
Also, visible on the back of the phone is "05" next to the RGB strip. Rumors suggest that the number of this phone may actually be 5, not 4. That's based on local superstition in Asus' home territory of Taiwan, where the number 4 is seen as unlucky, in the same way the number 13 is in the west.
The final thing you can see from this image is that there is no obvious opening for the cooling vent that's been on Asus ROG Phones since the beginning. It's possible that it's been removed altogether as Asus might have figured out a new cooling method, which would make the exterior of the phone look a lot neater and allow for the phone to be effectively waterproofed like other leading flagship phones.
Beyond changes in design, leakers on Weibo claim that the ROG Phone 5 will house a 6,000 mAh battery — exactly like the ROG Phone 3 — with 65 W fast charging. And the back will feature a tri-camera setup, with a 64 MP quad-Bayer sensor. As for RAM, considering it will likely feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 processor, we should expect anywhere between 12 to 16 GB of memory. Plus, any gaming phone worth its weight will need a high refresh display, and a 144Hz display is the likeliest option to ship with this device.
The last leak we had for the ROG Phone 4 showed a major design overhaul on its front compared to the ROG Phone 3. The big display bezel for the front camera has vanished, although there looks to still be a significant chin bezel spoiling the view. As for the selfie camera, it's not clear where it's gone, but since punch-hole cameras are not ideal for playing games, the likely option is a pop-up camera, or an under-display camera if Asus wants to go really high-tech.
